The Post For Stuff You Wanna Tell People

[Juvenal]

The rabbits in our back yard are becoming bolder. They'll stay right there, nibbling on grass, while you drive up and park about 10 feet away.

(warning: 80s phrase approaching in 3, 2, 1 . . . .)

What's up with that?

Parking zero feet away might begin to solve that problem.  If it is a problem.  Maybe you have a yen for lagomorphs grazing nearby?

[Parasaurolophus]

There sure are a lot of spammer signing up today.

[mamselle]

I was two houses down from my own door when I saw the small, black-and-white furry rug-like creature trundle up my steps.

I'm hanging out under the eaves of the convenience store at the end of the block for a bit before I try again...

M.

[Thursday's_Child]

I was two houses down from my own door when I saw the small, black-and-white furry rug-like creature trundle up my steps.

I'm hanging out under the eaves of the convenience store at the end of the block for a bit before I try again...

M.

Glad you saw it in time!  How long did you have to wait for it to trundle off?

Also, we do need a wildlife thread, don't we?

[Parasaurolophus]

On Monday, one of my courses starts a four-week climate change module. I'd forgotten how reviewing it, and prepping the few new additions, makes for a grim night filled with abject despair. Jeeze.

[miss jane marple]

This is something I want to tell one specific person, in the odd event that they are reading this fora.

Background: last December a college student in my family suddenly became very ill and was hospitalized for a week undergoing diagnostic tests and treatment for the severe symptoms. It was also finals week. Because this excellent student had mostly As going into the final, all but one of the professors involved agreed to record the grade already earned. The holdout was the professor of the required course for the student's major; this professor insisted that a make-up exam be completed. The student did sit for the make-up exam in January. During spring break, the student flew to another state to undergo brain surgery by a specialist in the rare condition that had caused the illness. No class work was missed, and the student successfully finished the spring semester. Now a senior expecting to graduate in May, the student has learned that the professor who insisted on the make-up exam has STILL not recorded a grade for the course.

Dear Professor,

I have no idea what the circumstances of your life are or what private hell you may be inhabiting. Perhaps your spouse of 20 years has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Perhaps your house has burned down. Perhaps you are in the early stages of dementia. I have no way of knowing. What I do know is that you have a professional responsibility not the screw over the people you are paid to teach. Record the grade so that this young person, who has done everything possible to fulfill their responsibility as a student and member of your college community, can complete a degree in your department and enter the work force. DO IT NOW.

Thank you.

[Anselm]

Please don't "reply all."

I prefer the amended version of:

Please check your recipient list and compare it to the point of your message. 

A group bigger than 5 people?  Reply all is probably the wrong choice.

A group that was only a couple people and we're making plans?  Please reply all, not just the last respondent on the chain, so we're all in the loop.

Amended version is agreeable, of course, though the size of the recipient list matters less to me than the purpose of the message to which one is responding.

I mention size because the conversation at work recently was whether we could get an email feature that checks the size of the recipient list and pop up a "2562 recipients.  Are you really sure you want to send this message?" after someone yet again replied all with personal information to a general announcement and the personal information was not flattering to the sender--think along the lines of clearly didn't read the syllabus or the last four related announcements, but now is really concerned that this thing is happening tomorrow and it conflicts with personal, important plans.

The next most annoying aspect is the person who then replies all yet again to apologize to the big list.  No!  Just quietly complain offline to your neighbor about failing at email and let it be.

Do you folks remember what happened in the old days of 1997?  Emails would be sent out to 15,000 students and employees on campus.  Then many of the recipients would reply to all with "remove me from your email list".  Then others would reply to all to explain that replying to all was counterproductive and only making the problem worse. 

[Thursday's_Child]

Please don't "reply all."

I prefer the amended version of:

Please check your recipient list and compare it to the point of your message. 

A group bigger than 5 people?  Reply all is probably the wrong choice.

A group that was only a couple people and we're making plans?  Please reply all, not just the last respondent on the chain, so we're all in the loop.

Amended version is agreeable, of course, though the size of the recipient list matters less to me than the purpose of the message to which one is responding.

