Rantings of a Mad Tamsyn

Assholocracy

2011-12-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

Vote for Assholocracy as Word of the Year.

Apparently the best way to vote is simply to Google the word a lot.

Damn Bieber Hair

2011-10-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is another post that has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I fucking hate those Justin Bieber hair cuts! They've been showing up everywhere for the last few years, on TV shows, in commercials, even in real life. And I really really really detest them! Every time I see them I want to grab the kid, and tell him to comb his hair back or get it cut. It has got to be one of the stupidest hair cuts I've ever seen. And I'm guessing it has the added side effect of getting boys to use hair dryers.

You know how there's always one commercial on TV that you can't stand, and then it gets shown over and over and over again until you want to scream? That's how the Bieber hair cut makes me feel. ARGH! When will it finally end!?!

Pink Body Scans

2011-10-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well, it's October. You know what that means! I had actually intended to boycott my annual Pink Ribbon Rant, until I saw something on the news this morning: The NFL is going pink this month to support breast cancer awareness. Their Pink homepage says "Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the U.S."

I will state again that I am not attacking women who have cancer. I am attacking the fact that breast cancer is "trendy." That some people think it's a joke that men really do get breast cancer. That breast cancer is not the deadliest form of cancer, or the most common cause of cancer deaths, but it seems to be the ONLY cancer that we talk about.

Okay - that's the pink ribbon rant for now. I originally wanted to rant about the NFL, so I thought I'd combine this into one post. In the interests of public safety, the NFL wants stadiums to pat down everybody entering the stadium! Since the pat downs are described as pretty useless in the article, I can't wait for the full body scans to start up if anything ever goes wrong at a football game.

Edit: Just found this great link listing a number of airport molestations . . . er pat downs.

The Prejudice Post - Part II

2011-09-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, there are actual bigots out there. And yes, sometimes it's not that obvious. I'll give you a few examples and let you decide if it's racism or not.

1) A few years ago I got a viral e-mail about the problem with government workers. Because we all know how good they've got it, right? Anyway, this was a short little video of two government employees stuck on an escalator. The problem: the two stupid employees are a black man and a white woman. So I was rather offended and thought the video was racist and sexist. And then something happened. I found out that that isn't the whole video. I found the entire video on Youtube. There are still a few problems. The black man and white woman are stuck on the escalator. And the white repairman comes to save them! But then he gets stuck too. The whole thing made me think though - why did the viral e-mail have the short version without the white man?

2) Nivea is facing cries of racism because of an advertisement. In the ad, a black man is throwing away a bearded, scraggly version of himself, and the tagline is about "Re-civilizing" yourself. A lot of people were offended and thought it was racist. But I didn't hear anyone crying racism for the white version of that ad. So. . . if you're African-American I'm not allowed to talk about certain things because they might offend you? A lot of these problem ads that pop up seem to be from European companies, which makes me think that maybe the problem is actually us.

3) A few years ago I read an article about racism at universities. There was mention of some black American students who studied in the UK. They were offended because when someone asked where they were from, the student would say "I'm American." And the Brit would say, "You are now. But where are you from?" The Brits assumed that people of color immigrated to America from Africa or the Caribbean. They didn't understand that for many black Americans, their families have been here for hundreds of years and were brought here as slaves from somewhere in Africa. These Brits weren't asking white American students where they were from. But is it really racism if they don't know American history?

The whole race situation in America reminds me of an episode of the TV show Bones. The title character goes to a club and says that the music has a tribal feel to it. Her friend tells her not to say that. But a black woman overhears them and is offended. Even though tribes are not a black thing. Yes, Africa has tribes. So do North and South America. So did Europe. There's still a white tribe in northern Scandinavia. And don't forget the Jewish tribes, or the Ainu in Japan.

I was actually nervous about writing this post about prejudice because the whole topic seems verboten in America. We simply aren't allowed to discuss it. And because of that, we can't seem to get past it. Which is why I finally decided to write about it. As a white person, I have to admit that there are times when I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, so that I don't accidentally offend someone who isn't like me. It's very stressful. Because if I offend someone, it's going to be because of something like the Bones episode. Like, if I'm going to Popeye's for lunch, and I ask my co-worker if he wants something from there, if he's black will he think I'm racist? I wouldn't mean it to be offensive, but some people would take it that way. And since I'm the white person, it's possible that I could get in trouble for it.

And the very fact that I say "I could get in trouble for it because I'm white" will cause some people to think I'm racist. I just happen to think that racism cuts in all directions. Another example: I used to live in a state in the Southwest, and I worked in an area that was mostly Hispanic. There were about 12 of us in this department, and my boss and I were the only white people. One of the women bought a new house in a "white" subdivision. And proceeded to regale all of us with tales of how weird and crazy white people are. She even told a few "white people are so stupid" type jokes. I consider that racist. But I never reported her to Human Resources. I brushed off the incidents as her being ignorant. But my boss was really offended and wanted to report her. She never did, because she was worried that it would make the situation at work worse.

The whole situation in America is ridiculous and we have to get past it.

The Prejudice Post - Part I

2011-09-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

This has been bugging me for a while, so I thought I'd finally comment on it. When is racism actually racism? If a white person does something to a black person, is it automatically racist? If a straight person does something to a gay person, is that automatically homophobic?

My answer is No! I'm a woman, and I have actually been discriminated against for being female. I have friends, who are black, who have been discriminated against for being black. I even have a friend who was discriminated against for being white! Anyway, I'm not trying to say that racism or sexism or homophobia don't exist. Obviously, they do. But not EVERY single problem is prejudice-related.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about me now - I'm fat. I tell you this to illustrate a point. You keep seeing "undercover" specials on TV where people put on fat suits and then get discriminated against. And yes, it does happen. But not all of it is because of being fat. A lot of the people putting on the fat suit are famous or beautiful. So they're going to get better than normal treatment from a lot of people. In disguise, they get normal to sub-normal treatment. As a fat person, I can tell you that I have, in fact, faced very little discrimination. Most of it seems to be sub-conscious discrimination from my students. In general, students seem to have more respect for male teachers than for female teachers. Really, ask around your department. If you're also fat, that's just one more strike against you, male or female.

The point I'm trying to make is that, yes, sometimes it is discrimination. But a lot of the time it isn't. Unfortunately, we're so racially aware in our culture that it causes problems. Let me give you two examples:

1) The recent kerfuffle over a sign at a football game. The sign said "You mad bro?" Now, if this had been two all-white teams playing, or two all-black teams playing, no one would care. But as the losing team was mostly black (and I'm guessing the winning team mostly white) there have been accusations of racism. The problem is that "You mad bro?" is a relatively common meme online. And it's not racist. Now, I could see some of the white team finding it "extra fun" because the other team is black. But it's not necessarily racist. The word "bro" isn't only used by people with dark skin.

A few years ago a woman running for office in California was accused of racism, because she used the expression "call a spade a spade." That's a gardening term that has existed for a long time. A spade is a type of shovel. But some people just seem on the lookout for offense. That's next.

2) My Little Pony has a new cartoon series out. I've watched some of it. But I was surprised to find a blog posting ranting about how prejudiced the series is. Here's the original blog post. And here's a rebuttal post from the show's producer (white female). You should read both of them. The original poster (also white female) seems to take a few screen shots of the series, and read an episode description, then decide that the entire series is racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-smart people. WOW! What an amazingly thorough job! As the rebuttal points out (and my own viewing corroborates) the show is NOT prejudiced. But this is the problem with our society. The original poster wanted it to be prejudiced. Or she just wanted to stir up some shit, without caring about the truth. Both of those are big problems today. And it has to stop. Because there actually are racist people out there. So stop castigating the non-racists. Don't make up shit that distracts us from the real problems.

