The Old College Try - This American Life

This post is on Act One of the This American Life episode "How I Got Into College."

After high school, the next major step for many students is college. For some, getting into college is a no-brainer. For others, the admittance process is a little more difficult. Then there are some who try anything in desperate attempts to ensure their enrollment. In this segment, host Ira Glass talks with Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admissions at Georgia Tech to discuss what he has seen students (and their parents) try.

Clark has seen emails from parent's email addresses signed as their child. When impersonating their high schooler, parents tend to use the words "awesome" and "cool" to try to sound young.

"Almost ironically I never see those words from a high school student." - Rick Clark

This parental involvement could be due to "demonstrated interest," a factor many schools are taking into account. Are students visiting the campus? Do they show an active interest in the school? Some parents who are worried their child isn't taking this initiative take measures into their own hands.

Things go awry in college essays too. Students often send the same essay to multiple schools, and forget to change the name of the school. Clark, who works for Georgia Tech, has read essays where students say they are excited to be attending Duke University. Whoops.

The college admittance process can be challenging and a lot of work. When parents intervene to the extent in the podcast, that helps no one. My parents helped me find schools and took tours with me. Parents should take an active role in the admittance process, but obviously impersonating a student is crossing the line.

To get into my school, an essay was not needed. I have written mock college essays for classes in high school, and the prompts were really vague. An example was "Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea?" Who knows what kind of response an admittance worker could be looking for? Should I be as vague as the prompt? Should I suck up and incorporate my great qualities? Maybe I'm fine as long as I get the name of the school right.

Buttons Not Buttons - RadioLab

Buttons. Everyone uses them in their daily lives to help perform tasks. They keep our clothes held together, turn on our phones, and change channels on our televisions. Often overlooked, these tools can make for interesting stories.

On this episode of RadioLab, three very different "button" themed stories are presented.

ACT ONE - 00:00 - 07:19
In the first tale, reporter Latif Nasser decides to go to the Elevator History Museum in New York City, where he meets Patrick Carr, curator of the museum. Carr has a secret he can't wait to share with Nasser: 80% of "close door" buttons on elevators are not hooked up. This is because elevators are very smart, and know the traffic of incoming passengers at various times of day.

"All you're doing is screwing up the elevator's timing by touching that thing." - Patrick Carr

This story shows that although buttons make life easier in some situations, in others they are useless. When I push the "close door" button on elevators, I expect the machine to do what I want. I'm sure this button works in areas with low traffic, but in office buildings where it is used frequently, users are powerless. All the button does is give people a meaningless amount of power.

ACT TWO - 07:20 - 16:10
This is not a story about literal buttons, but of founding father Button Gwinnett. Button was a Georgia politician and frequent debtor, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The following year, he got into a dual with a rival and died. With his signature being right below Hancock's, we have seen his name many times without realizing it.

In 1820 when the last of the founding fathers were dying, collecting these signatures became popular. Button's was the rarest, with 51 known examples in the world. His signature sold recently for $722,500. It is worth more than Ben Franklin's and maybe Shakespeare's.

"This is the autographic equivalent of a really expensive diamond" - Robert Krulwich

It's really interesting how a man who with his life was known for racking up debt and getting into fights can have such a valuable signature. He is unknown to most of the world, yet his name is worth more than some of the most famous people in history. Sometimes items can be arbitrarily valuable.

ACT THREE - 16:11 - 27:32
This last story is of the most high stakes button ever. It is portrayed in movies as the big red button on the President's desk that can start a nuclear war. Only there is one problem: this button doesn't exist.

The phrase "the President has his finger on the button" has been around longer than nuclear weapons. Existing conceptions from literature about scientists ending the world using a single button transferred to the powerful image of the President.

For starters, why would anyone want a button like that on their desk? What if it were bumped? The button is a symbol of just how much power the President has when it comes to starting wars. How could we deter the President from believing he has the almighty power to destroy entire ways of life?

An academic named Roger Fisher believed he had the answer. He proposed that a White House aide have embedded in his heart the launch codes for nuclear weapons, and carry around a briefcase containing a knife. If the President wishes to destroy an entire city and all of its inhabitants, he would first need to kill the aide to get the launch code. This sounds horrific, but does this idea have validity? Is this something more than a metaphor, or would it get in the way of White House business?

Introduction

My name is Kevin Danielson, a Professional Writing and Communications student at Southwest Minnesota State University. In today's world, there is a plethora of information that anyone can access. Though you can learn about anything, that knowledge won't be retained unless it is presented in an interesting way.

Podcasts are a great way to hear information, with each show having a unique format. These shows have the ability to create powerful discussions, unlock imagination, and satisfy one's sense of curiosty. Authors of some of the most popular podcasts include radio outlets such as NPR, WNYC, WBEZ.

With every podcast I listen to, I learn something new, from that deserves to be shared and researched further. After listening to these shows for many years, I want this blog to be used to share what I'm learning. Each post will focus on one episode that I have listened to recently, which will be supplemented with further research on the topic. Some posts may require my opinion and others may require analysis, depending on the show.

Above all, I want this blog to present information that can only come the the unique storytelling that a podcast provides.