Movin' on up

Seriously, Who Says That?

I've re-located.

Oh, fantastic...

38 dead after being bitten by vampire bats - CNN.com

Monsters in Montauk and now vampires. End of times or are we just now noticing? I choose to believe that the world is full of monsters which we knew about long ago, explained away, and are now realizing we were right about in the first place.

Reasons I watch the Olympics

Julia Wilkinson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1. I love athletes. The human body is an amazing thing, and I am always awed by those who can almost perfect it.

2. I freely admit I cry just about every time. And if the Star Spangled Banner plays - forget it. I'm out.

3. I love the history of it. Yeah - I'm a nerd. Deal.

4. The idealist that lives deep inside of me buried underneath all of my cynicism thinks it's really romantic.

5. Click that link - she was my student. That's right - I know somebody who has a Wikipedia link.

AND - since we are talking about the famous people I know - check out my buddy and fellow blogger:

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/453575/Nuclear-Winter-Wonderland/overview

Anti-Capitalist

I know there is at least one other Marxist reading this...Hide no more!!

How did I not do this first?

Those of you who know me will recognize that this is a combination of some of my
favorite pastimes: lauding Batman and hating the current administration.

I totally lifted this from the Blogora

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Great news!!

The Associated Press: Edouard now depression after drenching Texas coast

The great news is not that my home state is drowning - that's not a good thing.

But the good news is that this weather is drenching us and keeping the temp at 95 degrees or lower. Today it was 75 degrees at 6pm. That doesn't usually happen until late October or early November. We haven't had rain in a while - or so people tell me. Growing up in the wilds of west TX I have always thought rain more than once every 3 months was excessive. I think it has been about a month or something - whatever. I don't like mud. But I do like relief from the heat. And for now, I've got it.

How sad is it that 95 degrees is a relief? I live in hell.

Much ado about something

Funding Opportunities - Department of Defense - Minerva Research Initiative (MRI): Chinese Military and Technology Research and Archive Programs (US Army Research Office)

This is generating some hubbub.

Like most things this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, yeah - it sort of IS important to think about and try to understand things like how groups like Al Queada recruit or what the result will be of a burgeoning Chinese economy and technology. On the other - should the government be funding university research? Researchers in the private sector all know that the source of the money makes a big difference. If there is a vested interest in a particular outcome then researchers can get pushed around a bit by money-men. Do we really want the DoD to be looking over the shoulders of people studying such important things? However, who is better to fund such projects that the DoD? I mean the results will very clearly mean a lot to them - and they've got the money to share.

Since I don't believe in numbers and continue to claim that they are simply just another rhetorical construction we use to try and make sense of complicated situations I will never have to worry about this. Nobody cares what I am researching (yet) and nobody is going to be writing any big checks for me. Which is fine- I think I want to be more of a teacher anyway. But a lot of my friends do social sciencey stuff. And I'm wondering what they might think of it all.

Another sign that I am probably going straight to hell

I tried to find a video of the commercial in question, but to no avail.

It begins with a speech in which the dude says he is calling on the youth of the world to gather in Beijing in 2008 and then it cuts to a bunch of shots of training athletes and they are all texting each other saying things like "I'm ready" or "On my way." Nothing really notable.

This comes on while we are eating lunch, and hubby sort of snorts. I look at him with a questioning look and he says, "Right - because youth gatherings in Beijing have such a successful record."

I paused for a moment, then laughed outloud.

And THAT'S why I'm going to hell.

Wow.

I have one more day of 203 left. Just one day of listening to speeches. Today was refreshing because I actually heard quite a few I think will be A's. That never happens.

Today, the most amazing thing happened. A student told me he really enjoyed this class - to the point that he wished he would have taken it in the fall to get the full semester experience. And this isn't a brown-noser kind of kid.

Really? REALLY? Nobody has ever said that. Ever. In the whole history of speech-teaching.

So do I feel bad for hating the class so much? A tiny bit. Bad enough to want to do it again to give myself a chance to enjoy the experience? No way in hell.

Legit news

This is real news. It's on CNN (yeah - I know. But there is a difference between "real" and "important" or "legitimate source") - go check it out. We are living in a sci-fi world, and THAT improves my mood immensely.

http://www.nowpublic.com/strange/what-washed-beach-montauk-ny-help-solve-mystery-photo-jenna-hewitt


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/31/moos.montauk.monster.cnn

This is one of the first things I saw this morning:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/frustration.png

Today will be a better day.