More tomorrow.

Posting

2011-09-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's been a while since I posted. There have been a number of things bugging me lately that I feel the need to rant about, so bear with me as I begin.

Body Scanners & Molestation

2011-07-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a busy week for the TSA. First, a woman in Phoenix grabbed a TSA agent's breast, and is being accused of molestation. Remember, it's not molestation when they do it to you! Secondly, several TSA agents are being prosecuted for stealing from passengers' luggage. What a great way to make extra money! [At least they weren't playing practical jokes.] Last, but definitely not least, finally, finally, FINALLY the TSA is getting rid of those damn naked pictures of us. The newest body scanners just show a "block figure" with a box near any area that needs extra screening. Hopefully they'll get those rolled out before I have to fly again! And I really like the way the article points out that the new body scanners will probably take over soon, because THEY'RE CHEAPER.

I used to love flying . . .

2011-07-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

It looks like it may finally happen. Remember all my rants about how evil body scanners are? And how the terrorists will find some way around it and we'll all end up getting cavity searched before we can get on a fucking airplane? Well that may be just around the corner. Because now the terrorists are thinking of implanting bombs inside people! And that means new detection methods!!!

So now if I want to fly, I have to pay outrageous fees for my bags, sometimes even a carry-on; I can't have any liquids more than 3 ounces that fit in a small baggie; I must have a picture ID, unless I'm using the wrong boarding pass; I have to let the TSA either see pictures of me naked or molest me (although that may change for kids); and I probably won't even get food or drinks on the plane unless I buy my own, after security.

Weee..... I feel safer already.

Of course, if kids aren't getting molested by the TSA, then they would make the perfect people to implant these bombs in. Which I'm sure Al-Qaida already knows. When will the US learn that you can't make air travel 100% safe, and that most of us would rather still have some of our civil liberties instead of leaving them at the airport door? I mean, what's next???? No carry-on baggage, and we all strip down and don scrubs for our flight? Because that's about the only way you could make things safer.

I'll see you in the anal probe line.

Levitating Woman

2011-06-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this already (I found it on Yahoo!): A Japanese woman who takes photos of herself "levitating." I thought they were pretty cool. Here's the link (and it's on my side menu now too).

What the hell is wrong with people!

2011-05-04T15:00:00.001-07:00

Okay, this has been bugging me for a while. What the hell is wrong with people on the internet!?! How can a seemingly normal person, in real life, get on the internet and turn into a raving lunatic bully?

Example: That really horrible song Friday by that teenager. I mean, yeah, I hated the song. But I don't feel the need to log in to YouTube or e-mail her and call her names or send fucking death threats!

Other examples: I remember watching a news program who talked with a family whose daughter had died in a car wreck. The pictures wound up on the internet, and the family was getting e-mails from people saying "I'm glad she's dead," "she deserved to die," etc.

More examples: Sites like Slate Magazine are now requiring commenters to log in with a Facebook or Yahoo! or etc. ID. Because people are nicer when others know who they are.

Oh, and before someone calls me a hypocrite, because I'm semi-anonymous and I said that Rush Limbaugh needs to die! - Rush dishes it out every day on his show. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about ordinary, innocent people, who someone get their name known and then get attacked over NOTHING! People need to grow up and realize that if they wouldn't say something to that person's face, then they shouldn't say it on the internet. [And I would happily tell Rush Limbaugh to his face that he is an asshole.]

Boycott Body Scanners! Update III

2011-04-29T15:07:00.001-07:00

The latest victim of a pat down is Miss USA 2003. She has started a Twitter campaign against the invasive pat downs and talks about the experience in a video on her blog.

Boycott Body Scanners! Update II

2011-04-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

I started reading Wil Wheaton's blog last year. It's pretty good. Well, he just flew to Vancouver and as he left LA he was basically molested by the TSA agent giving him a pat-down. It was so bad he became physically ill and says he's going to contact an attorney. At least he has some name recognition. But how many people have to be irradiated or molested so that I can be "safe" when I fly on a plane?

Learn To Spell!

2011-04-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered a site called Passive Aggressive Notes. It's hilarious! Weird notes from people all over the world, in English. The problem is that most of these notes are misspelled. And I don't mean difficult words. I mean words like "stupid" (stuiped). Admittedly, some of these notes are written by kids or by people who have English as a second language. But the majority are written by English-speaking people who supposedly graduated from high school. After hours of scrolling through this homage to our educational system, I became rather depressed. How can I expect my students to spell, if regular adults can't?

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 5 Supreme Court is Correct

2011-03-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Those idiots at the Westboro Baptist Church do have the right to protest military funerals. I'm glad the Supreme Court made the correct decision but I really feel for the military families that have to listen to that crap. Maybe individual cities can enact some kind of law that funeral protesters need a license and they can deny the license for Westboro.

More White Terrorists

2011-02-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

So what counts as terrorism these days? Brown-skinned people in strange clothing? What about white people killing light-browned skinned people? Apparently that's not terrorism, that's activism. And it hasn't really made the TV news much either.

An anti-illegal immigrant militia (read terrorists) killed a man and his 9-year old daughter in Arizona. Who were actually American-born US citizens. But these terrorists aren't called terrorists in the news, just activists.

What really pisses me off so much about this is that the Spanish were the original conquerors in the Southwest and "Hispanics" lived there long before white people showed up. But once these areas became "American" then anyone who wasn't white became an outsider, even if their family had lived there for hundreds of years.

Health Care

2011-02-01T03:00:00.002-08:00

I saw this and thought it was absolutely fabulous!

Who's a Terrorist?

2011-01-30T13:27:00.001-08:00

I just saw this article on Yahoo! A man in Dearborn, Michigan was arrested. He's a Muslim and he was outside of a church, carrying banned explosives. But he's not called a terrorist!

Oh wait - maybe I should tell you the truth: it wasn't a Muslim. It was a white man with explosives outside of a mosque. He was arrested for a terroristic threat. But so far, I haven't seen one word of him being called a terrorist. Look at my first paragraph of this post - if it was a Muslim outside a Christian church with explosives, this would be all over the news. But it's not. Because white people aren't terrorists.

Is This America?

2010-12-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

I'm betting a bit concerned about what's going on in the United States. The WikiLeaks scandal just highlights how bad things have become, things we thought had changed under Obama.

Salon.com has some great articles about exactly what is happening. They are well thought out and contain lots of links supporting what the author claims:

Why Julian Assange is a journalist: A look at why the First Amendment DOES apply.
The government's one-way mirror: On the rise of government surveillance of innocent US citizens. Come on, say it with me: If you haven't done anything wrong, what do you have to hide? [Wait, couldn't we say the same about the government?]
The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention: On how Manning is being held in solitary confinement, which is considered torture, because he is ACCUSED of wrongdoing. It also touches on the harassment of his supporters and why Manning is actually a whistleblower, not a traitor.
Getting to Assange through Manning: The government can't prosecute WikiLeaks without also going after the regular media, so it's trying to link Manning and Assange in some kind of collusion.
Government harassing and intimidating Bradley Manning supporters: This is supposed to be a free country. But if you support Manning or WikiLeaks, expect to have all of your electronics confiscated if you ever leave the country and return. Because Customs doesn't need a warrant to do that.

