Good News and Not so Good News

Been off for a while, so here's an update.  First the good news.

Did four midterms recently as you know.  Got two of them back so far.  24/25 on one, and 19.5/20 on the other.  As former students would say, "I'll take it."  Hope to get the other two back soon as well.  Curious as to how I did.

Met with the TA (the 19th century history) on my paper.  Decided to slightly change the topic.  Instead of the charge of the light brigade, focusing on the battle itself, I decided to do it on the Crimean War and its legacy on big power politics.  TA said it's fine.  Good!  'Cause I have actually finished the first draft!  Haha.   Not sure if it's good, but at least it's sort of out of the way.

Not so Good news.

Well, the health people are telling folks not to dig up wild mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest.  Apparently a number of recent deaths....  Hmm.  Glad I'm not doing any of that anymore.

On a different note:  had a tooth extracted this morning.  Damn thing was broken and all.  Don't ask me details.  But for now, I am not supposed to have solid food.  Fuck!  And I was planning on having steak tonight.  On the positive side, I was told to not workout for a week.  Do I need more incentive to NOT exercise?  Haha.  Just sit there and eat ice cream all day.  What a life!  I guess I should go load up on Ben and Jerry's.

Trouble is, this soft food shit makes me hungry a lot.  Gotta do something about that.  Maybe mashed potatoes with lots of cheese and butter??   Hm, sounds like a plan!

On Keeping Quiet

OK, so in 19th Century Europe class the other day, the topic was the revolutions of 1848.  All fun and games.

The prof decided to show a clip from Les Mis.

Now, you KNOW I'm really into getting facts straight,especially in a HISTORY class.  No?

Les Mis is about the revolution (brief and futile) in 1832.

And I kept my mouth shut.  Not even a deep sigh.  Am I nice or what???????


 

TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO

Had one midterm about 10 days ago, and finished another one today.  Two more tomorrow.  Then a bit of respite before another one in a few weeks.  So now I can focus on my papers.

First, the one I did a while back.  Did fine on it.  Only question I missed was the one my mind drew a blank on.  Remember I posted that a few days ago?  Anyway, the TA had a sense of humour, I think.  I guessed an answer, and he wrote (so close) on it.  Funny guy.  

The one today was the one I worried about.  Before the exam, some students (me included) were talking about how bad it was going to be.  So I guess I wasn't the only one concerned.  Not having seen the test at that point, my take on the comments was that most had either not come to every class (or paid attention), and some had not read the text (blame the prof, he said it was not MANDATORY).  Anyway, the test was not easy, but it wasn't that bad.  I think I did okay.  How well, I don't know, because essay questions are hard to gauge.  I'm hoping for an A, but we shall see.

So two more tomorrow.  Guess what I'll be doing the rest of the day today?

Got my term paper proposal back.  The TA said on the one hand, the topic was too broad, and then he said it was too narrow.  OK, make up your mind there!  That's why I ain't starting that till I see him next week.  Only got an A- on the proposal, which kind of ticked me off.  But I'm fine with that.  I'm counting on other courses to help improve the GPA.  If I can get anything in the A range on this course (19th century Europe), I'm not complaining.

On a different note, the Liberals won last night.  Well, it's a minority government, but at least we don't have that Scheer guy who looks like Pillsbury doughboy.

OK, back to studies.  Hell, maybe I'll mop the floor for relaxation before diving into the books again.

Ta Ta.  

Federal Elections tomorrow!

October 21 is federal elections in Canada.  Who knows what that may bring.  Casted my ballot in Advance Polls last week.  Hope we will have four more years of Liberal rule.

Well, FALL is here!

Time for a few cups of coffee before getting back to the books!

 

Am I Having Fun?

School is FUN!

Following my blog entry the other day, a good friend and former CFL player said to me, "you're doing this for fun!  Chill!"

Well, not in so many words, but since he actually only speaks in IFRS and GAAP, most of the time he's just mouthing bullshit.  So I have to interpret for him.

Anyway...

