Not a week later, this blog entry comes from the VA’s official blog about exactly what my paper was about. See my paper proposal below.

The topic brings up very relative thinking on the subject of wholesale transferring our communications systems to social media. Will people be able to find and access the information if its posted to an organization’s Facebook wall? Are there limitations to how far the federal government should go in using social media, as security is a top priority? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

Facebook Effectiveness: Getting Veterans What They Need

Introduction

Nearly 24 million veterans are eligible for benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans can receive funding for education, health care, mortgages and burial services, to name a few. However, not every veteran takes advantage of his or her eligible benefits.  For example, a third-party report by the Department of Veterans Affairs Home Loan Program found that less than 10 percent of eligible veterans were taking advantage of their home loan benefits (Economic Systems Inc., ORC Macro, The Hay Group, 2004).

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must continue its mission of providing benefits and services to these veterans, and this includes finding new communication and marketing delivery systems to inform them of the previously mentioned benefits. Military veterans are getting younger and their numbers have increased considerably, due in large part to the nation fighting two wars. Many of today’s young veterans are avid users of social media websites like Facebook. The VA’s page went live on Facebook Sept. 16, 2008, in response to the growing social media trend (Unknown, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Facebook Page, 2011)

For more than two years, the VA has maintained a Facebook presence. There are more than 96,000 fans who “like” the page. Posted on the page are various types of information, including links to other VA and federal agency pages, services veterans can use, and general topics to create dialogue. But how effective is the page at motivating veterans to use the benefits and services allocated to them? Research in the effectiveness of Facebook and social media websites is needed to determine if the time and communication investment by the VA truly serves the veteran population.

Literature Review

The federal government is striving to be more transparent and accountable to its citizens, and the President in 2009 directed that all agencies use social media sites like Facebook to provide information and create ongoing dialogues with the American people. Social media include online websites and tools that individuals and organizations can use to interact with others. The most prevalent social media website is Facebook, which has more than 500 million users and is free for users to establish an account. It gives a voice to potentially everyone with an Internet connection and has changed how people communicate (“Accidental Activists”, 2010). Facebook’s design allows the opportunity for users to communicate with family, friends, co-workers, customers, and post photos, videos and information on its site (www.facebook.com).

Businesses have used Facebook for marketing purposes for several years now. Dholakia and Durham (2010) measured the effect of Facebook on customer behavior for a Houston-based café. The researchers created a profile for the company and surveyed the likeliness that Facebook users who “liked” the company’s page were more inclined to visit the store and “generated more positive word of mouth” than those who were not “fans” (Dholakia & Durham, 2010, p. 26). They found that Facebook users who were fans of the page returned to the café 20 percent more often and gave the café a higher customer satisfaction rating than nonfans.

Facebook has the ability to deliver democracy to citizens. Kang and Gearhart (2010) concluded that democracy works when citizens are involved in policy debates, decisions, and actions. Known as the direct democracy theory, the Internet can bring together large entities like the federal government and its agencies into a single location with citizens to discuss government affairs (Kang & Gearhart, 2010, p. 447). The researchers studied how city websites facilitate civic engagement. Findings showed that the city websites could facilitate interactive citizen participation in the decision-making process (Kang & Gearhart, p. 454). This interaction extends beyond the city-level, as Facebook has taken a prominent role in enacting democracy around the world, as recently seen in Egypt (Mergel, 2011).

One study on the usefulness of Facebook for nonprofits (Scherer, 2010) found that organizations that allocated resources and personnel to actively monitor their Facebook page would find their number of fans increase. Also, Facebook has many free applications nonprofits can take advantage of that are philanthropy-based, designed to raise money (Scherer, 2010, p. 18). One application, “Causes,” allows individuals to donate to nonprofits of their choice and recruit other Facebook members to support their cause. These applications provide another avenue for charities to raise much-needed philanthropic dollars (Scherer, 2010, pp. 13-15).

Facebook has already demonstrated its powerful impact on bringing people around the country together for a single cause. Robertson, et. al. (2010) examined the Facebook wall postings of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. They found that nearly 60 percent of 2008 presidential candidates’ wall posts were on Obama’s page, 18 percent on Clinton’s page, and only 11 percent on McCain’s page. While the number of posts does not correlate to winning the presidency, there is a relationship between how much is posted to one candidate’s page versus the other (Robertson et al., 2010, 17). The researchers theorized that Facebook is effective in allowing for an active “public sphere,” where all citizens can engage in political dialogue.