I had hopes that after Obama took over, some of the most egregious changes to our civil liberties would go away. But it appears it may be getting worse.

I'm not sure if this is related, but I ran across an interesting WikiLeaks article at the Sacramento Bee. At least, it looked interesting. I found the link via a search engine but when I clicked on it I got a 404 - article not found message. I thought the link was bad, so I searched the Bee's website for the article, and found it, and clicked on it. And got the same 404 error message. So I tried some more links. The articles about WikiLeaks gave me 404 errors, but the other articles seem to be fine. I want to know what the hell is going on!?! Is the Bee getting harassed by the government? Or are they policing themselves so that they don't get harassed? Either way, it's WRONG!

Here's a quote (via Salon) from the leaked chat logs that Wired magazine released. It's Manning saying why he did what he did (emphasis Salon):

Manning: well, it was forwarded to [WikiLeaks] - and god knows what happens now - hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms - if not, than [sic] we're doomed - as a species - i will officially give up on the society we have if nothing happens - the reaction to the video gave me immense hope; CNN's iReport was overwhelmed; Twitter exploded - people who saw, knew there was something wrong . . . Washington Post sat on the video… David Finkel acquired a copy while embedded out here. . . . - i want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.

Without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public. Words to think about.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 4

2010-12-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Westboro Again!?! I should have established by now that I firmly believe in Freedom of Speech. Even from morons ;) But what the fuck is wrong with these Westboro people? Now they plan on protesting at Elizabeth Edwards' funeral. I really don't understand how they can do this. They have to be completely insane. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Just because you CAN say something doesn't mean you SHOULD say something.

Boycott Body Scanners! Update I

2010-11-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

I found a great article (h/t Gizmodo) about the whole debacle. It's from the Washington Examiner. And it's someone saying some of the things I've been thinking. Like: what about explosives in body cavities? (Which we already know the terrorists do.) What about people keeping copies of my naked body? (Which the US Marshal Service did in Florida.) Etc. Etc.

The most telling point is my favorite. How many people have died from terrorism, in the US, during the last decade? About 3,000 on 9-11. But we have to give up a ton of civil liberties because of that. How many people were murdered during the last decade - 150,000. But we don't have metal detectors at the Interstates leading into New Orleans.

Think about it people!

Boycott Body Scanners!

2010-11-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

There is a call for people to boycott body scanners at airports on Wednesday November 24, 2010. And I hope everyone does. This is something that I feel strongly about. I understand about safety. That we should go through metal detectors and have our bags scanned. That's fine.

But then 9-11 happens and all of a sudden the TSA is tearing 1" nail files off of fingernail clippers. It did nothing for safety, but hey, they could say they were doing something. They took safety seriously. (The fingernail files eventually stopped.)

Then a guy tries to blow up an airplane with a shoe bomb. So now we have to take off our shoes at airports, and have them scanned. And as far as I can tell there has never been a 2nd shoe bomb.

Then a guy tries to blow up an airplane with an underwear bomb. So now we have to go through a body scanner (which is a strip search!) or get a thorough physical pat down (sexual molestation).

What's next? Al-Qa'eda has used explosives contained in a body cavity before. Will I have to get a body cavity search next? Where will it stop?

Hell, it's so annoying that I never want to fly again. But I refuse to give them that satisfaction! I really have to wonder sometimes, how much of this is real safety, and how much is just plain juvenile meanness? You don't want someone seeing you naked - fine, we'll punish you with an invasive pat down! You don't like it - don't fly! Then we don't have to scan/pat as many people. Besides, what makes you think you deserve the right to fly anyway? (Alright, I'm heading to crazy town now . . .)

Dropping H's Part 2

2010-11-12T07:33:00.001-08:00

Yes, an update to my stupid grammar rant. Because I found an exception to the H-rule. Actually, it's not an exception, but some people might think it is. An honorable profession: in this case it is an, because we don't pronounce the H in honorable.

The basic grammar rule is that if the first syllable of the word starts with a vowel, when it's pronounced, then it's an instead of a.

Examples: A one-room house, AN honest mistake, A history of mankind, AN open bar.

Thus concludes today's grammar lesson. Enjoy.

Do We Look That Stupid!?!

2010-11-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm sure by now that everyone has seen the video of the missile in California. Which is now "officially" a jet contrail. First of all, it looks like a missile contrail, not a jet contrail. Secondly, in some video shots you can actually see the flames of the missile. (To me, it looked kind of like shots of the space shuttle launching, once it's up high.) Thirdly, this happened the day before Obama was in South Korea. A friend of mine thinks it's a reminder to the North Koreans and others that we can launch missiles off of submarines. When I searched for it on Yahoo! I used the terms missile and California, and Yahoo! popped up North Korea there too.

The Pentagon isn't fooling anyone. Except people who really think the news is always correct and never wrong. I don't mean to sound like some crazy conspiracy theorist, but I used to live in the southwest. Sometimes we would see weird planes that didn't "officially" exist yet, but were being tested and were classified. So it also wouldn't surprise me if the missile was a new one being tested by the military.

Dropping H's

2010-10-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, one of my new pet peeves is people using the letter H incorrectly. And by that I mean, using "an" in front of a word starting with "H." Like last night, when CSI used the term An Historic Event. In this country, we pronounce the letter H, and it acts as a consonant (because it is one). It should be A Historic Event. I feel like whoever is writing these things has some idea that "it sounds fancier if I do it this way." Kind of like people who use the word whom, instead of who, but don't actually know the correct time to use it. (For the record, I sometimes use whom, but only when it's correct. You use it in places where you would use him or her. And it's mostly dropped out of usage anyway, because it seems to confuse people.)

Example: Who ate the leftover pizza? (He ate the leftover pizza.)
To whom are you talking? (I am talking to him.)

Well, saying An Historic doesn't make you fancy or knowledgeable - it makes you stupid. Unfortunately, it seems to be pervasive in many of the books I've read recently, which makes me wonder if grammar books recently changed, or will be changed, to reflect the new incorrect usage. Well, I say STOP! Take a stand against incorrect grammar! And while you're at it, stop using 's after words that end in S. When I was a kid it was the Smith's house and the Rogers' house. Apparently some grammar books are now saying it's the Rogers's house, which is horrible. STOP IT!

Last Pink Ribbon Rant?

2010-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

October is almost done, so my ranting will be over until next year. So let me leave you with one last thought. You know how every now and then there's some really really annoying commercial on TV and every time it comes on you have to mute the volume, or else you'll start tearing your hair out and run screaming from the room? That's what pink ribbons have done to me.

What price, failure?

2010-10-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting post over on BlogHer (a site for women bloggers). It's called College Never Prepared Me for Not Using My Degree. I thought this part was especially telling:

College prepared me to succeed. Everyone I've ever known, as a friend or mentor, has told me that I can do anything I want. That if I just try hard enough, I'll be successful. But it doesn't really work that way, does it? I've always been prepared for success. No one sits you down and says, "Sometimes, you're going to try really hard, and you're going to want something more than you've ever wanted anything else in your life, and you're not going to get it. Sometimes, you're going to fail. You're going to fail in small ways, but you're also going to fail in great, big, embarrassingly, heart-breaking messy ways. And it's okay."

