The university has canceled Fountain Day this year due to Kegs and Eggs. Then, in 2012 the large fountain is going to be renovated, so it may be a couple of years before there could be another Fountain Day. I think it is probably necessary to cancel it this year, even though it would have been the last one for a while. Not really as punishment - after all, the majority of students did not damage cars, mouth off to cops, litter the streets and throw televisions out of second story windows - but more as a message to the community that the university is serious about taking responsibility for the irresponsible behavior, even if it was off campus.

Fountain Day used to be a weekday - it was so out of control that there was no point in holding class. One year there were so many injuries and alcohol poisening incidents that required medical attention that they moved it to a Sunday and made it more "official." That was a big relief to me - I hated it when it was a Tuesday.

That semester - Spring 2004 - stands out for me, since my afternoon class was terrible. I couldn't stand it, was so happy when it was over. I resolved never to write a letter of recommendation for any student who was in the class, and surprise, surprise - no student ever asked me, so I didn't have the satisfaction of refusing.

This past Fall was the next time I had an afternoon class that I would consider "less successful" than usual. There were many better students than in Spring '04, but there was a large enough number of irritants to make me glad when the class ended.

I was also involved in a couple of other classes that Spring '04 semester that were large sections, team taught. There were some issues with them, but it would be hard to blame it all on students with less than serious attitudes. The team teaching structure, the large size were probably bigger factors.


Finally, the only other semester that stands out for me in that same way as Spring '04 was Spring 2006, although it was my Toleration class that time around. That semester, there was a large group of seniors within the class who did not take it seriously at all. It had the atmosphere of middle school.

I don't feel that way about this semester, so far it is going well, but the Fountain Day / Party School / Kegs and Eggs fiascos are making me wonder if there is a similarity between the time periods? (In attitude of students - they vote for the party school label, it isn't some sort of scientific survey, after all.)

Added: Bob thinks it is the bad economy. Our college experience was during the late 1970s, similar times to now in that sense. I think he may be right.

Doing to kegs 'n' eggs what I mentioned Oneonta did after the Halloween revelry. I hope it has the side benefit of improving the Spring academic calendar. This year the stretch between winter break and spring break is too long, and it is ridiculous that there is only a bit more than a week after Spring break before classes end for the semester.

One more post that has to do with the kegs 'n' eggs fiasco. Last night it came up in class. The students had a much more insightful, close and nuanced view of being a bystander and diffusion of responsibility across a mob than ever before. Another example that social aspects of school are very influential. (Food for thought.)

I know it's a day past St. Patrick's Day but I had to link to this by my favorite Capital District writer. There will surely be a few appreciative Sound Off calls over it.

It's been a couple weeks since my print subscriptions expired, and I miss the Record more than the TU. I've subscribed to Dear Abby, Annie's Mailbox and a few comic strips, so aside from the "experience" of reading the morning paper, I'm not missing those. (Admittedly, there is something tangible and material about paper with A.M. coffee that the e-world can never replace.) 

In terms of content, Sound Off and John Gray's Wednesday column are two of the reasons I miss the Record more, but there are a few others; the website of the TU is much better, so it is an (almost) exact replacement (and it is a lot more expensive to subscribe), I love the size of the print Record, the comics layout is better in the Record (and it is in color), and finally, the TU's articles irritate me more.

That didn't start out to be the object of this post! My recent posts have (mostly) focused on students and the media acting foolishly over an event that was sparked by St. Patrick's Day (kegs and eggs). I'm inspired by the linked column's proud take on heritage to write about my connection to being Irish. You'd never know it, but I'm 1/4. Mimmie was 100%.

It's funny, but each of my grandparents had an impact on me. I write "funny" because I never knew my paternal grandparents who immigrated from Sicily and Italy, they died long before I was born, when my father was a small child. But I have my grandfather's surname and my grandmother's looks. Then, my maternal grandfather died when I was 9. I was born when he was 88. But I do have some memories of him, and I grew up in his hometown, West Shokan. I am a member of the eighth generation of his family to live there.

Still, my maternal grandmother was the most influential of all my grandparents. She died when I was 31. I spent many, many nights with her when I was a teenager. All four of her grandparents immigrated from Ireland. She was proud of her Irish heritage, and had no patience for tired jokes about being Irish and drinking.  Her mother, she said, would not touch birch beer or root beer either, just because of the word “beer.” On the card for my 18th birthday she wrote:

“Want to wish you Happy Birthday for Tuesday.  Hope my card gets there on time.  Eighteen is a lovely age to be isn’t it.  Just think you are now your own boss.  Have a Happy Birthday Tuesday and don’t drink too much (champagne).  Suppose that is spelled wrong, but guess you will know what I mean.  That horrible tasting drink that they always have at weddings.”