Agency administrators can use this research to become more aware of social media issues. The Federal Web Managers Council warned that technology and security concerns are potential barriers for agencies, but administrators must remain transparent and open (Godwin, Campbell, & Levy, 2008). Their findings determined that the Obama administration needs a government-wide strategy for using social media tools that provides agencies opportunities to engage citizens, and informs citizens of well-defined terms of use that covers all social media sites like Facebook in order to encourage that engagement (Godwin, Campbell, & Levy, 2008, p. 2).

President Obama directed all agencies to establish “a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration” as part of his “open government” policy on January 21, 2009 (Sunstein, 2010). The document directs agencies to use social media tools like Facebook for such purposes as providing public comment and conducting virtual public meetings (Sunstein, 2010, p. 1).

The Department of Defense (DoD) is one federal agency that has already embarked into the world of Facebook. A private study by Janson Communications (2010) looked at the best practices of DoD Facebook pages as communication channels for its users. The study identified “effective” pages by their “usefulness, uniqueness and ease of use of the page’s content” (Janson Communications, 2010, p. 4). Some best practices include: 87 percent had a link to their official page and contact information; 33 percent interacted with fans; and the study highlighted the U.S. Army Recruiting Command launching an initiative to get all Army recruiting organizations to have a Facebook page for future recruits to visit (Janson Communications, 2010). The study did show shortcomings for the DoD Facebook pages, as only 22 percent of its pages had clear terms of use dictating acceptable comment behavior, and fan interaction overall was low, as 72 percent of comments and questions received no responses from page administrators (Janson Communications, 2010, p. 4).

Facebook can be an effective and inexpensive way for government agencies to provide a direct link to its citizens and users. More people than ever are using Facebook as a tool to spur democracy through information, communication, and advocacy. The federal government has embraced the shift to social media and the Department of Defense is reaping the benefits, with room for improvement. A look into how the Department of Veterans Affairs can measure the return on investment of its Facebook page is in order.

Conceptual Framework

Research into Facebook’s success in delivering benefits and services from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors is limited. Since Facebook is still relatively new and is constantly being updated by its staff, academic researchers may not have had enough time to conduct in-depth tests about Facebook’s efficacy in marketing organizations’ programs. These limitations make it difficult to determine the impact that Facebook has had on organizations around the world.

To date, no studies have analyzed the impact of Facebook on veterans, which is the main customer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans might have specific limitations in using the VA’s Facebook page that other groups may not experience, such as physical and mental injuries incurred from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Veterans are also more likely to be homeless than their civilian counterparts, which could create barriers to getting information from social media websites like Facebook that require Internet access. More research into how Facebook can address different types of disabilities and gaining access to its websites should be conducted in the future.

Research Goals & Purpose

The goal of this study is to determine the Department of Veterans Affairs’ effectiveness of using social media sites like Facebook in delivering information about its various programs to military veterans. There is limited research data on how federal agencies have incorporated social media into their business practices, and this study will be one of the first to analyze the Department of Veterans Affairs’ benefits and drawbacks of using Facebook as a communication tool.

The study’s purpose is exploratory in nature and will provide an in-depth look into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ effectiveness in using Facebook to facilitate dialogue and inform veterans of its services. Conducting a research study focused on Facebook’s efficacy will provide important data for professionals in all sectors wanting to know how to use this innovative social media tool to drive clients, customers, and citizens to their site.

Research Problem

How effective is the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook site in delivering information about its programs to military veterans?

Variable Definitions

The dependent variable for this research proposal will be military veterans’ attitudes about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook site. Its conceptual definition is the thoughts and feelings of Facebook users who “like” the Facebook page owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs at http://www.facebook.com/#!/VeteransAffairs. The operational definition focuses on the ordinal scale level VA Facebook site users attribute their opinions to the levels of effectiveness. The definition of effectiveness as “factor of ease for Facebook user to find information located on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook site.”  The unit of analysis is individuals and the measurement scale is ordinal.

The conceptual definition of the independent variable demographics of the survey respondents is made up of five operational definitions: are they male or female, age, military status, and if they are, or have ever been, a homeless or disabled veteran. The unit of analysis is individual and based off nominal scales.  The nominal scales are for identifying and labeling categories of the survey respondents. They will also help when controlling for certain variables, like if the respondent answers that they are, or have been, a homeless or disabled veteran.