Post script

Our air conditioner is broken. I'm not even kidding. Our friggin' A/C.

http://www.weather.com/weather/local/77802?from=recentsearch

I seriously need a vacation

Last night we had to drive to a little town outside of Houston called Sealy. Sealy is basically a bunch of fast food restaurants and a Catholic church all kind of near each other. We had to drop off the car we had borrowed and it had to be done that day. This ended up being about a 4-4.5 hour ordeal because we sort of got stuck there doing the family thing. Which is all well and good - except for the fact that I have work to do. Always. I got up early and pretty much finished my diss proposal so I could just do some final editing that night. Things like finish the works cited, etc. Even though we got back around 10:30 and I was just starting my work, I felt like I could be in bed by 12am, 12:30 at the latest.

But, of course, there were things I did not count on. Like the fact that my presentation for tomorrow's class had completely disappeared. I was going to have to redo the whole damned thing. Awesome. Oh - and I couldn't open any documents. ANY documents. Microsoft Word had just decided not to work AT ALL. Outstanding - I've got a dissertation to write and no word processing or office program. I'm not sure how that could be more awesome.

So around 11:15 I head to campus. Only to get all the way there to discover that because I am using different keys that normal because we keep having to switch cars I have left the keys to my office at home. So I turn around, go back home, grab my keys and head to campus again. I left my office about 1:30 am. Hubby is freaking out a bit because he knows that once every other week either a woman is sexually assualted or a foreign student is beaten about half a mile away from where my office is. Which I didn't think about when I left - just when he started begging me to be careful. But, I made it to my car. The only reason I left that soon was Hubby called to tell me I could open my documents again - so if I wanted to finish at home I could. When I got in I immediately started typing up the last bits of my proposal. At which time hubby begins telling me about all the ways in which my computer is f*&^ed up and I will need to do all kinds of things tomorrow to get it working properly. At that time I was a bit distracted and didn't hear a word of it. Eventually, around 2:30 in the morning, I got into bed.

So today I have no wireless on my own computer. I am having to resave everything in different programs to make it manageable. Neither of which are annoying at all.

Tonight I tutor, and we all know what a joy that is. I cannot believe I still have two days left of school. That doesn't sound like much - but it will be an eternity.

The positive of this: I sent on my dissertation to my committee. I'm pretty sure most of it is lucid, which at this point in the summer, I am pretty proud of. More to come on that, I am sure.

For now I am going to listen to speeches. I have already gotten an email in which a student informed me she had chosen not to. Just not going to do this assignment that is 20% of her grade. Well - I guess that's one less for me to worry about.

Life affirming

As many of us know, I have been tutoring some evenings this summer. Which is a little weird because these kids are wicked smart and really don't need my help. But that's another thing.

On the nights that I tutor a chess club of sorts meets at Barnes & Noble. And last night they were in full force. They took up half the cafe area. Which is fine - and I think some of them thought I was checking them out - I wasn't; think sterotypical chess club! - because I was watching their games while my kids wrote or took a test or whatever. The awkward thing was that when I got there I just grabbed a table - sort of in the middle away from everybody. When the chess players got there they didn't have too much of a choice but to sit at all the tables around us. We were surrounded on all sides by chess players. And I felt bad because they are trying to concentrate while I am pontificating on things like past v. present tense and the whole purpose of a concluding sentence or introductory paragraph. Yes, it was that interesting. And I know they could over hear me, but what could I do?

At any rate, tutorials ended and I was gathering my stuff to throw it away and one of the chess players stops me. He says, "Excuse me, miss..." and I'm thinking - great. He's gonna ask me to move away from them next time. But whatever - I sigh and smile brightly at the old guy. "yes, sir?" (Because I'm a Southerner and manners are ALWAYS important.)

"You are going a great job with that boy." And I sort of splutter and blush. "I wish I had had a tutor like you when I was younger. Maybe I would have learned to do something other than just copy out of the encyclopedia. I was really impressed. You've done a fantastic job."

So I said thanks and spit something out real fast - blushing and stuttering the whole time - then walked out. My husband asks what that old guy was saying, and I told him and he laughed. "I keep hearing that my wife is an amazing teacher. It must be true."

Maybe I can teach pedagogy someday? I don't know. It's just nice to know you have one thing you do well, you know?

Then again, sometimes the students are stupid

Allow me to share a few anecdotes.

