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Mary E. DeJonge-Benishek

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Tolerance Has Got to Go

A front-page article in USA Today recently highlighted cities around the U.S. who are posting "Welcome. We are building an inclusive community" signs at their city limits or in front of schools and city halls. The efforts, the article reports, are "a symbolic plea for greater tolerance."1 There's that word again: tolerance. Tolerance is certainly a buzzword of our age. It pops up daily in the media, in our conversations, and in mission and values statements that cross our desks…
Mary E. DeJonge-Benishek
May 16, 2007
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Peace, Poverty, Shopping, and AIDS

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 has been awarded to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Yunus and the Grameen (literally "rural") Bank started the microcredit movement thirty-two years ago in Bangladesh. Microcredit is the practice of lending small amounts to women to begin businesses to support their families. According to the Associated Press, Grameen Bank's loans average just $200. Ninety-seven percent of the recipients are women. The repayment rate is ninety-nine percent. Since its inception, the bank has lent…
Mary E. DeJonge-Benishek
December 16, 2006
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Waiting for Jack Bauer

My latest dirty little secret: I'm addicted to 24, the FOX Network's hit show featuring Special Agent Jack Bauer of the fictional Los A ngeles Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). I'm not alone. A reported fifteen to seventeen million viewers watched 24's season five premiere in January. Seventeen million of us are glued to the screen, and it's no secret why: Jack Bauer is sizzling hot, the show's slick production is eye-grabbing, the tension and action are nonstop, and the theme--to…
Mary E. DeJonge-Benishek
March 16, 2006