This is precisely what is wrong with our children. This girl is part of the first generation to graduate under the "no failure" model. Your team comes in last place - you still get a trophy! You flunked the test - hey, that's a 60%, not an F! Because no one fails anymore! And there are no consequences! Until you get into the real world. And then you're not prepared for it, because you've never experienced it before. I've read a number of those lists and articles about really successful people, and most of them list failure as one of the important turning points for them. But now we've taken that away from our children. It's alright to be an optimist, and to reach for the stars. Really, go for it! But you do need to realize that not everyone makes it. And that's okay.

Boobies Rule!

2010-10-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard about the I [heart] Boobies pink bracelets meant to raise breast cancer awareness. Some people don't like them, especially school officials, who seem to think that "boobies" is inappropriate language. In which case, I think they should change the motto to I [heart] Titties.

Humor aside, this is another rant about pink ribbons (or bracelets in this case). And you thought I was done ranting! I have no problem, in general, with pink boobies bracelets. And I think part of the reason they were created, is because they might appeal to kids, and get out the message about breast cancer.

They've been banned in some schools, and one kid in particular ran into problems. He initially had to wear the bracelet inside out, because the word boobies was "inappropriate." After the ACLU got involved, he's allowed to wear it normally now - just like all the girls at his school have been doing. But he can't wear it at all in the classrooms of two teachers (one had breast cancer, the other lost a relative to it). The article doesn't say whether or not girls had to take off the bracelets in those classrooms, even though the teachers were apparently offended by the term "boobies," not by the guy.

Bracelet wearers, officials added, must sincerely support the breast cancer cause and not use them to demean women.

Good god, what's next!!! If you want a pink ribbon, you'll need to fill out a request form?!? We all know how I feel about the pink ribbon phenomenon. I feel the same way about the bracelets. To me, they all trivialize breast cancer. So there's no difference between them in my mind. And in defense of the boy who got into trouble: he began wearing the bracelet because he was going to chemo with his dad, who has testicular cancer, and noticed there were a lot of women there with breast cancer. To me, that says that maybe, just maybe, he's not trying to demean women.

And how the hell does this demean women anyway! Boobies is a slang term for "breasts." It's a childish term, literally used by children who are too timid to say the word breast. Boobs is the more grown-up version. I don't care if kids are wearing them because they think it's funny to have the word boobies on a bracelet. They're still wearing them. It doesn't demean women. To me, this sounds like the same people who are against breast-feeding in public, because boobs are sex objects. The whole thing smacks of old-timey prudery.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 3

2010-10-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, according to this posting, the Westboro Baptist Church has no problem with the Ground Zero Mosque. Well, they think it should be allowed to be built, but they do think Islam is a false religion. I'm not sure if they really believe that deeply in freedom of religion or not. A friend of mine suggested that they only support the mosque because they know it will piss people off.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 2

2010-10-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine had a great idea. We should all show up outside the Westboro Baptist Church and protest them! This article on Wikipedia has their address. I wonder if they would still claim Freedom of Speech, if we stood on public property outside their church and told them they were all going to hell because God hates people like them. We could even chant and sing songs like they do.

It's Pink Ribbon Rant Time Again

2010-10-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Or as I like to call it: Pink Ribbons Out the Wazoo Month. As I've said before, in general, I don't have a problem with breast cancer awareness. I think it's a good thing. I have a problem with this huge celebration (or sale-a-bration) that it seems to have become. In the old days, you could send in pink yogurt lids and the company would donate 10 cents for each lid. Nowadays, every product made is available in pink, with or without the pink ribbon, and you are guilted into buying them. Many of these companies donate a pittance to the cause, and really, they could care less. All they care about is selling you products. And they've learned that this is a good way to do it.

My other peeve is the entire Awareness Month. Breast cancer does kill a lot of women and strikes a visceral cord with them, because it affects their breasts. But it's not the leading cause of death in women - that's heart disease. It's not even the leading cancer cause of death - that's lung cancer. And yes, maybe it's no longer the leading cause of cancer deaths BECAUSE of awareness. But I feel like it overshadows all the other cancers. How many women worry about getting breast cancer and get mammograms once they turn 40, but have to sneak out to their car and light up a cigarette? How many young girls start to smoke and get addicted, never thinking that one day it could kill them?

Carrying on with my peeve, Breast Cancer Awareness happens twice a year. I start seeing pink a few weeks before October, then there's the entire month of October. Then there's the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure around April. My local station starts advertising that 2 months in advance, because they have training sessions at the local track. So that's almost 5 months of Pink Ribbon Madness. Just as I get sick of seeing certain commercials on TV, I get sick of seeing Pink Ribbons everywhere.

Another cancer peeve I have issues with is the term "survivor." There's a good article about this on Slate. I'm not really sure what "survivor" means; apparently it has changed over the years. It used to mean having survived over 5 years in remission, I think. Call me crazy, but if the cancer is gone and never comes back, to me, that seems like any old bad disease. I think the true survivors are those who are still fighting it. And if calling yourself a survivor makes it easier for you to fight it off, then go for it. But as the article points out, calling yourself a survivor makes it seem like you did all the right things to survive. So anyone who dies, didn't do the right things. They didn't get the chemo, or the surgery, or a better doctor, or they just didn't fight hard enough. And that's just plain wrong. My grandmother fought cancer for years, until she finally lost that battle. But I declare her a survivor for lasting that long.

Don't think I'm trivializing cancer by calling it "any old bad disease." But if we're going to call people who survive cancer survivors, what about other diseases? Malaria is really bad, and it can recur once you've had it. So should those people be called survivors? It's pretty uncommon in America, but not in other parts of the world. What about people with recurring heart attacks, etc. Are they survivors? I know some people out there are going to say that I could never understand, because I haven't had cancer (and I pray I never do!). But I've seen two of my grandparents die of it. And I've volunteered at a hospice, where a lot of the deaths are from cancer. I don't trivialize anything that can cause that much damage. But I feel that Pink Ribbons are doing the job for me.

Women Rule!

2010-10-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Foreign Policy has a great little photo essay on women currently ruling countries. It's almost sad to look at it. The US still hasn't had a female president, but freaking Pakistan and Bangladesh have - and they're Muslim countries!!! I had pretty much assumed we would have a black president before a woman president, which has turned out to be true. (Because no matter how prejudiced some people are, at least it's still a MAN running things, not some crazy dame!) But now that the ice has been broken, we need a female president soon. And I do NOT mean Sarah Palin; I think she's an idiot. We need some good female candidates over the next decade so that little girls can see a woman actually win the presidency.

Free Speech is Free Speech

2010-10-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

I am a big believer in freedom of speech, and sometimes that means defending people who don't deserve it. Case in point: those damn funeral protesters. The case is now up to the Supreme Court, and I really hope they can cut through the hurt feelings and make the right decision, which is their job. Personally, I feel it is completely reprehensible to protest a soldier's funeral. But we have the right to do so in this country.

I believe I have mentioned before in this blog, that right after I graduated college, I did some shift work. I was flipping through the cable channels at 4 am and found the KKK on the local cable access network. At first I was pretty offended, but then I realized that they were protected under freedom of speech laws. To paraphrase: I don't believe in flag-burning, but I will defend to the death your right to burn the flag.

Yes, Rich, Jews were oppressed

2010-10-02T04:37:00.000-07:00

Wow - it's been a while since I blogged! I felt the need to comment on this though. And I hope it does not come out as trying to defend Rich Sanchez. Sanchez was fired from CNN after calling Jon Stewart a bigot, saying he was part of the liberal northeast elite, and when it was pointed out that Stewart is Jewish, that:

I'm telling you that everyone who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? I can't see someone not getting a job these days because they're Jewish.

