2013 Common Reader

Faculty & Staff Resources

For more information:

www.actx.edu/commonreader

Courtney Milleson

806.371.5427

AC Common Reader

#2013ACCR

@ACCommonReader #2013ACCR

@2013ACCR

Doc Hendley Biography

“I hereby proclaim November 5th, 2009, as Doc Hendley day.”

When these words were spoken by Dr. Jim Woodward, Chancellor of North Carolina State University, thunderous applause echoed

through the crowd and a humble, grateful smile flashed across Doc Hendley’s face.

Doc Hendley is the epitome of the individual who has made a difference. Tens of thousands of people around the world have clean

drinking water they did not have before an idea popped into the head of this “tattooed keg-tapper” musician. Hendley realized that

just by using his ability to bartend and create relationships with people, he might be able to help the problem. At the bars where he

worked, he started raising money to fight this water epidemic the best way he knew how—by pouring wine and playing music.

Hendley has taken personal risks to do the hard work of providing water and clean water education in far-flung locations around

the globe. He worked in dozens of refugee camps installing water systems for victims of Darfur’s government supported genocide.

Often working inside the United Nations’ dangerous “no-go” zones, he distributed water or chlorine tablets to people with only

plastic sheeting for shelter.

Hendley was named one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes for 2009 (chosen from over 9,000 applicants by a panel of judges, including

General Colin Powell, Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Turner, and Sir Elton John).

Today Hendley’s Wine to Water foundation aims to help the 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean water. By using

wine events to raise money and awareness about the lack of clean drinking water in the developing world, Doc Hendley has har-

nessed a powerful social force and multiplied the generosity of many.

Hendley is, in essence, turning wine to water for some of the neediest people on the planet for three simple reasons:

At least one in six people worldwide lack access to adequate amounts of safe water for drinking and hygiene, according to the

UN.

Water-borne illnesses kill far more children than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.

Unclean water contributes to diarrhea, the leading cause of illness and death, and translates to 1.5 million preventable deaths

each year.

Doc did not dream of dedicating his life to humanitarian efforts in developing countries. Far from it, in fact. He graduated from

North Carolina State University with a communications degree that he wasn’t sure how to use. While bartending to pay the bills, he

noticed the men and women sitting on the stools seemed to want to be part of something bigger. The 30-year-old Hendley got in-

spired behind the bar, and today his nonprofit group, Wine to Water, has dug, repaired, and sanitized drinking wells for 25,000

people in five third world countries. It’s an idea that started with wine tastings and a humble donation jar.

Hendley calls himself proof that anyone, even a “tattooed keg-tapper,” can cure what ails the world.

Twenty Questions for Doc Hendley

Email Courtney Milleson (cgmilleson@actx.edu) with questions you would like Doc Hendley to answer.

Are you competitive?

If so, learn more about our annual Common Reader Essay & Visual Arts Competitions at www.actx.edu/commonreader.

2013-2014 Common Reader

All-Campus Service Learning Competition Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World

by Doc Hendley

About the Common Reader The Amarillo College Common Reader program started in 2008 with Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg’s All Over but the

Shoutin’. Since then, AC has hosted countless student events and given away thousands of books, all to help incoming freshman

become connected with the Amarillo College community.

The Common Reader program is designed to help incoming freshmen interact with the larger AC community through the shared

experience of reading a book. Books may be used in academic classes as well as in student group activities.

"Learning" is about ideas and how ideas are discussed. New students with shared ideas on the first day of classes are able to par-

ticipate immediately in discussing ideas and forming viewpoints based on their reading and discussions.

All-Campus Service Learning Competition The All-Campus Service Learning Competition seeks to provide current AC students with an opportunity to react to the issues

raised within the Common Reader selection. Students should select one of these core objectives: Social Responsibility, Personal

Responsibility or Critical Thinking.

Students will work in teams to respond to the issues raised by the Common Reader selection. Teams should be raised from classes

or student organizations.

What is a “Watermark”?

A Watermark response is a call to action lead by a team based on the issues discussed in the Common Reader. Reponses should

reflect the Common Reader by encouraging other students to behave, act or think in a certain manner. Watermarks should reflect

one of the following core objectives: critical thinking, personal responsibility, or social responsibility.

Competition Rules

1. All teams must be comprised of currently enrolled, Amarillo College students who meet the student organiza-

tion or course specific requirements. Teams must have at least 5 students.

2. All teams must have a faculty sponsor. Faculty sponsors will actively guide students in the creation of a re-

sponse based on one of the three core objectives.

3. “Intent to Compete” forms must be submitted by 5 p.m., September 6, 2013 to Courtney Milleson, SSC 117.

Form may be found at www.actx.edu/commonreader.

4. Team sponsored Watermarks may begin on September 9, 2013. Watermarks must follow all Amarillo College

guidelines and policies. Please refer to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook or Student Life de-

partment if clarification is needed.

5. “Official Competition Response” forms must be submitted to Courtney Milleson, SSC 117, by February 13, 2014

to be eligible for judging. Responses should be written, but teams may include a three-minute documentary

showcasing their work. Form may be found at www.actx.edu/commonreader

6. All Watermark events must be defined as one of the following: critical thinking, social responsibility, personal

responsibility.

7. Students must complete all competition entry documents. No professional work is permitted. Faculty sponsor

guidance is encouraged.

8. Judging will be based on a matrix scale. Judges will be empanelled prior to September 1, 2013. Judges will rep-

resent the Amarillo and Amarillo College communities.

Prizes The winning team will be awarded an on-campus student Celebration Dinner and 30 minute Skype conversation with the Common

Reader Author. The winning team faculty sponsor will receive $300 to be used for equipment, travel or other teaching related ex-

pense.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Watermark including fundraising? If the team is a recognized student organization, and using the guidelines provided by the Student Life department, Watermarks

can raise funds toward impacting the issues described/effected by the Common Reader. Amount of funds raised will not be a con-

sideration for judging.