Data Collection Methods: Sampling

The sample population is the 500 million-plus Facebook users around the world. The sample frame is the 97,238 people who “like” the VA’s Facebook page (Unknown, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Facebook Page, 2011). The sample picked to take the research survey will be 10,000 users who will receive a generic email found on their Facebook page with a link to the Survey Monkey survey. Using Facebook users who “like” the VA’s Facebook page be the sample pool to take the survey meets the objective of answering the research question because the study is looking at the users’ attitudes toward Facebook’s effectiveness in providing them information about the agency’s benefits and services.

The method for sampling will be a simple random sample. All 97,238 Facebook users who “like” the VA page will be inputted into a random number table. The selection of who is 1, 2, 3, etc., for the generator will be created by working with the VA to obtain access to see who “likes” the page in order to complete the survey. To obtain a 99 percent confidence level and a 4 percent error level, 1,026 surveys must be returned. With an estimated response rate of 25 percent, 4,104 surveys need to be sent out. So through an Excel document, all 97,238 names would be placed next to a repeating number list of 1, 2, 3. The random number generator would select 4,104 numbers, corresponding to 4,104 names. After double-checking with the VA Facebook administrators to ensure they are still users who “like” the page, researchers will obtain the emails of the selected survey respondents and send out the survey.

Data Collection Methods: Survey & Protocol Forms

The survey will be created through the online survey creator Survey Monkey.com. The generated web address will then be emailed to the randomly sampled group of respondents. Those selected have two weeks to answer the questions. Email is chosen as the preferred delivery method because it is cheaper to use than mail, more time-efficient than conducting the survey in-person, and can reach all respondents quickly. Using Survey Monkey allows study participants an easy access point to complete the survey, and immediately returns survey results. One cost to email is that the respondents may not see or skip over the email, or it may go into a Junk e-mail box and may be deleted.

The survey will measure the level of effectiveness that fans have associated with the VA Facebook site. The survey will begin with five questions focused on the dependent variables centered on the VA Facebook page’s effectiveness and finish with five questions covering the respondent’s demographics: age range, sex, military status, if they are a disabled veteran or a homeless veteran.

Researchers made an emphasis not to have a survey with biased questions that bring biased results. Because this is a first-look into the attitudes of a new social media tool like Facebook with such a large sampling population, closed-questions that are mostly behavioral in nature were selected. The actual survey is in Appendix I.

Providing respondents a quick way to measure their attitudes about the level of effectiveness about various aspects of the VA’s Facebook page was the purpose behind the survey. The five questions regarding overall effectiveness, providing information on its benefits and services, generating dialogue on its Wall, ease of use in offering benefit application information, and effectiveness in helping customers speak with a benefits counselor represent the major services the VA delivers to the veteran community.

Human Subjects Protection

Approval from the Seattle University’s Institutional Review Board is required for this proposal. An anonymous survey will be given to a random sampling of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook users measuring their attitudes and level of effectiveness of the agency’s Facebook page. The benefits to acquiring their beliefs are that the research gained from these surveys will result in one of the first studies about Facebook’s effectiveness for a federal agency, it provides the VA information about how its users feel about its page so they can continue to conduct process improvement, and it will provide opportunities for future researchers to build off this research in determining other agencies’ level of effectiveness in delivering services to its customers through social media.

Protecting the confidentiality and anonymity of the human subject survey respondents reduces their risk. Consent to the survey will be established by having the respondents choose to accept the introduction and privacy statement before starting the survey through the Survey Monkey website to ensure they are fully aware the information they are providing is truly private and anonymous.

Data Management

Survey Monkey offers its own human subjects protection and data management security procedures as a third-party company. Once the deadline to respond to the survey has passed, researchers will apply a numerical coding system to each question and its corresponding answer, such as 01, 02, 03, or 04, etc. These labels are in the data dictionary, located in Appendix II. The data dictionary gives users “easy access to the type of data that they should expect to see in every table, row and column of the database, without actually accessing the database” (Unknown, Top Bits.com, para. 1). The survey questions are inputted into Microsoft Excel 2010 as part of the data dictionary, and each are labeled according to their variable name, in separate columns, as well as the numerical values assigned to the survey answers.

Protection of the data is of the highest priority for the study’s researchers. Survey Monkey guarantees the security of survey data. Researchers will password-protect their Survey Monkey account for added protection. Printed out survey results will have no identifiable information about respondents. Paper copies will be stored in a lockable safe. Thumb drives carrying survey data will be password-protected. All survey data shared with the VA will have no identifiable information regarding specific responses by Facebook users of their page.