I mention size because the conversation at work recently was whether we could get an email feature that checks the size of the recipient list and pop up a "2562 recipients.  Are you really sure you want to send this message?" after someone yet again replied all with personal information to a general announcement and the personal information was not flattering to the sender--think along the lines of clearly didn't read the syllabus or the last four related announcements, but now is really concerned that this thing is happening tomorrow and it conflicts with personal, important plans.

The next most annoying aspect is the person who then replies all yet again to apologize to the big list.  No!  Just quietly complain offline to your neighbor about failing at email and let it be.

Do you folks remember what happened in the old days of 1997?  Emails would be sent out to 15,000 students and employees on campus.  Then many of the recipients would reply to all with "remove me from your email list".  Then others would reply to all to explain that replying to all was counterproductive and only making the problem worse.

I knew my uni was behind the times!  We've done that as recently as... 2015, maybe?  Possibly even more recently.

[Thursday's_Child]

On Monday, one of my courses starts a four-week climate change module. I'd forgotten how reviewing it, and prepping the few new additions, makes for a grim night filled with abject despair. Jeeze.

+1

To make things worse, start here      https://xkcd.com/1732/    and then point out the conditions under which all of our major crops evolved.

[Parasaurolophus]

To make things worse, start here      https://xkcd.com/1732/    and then point out the conditions under which all of our major crops evolved.

Oh! I totally forgot about that, thank you!

[kaysixteen]

Wrt the prof who will not record the grade for the senior with the brain tumor, even after said kid completed required work whilst dealing with his condition, can't the department/ university admin just force him or override him and do it themselves?

[Parasaurolophus]

Sent my first report of a violation of the Elections Act to Elections Canada this morning. My first report of the election campaign, I mean. My first-ever report was when I worked at a polling station and discovered people had been called and deliberately sent to the wrong stations.


Forumites may be interested to learn that it concerns an improper use of quotation: a candidate faked a "celebrity" endorsement by quoting something he said and appending "Conservative" to his exhortation to vote--but there's only an opening quotation mark, no closing one. So: a libellous instance of personation, and yet another instance of D-C students incompeting in the world.

[miss jane marple]

Wrt the prof who will not record the grade for the senior with the brain tumor, even after said kid completed required work whilst dealing with his condition, can't the department/ university admin just force him or override him and do it themselves?

I'm sure the Dean of Academic Affairs can get involved if the problem continues to that point. My vent is that this is part of the professor's ordinary responsibilities and it shouldn't take a jolt from a Dean to make them do it. On the up side (she said sarcastically) the family is not shy about insisting, and knows how to use all available resources. It just in my opinion should not be necessary to do all this just to make someone do their own job.

[fishbrains]

Wrt the prof who will not record the grade for the senior with the brain tumor, even after said kid completed required work whilst dealing with his condition, can't the department/ university admin just force him or override him and do it themselves?

I'm sure the Dean of Academic Affairs can get involved if the problem continues to that point. My vent is that this is part of the professor's ordinary responsibilities and it shouldn't take a jolt from a Dean to make them do it. On the up side (she said sarcastically) the family is not shy about insisting, and knows how to use all available resources. It just in my opinion should not be necessary to do all this just to make someone do their own job.

Huh. I had a very hostile mother yell at me once because I hadn't changed her daughter's grade. I was a bit surprised because I had turned in the paperwork to change the grade, but it had landed at the bottom of the pile on someone else's desk--and stayed there for well over a month. I emailed her the scan I had made of the grade change form (not my first time at this rodeo, bro) and sent her up the line. Apparently, she chewed some folks a few new buttholes. Anyway, sometimes you just gotta shake the monkey tree.

[fishbrains]

I could have used the same response for every email from every student last week: "Your missing my class, again, should not cause me additional work. Check the syllabus, and come to my office hours if needed."

Also, the powers-that-be must be suggesting to students that they should ask for professors' notes when they miss. I have had an unusual numbers of requests this semester. I had to show my notes to one student, who was upset at my refusal. They said the following on a sticky note: "1) Go over 'A Rose for Emily,' Homer Barron, 2) Modernism, 3) 'Journey of the Magi,' 4) Harlem Renaissance with IceT 'If We Must Die,' Hughes/Cullen, 5) Hurston/Larsen/female poets 6) Hand back graded work." I've taught this class every semester for 20 years. I told him he could take a picture on his phone if he wanted. Got an eye roll there. Fun times. 

That said, I am having a very good year with students so far.