Yesterday was the final exam in my speech class. It was the first test I have ever given a curve for - the grades were just low. Which I feel is partially my fault - I asked about some things that were in the reading but I didn't cover very well in class. The hard-ass in me wants to say "If it was assigned you are responsible" - but the realist in me knows that of all the things my kids have to do when they are taking summer school, and often working at the same time, reading the enthralling prose of Stephen Lucas and his introduction to the art of public speaking does not rank high on the list of priorities. I'm okay with that - truth be told I just taught a full summer session never having opened a copy (because I don't have one) of the edition of the textbook I assigned. The first time I even saw a copy was when I was writing the exam. Yeah - my pedagogy rocks.

But I digress.

So let me share with you the first question on the test:

1. A good speaker will avoid ethnocentrism.

What is the meaning of the word in italics?

A) Only appealing to white people

B) Stereotyping

C) Learned behavior

D) The belief that one’s own group or culture is superior to others.

E) All of the above

You, dear reader, will know immediately that the answer is "D". How do you know? Because you are pretty damned smart and know that a few of those answers are nonsense and only one is even responsive. BUT I got a complaint that this question was entirely unfair. Now - I am all for discussing questionable test questions. On many occasions I have decided that a student had a viable argument so I gave them credit. This was not one of those instances. "Ethnocentrism" was a vocabulary word and I just copied the definition out of the book. Period. No questions. Even a cursory glance at chapter one and you would have probably noticed the highlighted words that are then defined specifically in the margins. This is not rocket science.

But still a student stayed after to complain. Apparently it is unfair for me to put the definition of the word AND possible examples or outcomes. How are they supposed to know the actual answer from the book from possible outcomes of that quality? Said student began to explain that stereotyping IS the same thing as ethnocentrism, making that question null and void. To which I responded "All Chinese people are good at math." God I would have loved a camera for that.

"What?" he says.

"I am a white person. If I announce all Chinese people are good at math, am I stereotyping?"

"Well, yes."

"In my stereotyping did I announce white people are superior?"

"No."

"So what does that tell you?" I asked. And he mumbled something about still being unfair and moved on to his next complaint. But by far my favorite moment was his proclamation that question # 50 was also unfair. The question: What is your instructor's name? And mind you, this is multiple choice.

He claims this is also unfair, because since I sign most epistles with just my initials how should he know what my actual name is? To which I responded "Did you even read the test? I only gave you five hints." Because in every question that was anecdotal or requires some application I used MY NAME. Still - clearly unfair. How on earth could a student be expected to know the name of his teacher? So much for a gimme.

Token Black Man

I heard somebody on the news this morning say the thing I have been dreading:

Clearly there is no need for affirmative action programs and we can see that race relations have improved because there is a black man who might be president.

Woohoo! Racism is dead because one black guy is successful. Outstanding - I can finally rid myself of liberal WASP guilt because between Oprah and Obama - how much proof do we need that we are all on a level playing field?

Now, I am NOT saying that things aren't better now than they once were. But I do think it is very dangerous to put the exceptional on a pedestal to show the world that anything is possible. It's the same as pointing to ONE person who started out as a welfare recipient and ended up a millionaire and announcing that anybody can do it. It's a fallacy. Faulty analogy or hasty generalization - you could look at it either way. Btw, just google "welfare to millionaire" - but only if you enjoy nonsense.

Do I think Barack Obama is a great role model and symbol of the possibilities here in the US? Yes. Do I think his success means that racism is no longer institutionalized. No. Big No.

In which the city of Philadelphia does an article on a subject similar to my dissertation

Philadelphia Reflects On Who Is An American : NPR

Here's the difference. I think NPR is trying to do the impossible. The definition of "American" is so slippery and malleable and individualized that I don't think there will ever be a day in which we agree on it. So, you may ask, what the hell is my dissertation about?

I am approaching the question a bit more specifically. I'm not asking who or what is an American, but how we go about trying to define that publicly. I am more interested in the methods and tools we use to try and reach consensus - as opposed to the final result I am looking at the process. Which should keep me busy for quite some time.

Smart, huh?

Sometimes the students are right

COMM 203 really is a joke. Students who complain that it is a useless class and doesn't teach them anything aren't whining - they are right. And we, as the grad assistant instructors, know it.

For one, there is no real effort put into teaching public speaking. You learn more at Toastmasters. This is a class in how anal-retentive some people can be about following directions. Did you say this exact sentence at this exact point in your presentation? Did you use transitions that are so obvious you can separate them out and label them? Can you give your speech w/ exactly one page of two word notes in the form of an outline?