Data Analysis

Data analysis of the survey results will occur through multiple sources of bar graphs, pie charts, quantitative measuring techniques, and descriptive statistics. Bar graphs and pie charts can display in a more visually appealing manner raw survey data results. A pie chart is a circle conveying a proportion of the whole accounted for by each component and a bar graph shows the variable and frequency on separate axis. These descriptive statistic models allow readers of the study to come to quicker decisions about their thoughts regarding the study than lists of raw data in number form could illustrate.

Once all data has been compiled and results are tabulated, each effectiveness variable’s statistical significance will be computed for the 95 percent level with a 4 percent margin of error. It is important to know if the survey results are statistically significant because this calculation helps ensure that the results did not come about by chance.

More tests like finding the R² on a linear regression line created from a scatter plot needs to be completed because researchers will want to know how closely related were the levels of effectiveness to their specific dependent variable. For example, we may find that the overall effectiveness of the VA’s Facebook page is a 4.0, or “somewhat effective” based off the mean, but how effective in number form is that?  Through a scatter plot and a linear regression line, the study is better served to have very specific analysis numbers. This data can then be replicated by future researchers, or built upon to develop more in-depth analyses of Facebook users also.

For an even greater look at multiple effectiveness variables applied to how users perceive the VA Facebook page, a multivariate regression equation can be completed. If any data has a relatively high R² with a statistical significance of at least 90 percent, we can say that these multiple dependent variables either influence positively or negatively their views of the effectiveness of the page.

Expected Results; Argument & Discussion

The expected results from the survey should be that Facebook users who “like” the Department of Veterans Affairs’ page believe that the site is “somewhat effective” or “effective” at providing them information about the agency’s benefits and services. These findings should be similar for all five questions about the different variables tested about Facebook’s effectiveness for the VA. The questions should indicate a statistically significant positive relationship at the 95 percent confidence level.

When controlling for disabled veterans or homeless veterans, the level of effectiveness should be lower for these groups than for any other demographic group surveyed. The reason for this is that disabled and homeless veterans are more likely to have less access to an Internet connection (if they are homeless) or are more likely to have a higher burden placed on them to check the VA’s Facebook page (disabled veterans). This study is not controlling for veterans who may have suffered a mental injury due to the Iraq or Afghanistan wars because this is only an exploratory study with the intention for further research conducted on specific veteran population groups in the future.

If Facebook is found effective at providing information and services to veterans, including serving as a tool for citizens to interact with their government, it will be a major step for federal agencies to devote more resources and manpower to maintaining the site, thus engaging in e-democracy and digital representative governance.

Validity, Generalizability & Quality Concerns

The internal validity is probably mildly strong because there is no way to measure military veterans’ attitudes about the effectiveness of the VA’s Facebook page. Not everyone who “likes” the VA’s page is a military veteran. Friends of veterans or people whose jobs center on veterans are more than likely going to be friends of the page. This weakens the internal validity because we are not able to measure only military veterans’ attitudes. A major threat to the study’s internal validity is maturation, or natural changes taking place in the study’s units. The VA can update, edit and delete any Wall posting, photo or piece of information posted to their Facebook site at any time. What one survey respondent sees may be different from another. These naturally changing situations may cause effectiveness attitudes to change, depending on when a survey respondent sees the page.

The study has a strong external validity because the results can be generalized to represent the effectiveness of most public, private and nonprofit Facebook pages. Most Facebook users who “like” an organization’s page have some type of affinity to that organization. As previously mentioned, people are more likely to speak up in favor of a company that they “like” on Facebook (Dholakia & Durham, 2010).

Real-world situations can benefit from this study. Other government agencies wanting to establish a Facebook presence can use the results from this study as a general starting point to developing best practices in social media. This is important because a large swath of the VA’s stakeholders are represented on their Facebook page, thus making the survey data more valuable to other agencies, because they would be seeing a large proportion of the public represented.

Similar to the threat of the study’s internal validity, the reliability of indicators and measures could be weak. Depending on respondents’ mood, fatigue possibility, degree of attention and other factors that can affect how accurately they answer the survey, the reliability of the ordinal scale value they choose can be in question. To control for possible errors concerning reliability, the study does factor the likelihood of a random error occurring (4 percent expected error in results). Finally, the survey’s introduction explains key definitions of variables found within the survey, and researchers strived to keep out bias in questions.

