The Fora: A Higher Education Community

CUNY Law School, still reeling from last year's furor, has yet to find a venue for this year's graduation. Scroll all the way down to see that the location is TBA.

Quote from: kaysixteen on April 17, 2024, 10:19:33 AMSo you have forgotten prof's name-- 'Dear Sir:' worketh well, or at least, 'Dear Professor:'.

Didn't forget his name, but in grad school I can recall addressing one of my profs--an older Latin American history specialist--in an e-mail as Vr. Md. (Vuestra Merced).  This same prof had a key chain doohickey that croaked like a frog when he pressed it.  I once answered a phone call and heard that sound, and answered "Hello, Dr. <Emeritus>."  He appreciated that.  He had little ways like that of keeping you on your toes. Interesting guy to know.

Afternoon!

Pangram and above genius. Last words yesterday were lollipop and tiptop.

LB:NYT solution--gah!

Quote from: RatGuy on April 17, 2024, 07:55:55 AMI'll also say they don't know names of things in other contexts either. One of the most missed questions on quizzes are things like "what's the name of the main character" or "Who wrote this essay" or "Which of the texts was written by Harriet Jacobs." In class discussion, students generally say "they say...." and I make them clarify "they." Do you mean author, narrator, character (the differences of which we cover in the first few weeks). Heck, many of them don't know the names of any of the other people in class.

I think that for underclassmen it's incredibly difficult for them to think with any specificity. Why? I dunno. I do know that I spend more time than I used to on things like vocabulary -- the story is called "The Piazza," so what is a piazza? What's a pew? What's a cottage?

I've noticed several observations along these lines at The Fora over the years.  I wonder whether this problem with specificity and joined-up thinking has to do with the pedagogical methods that have been used with their education, or if they might be cognitive effects of lifelong media exposure.  Or a combination of the two, or something else altogether.

Quote from: fishbrains on April 17, 2024, 08:10:24 AMI fixed the droopy front end of my car with zip ties. Looks good. We'll see if it lasts.

Having a 15-year-old car pushes one to do self-repair when possible. To have a pro do it probably would have cost more than the car is worth.

For my next stunt: An oil change.

Motorcycle riders traditionally use hose clamps for improvised repairs.  I've seen my dad do that.  They're pretty strong if you cinch them right.

Quote from: fishbrains on April 17, 2024, 08:16:36 AM

Quote from: AmLitHist on April 17, 2024, 06:08:47 AMI'm down to 3 people still enrolled in my developmental Comp I co-req class (started at 8).  Only 2 of them have a chance at passing the Comp I. 

Neither of those 2 showed up to class yesterday.

On the other hand, a woman who dropped the class 2+ weeks ago did show up, so I guess there's that. (I sent her home and went to my office to hang out until the Comp I class started later in the morning.)

I've felt that pain. A super-small co-req course is just another form of walking death. Sometimes a semester just can't end too soon.

Ugh!  I think that teaching evaluations should be entirely optional for a class that small. No way to get any useful feedback if the students aren't actually going to class and/or have no chance of passing.

So you have forgotten prof's name-- 'Dear Sir:' worketh well, or at least, 'Dear Professor:'.

Apparently I was blind - thanks!

Good morning!

Got to genius with pangram, which was a guess.  Yesterday we needed bee buddy for octopi.  I needed husband help for piccolo, lollipop.

I also had flower-riverbank.  Some good contenders so far, so we'll see.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit, cathwen! So cool that you were able to chat with your grandson every day, too.

Pyrrhuloxia are back, and the roses are coming up.  Yay, spring!

Happy solving!

Final decisions are soon to be made for who and what lives and dies here at Artem U.  The atmosphere is a toxic soup of pain, anger, resignation, and finger pointing. Factions are being formed.  Rumblings about the nuclear option - votes of non-confidence - are heard in quiet corners.  Magical thinking abounds for possible solutions to what some refuse to believe is a crisis.

Twelve months ago, I would have said it was inconceivable that we would find ourselves in this situation.  But here we are. 

As the saying goes, at first you go broke slowly, and then all at once.

Right now, we are in a fight to avoid the "all at once" stage of the process.  I think the president and provost have a reasonable approach to do that.  Unfortunately, with remarkably little support from the faculty.