And so it starts again

Today marks the start of another school year for me.  I mentioned before that my classes are all online, so I have no in-person lectures.  But there are some 5,000 students who are on campus to attend in-person classes.  I guess those are courses that require face to face interactions and such.  Maybe lab work and so on.

Happily, so far there's only one case of a UOttawa student tested positive, and an unrelated case of a staff.  Considering the number of people on and around campus, things aren't out of control, it seems.

It's interesting how different profs engage this online teaching thing so very differently.  UOttawa has a whole menu of different online platforms that profs can use, and so far I have two that use Adobe Connect, one using Zoom, and another using Microsoft Teams.  And a fourth using our virtual campus portal.  All over the place.  So that's a bit of a learning curve for yours truly, since you all know how much I embrace this online stuff.  Haha.  I just need to remember how everything works!  Tall order for someone who can't even remember people's real names :)

In addition to different platforms, some of my classes are synchronous, while some are asynchronous.  It will be interesting to see how well students keep things straight.  I can imagine how easy it is to miss deadlines and stuff.  I try to diarize everything, but I am basically running out of colours to mark each thing!  Makes things interesting, though.

I'm not complaining.  It's a new experience for everyone, and I think the learning curve is steep for most, and steeper for some (like me) than for others.  But it's good to be doing something different.  I will miss the interaction, even if it's just body language etc., of fellow students.  And of course this online format reduces the possibility of me reporting via the blog "interesting" conversations I might pick up in an actual classroom.

One of my courses is The Cold War.  Here the prof does something interesting, but also tedious.  He wants us to each create a virtual greeting card by answering some questions.  I won't bore you with the details, but basically they have to do with how we see the Cold War, what we know about it, and our own lived experience related to it (assuming some were alive before the Cold War officially ended).  On that last note, I wrote that I don't think it has ended at all, but that's another story.

What's interesting about this exercise is that it allows me to see where the other folks are coming from.  Quite an interesting mix of experiences and expectations.  And on an aside question about what one's favourite drink is, NO ONE said coffee, Diet Coke, or Johnny Walker Blue.  WTF!

In another course, Political Philosophy, I read the syllabus and said to myself, wow, so little reading!  Well, spoke too soon, didn't I?  It turns out that while a reading may be 10 pages from one of the books, the damn thing is actually printed in font size 4 or something.  My eyes are going to really love it, haha!  Anyone with a spare magnifying glass?

Let's see how well I cope with this online stuff.

Well, onward we go.  Let's see what this brave new world brings!

Fall Course Selections

So many of you have been kind enough to give me suggestions for the fall, either privately or via the comments on the blog.  After much deliberation (and frequent changes), I THINK I have finally decided on my five courses (subject to further changes, of courses, haha).

Why such frequent changes?  Well, oftentimes, as you can attest, a course might sound interesting on the course catalogue, but once you get the syllabus things clarify.  Sometimes I just don't like how a course is structured, the kinds of assignments required, and so on.  Especially if F*#ING group work is involved, it's adios for me.

Anyway, here are my five for the fall:

The Cold War
Political Philosophy
Sociology of Ethics
Classical Mythology
General Public Law

I am very sure I will drop one of them as the term progresses.  I don't need five (just need eight more to finish, so two per term), and I'd rather have more free time.

Some time in September or early in October I will be applying for admission for another degree (to continue my life as a student after this current degree).  Still haven't decided what I'll do.  But most likely it will be another undergraduate degree.  Maybe this time with minors in sociology and political science, or some such combination.  Who knows.

So, thanks for the input.  Hope this collection of courses will make things interesting for the fall.

Be well!

Remember this plant?

During my first semester here, I got a little plant when I went to a Parks Canada event.  If you were reading my blog back in the fall of 2018, you might remember.  Here's what the plant looked like then.

BTW, I still have no idea what the plant actually is...

Anyway, after almost two years, this is what the plant looks like today.

Yeah, I had to repot it last year because it had grown so much, and as it was getting too tall, I ended up getting stakes too so that it wouldn't break.  Hope it doesn't grow any taller.  Or bigger.

If only it would bear some money...

Thinking about planting a herb thing, just for fun.  We shall see.

Trepidations

In a couple of weeks the fall semester begins.  I mentioned in a previous post that I'm not looking forward to online classes, but well, such is life and it can't be helped.  Some of you may be surprised to hear that I have post-summer jitters every fall.  And now as a student, the same jitters are back.  Not that I'm worried or anything, but after a summer off, it's hard to get back into gear, you know?

I've signed up for five courses, though I likely will drop one (four will allow me to stay full time).  I need eight more to finish the degree, so taking five this semester doesn't do much other than to give myself more work.  As to which one I'll drop, well, that depends on how I like the prof and the way the class is run.

This will be a strange semester, naturally.  Not only are my classes online (there are classes that are in-person, but mine happen to be all online), thus obviating interaction with others, the lack of a need to actually be on campus kind of negates the whole point of my undergraduate venture.  I mean, hell, it's not like I need another degree.  But in these unusual times, what can you do, eh?

But as autumn sets in, and as classes get started, it will be harder for me to maintain my present routine.  On an average day, between my rucking and working out at home, I need about five to six hours of free time a day (in a block).  How the hell will I get that when I have classes to attend to, readings to do, assignments to work on, etc etc?

And as you can imagine, Ottawa is not a particularly hospitable place for rucking by the time November comes along.  By winter, when temperatures plummet to thirty below, who the F*#k wants to go rucking?  And for hours?

