Reflection on Connie Johnson

Sometimes we don’t always see the beauty of an individual rose, but I would like to take a moment to focus a little bit about a very beautiful rose, Connie Johnson, who graced the Marquette University Law School for over 33 years.  Connie passed away on Friday, October 12 at the age of 82 years.

Connie was a loose-leaf filer for all the time that I worked with her.  Not only did she keep the loose-leaf materials in good order, but she did so in the best possible way she could.  Additionally, she developed a means for filing recently released Wisconsin Senate and Assembly materials that the library received, and she developed the process for maintaining the replaced pages for the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

She worked with many students and staff, explaining the intricacies of loose-leaf filing and advocating for the disabled in the law library.  Among her accomplishments, she authored the book, Filer’s Guide for Loose-Leaf Services in a Law Library (Z 675 .L2 J65 1979).

While some may have viewed Connie as having a gruff exterior, much of that was due to her disabilities, which she neither hid nor flaunted.  She was outspoken when it came to care for people who had disabilities, and was quick to explain the practical nature of helping people.

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Senator Ron Johnson Lets Numbers Illustrate His Views in “On the Issues” Visit

US Senator Ron Johnson let the numbers tell a lot of the story Tuesday during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session at Marquette University Law School.

Numbers showing how the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) that comes from federal spending, which has risen a lot with projections that it will keep rising. Numbers showing how the gap between projected federal revenue and spending has grown and is forecast to become much bigger. Numbers showing how, in the history of Social Security, the amount collected exceeded the amount spent every year until 2010 but now we’re at the start of a projected long run in which payments are greater than revenue. Numbers showing how steps such as increasing taxes on rich people would do very little to close the gaps in upcoming federal budgets if we stay on the course we’re on. He showed these and other matters as graphs on two large screens in Eckstein Hall’s Appellate Courtroom.

But Johnson also included numbers on some non-economic issues. A chart on the dramatic long-term climb of “births out of wedlock” appeared to spark the most reaction in the audience of about 200. The single-mother birth rate was 6.9% in 1964 and 41% in recent years, Johnson’s chart showed. He called the rise “a very graphic, very harmful unintended consequence of all of our good intentions” in the national War on Poverty, started in the 1960s. Among the factors Johnson said were behind the increase: Public benefits policies that provided unintended incentives for mothers not to get married. As “a compassionate society,” he said, government wanted to help those in need.

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Confirmation Bias

Teaching dispute resolution typically includes making students aware of the many different biases that influence our views of conflicts and our decision making. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about confirmation bias during this election. According to the Oxford Dictionary, confirmation bias is “the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.” A prime example of this bias in operation during the election cycle is the decision about who won the second Presidential Debate. Republicans tended to state that Romney won, while Democrats typically called the debate in Obama’s favor.

There’s an interesting blog post about this phenomenon and satire on Social Psychology Eye, an associated site for Wiley-Blackwell’s review journal on Social and Personality Psychology. Even though the post is from April 2011, it has some good points to keep in mind in the next few weeks while we’re barraged by negative ads, phone calls, internet ads, etc. One great piece of advice is at the end of the post:

“Here is one tip for overcoming confirmation bias within yourself: When most people do ‘reality testing’ they seek information that confirms their existing views are correct. Instead, try to do the opposite. Try to find evidence that argues against your existing views. It may be uncomfortable, but it can be more likely to lead to information that is accurate rather than just comforting.”

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