That got me thinking.  Is the blog giving you (i.e. any one of you) the impression that I'm NOT having fun?  If so, I apologize.  That's not what I am conveying (or least not usually).  I think I am a bit too intense for my well-being.  Chunski just has a tendency to get carried away.

I'm actually really enjoying this school stuff.  Let me give you an example, in three of my courses this semester--political sociology, 19th Century European history, and Popular Culture--I find there's a lot of synergy I can apply to my coursework.  I find that exciting.  For those of you (and I think there's a couple) who know the kind of research I used to do, you can probably relate to how I can excited over disparate disciplines that all combine to illuminate the human condition.  Maybe some former students can even remember how excited I can get about things that are not directly from marketing.

In any event, I find this school thing has afforded me such a luxury.  To "force" me to learn more new things, and to do a Chunski spin of merging multiple discourses into something.  So yeah, I am getting a kick out of it!

I LOVE TERM PAPERS

You noticed I said earlier the kind of research I USED TO do?  Well, now that I am retired, and I'm an undergrad, I don't plan to be publishing and shit like that.  But I have always enjoyed writing, and having to write all these term papers has been great fun for me.  Not only that, not only do I simply derive pleasure from writing, but I find the process of research and writing a term paper compels a deeper level of understanding of the subject than merely reading a text can do.

My TAs and profs might not like what my paper, but that's beside the point.  I do what I do, and if that gets me an A+, great.  But if some wet-behind-the-ear TA thinks my paper isn't up to snuff, so be it too.  I learn from doing it, and that's the important thing.  Not that I like a bad grade, but to me it simply means I'm too good for them :)

KEEPING THE SCHOLARSHIP WON'T BE EASY

I have come to the realization that keeping the scholarship won't be that easy.  Partly that's because it would require me to write my papers in a way not entirely my own.  For example, what the hell can I do with a 12-page limit on a term paper?

Also, there's the memory stuff when it comes to exams.  I mean, that's never been my strong suit.  And as I get older, it's gets harder.

And I don't have first year courses to boost my GPA (used up my quota already).

Well, let's see how I do this term.  I'm hoping I can keep my GPA at the A/A+ range (the scholarship requires A/A- average), but all it takes is for me to slip up in one course the whole GPA thing is down the tubes (the averages must be maintained every semester). 

It's not a lot of money, but hey, it's good enough for a few steak dinners!

OK, BACK TO STUDYING

OK, over and out.  I have three midterms to study for, and these old eyes are getting tired.  So, enough fun and games for today.  Back to work!  Good thing I don't have cable!

Why do people take so long to grade stuff

I have never understood why profs take so long to grade and hand back stuff.  I can see that when you have 250 in a class, and you have no or just one TA.  But when a class is not crazy huge, and you have a TA, there's just no excuse.  Don't you agree?

In two separate courses, I handed in a short paper last week.  Actually, it was early October, so it's more like two weeks.  One was a four pager critical analysis paper.  The other was a two-page paper proposal.  TWO fucking pages.  Each class has about 80 students, and each prof has a TA.

Now maybe the four pager takes a little longer.  But the two-page proposal?  Should it have been graded and handed back within maybe a week?

In 20+ years teaching, I had always handed back work the next class.  I don't think I have EVER failed in that endeavour.  Got me thinking though.  Did people even care?  I mean, was it important to students?  Or did I work my ass off for something that no one gave a shit about?  Why do I think this?  I look around the room, and it doesn't strike me that my fellow students are particularly upset or even concerned that the short little papers still haven't found their way back to us after two weeks.  

In any event, I think the prof has an obligation to turn around as quickly as possible.  If they believe that students are their top priority, they should act that way.  Put your money where your mouth is, and all that. Otherwise, it just smacks of hypocrisy and all that.

Would love to hear people's thoughts on this.

Why, you may ask, am I so eager to get the papers back?  Well, for both courses, there's a big paper (12+ pages) coming due at the end of the semester.  And these initial ones form the premise of my main paper.  I already actually finished the first draft of one, so I'm not too concerned (unless the mini one got trashed).  But the other one I am waiting to see if my proposal is okay before I write the big one.  Does that make sense?

Oh, you wanna know what those two papers are about?