Let's examine each of those requirements before we get on to the high brow griping. A TRULY good public speaker will never have such an exact speech that there is one time to say one thing and that's it. Because a really good speaker is flexible. A good speaker knows how to gauge an audience for things like timing and emphasis. There is no hard and fast rule about when you say "what's important" - you say it at the right time. But we don't bother teaching about figuring out what "the right time" is. We just give them a pre-formed outline and tell them they will fail if they don't fill in the blanks just as they are. That's not just stupid - it's a dis-service to our students.

The point of a transition is that it smoothly moves you from one idea to another. If they are painfully obvious then they aren't useful - they are distracting. Saying "Now that I have covered point one I'd like to discuss point two" is not transitioning - it is pointing out that you have no idea how to connect your ideas other than point out that they are different. The whole idea is to move your audience smoothly through your ideas - not bludgeon them about the head and neck with the announcement that you are moving on.

Who the crap cares about your notes? As long as you are not reading your speech and acknowledge that you have an audience, why should somebody have to go and check your notes to make sure you don't have too many words? That's not teaching - that's looking for an excuse to fail a kid. Which is, in my mind, terrible pedagogy.

We do not teach kids how to speak. We simply don't. At least, not well. We teach them how to fill in blanks in a mediocre fashion. The kids who do well in my class will never impress somebody - never persuade anyone. But speech is taught like a standardized test - it is geared toward the middle. Kids who are really good speakers will not do well in a speech class because there is no place for creativity or technique. We want everybody to sound like everybody else. How is this learning? Teaching mediocrity doesn't help. They are not learning to be impressive representatives - they are learning to sound completely un-noticeable. This is not a helpful skill set! If I were one of my students who graduated and had to go out and make a real presentation I would come back and cuss me out up one side and down the other.

We don't teach the kind of speaking that we should. Most of my students will never stand in front of a group of people and try to convince them to pass a law. That's simply not in the cards for most people. But many of them will have to give a toast or say a prayer or give a testimonial. But God forbid we teach them something they might use. We don't bother with epideictic speech. Which is flatly stupid. It's the one kind of speech that some of my students ever need to know anything about.

When I grade my kids' speeches I grade for stupid stuff. Pure and simple. I gave C's to people the other day who were clearly superior speakers, but they had the audacity to adapt the organization of their speech to suit their own purposes.

I hate myself when I am teaching speech. I am a teacher for God's sake - how am I supposed to live with myself knowing that the class I am teaching is not just stupid, but most likely detrimental? And I've constantly got admin folks breathing down my neck to make sure I am checking note cards and complete sentences on the outline they don't actually use and making sure I have a bell curve that is as close to perfect as possible. It's a joke. The teachers know it. The students do, too.

I don't blame them for hating me at all.

It wasn't cool when Roosevelt tried to pack the court, either

Baylor Board Votes to Increase Regent Membership to 24
GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Baylor Regents today voted to modify the size of its governing body, increasing its board size from a previous goal of 16 to 24 members. The vote came as the board was concluding its annual summer retreat, which this year was held in Grapevine.

Board Chair Howard K. Batson said the increase in board size was intended to position Baylor for future success.

"Our goals are ambitious and we are going to need increased diversity of talents within our board structure to achieve the level of future success we envision," Batson said. "Our board is strong now and with this action we believe we can create an even more representative governing body that will help Baylor to reach new heights in the coming years."

Wes Bailey, chair of the Governance Review Committee of the board, explained that the recommendation came after extensive study by his committee.

"We have spent significant time over the past several months looking at governance issues and considering an array of best practices in higher education," Bailey said. "The Board determined today it would revise its plans to downsize to 16 and instead adopt a plan to transition to a steady board size of 24."

One-fourth of Baylor's regents will continue to be elected by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

During the three-day retreat, Regents also received the university's annual report, noting the substantial progress on each of the 12 imperatives of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision. The report included data and information on multiple achievements, including:

* continued increases in average SAT and GRE scores,

* undergraduates who are distinctively and strongly oriented to spirituality and community service,

* best ranking ever in the U.S.News & World Report 2007 rankings of national doctoral-granting universities,

* construction of the Paul L. Foster Success Center in the newly remodeled Sid Richardson Building housing Academic Advisement, Academic Support, Access and Learning Accommodation, Career Counseling and Career Services, and

* continued improvement in Baylor's student-faculty ratio, now 15:1, with fewer large classes and more small classes.