Well, my gym told me that they have reopened.  But you have to make appointments to go, and you only have a one-hour block.  And there's no shower.  So okay, if I want to swim, say, which itself means 50 minutes in the water, what am I to do?  Come out dripping and smelling like a pool and go home?  Or a workout without showering afterwards?  But actually more important, I am not sure I want to go to a gym.  Isn't the weight room going to be a cesspool of germs in the air and equipment?  I asked them to freeze my membership for now, but there will come a time when I have to decide what to do.  Especially when I can't continue my present routine.

Do you have any thoughts?  Any experience to share?

I think anyone reading this is a student no more.  So the beginning of a new semester doesn't really mean much to you.  Or classes, for that matter.  But I am guessing that all of us, in some way, shape, or form (you have noticed that I LOVE the Oxford comma?), are affected by the covid virus.  Life as we knew it is disrupted.  Let's just hope it's not a permanent situation.  Stay safe!  Till next time...

Fall Semester Doesn't Appeal

Well, looks like the fall semester for me will be all online.  UO is offering some in-person classes but none of my classes fall into that category.  You probably know how I feel about online education, so it won't be a surprise to you if I'm not leaping with joy over this.  But such is life.  Thanks to this damn covid 19 thing, who knows when things will (if ever) go back to normal?  We make lemonade if we're dealt lemons, I suppose.

Recently there's been a lot of talk (from students) about how tuition should be reduced since courses are online.  Of course I would welcome any tuition reduction, but I think much of this talk is (1) wrongly argued, and/or (2) bs.

Many suggest that since courses are online, it's less costly for the university, and so tuition should come down.  Since most of you readers are business majors (assuming you were students or colleagues of mine), you would of course recognize that a university is a volume-driven business.  Fixed cost reigns supreme.  The cost to run these courses online is actually higher for a traditional university, since all the bells and whistles online are additional costs that the university didn't have to incur when things were "normal."  So if one argues that tuition should be lowered because the cost of production is lower, well, it's just wrong.

But more important, as marketing folks, we know that it's NEVER about how much it costs you to make something, but rather, how much customers are willing to pay.  Think a Chevy Suburban.  GM makes tens of thousands per Suburban.  Yet people rush to buy them.  Same goes for university education.  It's not how much it costs the university.  It's how much students (and their parents) are willing to pay for that degree.

Now, really, what do Canadians have to complain about?  My tuition for Fall comes to C$3000.  Including all the fees etc, and after taking out my scholarship (still getting it, haha), I pay C$2,500 for the semester.  That's like US$2,000.  And they are complaining?  Should try it south of the border.

In any event, it's what that degree is worth to the student.  END OF STORY.  So, if one doesn't want to pay, then don't.  It's a free country, no?

Naturally, consumer researchers know that customers of course want a lower price, all things being equal.  So why not jump on the bandwagon and DEMAND that universities lower their tuition.  Hell, what do you have to lose?  The truth is, and this is never gonna come out in a survey, the reason why people demand a lower tuition is not the simple math they profess to subscribe to.  It's just self-interest.  Nothing wrong with that.  Just recognize and admit it.

As you know, I don't like hypocrisy.  Like that time when a certain college, one which proclaims its all loving character, and equality for all and all that jazz, declined to hire a professorial applicant because the person is transgender (of course without ever admitting it, just saying it's not the right fit, or that it will be a shock to the students.  What bullocks.)  I digress.

Well, border is still closed, and judging from what's going on south, it will stay closed for a while yet.  If you are American, you do realize that the infection rate per capita in the US is something like 10X in Canada, right?  That's why 80% of Canadians want the border closed.  Not because we don't like Americans.  But because we're scared shitless what might happen if the border were open.

Summer is coming to an end.  Here in Ottawa, give it another month, and it will be too cold for t-shirt and shorts.  Sigh.

Hope you are all safe and healthy.  Be well!

Heat Warning Today, but the blog must go on!

Man, it was hot today, and humid as well.  I only did a three hour walk, but was absolutely exhausted afterwards.  I passed by the National War Monument today, and they were changing the guards.  So here's a short video of that.  I imagine it must be very hot in the uniform and stuff!

I then decided to go down to the river (Ottawa River) and see what's happening.  Taking a path along the Rideau Canal, I was rewarded by some nice views of the canal and the Chateau Laurier.

You can see the locks as the canal empties into the Ottawa River below.  The Chateau Laurier is on your right.

There's a path alongside the Ottawa River, and I took it to be nearer the water, hoping to cool down.  Didn't help.  But it offered a different view.

Took some videos:

This is a view of Gatineau as I looked out from the Ottawa side.  The highrise buildings are where Gatineau is.  And towards the end of the video you can see the Alexandra Bridge, which I showed you before.  Then looking back at the Ottawa side,

I was looking up on Parliament Hill, and then further along you can see the back of the Supreme Court.

All nice and scenic, but then I realized I had to walk back up the trail to the city proper.  I even thought about filming the walk up, but it was just a lot of grunting, haha.

Till next time!

If my pics and vids didn't come through on your email feed...

I heard from some folks (those who subscribe to the feedburner email  feed) that some of my pics and vids aren't coming through on the emails.

I think that's because the emails have size limits and sometimes they omit some pics and vids.  The material however are on the blog itself, so if an email seems somewhat interesting, maybe go to the blog and read it in all its glory?  Haha.

The blog, again, is at  https://chunskiundergrad.blogspot.com/2020/08/strategies-emerge.html

Hope this is useful!

And THANK YOU for reading!!!!!