Students should grow their own food

"Students should grow their own food. They would learn about growing the food as well as save money for the schools."

--From cost-saving ideas submitted by federal employees as part of Obama's SAVE (Securing Americans' Value and Efficiency) award programme. [From Harper's February 2011 issue].


A not-unrelated photograph: 

UToronto Master's students tilling and toiling in M's garden

The balance has to shift to affirmative methods: techniques which embrace their own inventiveness and are not afraid to own up to the fact that they add (if so meagerly) to reality...

"The balance has to shift to affirmative methods: techniques which embrace their own inventiveness and are not afraid to own up to the fact that they add (if so meagerly) to reality. There is a certain hubris to the notion that a mere academic writer is actually inventing. But the hubris there is tempered by the evident self-modesty of the returns. So why not hang up the academic hat of critical self-consciousness, set aside the intemperate arrogance of debunking-- and enjoy? If you don't enjoy concepts and writing and don't feel that when you write you are adding to the world, if only the enjoyment itself, and that by adding that ounce of positive experience to the world you are affirming it, celebrating its potential, tending its growth in however small a way, however really abstractly-- well, just hang it up" (13).

                   --Brian Massumi, Parables for the Virtual

NIA Comments On The Upcoming Bursting Of The...[American] College Debt Bubble

"The NIA, better known for cutting straight to the chase and not really mincing its words today focuses on the latest trillion + dollar bubble: that of US higher education, which is getting increasingly more funded directly by the US Government. 'The National Inflation Association believes that the United States has a college education bubble that is set to burst beginning in mid-2011. This bursting bubble will have effects that are even more far-reaching than the bursting of the Real Estate bubble in 2006. College education could possibly be the largest scam in U.S. history.' And the kicker: unlike housing debt, college debt has that extra oomph to it that it traditionally is not discharged in bankruptcy: as such it is the ultimate subjugation mechanism. This one sure is set to get interesting..."

Read Tyler Durden's Article Here

15 seconds of fame

Can I just say, I articulated clearly and concisely, SO MANY MORE INTELLIGENT IDEAS THAN THIS. "Four hours?" WTF?! Four hours researching, RESEARCHING, on Googlebooks! With only the occasional foray onto Facebook, I swear. to. god.

But we're famous! On Denman Street! And that's cool, right?

A LINK TO CARMEN AND MO in a CBC documentary called "ARE WE DIGITAL DUMMIES?"*

Look at 3 minutes and 27 seconds for the awkwardness !!

*and by virtue of their title, I would say they think we are, in fact, dummies. Way to give the big surprise ending away.**

**And let me assure you, the irony of ME BLOGGING ABOUT THIS is not lost on me.

Univ of Texas hires abusive boss sued for creating hostile work environment

In early 2009, Sagun Tuli, MD, Harvard’s first female spinal surgeon, was awarded over $1.5 million in damages incurred from a hostile work environment, including discrimination and retaliation, at the hands of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital and its then chief of neurosurgery, Arthur L. Day, MD.

A seven-week trial by jury found Brigham and Women’s and Day responsible for creating a severe hostile work environment that was motivated in part by Tuli’s gender and/or national origin (she was born in India). Day, who has had three gender bias cases brought against him in the recent past, including Tuli’s, resigned from his Harvard post in December 2009.

Now, less than a year after Day’s resignation, the University of Texas (UT) has hired and appointed him as residency program director and vice chair for education at the UT medical school’s neurosurgery department at the UT Health Science Center (UTHealth) in Houston. Day, who started his new position on July 1, will once again play a supervisory role for students and residents.

Day’s arrival at UTHealth has stirred up controversy and concern. While some female students, faculty, and employees are outraged at his hiring, UTHealth administration and officials hold steadfast to their decision. Giuseppe Colasurdo, MD, UT medical school dean, and Larry R. Kaiser, president of UTHealth both publicly expressed support for Day.

Tuli stated that Day repeatedly ridiculed and intimidated her. She claimed that Day made racist comments to her and sexist statements as well, such as, “You are just a girl, are you sure you can do that?” during surgery, while frequently referring to his female colleagues as “girls.” Once at a hospital dinner he requested that Tuli “get up on the table and dance for us to show the female residents how to behave.”

In sworn affidavits that supported Tuli’s case, department staff alleged that Day once pointed at the belly of a pregnant staffer and said, “We know what you’re doing at night” and also told a female employee who was counting money, “Sugar, I told you that you don’t have to pay for what I do for you.” He was also notorious for displaying an 8-inch phallic statue on his desk, and once downloaded sexually explicit images onto a nurse’s PDA.

From: http://blog.ebosswatch.com

Teachers unhappy with Glendale investigation

A report that dismissed 17 allegations of harassment by a Madison principal towards teachers and other staff failed to actually address charges of bullying, according to a response issued late Friday through Madison Teachers Inc.

The response says that the district's management "has elected to do nothing to support those Glendale staff who have been bullied by Principal (Mickey) Buhl." It also states that some staff members "have been living in fear of Mr. Buhl for 5+ years." In additional comments in the responsde, teachers say that Buhl's behavior towards some staff members "fostered fear and anxiety in the workplace. We finally came forward, even at the risk of exposing ouselves to further vindictive and very hurtful behavior."

I wrote about the release of the report and some background information surrounding the investigation last week, including a link to the full report. The full text of the teachers' response to that report accompanies this story.

In the MTI response, staff members note they were "extremely disappointed with the outcome of the investigation by the attorney retained by the District."

The original report, completed on Nov. 19, was released through an open records request by The Capital Times and others last week, and covered the results of a two-month long investigation by attorney Shana Lewis of local law firm, Ross and Clark. The firm had been hired by the Madison school district to independently assess alleged issues of workplace harassment and bullying by Buhl.

Basically, the Lewis report exonerates Buhl of any formal harassment. But what clearly emerges from detailed comments and interviews in the report, and from the teacher response, is a portrait of a school with a divided staff and a troubled work environment.

Staff members allege they have gotten little to no response regarding their concerns from administration or the Board of Education, but have requested a private meeting with school board members to address what they say are inaccuracies and ommissions in Lewis' report.

"People who were affected (by the report) didn't feel it brought out the full picture of what's been going on at Glendale," said Eve Degen, assistant director of Madison Teachers Inc. in a short phone interview on Monday.

"It's been a very difficult time for the staff at Glendale. This is not something that started two weeks ago, or two months ago or two years ago," she added.

Matt Bell, an attorney for the district, said there would be no comments beyond the release of the report because it has to do with personnel issues.

From: http://host.madison.com

this is how I feel today: trying to write my NASSR proposal

also --> this blog: HYPERBOLE AND A HALF is just about the best thing ever