The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Then, there was this...https://www.savannahnow.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2012/04/30/filler-dont-bet-pineapple/13659237007/

Thanks for everyone who read and/or responded.  This news piece came up on television early this morning:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ozk9-CfqcM
And this article came up on my computer Google News Feed:  https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/may/14/my-whole-library-is-wiped-out-what-it-means-to-own-movies-and-tv-in-the-age-of-streaming-services

In the academic field I am in, these are big issues (access vs. ownership) (dealing with multiple forms of media for content and then that technology going out).   

For so long physical tape (whether audio or video) was the standard and universal.  In the past couple of years I have had to have medical scans and I always ask for a CD for myself.  At one hospital I had to go to a basement dept to get this because each dept no longer had computers with cd trays as they once did.  Another place had difficulty downloading the files to CD  I waited an hour, but then they still had to send in the postal mail because they could not figure out the technology.  I began to take my own blank CDs and usbs, but these were not used. 

I do think storage/retrieval, access/ownership will continue to be an issue that is examined. 

Quote from: apl68 on May 20, 2024, 12:57:22 PMThe DEI world just can't catch a break.  Now in the news--a former DEI program manager at first Facebook and then Nike convicted and sentenced for stealing $5 million through her work, using various kinds of fraud and kickbacks. 


https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-diversity-program-manager-facebook-and-nike-sentenced-federal-prison-5-million


She has just handed those who write DEI in general off as nothing more than a boondoggle a jumbo-sized magazine of ammunition.  It's got to be enough to make DEI officers who are passionate about their work put their faces in their hands.

"Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."
--Eric Hoffer

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on May 20, 2024, 10:27:20 AM

Quote from: Ancient Fellow on May 20, 2024, 03:36:51 AMConsidering the sacrifices made by post grads and their families to earn a doctorate, especially in the midst of such a terrible economy and job market, I think the university's granting a doctorate to a friendly cat is remarkably tone-deaf.

I don't know that that's substantively different from most other honorary doctorate recipients, though. Here, the default is just some civil servant who's done nothing more than their job for thirty years.

I thought that's how you get an MBE.

The DEI world just can't catch a break.  Now in the news--a former DEI program manager at first Facebook and then Nike convicted and sentenced for stealing $5 million through her work, using various kinds of fraud and kickbacks. 


https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-diversity-program-manager-facebook-and-nike-sentenced-federal-prison-5-million


She has just handed those who write DEI in general off as nothing more than a boondoggle a jumbo-sized magazine of ammunition.  It's got to be enough to make DEI officers who are passionate about their work put their faces in their hands.

Looking over reader report.  Ouch.  Both complimentary and harshly direct.  The perfect kind of report.  I made some obvious mistakes, however, and I am a bit embarrassed. 

Emailed editor and asked for an Aug. 1 due date for revision.  Should take a lot of work.  It's all worth it.

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on May 20, 2024, 10:36:50 AM

Quote from: apl68 on May 20, 2024, 10:31:19 AMI thought the default was usually somebody who had given the institution several million dollars.

Maybe down south. That doesn't happen much here. Certainly not often enough for all the honorary doctorates awarded!

Ward Churchill received an honorary doctorate from Alfred University and then commenced to call himself "doctor" publicly and professionally.  I'd rather the cat get a doctorate.

Quote from: apl68 on May 20, 2024, 10:31:19 AMI thought the default was usually somebody who had given the institution several million dollars.

Maybe down south. That doesn't happen much here. Certainly not often enough for all the honorary doctorates awarded!

Via IHE:

QuoteLarry Chavis, who's taught in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's business school for 18 years, received a letter April 22 from an associate dean revealing he was under review after the university "received some reports concerning class content and conduct within your class over the past few months."

That was concerning by itself, Chavis said, but there was something else in the letter that's worrying other faculty members as well. The associate dean, Christian T. Lundblad, told Chavis that the review had begun prior to April 22—using a camera in Chavis's classroom.

I thought the default was usually somebody who had given the institution several million dollars.

I can't work up any outrage over the silly story myself.  Perhaps younger me, still deeply distressed at washing out of grad school, would have felt different.  It took a long time to get past the bitterness of that experience.