One is political sociology.  I merged different theoretical perspectives (e.g. Marx, Gramsci, etc) and came up with a model to better explain and predict when mass unrests will happen.  And then I apply it to an analysis of the shit that's happening in Hong Kong.  How does that sound?

The other is for 19th Century European History.  I am writing about the Crimean War, and within that the Charge of the Light Brigade, and draw parallels between the two.  My thesis is that neither one is necessary, neither one changes anything, and both are wanton destruction of life.  So I  view the charge of the light brigade as a microcosm of the Crimean War.  What do you think?

I'm not totally sure about the crimean war one.  19th Century Europe is not a main area of interest for me.  So it's pretty uncertain as to whether my plan is good.  That's why I want to wait for the feedback on my proposal before I start writing it.  AND I FUCKING HATE WAITING.

Besides, this is the only one for which I don't even have a good first draft ready.

Let's hope I get those papers back soon.

And hey, please, if you have any thoughts on the issues I raised (about grading), and/or about the papers I mentioned above, PLEASE share them with me!  I'd love to know that I am not just writing this and I'm the only reader.  MERCI!

Random Class DIscussions

One of the things about going to school is you can listen to all kinds of things people have to say.  Sometimes they are even valuable.  Yup, sometimes the stuff that come out in class discussions are thoughtful.

Especially if they come from me, of course.

For instance, one day, in political sociology, we were discussing the "ideal type" bureaucratic organizations, along the lines of Weber (You know, the ideal type being so monolithic and oppressive that it dehumanizes people, that people can only do whatever the rules they are to do no more no less).  After a while, I couldn't help myself, and asked, from my experience such things don't actually exist, so what's the point?

As the prof was elaborating on that, someone from behind raised their hand and say, something like, "I worked for the government this past summer, and they fit the ideal type to the T.  There's no room for any human decision, all by the book .... etc etc"  She was so proud of herself too.

Now, you guys all know that despite my mean persona, I am actually quite a nice person at heart.  I was actually tempted to say, "Well, it just shows that you were too junior to matter."  See, but I didn't.  I just kept my thinking to myself.  What's it to me?

********************

European History the other day, and the topic was Liberalism.  The prof showed a clip of Milton Friedman talking.

I banged my head on the desk.

Why show that fucking asshole?  He's a total jerk, moron, immoral shithead.

I went to the prof afterwards and said, I banged the head on the desk not because of you, but because I can't stand the guy.  Thought I should explain myself so he won't feel offended.

But MILTON FUCKING FRIEDMAN?  FUCK!

*************************** 

Had a midterm the other day (three more to go).  I actually had finished it early, but I was stuck on one question.  I could even visualize the answer and where it was written in my notes.  Down to where on the page.  But the answer itself was a blur in my mind.  Just couldn't fetch that piece of memory.  Fuck.

Hope I don't have more of this.

*********************

A different class on a different day.  Topic relates to how the state is the only institution that can legitimately employ violence.

A student raised her hand and said, yes, I can relate to that.  Back when the school started and people were moving in, there were police officers on campus.  Isn't that an example of the state using violence against people?

WTF!  How is the presence of police officers an act of violence?  Did they fucking pepper spray or shoot you?  Dumb ass!

My thinking?  These are First World problems.  Or more specifically, late modernist problems.  People today don't have to worry about basic things.  University students in particular, by and large, are from middle class families.  They complain about being poor while buying Starbucks.  In their cocoon world, "Problems" are magnified, because, honestly, they don't have anything complain about.

Am I just getting too old?  I have no use for whiners.

************************ 

In US history one  day, the prof was talking about the movie industry.  How it went from silent movies to talkies to all the special effects and now CGI and so on.

Then he looked around the room and said, "maybe only one of you will remember this.  But in the 70s they came up with Sensurround.  You remember that, Ed?"

I'm surprised he actually knew my name.  There are more than 100 people in the class.  But I guess he was happy to find someone older than he is.

********************

This Popular Culture class is killing me.  I thought, hey, I like novels and shit.  That would be great!  Well, it turns out that it's a cultural theory class, well, popular culture theory.  I must say I learn a lot of things I didn't know before.  And that's cool.  But this is so foreign to me.  I have a midterm coming up.  Pretty uncertain how I will do.

