  As the conversations about community have progressed over the past few weeks, I've sat quietly and soaked in the philosophical postulates uttered by some of our deeper thinkers. And with the saturation point quickly approaching, I decided it was time to attempt the unimaginable. On this grand day, Oct. 14, 2003, the first recorded use of my biology degree has taken place. Join with my parents now in celebration of this achievement. Biology's definition of community is " an association of different species living together in a defined habitat with some degree of mutual interdependence . " Although this def. isn't perfect, I think when applied to our situation it raises some pretty good questions. Obviously, different species doesn't work in our case (crazy monkeys? ), but we all agree that we are a very diverse group of people with different interests and ideas, so substitute types of people for species and it works just fine.
The first question this poses is "What is our defined habitat? " Is it Main Street? Norman? Oklahoma? The World? Will it change or should we focus on one area. I think the answer's obvious, but what does everyone else think? The second question is one that Corey asked Sunday night. "What degree of mutual interdependence is necessary to consider someone part of the community? " The Biological definition just says "some", and I think that goes along with my view pretty well. Although we don't see Steve and Brenda or the Ammonds very often I still believe they are an important part of our community. I do think that we need to have a large degree of interdependence to have a strong community, but I don't think the amount determines community candidacy. Another thing I read goes along pretty well with my view also. Remember, this is talking about bugs and animals, but it's kind of scary how well it describes us also.
"Communities vary greatly in size, lack precise boundaries, and are rarely completely isolated. They interact with and influence others in countless ways, even when the interaction is not readily apparent . " Well, this is how I think Biology relates to us, so tell me what you think. I have some more Biology analogies waiting if anyone wants to hear them. All right then, Jon 