Project Management & Schedule

Conclusion

As the number of veterans continues to rise and more emphasis is placed on the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide education, care and other social benefits, the agency has to find new ways to communicate their programs and services to an ever-growing veteran population. One of those ways is through social media websites like Facebook. The VA has a Facebook page that allows users to post questions or comments, and has links to its main site about each of its major programs. Determining how effective the VA’s Facebook page is in helping veterans find the information they need about its benefits and services is key for the agency to ensure it is devoting the resources and time maintaining the site and its customers, the veterans, are best served as the VA’s customer by the Facebook page. How effective is the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook site in delivering information about its programs to military veterans?

To find out what Facebook users who “like” the VA’s Facebook page think about its effectiveness, a survey will be sent out to a sample of the VA’s Facebook page fans. The survey will ask several questions about how these Facebook users would rate the level of effectiveness of various aspects of the page, and then ask for basic demographic data. Two demographic questions focus on whether the survey respondent is, or has been, a homeless or disabled veteran. The survey responses from individuals who answer “Yes” to this question are even more important for researchers, and the VA, to know about, because these two categories of veterans represent the VA’s most vulnerable population.

One ethical consideration must be taken into account with these two groups, though. The survey stresses that it is voluntary and will not be factored into any decision made by the VA. Before respondents have an opportunity to answer the survey, Survey Monkey will require them to press the “Accept” button on the introduction and privacy page, which will acknowledge informed consent. Subjects should be fully knowledgeable about the risks and benefits of the study they are participating in.

The federal government has a duty to provide the highest level of care, benefits and services available to its military veterans. That said, veterans need to know how to access those benefits and services, and the VA has ventured into the social media to reach out to its younger veterans who live in an online world. Facebook is currently one of the best prospects to reach them. But is it effective? This study looks at how effective Facebook can be in providing information about an agency’s benefits and services to users. Very few academic studies covering Facebook were found. This study will serve as one of the first in-depth studies into Facebook’s effectiveness, which can be a great starting point for future research about how the social media conglomerate is changing the communication landscape for companies, public sector agencies and nonprofits.

Appendices: Data Dictionary, Survey Instrument & Protocol

Appendix I: Survey

This survey is designed to find out how you and others feel about the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook site. For the purposes of this survey, effectiveness is defined as “ease of use” for a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Facebook user to find information on the agency’s information and programs. You have been selected because you are a Facebook user who “Likes” the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook page

Your answers are voluntary and will be anonymous for your full protection. Your answers will provide insight for how federal agencies can continue to deliver their benefits and services through new communication technologies like social media and specifically, Facebook. There is no right or wrong answers to these questions. We are interested in what you think and feel about this organization’s Facebook site. The survey should take about five minutes to complete.

Your answers to these questions are completely confidential. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to see Survey Monkey’s confidentiality statement. No one in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ will have access to your individual answers.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.

The following questions are based on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Not effective and 5 being “Effective.

Not effective            Less effective            Neutral/No opinion             Somewhat Effective            Effective

1                        2                     3                                      4                           5

1.     How would you rate the overall effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook page?

2.     How would you rate the Department of Veterans Affairs’ effectiveness in providing information on its benefits and services from its Facebook site?

3.     How would you rate the Department of Veterans Affairs’ effectiveness in encouraging dialogue about its programs and benefits from its Facebook Wall?

4.     How would you rate the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook page in helping you apply for benefits or services?

5.     How would you rate the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Facebook page in helping you speak to a Department of Veterans Affairs’ benefits counselor?

Demographics

6.     Are you male or female?

7.     What is your age?

0-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-64

65+

8.     What is your military status?

a.     Active duty

b.     Reserve

c.     National Guard

d.     Veteran

e.     Department of Defense civilian

f.      Family member

g.     Civilian (no military service)

9.     Are you now, or have you ever been, a disabled veteran?

Yes                        No            Prefer not to answer

10.  Are you now, or have you ever been, a homeless veteran?

Yes                        No            Prefer not to answer

Appendix II: Data dictionary

Works Cited

“Accidental Activists”. (2010, Fall/Winter). Journal of International Affairs. Accidental Activists: Using Facebook to drive change, pp. 177-180.

Communications, J. (2010, March). Military Facebook Study. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from Janson Communications: http://www.jansoncom.com/assets/files/Military_Facebook_Study_March2010_final.pdf.

Dholakia, U., & Durham, E. (2010). One Cafe Chain’s Facebook Experiment. Harvard Business Review, 88(3), p. 26.

