This is a collection of essays, poems, and other various pieces of writing dating back to freshman year of high school. It is intended to feature my development as a writer as well as showcase some of the better (or at least more interesting) things I've written.
NEW: Guest Column: One Student's Call for Assigned Seats (2007)
- After going to a panel discussion on Perceptions of Race and Inequality at Grinnell and being asked for suggestions of how to work toward a better-integrated campus, this is what I came up with.
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On a Bottom-Up-Top-Down Revolution (2006)
- A paper written for 20th Century Social Movements at Grinnell College on what could cause a second American Revolution. This critically engages the ideas put forth by Steven Buechler in his book Social Movements in Advanced Capitalism.
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A Sociological Study of Grinnell Plans (2006)
- This is a final paper for Introduction to Sociology at Grinnell College studying the online community Grinnell Plans.
Visit the site.
Moral Problems in Shock and Awe (2005)
- My Contemporary Ethical Issues final paper about the US tactics used in Iraq and a part of our military doctrine since 1996. They are terrible.
Read it
Downloadable Rich Text Format File
What Is Not "Normal Non-music?" (2005)
- People's eyes always do a double-take when I tell them I took a class called Weird Music at Grinnell College. Here's our final paper for which the assignment was, of course, "What is Weird Music?"
Read it
Downloadable Rich Text Format File
Letter to the Editor (2005)
- Submitted to the S&B about meaningful activism on campus (or the lack thereof it). I received five responses. One was from a student. I think that may make my point.
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The Composer as Hermit (2005)
- Written for my Weird Music Tutorial, this is a response to composer Milton Babbitt's famous 1958 article "Who Cares if you Listen?" Don't know who Milton Babbitt is? That's sort of his point; however, I don't fully agree with it. There is constant debate over this article in the music world, so I thought I'd add one more voice to the banter.
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"Who Cares if you Listen?" (external link)
Quidnunc RPM Poems (2004)
- By popular demand, I have been forced to publish the haikus and a limmerick used in the immortal debut Battle of the Bands show put on by Quidnunc RPM. Who doesn't love tacky poetry?
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DARE: Drug Abuse Resistance Elimination (2004)
- I wrote this paper for Expository writing senior year, but I think it's worth reading just as an essay. All of my generation has suffered through DARE for no reason. Here's the evidence backing it up.
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Downloadable Rich Text Format File
Contradictions (2002)
- A found poem. If you hadn't noticed, most of the stuff I write ends up being political. There's a lengthy description of the sources for the poem at the end of it.
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