Like I said, I don't mean to defend Sanchez, but maybe he just doesn't know? I'm an educated woman, and it wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I found out Jews had been discriminated against in America (and that was because of a movie!). I grew up with discrimination being black and white. As far as I knew, there was no other kind. It wasn't until college that I learned the KKK had at one point been anti-Catholic. Looking back, it really makes me wonder - why was I never taught this in school? Was it because there were comparatively few Jews where I lived, so it was considered unimportant? Or was it because there were so many people of African descent that all other discrimination was crowded out? But from some of Sanchez's comments, I think he may simply be ignorant of the past.

Copyrights?

2010-08-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Someone suggested that if freequel is indeed a new word, then I should copyright it. So, for starters, consider it copyrighted on this blog. I'd like to add the words frequel and free-order (free pre-order) to that as well. Maybe even fre-order? Ooo, I know, fre-book (for free e-book). Damn, I could do this all day. But I am serious about freequel, etc.

Edit: Great, so as soon as I posted this I found frequel: apparently it is a movie that keeps repeating from the same franchise (franchise + sequel?). I guess I should stick to free-pre or something like that.

Freequel? You heard it here first!

2010-08-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

So, I got a Kindle a for Christmas. And it fucking rocks! I've downloaded a bunch of classics (free), some of which I have actually now read. And I've really gotten into the Amazon Free 100 list. I was recently made aware of a site called AddAll, which is a meta search engine for e-books. It also lists the latest free e-books (free-books?) from Amazon. But some of those e-books are actually not out yet. Yes, Amazon has free e-books, that you can order for $0, and they are delivered to your Kindle when they are released. Yay! So I decided to coin a new term for these free, order-in-advance, e-books, and the first thing that came to mind was Freequel. Like a prequel, but instead it's free. You heard it here first.

School is Back . . .

2010-08-23T15:56:00.001-07:00

. . . and boy is it crowded. My university has a record number of students this semester and they were all on the road today. I took a road near the school for an errand. That was a mistake! I'm no longer taking classes, so I had forgotten that class had just ended, and people were leaving. Way too many people on the road!

Have you noticed how hard it is to park near universities too? And if you do park, it's not cheap. I think the basic student cost at my school is $75. That entitles you to the privilege of finding a non-existent parking spot in a lot half a mile from campus. If you want to park in one of the parking garages on campus, that's $250 for the Fall semester. The school has a new health plan, so my health insurance for Fall was about $280. Hmmm. There's something wrong with that picture.

Edumacation, Shmedumacation

2010-08-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

First, kudos to Obama for realizing that our university system needs help. But it's not just our universities. See my previous post about the sorry state of affairs in my own classroom. The real problem is our high schools. It's ridiculous that so many college freshmen need so many remedial classes each year. If you cannot pass certain basic high school classes, then you do not need to go to college. It's that simple. And, not everyone needs to go to college.

Now, before I get spammed by people calling me elitist, let me explain. There are people out there who do not like school and don't want to go to college. There are people who are perfectly capable of getting a great job in a trade, and don't need college. My cousin is 17 and is dropping out of high school to get his GED and start a welding program. Several of his friends dropped out after 9th grade and became diesel mechanics. You can make a very good living as a diesel mechanic or a welder, especially in the South. None of them wanted to go to college, and they also did not want to become farmers. So they made the best decision for them. They did not try to go to college for no reason, except that society expected it of them.

Somehow, our culture has come up with this idea that everyone must go to college. So people who shouldn't, end up going there. And many who may want to go end up dropping out. And way too many of us end up owing massive student loans to pay for our experience. We will always have a need in our society for welders, plumbers, brick layers, carpenters, electricians, construction workers, road workers, etc. And if they don't need a college education, why should they have to get one? The years we spend in college, they spend as apprentices, learning their trade. What's wrong with that?

Freedom, anybody?

2010-07-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

WTF is going on! Several blogging and messaging sites have been forced to close, by the US government. One of them had 70,000 users, who no longer have access to their blogs and never will. The blogsite is permanently closed. The webhost (who hosts the blogging site) says they had to close it because the blogsite violated the terms of service. CNET says that it was because al-Qaida materials were found on the blogsite's servers. And the CTO for the webhoster is saying the government didn't make them shut down the blogsite, it was the webhost's own decision. Which still makes me say "What the Fuck!

I understand shutting down terrorist information. No matter how much I believe in freedom, I don't believe in letting al-Qaida recruit people and build bombs. But shutting down the entire site! That's ridiculous! I'm fairly certain the blogsite wasn't intentionally hosting al-Qaida material. Hell, for all we know there are al-Qaida blogs on Blogger. I'm pretty sure that Google wouldn't shut down their entire blog service because of it. They'd just destroy the individual blogs.

I really feel badly for the bloggers who used that blogsite. They may have lost years of material and now have no recourse for getting it back. And this becomes yet another instance of a small company (the blogsite) being destroyed, whereas a larger company (Blogger) wouldn't be. So there goes your freedom of choice getting smaller. Just give in and choose the global corporation, forget the mom & pop shops! Screw them, they should have sold out when they had the chance.

Woohoo - Chupacabras!

2010-07-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

I just love all the Chupacabra sightings. They have been doing DNA testing and so far they've turned out to be hairless/mangy coyotes. That seems likely. My first thought, after seeing photos, was that it was a coyote-dog mix of some kind. There are a few hairless dogs that look pretty weird (Chinese Crested, Xoloitzcuintli) and have that odd grey skin color too. Don't forget, most of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest winners have been part Chinese Crested. I actually thought that would be pretty neat, if some pet had gotten lost and bred with a coyote and had enough puppies to form a little band of goat-suckers down in Texas.

Googling

2010-07-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

There's an interesting article about Google and their book project at Yahoo. Personally, I don't Google things, I Yahoo! them. Most search engines nowadays have a lack of privacy, but Google seems to want to database every single thing that you do, so I stay away from it. Supposedly, you can even search and find e-mails that people have written with their Google accounts.

Anyway, the article is interesting because it talks about how people look something up, but never go farther than usually the 1st page of the search results. That people are letting Google think for them, instead of thinking for themselves. I've seen things like this in my classroom too. The students don't want to do anything that takes effort. I know that sounds like all students throughout history, but it's worse now. If it takes a lot of effort, many of them don't seem to know how to do it.

They also can't follow simple instructions. I had my students write short little essays at one point (they read an article in a book, then answered the questions that followed it). I gave them a specific list of how I wanted the essay - 12 pt Times Roman font, double spaced, 1.25" margin, and it must be long enough that it runs onto a 2nd page; it couldn't be just one page of type. I put the instructions up on my website, and went over them all in class. Most of my students could not follow those instructions, or just chose to ignore them, thinking that it didn't matter and I would take their essay anyway (I took them, I just gave them a bad grade).

After the first essay, I discovered that I also had to post instructions on writing an essay in general - that you should have an introduction, your main points, and then a conclusion - because most of the students didn't seem to know how to do that. In fact, there were only a handful of students that I would deem ready for college after reading their essays. I was teaching a freshmen course, but that was still a shock to me, that so many people today simply cannot write at all. And some of them were upset about writing an essay because this was not for an English class! (Hell, I once had to write an essay on a math exam!)