Economic Systems Inc., ORC Macro, The Hay Group. (2004, July). Evaluation of VA’s Home Loan Guaranty Program. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/docs/final_report.pdf.

Godwin, B., Campbell, S., & Levy, J. (2008, December 23). Social Media and the Federal Government: Perceived and Real Barriers and Potential Solutions. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/documents/SocialMediaFed%20Govt_BarriersPotentialSolutions.pdf.

Kang, S., & Gearhart, S. (2010, September). E-Government and Civic Engagement: How are Citizens’ Use of City Web Sites Related with Civic Involvement and Political Behaviors? Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 54(3), pp. 443-462.

Mergel, I. (2011, February 20). Revolution 2.0. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from Social Media in the Public Sector: http://inesmergel.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/revolution-2-0/.

Robertson, S., Vatrapu, R., & Medina, R. (2010, 11 31). Off the wall political discourse: Facebook use in the 2008 presidential election. Information Polity, 15, pp. 11-31.

Scherer, M. B. (2010, December). Nonprofit Organizations and Facebook Use Thesis. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Scherer%20Mary%20Beth.pdf?toledo1290009046.

Sunstein, C. R. (2010, April 7). Social Media, Web-Based Interactive Technologies, and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, pp. 1-7.

Unknown. (2011, February 20). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Facebook Page. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.facebook.com/#!/VeteransAffairs.

Unknown. (n.d.). http://www.facebook.com/facebook?sk=wall. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from www.facebook.com.

Pluralistic ignorance occurs when “…individuals underestimate the proportion of others who think, feel, or act as they themselves do,” (Glynn et al., 224) and this happens extensively in times of great social change, which is exactly what is going on in Iraq.

Many years prior to this Iraq war, I believed the Middle East had no desire to establish democracies. The Muslim religion and true liberal democracies cannot work together, nor should it. Here in the United States, we believe that religion should be separate from government, and we have a tendency to believe that all other countries should want the same. That is pluralistic ignorance, and it can create great foreign policy issues for the nation.

While the ideals of democracy are slowly being entrenched into the Iraqi peoples’ mindsets, they still believe Islam rules the land. The Bush administration, which is probably one of the most pluralistically ignorant governments elected in this country’s history, did not accurately poll the Iraqi peoples’ desire for democracy. Positive nation-building doesn’t work with rogue soldiers torturing prisoners or being forced to guard oil fields strictly for oil companies, which will ship that oil back to the U.S., and no money earmarked for Iraq.

Pluralistic ignorance can also affect future public opinion and policymaking. According to Glynn et al., there are ample examples to how public opinion on a policy can shape lawmakers’ decisions. Clinton stopped pushing for his health care reform bill when public opinion decreased for it, but was able to get an increase for minimum wage passed because the public supported it. But when lawmakers and administration officials misperceive the public’s view on a policy, it can have an opposite effect. While public opinion on the Clinton scandal called for Congress to just pass censure, they decided to push for impeachment. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars were wasted on testimonies and trials, just to get the same result a censure would have done: no impeachment conviction and no repercussions for the president.

Everyone partakes in pluralistic ignorance; it’s a psychological/social event that makes us human. But educated people, like those elected to government positions and especially, the White House, should be able to recognize when they are utilizing it. For us as a people to believe any occupied nation would be happy with that outcome is just plain fooling themselves.

The military copes with the struggles involved with fighting its nation’s wars. A soldier can deploy to Iraq for a year, suffer through hardships beyond comprehension, and return home, only to be asked a most daunting question: “What was it like over there?” Or a civilian will come up to the airman and say, “I support the troops and I appreciate everything you did for America.” Or they will inform the Marine or sailor that they knew someone who fought in Iraq, and it really makes them mad that the government would start a war like that. “At these, I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as the occasion may require.” (Du Bois, 2)

To the real question, what does the service member say back to these innocent individuals about the Iraq problem? “I answer seldom a word.” (Du Bois, 2)

Like the military, which represents a minority of the U.S. population and has been subjected to constant war for the past six years, African Americans have been trying to figure out how to stop being a problem. W.E.B. Du Bois encapsulated the problems associated with African Americans in his classic The Souls of Black Folk. In the book, he brought to light the major issues facing the nation at that time, which was that the problem of the 20^th century would be the color line. But how could he make such a prescient statement? He was an African American himself who lived within the veil. The collection of essays foresaw how white America’s innocence and failure to realize its own subjectivity allowed them to maintain the status quo and oppress those who were different. 

