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#1
The State of Higher Ed / Re: Protests and police on cam...
Last post by secundem_artem - Today at 08:37:54 AMQuote from: Wahoo Redux on Today at 07:13:22 AMIHE: UC Berkeley Investigates Pro-Palestinian Dinner Protest FracasQuoteThe Council on American-Islamic Relations shared on X a video showing Fisk coming up behind Afaneh, grabbing the phone in her hand from which she was reading the speech, putting her arm around Afaneh's shoulder and saying, "Leave, this is not your house, it is my house." Chemerinksy also says "Please leave our house." Fisk then tries to pull Afaneh's microphone out of her hands. Afaneh says UC is funding weapons manufacturers and Fisk, relinquishing the mic, says "I have nothing to do with what the UC does."
So you can invade my house but I'm the one being dragged up to see what transgressions I have committed?
In a state with stand your ground laws, the response could well have involved a load of buckshot with the invader on the receiving end. But in Berkley?????? It seems not.
Truly we are living in cloud cuckoo land.
#2
The State of Higher Ed / Re: Colleges in Dire Financial...
Last post by secundem_artem - Today at 08:21:53 AMQuote from: lightning on May 08, 2024, 08:22:32 PMQuote from: EdnaMode on May 08, 2024, 04:59:37 PMOne of my friends just sent me this. He's at one of the Commonwealth Campuses and is worried about the future. They have already been told that for teaching faculty, regardless of years of service or rank, their 5 year contracts will be converted to one year. Several of their engineering departments do not have enough faculty to teach the required courses because faculty who have retired or left for other positions have not been replaced. He said his particular campus has not run at a deficit in the several years he's been there, but the administration at University Park is making the majority of the cuts from the Commonwealth Campuses. Not sure where the money is going because their tuition is among the highest in the Big Ten.
Penn State offers Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to eligible Commonwealth Campus employees
https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/penn-state-offers-voluntary-separation-incentive-program-eligible-commonwealth/
1 year of salary as buyout? That's it?!? Bollocks. There's a sucker born every minute, I guess.
If Artem U proposed that, I'd be out the door by this afternoon. Earlier retirement offers from this year consisted of a 1 term sabbatical in the fall at full pay, followed by continued payments towards our health benefits for the spring semester but no pay. Then, a firm handshake, hearty congratulations, and don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.
#3
General Academic Discussion / Re: alternative to "School's O...
Last post by secundem_artem - Today at 08:09:46 AMAdd a little class to the occasion. Play the a video of Gaudeamus Igitur to class the place up and let them learn something about their forebears in the classroom in the distant past.
#4
General Discussion / Re: What Have You Read Lately?...
Last post by apl68 - Today at 07:55:04 AMShotguns and Stagecoaches: The Brave Men Who Rode for Wells Fargo in the Wild West, by John Boessenecker. Profiles a number of the detectives and shotgun messengers who defended shipments of precious metals and cash on the stagecoaches and trains of the old days against road agents and train robbers. It's old-fashioned Hollywood western cliche that was largely based on real life. There really were numerous attempted holdups of coaches and trains in the 1800s. And beyond--there was an attempted old-style train robbery as late as 1912! When The Great Train Robbery, usually regarded as the first western movie, was made in 1903, it wasn't a period piece. It was "ripped from today's headlines" material.
Lots of exciting true stories recounted here. Many of them do read like movie scenarios. Some of them have inspired scenes in actual movies. Some are more far-out than anything a movie would have tried to get away with back in the day.
Yes, it's all very exciting and colorful. And should make us glad that the Old West is in the past. It was a harsh and often brutal time that we would do well not to be too nostalgic about.
Lots of exciting true stories recounted here. Many of them do read like movie scenarios. Some of them have inspired scenes in actual movies. Some are more far-out than anything a movie would have tried to get away with back in the day.
Yes, it's all very exciting and colorful. And should make us glad that the Old West is in the past. It was a harsh and often brutal time that we would do well not to be too nostalgic about.
#5
The State of Higher Ed / Re: DEI programs in the news
Last post by apl68 - Today at 07:35:32 AMYes, we need some correction there. Wish it wasn't as brute-force as what we're seeing in places like Texas, but that's what happens when politics gets involved.
#6
General Academic Discussion / Re: alternative to "School's O...
Last post by apl68 - Today at 07:29:04 AMTo think that Alice Cooper is now getting the old fogy vote. Sic transit gloria mundi.
#7
Teaching / Re: Missing work due to religi...
Last post by apl68 - Today at 07:27:20 AMQuote from: Hibush on May 08, 2024, 02:53:08 PMThe spirituality office sends out a long list of religious holidays in case we want to be prepared. I think most faculty just see that the list is long and trying to schedule around them is futile.
Your institution has a "spirituality office?" The faculty's attitude to their no doubt well-meaning list of religious holidays is probably pretty typical of the response to a lot of what these sorts of offices put out.
#8
General Discussion / Re: The Post For Stuff You Wan...
Last post by apl68 - Today at 07:22:19 AMCongratulations on both the grants and the team, Puget!
#9
The State of Higher Ed / Re: Protests and police on cam...
Last post by Wahoo Redux - Today at 07:13:22 AMIHE: UC Berkeley Investigates Pro-Palestinian Dinner Protest Fracas
QuoteThe Council on American-Islamic Relations shared on X a video showing Fisk coming up behind Afaneh, grabbing the phone in her hand from which she was reading the speech, putting her arm around Afaneh's shoulder and saying, "Leave, this is not your house, it is my house." Chemerinksy also says "Please leave our house." Fisk then tries to pull Afaneh's microphone out of her hands. Afaneh says UC is funding weapons manufacturers and Fisk, relinquishing the mic, says "I have nothing to do with what the UC does."
#10