I hate to harp back to the "good old days," but I'd swear that when I first started college, if you didn't learn the subject material, you would flunk the course. And if you cheated, you would flunk the course. And when you got to your upper-level classes, you had to study. I studied my ass off for my bachelor's degree, but now it seems like most colleges are turning into diploma mills. And at some colleges it's almost impossible to flunk someone for cheating (I won't name the college, but one professor I know was put through the wringer for trying to flunk a student who had outrageously plagiarized her final paper - it was so bad that he said he'd never do it again, he'd just give the student another chance). Since when did cheating become something that's allowable? Why have standards dropped so low? The same college where the cheating incident took place now offers 8-10 remedial math sections each semester. If you can't pass basic math, how did you get into college!!! Forget that, how did you graduate high school!!!

What Team Are You On?

2010-06-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

Alright, I admit it, I'm female. And yes, I read the Twilight books, and I've seen the first movie (I know people who are fans). So what team am I on? I'm on Team I Don't Give A Fuck. And I'm a little disturbed by these Twilight Moms. In some ways it reminds of the Olsen Countdown, to when the Olsen twins would become legal age to lust after.

Rush Limbaugh needs to die!

2010-06-19T11:57:00.001-07:00

Alright, I just can't take this bullshit anymore. It was bad enough when Rush would rant about those evil junkies, while he was doctor-shopping for oxycontin, but now he's taking on children! Here's a quote, about where the kids should look for food:

And, of course, the first will be: "Try your house." It's a thing called the refrigerator. You probably already know about it. Try looking there. There are also things in what's called the kitchen of your house called cupboards. And in those cupboards, most likely you're going to find Ding-Dongs, Twinkies, Lays ridgy potato chips, all kinds of dips and maybe a can of corn that you don't want, but it will be there. If that doesn't work, try a Happy Meal at McDonald's....
There's another place if none of these options work to find food; there's always the neighborhood dumpster. Now, you might find competition with homeless people there, but there are videos that have been produced to show you how to healthfully dine and how to dumpster dive and survive until school kicks back up in August.

There's a reason we have school lunch programs for the poor - because for some kids, that IS the only meal they get every day. They don't have cupboards full of crappy desserts and they sure as hell can't afford McDonalds (unless that's where they're dumpster diving). Hell, they don't even have computers so they can look up how to properly dumpster-dive so that they're getting a healthy dinner.

I had a paper route when I was in college, and I had to stop and collect the money for the paper delivery. One lady I collected from was a senior citizen, on Social Security, so I tried to make sure I was never late collecting from her, because she couldn't afford to pay for two months at once. This same lady was the only thing keeping the children behind her alive. This was an older neighborhood, and there was a house behind her house, and the driveways were right next to each other. The woman in the house behind had 3 children, and was hooked on heroine. Every month, she would use her food stamps to buy heroine. The senior lady had called Social Services on her several times, and even bought the kids food. She said she had to, because one day she went back there and knocked on the door. The kids were all at home, but the mother was out. She looked through the kitchen, and the only food item in the entire kitchen was a bottle of ketchup. So tell Rush Limbaugh to shove his condescending, hypocritical, blinded point of view up his prodigious ass!

Alive and well

2010-06-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

If anyone is still reading my blog, yes, I am alive and well. I was sick for a while with my own health problems, but I'm okay now. Then last year my father became ill and he died, so things have just been crazy.

I'm not teaching at the moment, so there probably won't be a whole lot going on here. I do hope to return to blogging one school starts up this fall.

No More Pink Ribbons, Please!: Update

2008-10-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let y'all know, that I spoke with my husband. If I ever get breast cancer, he has been instructed to burn any pink clothing that I possess. Again, I am not dissing breast cancer, I am dissing all the pink crap that haunts my every visit to any store.

No More Pink Ribbons, Please!

2008-10-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'll probably get blasted for this, but I don't care. I am sick to death of pink ribbons! Really, I can't take it anymore. I mean, yes, I understand that breast cancer is a nasty disease that kills women. I've lost several family members to cancer, so don't think I haven't been affected by it. And in the 80s one of my mom's friends died of breast cancer, which was basically a death sentence in those days. So I really understand how far we've come. Breast cancer awareness was critical because women were dying of it and it seemed like there was no research being done. But that has changed!

Breast cancer is still bad but it's a lot more treatable nowadays. And everyone knows about it. But it seems to have become some kind of cause celebre, where the whole concept of awareness and research has been replaced with trendy pink items. I can't walk into a fucking store anymore without seeing something in pink that swears it will support breast cancer research if I buy it. Sam's Club has an entire aisle at the front of the store dedicated to "pink" items such as Cheerios. Dyson even makes a fucking pink vacuum cleaner! I've read several articles about how people are burned out on tragedies, like Katrina, etc. and they just can't take anymore of it. That's how I feel about pink ribbons. I can't set foot outside my door without being inundated by pink awareness. ENOUGH ALREADY! I'm Aware!

There's a link on the side of my blog to Hello Kitty Hell. The author is married to a woman obsessed with everything Hello Kitty. His house is covered in all things Kitty. That's how I feel now. I'm in Pink Ribbon Hell.

Unconditional Love

2008-10-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

I found this link on a political blog; the guy said it made him tear up (me too). It's a video, but I couldn't get the URL so I'm linking to the blog post. It's a returning soldier being greeted by his dogs. I had a similar experience when I returned from my language class after being away for several months. You just can't beat dogs for unconditional love.

It's a sad day indeed...

2008-10-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

...when Paris Hilton makes sense.

See the video for yourself.

Palin Again

2008-10-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

What can I say, the woman bugs the shit out of me. Is it just me, or is Palin always in a dress/skirt? Has anyone seen her in pants? I didn't think she was Pentecostal, but now I wonder (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with being Pentecostal). My husband thinks it part of the pageant-queen background. Wear a skirt and show off your legs, etc. Or maybe she truly is just Republican eye-candy.

Oh - here's a neat article about Palin from the London Review of Books.

WTF: Palin

2008-10-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

I will try to restrain the invectives leaving my mouth as I get an aneurysm from the vice presidential debate. Sweet fucking lord Palin gets on my nerves. "I'm just a sweet folksy person who's one of you, so you should, like, vote for me, because I'm from a blue collar small town background and I know how you think, you betcha!" Argh!!!! It was bad enough listening to W for the last 8 fucking years. I cannot take any more of this crap. I was reading an article about how many people actually like Palin because she's "one of us." So they'll vote for her because of that. Personally, I don't want Joe down the street running the damn country, I want someone who actually has a fucking clue! Her main qualifications seem to be that she's personable and one of us. All she seems to be doing during the debate is showing that she's a regular Joe, to reinforce that. And, of course, regurgitating talking points. Sarah hon, you're not qualified, you're not a maverick, and just because you say something doesn't make it true. Oh yeah, and your accent gets on my nerves.

The Latest 419 Scam

2008-09-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

(Not sure where this originated.)

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfull,
Minister of Treasury Paulson

Rant Update

2008-09-16T17:23:00.001-07:00

My husband says that tilapia has gone from about $5.00 for 2 lbs to $3.84 a pound.

WTF: Now I'm pissed!

2008-09-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with school, but I'm going to rant anyway. WTF happened to the price of meat!?! I don't mean the price hike from gas, etc. I'm talking about a different kind of problem. Many years ago, in a world before fajitas, skirt steak/flank steak/whatever was really freaking cheap. Then behold - the mighty fajita reached public consciousness and the price went up.