Du Bois said that two major social ideas associated with the veil are double-consciousness and second-sight. Before the military service member learned about the sorrows connected to double-consciousness and second-sight, African Americans embodied the two social ideas.

Double-consciousness is a “…sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” (Du Bois, 3)

Du Bois’ awareness of his double-consciousness provided a gift of knowledge that many of his fellow countrymen did not have. For instance, by looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, he could feel his “…two-ness, – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings.” (Du Bois, 3)

 Because of his strength to fight through the veil, the two warring ideals were kept from being torn asunder. He did not let the strife get to him like it did to others. “With other black boys, the strife was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or…silent hatred of the pale world about them…or beat unavailing palms against the stone…” (Du Bois, 3 )

Unfortunately, enlightenment of one’s double-consciousness brought a curse. Once one leaves the complacent atmosphere of blissful ignorance, all the problems of the world rush into one’s mind, and for Du Bois, especially, it mentally weighed him down. He saw an American government promise his people emancipation, yet fail to actually provide it in anything more than words. “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.” (Du Bois, 6)

Another gift provided by double-consciousness is second-sight. Once an African American became conscious that the white world did not view them as a doctor, or a teacher, or a writer, but as a black man or woman, a new stream of thinking was created. This gift of thought would now take in the white person’s stereotypes of what an African American was or should be.  Then, the African American would now manifest a second-guessing syndrome where he or she would constantly wonder what would be the right thing to say. Du Bois put it best when he wrote, “…two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” (Du Bois, 3)

The revelations of double-consciousness and second-sight occurred to Du Bois at a relatively young age. Du Bois wrote about his experience of giving out visiting cards to a young girl, who refused to accept it peremptorily. This was his first awakening to the realization that he was different from others; this is where he discovered his second sight. He discovered the veil cast down upon him by society, limiting his view of himself and how others see him in the world. He… “had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through…” (Du Bois, 2)

To beat the curses of institutionalized racism, Du Bois, like many African Americans, limited the power of the veil by performing activities better than the white children did. “The sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or even beat their stringy heads.” (Du Bois, 2)

But the veil had been in place for more than 300 years, so what was the African American to do?   Economic vitality was being sold as the key to prosperity by the whites, but this did not hold much practicality for blacks. The South had become a region of serfdom: African American sharecroppers worked for little to no wages for rich, white landowners. As the nation as a whole became richer because of the Industrial Age, African Americans, in a race to the bottom, were becoming consistently poorer.  “He felt his poverty; without a cent, without a home, without land, tools, or savings…To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.” (Du Bois,

So what was the African American to do? For Du Bois, that answer was simple: “…human brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of Race; the ideal of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil two world-races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack.” (Du Bois, 11)

His desire for integration would require whites to realize their own subjectivity and understand that they could have been born African Americans. Without these stipulations happening, Americans would not move beyond their problematic history.

White America has best been known as the historically privileged. They have espoused that America is built up on liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness, in the Declaration of Independence, yet, according to Du Bois, because of slavery, have yet to give those opportunities to all of its citizens.  “Freedom, too, the long-sought, we still seek, – the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire. Work, culture, liberty – all these we need…” (Du Bois, 11)

Without true freedom and racial equality, African Americans will continue to stay in their role as being historically oppressed. White America must change the way it sees itself as being the ideal, and evolve from being historically privileged to developing a more legitimate sense of historical consciousness. They must integrate the African American experience into the social fabric of America’s history. The white way is not the only way. Every race, culture, social group in America has a voice, a message for the world, and each manifests itself differently. For Du Bois, the message of the African American is one of hope dissolved in a world of despair. “…but for fresh young souls who have not known the night and waken to the morning; a morning when men ask of the workman, not ‘Is he white?’ but ‘Can he work?’” (Du Bois, 213)

When the nation can combine these together and see the beauty and potentiality for all races, sexes, genders, religions and social groups, then, perhaps, the equality so cherished in the Declaration of Independence can be achieved in the United States.