The good thing is I've already done the term paper (due Dec 2).  At least a decent first draft.  But of course, never having taken anything like this, I don't know if this is the kind of stuff he wants.  Oh well, he seems a nice guy.  Can't fault me on effort.  He requires 12 pages, but I did 16 (excluding bibliography)....

**************

This semester I am learning a lot of new stuff.  Things I didn't know much about, and in some cases, not at all.  Hey, I am NOT the professor in Gilligan's Island, NOR is my name Bryan Greenberg, I don't know everything!   

Anyway, all this new stuff is great and bad.  Great because after all, that's why I go back to school, right?  To learn stuff I didn't know before?   Bad, because it really is quite a bit of work if I want to keep my GPA.  Of course I can switch gears and do what I did the first time around.  Just graduate with a B+ average.  If I wanted that, I think it's party time.  But this time around I really want to do try.

We create our own problems, don't we?

*******************

In the gym the other day I was talking to this lady who's also a retiree.  She used to work in the federal government, in the education ministry.  So we talked about education etc.  And she found out that I worked in the US.  So she wanted to find out what I thought about the US high school systems.  I said, well, I really don't know, since I did high school in Canada, and I sent my kids back to Canada for high school.

She said, oh?  Where did they go?

I told her I sent them back to my alma mater because I loved it.  She persisted.  Where?  I said, in St. Catharines.  Then she smiled, and asked, almost conspirationally, which one?

I told her.

And she said, oh, that's a good school.   One of the original Little Big Four!

I said, yeah, I know.  But I think it was better when I was there.  (If my sons are reading this, YOU brought down the school!).   

************

OK, enough random shit.  Back to studying for my midterms.  A lot of ground to cover.  Sometimes I even wonder why the fuck did I ever quit teaching.  Sigh.  We create our own problems.... 

FUCK, I could have told you THAT!

First, take a look at this latest bit of health science news...

NOTHING WRONG WITH RED MEAT! 


If you read the actual article, notice how strong the condemnation is from received wisdom.

This study (the one reported in the news article) is published in a peer-reviewed journal, a highly respected one no less.  The researchers are real scientists, and all the study did was to collect extant data (so-called evidence) on red meat consumption and see what they actually tell us.

So far so good?

The results, as the study showed, are INCONCLUSIVE that red meat consumption is bad.  In other words, the conventional wisdom (received view) that meat is bad is NOT supported by scientific evidence.  

That's really the same shit like drinking eight glasses of water a day.  Or five servings of fruits and veggies (I actually like fruit and veggies, so that's beside the point).  Or walk 10,000 steps.  Colon cleansing.  Playing with your shit.  Any number of these scams that rock our lives.  Of course, it requires idiots to actually believe shit and do it.

But look at how this threatens the dominant logic?  Shit, man, this threatens a whole cottage industry that grew up on telling people not to eat meat and stuff like that.  Health "experts" who built their practice (btw, isn't it scary that doctors call what they do a "practice"?  Fuck, go practice on yourself, not me!)  on this less meat thesis are undermined by studies like this.  So they counter attack.  Notice how venomous the responses are.

Don't think this is unique.  When it was first suggested, a couple hundred years ago, that bacteria on doctors' hands caused infection after surgery, it was balked at.  Hell, doctors were furious that someone even said that!  Yeah well, doctors are just people.

Besides, you probably know my feelings about doctors.  I mean, fuck, they are not even REAL doctors!  Except in the US, the rest of the world labels a medical degree a fucking UNDERGRADUATE degree.  No shit.

And you know, I studied marketing for oh, ten years?  And there's so much about marketing I am not an expert on (I am NOT Greenberg, I don't pretend to know everything).  Think how much more complex a human  body is than fucking marketing.  How long is med school?  Three, four, years post your first degree?  OK, you see what I'm getting at?  

I forget more about marketing that most doctors know about the human body.

Anyway, so I have always been right, of course.  A pound of NY Strip a day makes the doctors go away.