Scot Young

Hello, friends;

I am Scot Young, I am a doctoral student in educational psychology and artificial intelligence at Oregon State University. My background is in computer programming and psychological assesssment. I have spent the last three years as a graduate assistant in the Department of Educational Psychology at Oregon State, where I have been researching the relationship between decision making and no win situations. Our team is investigating the human reaction to situations in which there are no clear or best choice solutions. We are building programming that will recreate the human reactions and responses to these situations so that computing systems can simulate them for learning purposes

I teach a graduate course in the educational administration program at OSU on ethical decision making in which the infamous case of the Kobayashi Maru is used as an opening exercise. Prior to my work at OSU, I worked as a educational psychologist in the Aurora school district in eastern Colorado. I am married and have four children, all girls. My wife, Anne, is a registered nurse and works in labor and delivery. We love to travel, and have been to every continent except Antartica. We are Quakers, although I was brought up by a Jewish mother

I hope to be done with my dissertation in about a year and at that time, we will be looking to secure a position as a professor at a university where I can continue my scholarship in ethical decision making. I enjoy science fiction and fantasy. C S Lewis' That Hideous Strength is one of my favorite all-time reads, closely followed by the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. I look forward to participating in this conference with you and hope to meet you all

Patricia Ramirez

My name is Patricia Ramirez, and I am a 30 year old Latina student attending Rogue Community College. I spent my young life in Oregon, and I am a US citizen, but my family moved to Mexico when I was in high school. I am obviously fluent in Spanish and after several years in Mexico, I fell in love and married a Mexican man. We eventually moved back to Oregon together where we are raising our children. My husband is a legal resident of the USA, and works in construction. He wants to become a US citizen, but there is so much red-tape that we wonder how long this is going to take. Our three young sons, ages 4, 6 and 8, keep me very busy. I have always been a good student, and I am good at math, but I never had an opportunity to attend college. My parents did not think it was necessary for a girl to go to college, even though my father is an educated man. After we returned to the US, and after my children were born, I decided to start college. I work in a clerical position at a local health care organization, but the income is small, and I would love to someday teach. My husband and I send a portion of our income to my husband’s family in Mexico every month. Because I’m a wife, a mother, and a full-time employee, I have only been able to take a few classes each term toward my Associate of Arts, Oregon Transfer degree...but I will finally graduate this year. I plan transfer to a four year institution, and major in Math. I hope to be able to take most of my classes on-line, since childcare is always an issue for me, and it sometimes interferes with my ability to attend classes. I have often had to make up homework and assignments but I am proud that I have still been able to earn A’s and B’s. I am concerned about having to travel to a four year institution in order to take the classes I need, it would be very difficult for me to continue under those circumstances. I love computers, and eventually I hope to teach math in a college or university. I want to be a positive role model for other Latino and Latina students.

Even though it is difficult to find the time, I enjoy being a member of the Club Latino at RCC. I hope that I will find a way to continue to participate even after I have graduated, even if it is only to contribute to the "Educacion, Un Mundo des Opportunidades" event every year.