The problem of the 21^st century may be the problem of our military’s consciousness. The dichotomy of a soldier also being a civilian is not much different from an African being an American. Both the soldier and the African American will experience some form of double-consciousness and second-sight, where they will constantly second-guess how they should act around other civilians. It is possible that an African American soldier experiences a heightened sense of double consciousness, since he or she must interpret how they are seen by not only other fellow white soldiers, but also by civilians who do not understand their experiences. Regardless, both social groups need to tell America their story, their message for the world, so that social dissonance does not continue, and Du Bois’ fears for his deceased boy do not completely come to fruition for future generations. “Well sped, my boy, before the world had dubbed your ambition insolence, had held your ideals unattainable, and taught you to cringe and bow. Better far this nameless void that stops my life than a sea of sorrow for you.” (Du Bois, 213)

We didn’t hear about Jim and Jane the veterans because they have either been recalled out of the IRR after already deploying several times, recuperating in a post or VA hospital near you, or just trying to fit back into normal civilian society. Veterans are only mentioned by politicians to get votes – its the race to the bottom to see who is the vets’ best friend. I wish Obama had mentioned McCain earning a rank of “D” for support of veterans issues, especially when he claims he is the best friend a veteran can have. McCai will be another third term for Bush – another president that says he supports the troops, but fails to act on it. If there were 17 million veterans instead of 1.7 million, this election would have a much different feel to it. Would the veterans voting debacle almost have happened in Ohio if this was the case? I don’t think so… We all owe IAVA a debt of gratitude for protecting our brotherts and sisters in arms’ right to vote as they perform the true act of citizenry: serving our nation in the military. 

Imagine my fellow Americans if the military lost the right to vote. But its happened in the last two elections. In fact, it is the brainchild of Karl Rove – because of the delay it takes for mail to travel from Iraq to the United States (typically 10 days), a young soldier who doesn’t understand that all ballots not returned by an arbitrary mailing deadline will be deemed invalid and either be completely thrown out or the least challenged, will not have his or her vote counted. We send our military to war, send them to lose body parts or worse, their life, and we try to take away their right to vote? One of the real reasons Republicans try to keep this behind closed doors, especially this year, is because lower-enlisted soldiers and junior officers are going to vote for Obama. And not just a little – they will go for him by a 2/3rds majority. It is the senior officers and political appointees at the Pentagon who want McCain elected. I’ve said it here – will history bear me out? We’ll find out in three weeks!

However, no player on the Madden cover has been TRADED to another team in the same year, heck, before the game has even come out! This means a mint-condition, unopened Madden NFL ’09 with Favre in a Packers’ uniform could potentially be worth some money in the not-too-distant future.

Capital venturists out there – let’s go make some money!

Iran doesn’t need to Photoshop in a fourth one to add effect: the U.S. government is already in full swing preparing the nation for war against the Middle Eastern country. This little stunt will now allow more pandering from the presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on dealing with Iran.

This event is very similar to what Powell did six years ago in front of the United Nations: he showed manipulated photos and played possibly rigged tapings to drum up support for Iraq. How fitting that it is now the other side that has resulted to these tactics.

Will these photos have any effect on our elected leaders advocating for a war in Iran, or just blow over as another silly tactic used by a totalitarian state?

This weekend, I completed the long-term goal: I graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree. I majored in Communications-Journalism and Political Science, and minored in History.

Unfortunately, Tim died Friday, June 13, preparing for yesterday’s “Meet The Press” episode. I have spent the psat year watching him methodically interviewing politicians, presidential candidates, and other journalists. He taught me so much – not just about where the politicians stood on issues, but how to correctly conduct the interview itself.

I don’t like watching the preachers on tv on Sunday. Except for one – Tim’s house of worship that is the “Meet The Press” studio. I never met him, never spoke to him, but I felt like I knew him. He had that boyish desire to know everything, that I try to keep alive in myself. I will miss him, and he can never be replaced. Thanks Tim, for helping me achieve my goals.

Leave it up to the nerds of Weezer to  make a video filled with youtube pop culture references. I think when you get parodied, that means you made it? Way to go youtube! Now lets just hope you can win your suit for copyright infringement against Viacom…

Videos provide a type of realism that blogs with words just can’t provide. This video “Stories from the Frontlines” is great for anyone who wants to learn the lingo that Marines and soldiers use while in Iraq. A must-see video!

More than 40 years ago, King announced to the world that he had a dream:

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Many in this nation are overjoyed that an African-American man has the best chance ever to be the next president of the United States. White people voted for Barack Obama, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, possibly a representative from every nation on this earth voted for him.

Obama’s wife said this: “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback” several months ago. I, like her, am also proud that my country is trying to shed 400 years of oppression through slavery, racism and segregation. Perhaps America will continue this momentous occassion and propel Obama to the White House and make Dr. King’s declaratory statement that we, America, will be “free at last.”