How does the competition define critical thinking, social responsibility and personal re-

sponsibility? Critical Thinking Skills to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of

information.

Social Responsibility to include intercultural competency, civic knowledge, and the ability to engage effectively in

regional, national, and global communities.

Personal Responsibility to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-

making.

What kind of activity is a Watermark? Can you give an example? Look at these Watermark examples to help guide your process.

Sample Project: Critical Thinking

After reading Wine to Water, HIST 1301 students were assigned into groups and charged with comparing a historical event

(pre-Columbian, colonial, revolutionary, early national, slavery and sectionalism, Civil War/Reconstruction eras) against

the current global water crisis. Students evaluated the current crisis, how people are currently affected by the crisis. Stu-

dents then compared current events to similar historic events and based on that historical reference, recommended a

course of action. The students then presented their findings in class. The strongest group presentations were then show-

cased in a community-wide presentation entitled “Dreams of the Future: Redefining the Global Water Crisis through His-

torical Perspectives” illustrating how history can repeat itself.

Through the process, students utilized critical thinking skills by analyzing past historical events in comparison with the cur-

rent global water crisis. Students evaluated current trends and recommended solutions.

Sample Project: Personal Responsibility

After reading and discussing Wine to Water and the global water crisis, a biology class decides to host a campus “Ban the

Bottle” event. The class partnered with the Biology club and applied for funds from the Amarillo College Funding Board,

which approved the purchase of 300 plastic re-useable water bottles. The bottles were given away to participants in two

activities the group hosted on campus: a campus lecture about the global water crisis and a Water Scavenger Hunt. Inside

the bottles was a slip of paper that outlined steps AC students could do to become ordinary heroes in the lives of those

afflicted by the water crisis.

In total, the group collected $100 – enough to purchase filters for three Haitian families in need ($30/filter).

Through the process, students pulled together information about the use of plastic water bottles in global crisis situations,

the impact of clean drinking water, and local water resources. Additionally, students worked with campus resources to

obtain funding to propel their personal responsibility activities, and to schedule event approvals and facilities set-up.

Sample Project: Social Responsibility

After reading and discussing Wine to Water, an FYE course at Amarillo College decided to use social media to spread the

word about local water issues. They created infographics with local water data, set-up hashtags, and utilized Instagram,

Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Their goal was to have the campus community respond via social media and

create an awareness campaign to influence generation’s thoughts about local water use.

In total, the classmates created an organic call to action gaining hundreds of followers and including a viral video with

200,000 hits.

Through the process, students culled through information to learn about local water issues, talked to local representa-

tives, and reached out to another club and KACV-TV to co-host a community-wide discussion on local water issues.

Sample Project: Social Responsibility

After reading and discussing Wine to Water, an Environmental Science class engages in a national project aimed at moni-

toring local watersheds. Creek Watch is sponsored by IBM and is tied into the documentary, Water Pressures. Using the

iPhone app, students take photos of local watersheds and report four pieces of data: amount of water, rate of flow,

amount of trash, and a photo. After eight weeks, the students partner with KACV-TV and host an on-campus viewing of

Water Pressures and then share their photo results from their watershed monitoring.

Through the process, students create scientific data sets that allow the Panhandle region to be noticed on a national scale

and they’re afforded the opportunity to draw a global crisis closer to home for other AC students.

Questions Please contact Courtney Milleson, cgmilleson@actx.edu, 806-371-5427, SSC 117.

Examining the Issues

Does Foreign Aid Help Africa?

Foreign Aid Benefits Africa

Excerpt: "[The author] disputes critics who charge that aid to Africa is doing more harm than good. According to Baldauf, effectively targeted aid (whether medical, financial, or technological) has ben-efited many impoverished nations and should not be slashed because of US budget cuts."

Paternalistic Aid Programs Keep Africa Enslaved

Excerpt: "If the prosperous nations really want to help Africa, they need to resist the seductions of paternalism. They need to promote, not policies that will ensure that the continent remains a collec-tion of fiefdoms dependent on subsidies and celebrity pity, but wealth-generating entrepreneurial effort."

Is the Spread of Western Values Beneficial?

The Spread of Western Culture Threatens Local Cultures

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (AC Online login required)

Excerpt: "Such a radical undermining of people's existing values and cultures has a corrosive im-pact on their sense of who they are, what they want and what they respect. It attacks spiritual val-ues and faith traditions. The cumulative effect in Africa is a crisis of cultural confidence, combined with the increased economic uncertainty and crime which global integration often brings. This cre-ates real problems for social solidarity, whether it is at the level of nation, community or fami-ly." (2002)

The Legacy of Colonialism

Is Britain to Blame for Many of the World's Problems?

BBC News Magazine, 2011

Pro-colonialism excerpt: "Wherever the British ruled, they erected a light, relatively inexpensive form of government that was not corrupt, was stable, and was favourable to outside investors."

Anti-colonialism excerpt: "There's the inheritance of colonial violence. What you saw in the later stages of empire was a series of British counter-insurgency operations, exported from one hot spot to another. In places such as Kenya, Palestine, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and of course Northern Ire-land, the British were forced to resort to repressive legal and military measures in what was to prove an ultimately vain attempt to curb the tide of political unrest and nationalist opposition."

2013-2014 Common Reader LibGuide

Jana Comerford , AC Librarian, created a LibGuide for issues related to the Common Reader. The full Lib-

Guide can be accessed here (http://actx.libguides.com/content.php?pid=462445&sid=3785642 ) and covers these top-

ics: Darfur, Archeology, Climate Change, Health, History, Press, Other Videos, and FAQs.