Last week on Good Morning America, they held a segment about how to save money in the kitchen. And they mentioned two of my favorite items: Tilapia and Chuck Roast. I have been eating tilapia since c. 1995, before it hit big. And my husband and I love to cook chuck roasts in our crock pot. Well, within a few days of that GMA segment, prices sky-rocketed. I don't have the exact price for tilapia, but I did note the price of chuck at our local grocery. Chuck used to be $2.29-$2.49 per pound. The new price of chuck? $4.19 per pound. What the fuck.

Lecture Writing

2008-09-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

I subbed for a professor last week. It was a topic I know but hadn't written a lecture on before. I had really forgotten how long it takes to write up a lecture, especially if you add PowerPoint to it. I think the lecture went okay. It was a smaller class than I'm used to, and in a smaller classroom too. There will be a test question from my lecture, so hopefully most of the class was actually there. Most of the students seemed to pay attention, and a few asked questions, but I did notice the usual sleeper in the back. A friend of mine mentioned that he'd kind of gone off on his class last semester when a lot of people weren't paying attention. He rather loudly explained how many hours it takes to prepare each lecture and how the least they could do is pay attention.

I don't think most students realize how much time it takes to prepare for a class. Especially as a teaching assistant, I work my ass off. I'm taking classes and teaching classes and it's a lot of work. I agree with my friend that at least the students could pay attention. In an interesting side note, I read an AAUP article that mentioned a study showing that there was higher student attrition when freshmen classes were taught by part-time adjuncts professors. But it was "normal" when full-time professors OR graduate students taught the class.

I'm Back!

2008-08-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

And ready to begin my rantings. As you may remember, I'm not teaching this semester, but I am taking my comprehensive exams. Don't worry, I have enough friends teaching that I'll have some good stories for y'all.

School's Out For Summer!!!!!

2008-05-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'll be in and out this summer. I'm not teaching but I am taking an intensive language course overseas, so I may not be blogging again till late August. It depends upon how much time I have. I seem to have at least one or two readers ;) so I'd suggest subscribing to the RSS feed instead of checking back all the time.

The Semester is Over!!!

2008-05-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

I gave my last exams and inputted grades and I am through! It feels wonderful! This semester had it's own drama, of course. I finally decided to give a graduating senior a D, instead of an F, in exchange for an extra credit paper. Generally, I don't have trouble flunking people who have an F in my class, even if they will lose a scholarship. But actual graduation? She was close, so I made an exception. I did have a new e-mail this time though - the "I'm a single mother can't I get a higher grade." That was new for me.

Now that it's over, I am going to take a week off and read some non-school books before I start studying for comps. Yes - I'm taking comps in the fall and I'm already freaking out! I can't study all summer because I have a summer program that I'll be at for 2 months. I'm not teaching in the fall, so most of my posts then will be about comps and research. Wish me luck!!!

Yes, It's That Time of the Semester

2008-04-18T18:29:00.003-07:00

Time to start worrying about your grade! I have several students coming in next week to discuss their grades. Which is generally obvious, as I post all their grades in Blackboard so they know exactly what they're getting. At least these students are being a little more proactive about it. It never fails that as soon as the final exam is over, and usually after I've given the final grades, someone e-mails me: "I know I made D's on all the tests, but I really need a C or I'll lose my ____ scholarship."

When I first started teaching I used to harp on grades and remind the students that if they weren't doing well they could come to me for help, remind them of drop dates, etc. And most of the time they didn't listen to me. So this semester I took a different tack. Just like I'm not taking attendance, I decided to treat the students like adults. The last day to drop is on my syllabus calendar, my syllabus quiz had a statement for them to sign about not whining when they get the grade they've earned (but in nicer language), etc. They are adults and they need to learn how to act like it. If I coddle them too much, they're in for a shock when they get to an upper level class. And I finally realized that no matter how much I may want to help my students, they have to be willing to help themselves first.

Grade Update

2008-03-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

I did give my second test recently. And grades went down! Grades usually go down a bit on the second test (not sure if it's because the first was too easy?) and the average was about 72%. The study guide for this test was just a long list of terms. If you remember, for the first test I changed the study guide into a better format. Grades usually go back up for the final, and it's study guide has always been in a better format (broken down by topic, vocabulary, and people). I'll keep you posted.

Hot Library Smut

2008-03-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

A friend sent this to me several years ago, and I felt it would be a perfect addition to an edumacational blog: Hot Library Smut! It's got pictures of beautiful libraries from around the world.

Damn Fire Alarms

2008-02-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

There has been a rash of fire alarms going off this year. One of them went off while I was teaching, and I had to let the class go. I mean, I'm pretty sure it wasn't for real, but you can't keep a class in on that basis. Another went off during office hours. And another went off while one of my friends was teaching. I've never seen it this bad: 3 fire alarms in about a 2-week period. And most people give exams around this time, which is probably why the alarms got pulled in the first place. I guess they don't realize that pulling an alarm without a reason is actually a crime. I'm not sure how big a crime, but I'm fairly certain it is a crime. I guess that's better than when I got my undergraduate degree. That was pre-9/11, and during exam week it was fairly common to get bomb threats called in. I always thought that was exceptionally stupid - even in those days they could trace phone calls. And that is a crime.

Dropping Attendance!

2008-02-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is dropping! I'm starting to average about 30 students in my first section and 35 in my 2nd section. I won't be giving out any more bonus points, though, unless attendance gets *really* low. The second test is in a few weeks, and we'll see how that goes.

Dropping Attendance?

2008-02-21T19:51:00.001-08:00

I actually gave out bonus points the day after my test. I had about 17 students in one class and 30 in the other. I guess there's no point showing up the first period after a test, right? The kids are also getting bad about skipping if the weather is the least bit bad. We'll see how the grades go for the next test if they're missing a lot of class. Of course, we're also being decimated by the flu, which doesn't help things.

Who Knew?

2008-02-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well color me astonished. I gave my first test the other day. Usually the average runs about 72-75% This time it was 82%! I was astounded. There are only 2 things that have changed. First of all, I'm not taking attendance. Secondly, I changed my study guide. My old study guide was just a list of terms/topics, etc. This time I sorted them into topics, vocabulary, and people. I'm not sure what happened, but it sure is interesting.

Don't Go to School with the Flu!

2008-02-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

I recently received the following e-mail (this may out me, but it's too good to pass up):

One-quarter of the patients we are seeing at the Health Center have the flu. In addition, students are calling in for triage nurse advice with flu symptoms and are staying at home to recover. In order to stem the tide, faculty and instructors are asked to please adjust your class requirements for increased absenteeism over the next few weeks to assure that students with the flu do not attend class and continue the spread of the flu. We are seeing students who are diagnosed with the flu who are still going to class to meet a class requirement that the instructor will not change. For your own health and the health of the community at large, please consider an adjustment to assure that students with infectious disease do not attend class.

I'm not making this up, that's an actual e-mail. The flu is decimating campus, but apparently there are a bunch of students who are going to class sick because they don't want to lose attendance points. Frankly, I'm shocked they're doing it. Since the e-mail, a number of professors have made announcements about it. This will help keep the sick people at home, but it does create another problem - if you want to get out of class for a while, just say you had the flu. Who's going to know?

Still a Good Turnout

2008-02-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the fourth week of the semester, and attendance has dropped. I'm averaging around 40-45 people in each of my classes (out of a total of 60 registered). That's not bad at all! And I will remind you that this is without taking roll every day. I'm still not sure why they're all coming to class, but I'll take it!

