News-Record.com

It seems a Social Work instructor at UNCG had a class project requiring students to write the newspaper and lament The Cause. I'd imagine junior and/or senior years require a volunteer or internship semester, probably in the fall, and the spring semester involves returning and discussing what was done. January, now February... This semester has been in session just about long enough for the timing to work out...

Anna, will you or any other UNCG social work undergrads confirm that? How much, grade-wise, do the LTEs count for? Are they worth more if actually published, or does an unprinted barrage count for just as much? The volunteer work was probably required, but were the LTEs extra credit? It's pretty obvious. Witness yesterday's (Lohr), and these two today, with the other related LTE admitting the UNCG Social Work connection, and this LTE writer (Fisher) coming up remarkably similar when Googled:
http://nrfisher.wordpress.com/about/
"I'm a Social Work major." (in her last year of undergrad)
"I started actually working in the career of social work (in '07). My internship and every class that I took was just more verification that the Lord is calling me to do this work."

Which ties in with being the head of Christian Campus Ministries at UNCG
http://web.uncg.edu/stn/student.groups/viewGroup.php?id=173

Nothing wrong with any of those, and a lot to be commended for, but three letters from the same Social Work class saying almost the exact same thing is a bit excessive, eh N&R?
(SWK 416 Field Instruction Seminar II, perhaps? http://www.uncg.edu/swk/bsw/courses.html )

But I look forward to more on the topic tomorrow, especially if it means improving a student's GPA. To the students I'd say keep up the hard work and idealism, but beware of people who want to manipulate you and your clients for their goals. Like our educational system, a top-heavy bureaucracy that never improves or solves any problems tends to generate some high-paying and self-promulgating positions. As Hemingway said, "Never mistake motion for action."

Pay attention to who you're helping, and always watch who they're hurting.

Roger

P.S.- UNCG students- Seriously, how much did writing the LTEs count for? Did you have to submit them to your teacher simultaneous to mailing them to the newspaper or were they seen and approved in advance? (Your professor is subtly teaching you something regardless, and there's a lesson there if you'll see it)

Natashia and Ms. Bennett,

You can't educate innocent children who have been dumped into group homes by their parents who never took time to care about them. I have an ex who wants to dump my grown son after 25 years of sexual, mental, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse by drug overdose daily on psycho meds handed out by Mental Health. My ex took illegal guardianship behind my back in 2002 and then carried out a financial fraud using my family and my dad's 401k's. He also intentionally disabled my son to call him mentally retarded and incompetent to take financial control of him, since my son was a genius in school but had ADHD which does not preclude incompetence. Now that son has continued to be abused and my ex keeps me from him by abuse and use of a falsified unsubstantiated 50B Orders saying that my son is afraid of me, since my ex knows if he gets free he is going to put him away along with most of Guilford County attorneys, DSS, Mental Health, the school system in the federal suit I am in the process of now filing within the next two to three weeks now that I have a set of federal attorneys. My ex stated in court last May that he planned to dump my son in a group home so he could be free to fly and cut the umbilical chord without my son present or any of the subpoeaned witnesses in the clerk of court's office who took his rights away. The obstruction of justice and violation of not only my son's rights but that of my parental rights have been violated in order that a massive financial fraud was carried out without a case having any jurisdiction when I won all the appeals in July 2000. My ex never filed a new lawsuit or petition to overturn what the NC Supreme Court addressed in the violations. My ex ran to the biggest attorney who carried out the fraud conspiracy using my son as a hostage continually and abuse that has never stopped. I have been denied all my rights to due process. The problem you have when the children in group homes age out, they have no where to go, since again they have been deprived of all of their rights. My son is a grown man, age 25, abused by a sexual pedophile father on the lam holding him by kidnapping and wanting to dump his problems and cover up the abuse on a group home for them to take the blame when abuse surfaces so he can make money off of a falsified trumped up charge to live off of now that someone else again takes the blame for his sick demented crimes as a sociopathic liar, schizophrenic, narcissistic, paranoid, introverted personality like that to Mike Devlin, the kidnapper, sodomizer of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Owenby last January 2007. I pray for those individuals who come out and find themselves in a jungle full of hate and abuse, and to think my ex wants to again dangle my son and the abuse he commits upon this human being for someone else to have to deal with the problems he created. My son isn't a harm to himself or to anyone else. He's left in a drugged state of catatonia all day long without anyone or social worker if my ex continually calls him mentally retarded and incompetent and disabled for fraud purposes using HUD fraud, social services, mental health, disability fraud, fraud of my parents, and government fraud by failure to report hidden unreported income converted illegally by the clerk of court at the direction of the chief district court judge Joe Turner at the manipulation and direction of attorney Kitty Hatfield who in turn had the check made to my ex in order to keep from being disbarred for misappropriation of monies by fraud. I'm blamed for the abuse without due process and trumped up charges to put the blame and a falsified criminal charge against me. I vow if my son is allowed to illegally be put into a group home after all I read and Mental health stating they need to be shut down, I'll close them through the attorney used as trustee. Give me your feedback. The state cares less about what mess these human lives are in, since they don't know how or who to call to assist them from the mistakes that their own parents created who hate them.

We took advantage of the pretty weather today and went fishing. Using no technique to speak of and a noisy topwater lure on a ten foot straight-down bank during the noonday lull, my not-all-that-big-on-fishing but ever-patient wife ended up hooking an eight pound catfish that jumped and fought and shook as well as any largemouth I've ever seen.

Some things are so odd and unexpected that sometimes the only thing one can say is, "Maybe you're using too light a line."

Roger

I understand that reading about the same issues over and over can become boring, but if the same issues are being brought up repeatedly perhaps that means something significant. I can not speak for others who have written about social work issues, but I can say that if I am stating that there needs to be change, I realize that I am part of helping that change to occur. For me this LTE is a way to bring a problem into the light in hopes that others will become active like myself in diminishing the problem.

Rb2dye,
I disagree that children in group homes are incapable of learning a new way of life. I am sorry to hear what your ex has done to both you and your son. There are many cases where things are done incorrectly involving parental rights. Hopefully, whatever is best for your son will happen. I believe that there is much work that needs to be done as far as programs that are set into place for those in group homes. Although the clients may have a lot of trauma I do believe that despite what other's (parents or others in the individual's environment) have done to a person they are able to change there circumstances. Some times this can be done independently, but most often assistance is needed. That is why I wrote this LTE. If sufficient help is provided, these individuals would know how to help themselves or know how to get further assistance.

N_Fisher,

Thanks for the response. Boring they weren't, but the coincidence was too unusual. And unlikely. College kids, who barely keep up with the news as a demographic, suddenly writing letters to the newspaper. And all from the same major...

"I can not speak for others who have written about social work issues..."

Did writing your LTE have any influence on your grade at UNCG?

Thanks,
Roger

The LTE was an assignment for a specific class. I am thankful for having to do this, because it gave me my first step in voicing my views and making efforts to educate people on issues that I believe need to be changed within the social service system.