Snow Days

2008-02-01T10:41:00.001-08:00

I have to admit, I love Snow Days just as much as the students. Unfortunately, there are those days that are borderline and confusing. Days that shouldn't be Snow Days, but half the class doesn't show up because it's drizzly and cold. And days when the university should cancel class, but doesn't, and you end up with a handful of people in class. It really messes up the flow of the course. Especially if you're covering something important and almost no one is there. Do you cancel at that point - when people have gone out of their way to make it to class? Or do you give the important lecture and hope the absent students get the notes from someone? In the future, I think I'm going to cancel class ahead of time, even if the university doesn't. Most of the professors did cancel for today.

WTF: "McDiplomas?"

2008-01-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not making this up. There are some new programs in Great Britain, that would let McDonalds (and some others) give employees credit towards a high school diploma if they complete certain on-the-job training courses. Now, in general, I am all for on-the-job training and helping out people who dropped out of high school and now want to get a diploma or GED. But I do worry that the standards may not be as high as a regular high school. If the standards are lower, are we going to get borderline kids dropping out and getting a job at Mickey D's to finish high school?

One of the other companies is a rail company and the article mentions they want to give more advanced training and degrees, like a vocational or university degree. I actually don't have as much of a problem with a vocational degree. I mean, you can go to vocational school to learn to weld and this would be the same thing: learning to do railway type jobs while you're working. That makes sense as long as an educational board oversees the standards. It even makes sense for an airlines.

Maybe my problem is that I have a hard time seeing fast food as an option that someone would intentionally choose as a career. I have known quite a few fast food managers, but other than that, most people seem to be either working in fast food while they go to school, or are stuck in fast food because they don't have any other job skills. And it doesn't seem as if fast food skills would transfer as well - except for running a cash register. Does anyone have any other opinions?

Lots of Students

2008-01-27T18:29:00.001-08:00

I've been busy and haven't updated for a while. School's been in session for two weeks now and so far I'm having a very high attendance rate. See First Day of School for my normal attendance statistics. This is kind of freaking me out, since usually the attendance has dropped by now. I'm wondering if it's because I'm NOT taking attendance. If there's some kind of reverse psychology at work, so that when I take attendance they intentionally skip. We'll see what happens after the first test.

What the F?

2008-01-16T17:04:00.001-08:00

This little jewel popped up at me recently. Apparently a small town in Iowa has come up with this idea that giving kids a zero for not turning in their homework is a bad thing. If an A is 90-100%, etc. etc., then an F should be 50-60%. Right now this is just a suggestion, but it is something with which I completely disagree. One of the quotes from the article is this:

"If you get a zero on three assignments, for instance, maybe in the first two weeks, and you do all right in the rest, those three zeros still could mean you're not going to pass." "The message that comes across is, 'You don't have to do the work (anymore) because I've already given you a zero.'"

I would counter with: But if you give them a 50% for NOT turning things in, you're teaching them that they don't have to do the homework. How will this affect them in the long run? Does this mean if I don't feel like going to work tomorrow I still get half my pay for the day? Also, as an edumacator, I tend to take the long view of assignments. If someone does badly on one of my exams but improves on all the rest, then I'll take that into account when I calculate the final grade.

Personally, I like the policy mentioned in this article. It's referred to as "Do your work." If the kids don't make at least a 70 on the assignment (or if they don't turn it in) then they have to come in before or after school to do it again. Supposedly it's really cut down on their failure rate.

First Day of School

2008-01-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

Overall, went pretty well. One of my classes is in a normal-sized classroom, the other is about a third that size. It's got 60 desks in the classroom, and 60 students, and the desks are crammed in like you wouldn't believe. They give me this classroom every other semester which really sucks. But space is at a premium, let alone a freaking Smartroom, and as a teaching assistant I'm a spud. Spuds don't get top choice. Last semester I got a Smartroom for the first time EVER and it was like a dream.....ahhh..... Anyway, today went well. I'm not taking attendance this semester (one of my main changes) because I feel like I shouldn't have to be the kids' mother. This should cut my class size down to about half, if not a third. Yep, you heard me. About half the students won't show up because I'm not taking attendance and they don't want to be there. I'm teaching a required freshmen class that a lot of people hate. And of course the earlier the class time the fewer attendees.

Example: Average attendance out of a class of 60 students
7:30 20
8:30 25-30
9:30 30-35
10:30 40-50

That's based on my actual experience teaching at those times, and it's not just me. Fellow TAs have said about the same. And that was when I TOOK attendance. So this whole no attendance-taking policy could get interesting. I decided to do it because I'm tired of looking out and seeing people sitting there asleep, or reading a book, or trying to chat to their friend, because the only reason they are there is for the attendance bonus points. I'll keep you updated as to how this goes.

Syllabus Woes Part Deux

2008-01-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I got the damn syllabus updated and ready for the kiddies. It's sad when you have to specifically state that "if you make bad grades on the tests you will get a bad grade in the class." I can't tell you how many e-mails I get at the end of each semester whining for a better grade. "I know I made D's on all the exams, but I'll lose my scholarship if I don't get a C..." And they honestly expect you to give them the C. It drives me nuts. I'll say it again - damn millenials. [Note: it figures - I try to avoid Wikipedia on general principles so the encyclopedia I link to quotes them.]

Power to the People!

2008-01-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is off-topic, well, maybe not, considering the perils to Academic Freedom. I found this over on I Miss fafblog, Spot! It's kinda catchy.

Damn Helicopter Parents

2008-01-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Luckily, I haven't had to deal with this too much. The BBC has an interesting article, including the 5 different types of helicopter parents. The worst I've gotten so far is an e-mail from a parent. But I am really expecting it to pick up. Not to sound like an old fogey, but in my day, we didn't want our parents around 'interfering' with our life. Nowadays, it seems like the kids never grow up! The parents keep doing things so the kids don't have to. So when they get to my freshmen college course, they're young and don't know what it means to try and be an adult. I'm not saying my generation succeeded at being an adult ;) but at least we wanted to try it out.

Syllabus Woes

2008-01-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

School starts soon, so I'm in the process of updating my syllabus. It annoys the crap out of me that I have to put things in it like: don't read a newspaper in class. Or: don't listen to your iPod in class. Every semester it's a challenge to maintain control. There's the kid who's text-messaging, the one with the headphones in one ear, the one studying for an exam in a different class, the one coming in 15 minutes late, the one talking to her friends, the one reading a book (I guess that's a good thing!). I always start off strict, but by the end of the semester I could care less. Me and the kids are both ready for it to be over. When I'm trying to actually teach them something, it's a pain to stop everyday and say "take off the headphones," "stop texting," "stop whispering," "stop reading e-mail," "stop reading the paper," "stop doing WHATEVER." I'm not their freaking mother. By this point they should know better. I'm thinking of backing off some of my rules this semester and seeing what happens. If they listen to music during class everyday they shouldn't be surprised if they make an "F."

WTF: 6-year-old lies

2007-12-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Read it and weep. A six-year-old entered an essay contest to win Hannah Montana tickets. She said her dad had died in Iraq. Except that he didn't. The mother is quoted as saying "we did whatever we could to win." This is the kind of shit that pisses me off! That generation right underneath me, who grew up in the 1980s, got inundated with "me first" and "anything to win." And now they're teaching it to their spawn! What a lesson for life. Yes dear, cheat on the ACTs, cheat on your math tests. As long as you get the A.

Rantings of a Mad Tamsyn

2007-12-19T16:29:00.000-08:00

This blog is entirely self-serving. It is designed specifically for me to spout off on what pisses me off, in an anonymous environment.