Irish Soda Bread was being sold at the Kiwanis Club barbecue at the firehouse last weekend, and Teagan's served it with dinner last night. I was not really familiar with it, so was wondering if Mimmie had a recipe for it. I looked, and couldn't find anything. (Guess that's why I am not familiar with it!)


As a newlywed, Mimmie started writing recipes in a spiral-bound notebook. On the cover is taped an illustration of a kitchen by Maxwell Mays that looks much like Mimmie’s at the old house. At some point she labeled this notebook “Old Book.” The stained pages inside are written in fountain pen and long ago started to crumble. At one place, they were sewn by Mimmie to the binding, and the thread remains intact. This old book begins with a recipe for Irish Wedding Cake. She wrote on the page: “I started this cookbook in 1926. My first recipe was given to me by Gladys Fox.”


Irish Wedding CakeFlour    2 cups
Baking Soda    1 teaspoon
Butter    1 tablespoon
Cinnamon    1 teaspoon
Cloves    1 teaspoon
Egg    1
Molasses    1 cup
Boiling Water    1 cup
Sift dry ingredients, add remaining ingredients and beat all together. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes in loaf pan, or recipe can be used to make layer cake. Use white icing.

Last night Bob and I shared Irish Apple Cake for dessert. Here's Mimmie's recipe; this one is not from the 1926 notebook, but from a later recipe file box that she used:


Irish Apple Cake
Flour, sifted    3 cups
Sugar    3/4 cup
Salt    ½ teaspoon
Egg Yolks    3
Butter    1 cup
Lemon Rind, grated    from one lemon
Applesauce    1-3/4 cup
Cinnamon    ½ teaspoon
Cloves    1/4 teaspoon
Mix flour, sugar, salt, egg yolks, butter and lemon rind.  Divide mixture in two parts.  Press one part in bottom of pan.  Mix applesauce, cinnamon, cloves, and spread over mixture in pan.  Sprinkle rest of mixture over applesauce.  Bake at 350 degrees in a greased 9x9x1-3/4-inch pan for 40 to 45 minutes.  Top with whipped cream, if desired.

This is almost too good a story to be true. I assumed the students involved were juniors and seniors, 20 and 21 years old, but based on his age, it seems as if this kid is a freshman. I appreciate that he turned himself in (although it took the pictures in the paper and I suspect his dad's insistence to achieve that result).

Regardless, taking responsibility, as well as the consequences, are important. Maybe this will be the wake up call the young man needed. I hope so. I sincerely wish that it doesn't turn out that he gets off with no consequences, and learns that dad and a sharp lawyer can make any repercussions magically disappear. I don't want to be cynical, but I take a hard line on cheating for that very reason. Parents can be enablers. They think they are doing the loving thing, when really they are just spawning monsters who lack a moral compass. Maybe that isn't so in this case, but I've learned that the "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" cliche contains a lot more than a grain of truth.

However turning himself in, especially setting an example by being the first to do it - good sign.

Today as I walked to class on campus (outside for a change. What a beautiful day!) I overheard a few students on the podium talking about someone who was pictured coming forward. Maybe it was this specific student, but it could have been another, perhaps less famous? I didn't want to obviously eavesdrop, and I was in a hurry anyway, but I believe they mentioned something about being made an example?

Something else I've been meaning to write about: this yogurt. It's awesome! High protein, delicious, and made in central New York! I have been the company's facebook friend for a while, and have won three cases of it to date. Now that they are advertising on television, the friend list has expanded astronomically, and it isn't as easy to win. But no matter! It's still the best yogurt on the market. Go Chobani!

I've been meaning to write about this for the past few days, and have had this post in draft since yesterday...but no time to finish it. So here I am, at almost 1 am. 

On Saturday a bunch of (mostly) UA students participated in something called "kegs n' eggs" which apparently is some sort of annual event. I'd never heard of it before, but it is the morning of the city's St. Patrick's Day parade. I'm sure there is much partying every year, but this year it got out of hand, and the students damaged cars, threw televisions and other junk out of second story windows and harrassed some police officers, all the while taking pictures and video with their ever-present smart phones, and then plastering them all over the Internet. Dumb.

I didn't know this happened until Monday, when an email appeared in my in-box from the university president. Naturally, after I read it, I googled for video, and came across this site. But I hardly needed to surf, because I discovered there was extensive coverage in the Times Union, and not just news articles, but pictures, video links, and a large number of blog posts (including the ASP's). As usual, the bloggers couldn't resist this story, some even posting more than once or twice, and the comment community jumped on the bandwagon too - most ripping into the students (some way over the top), but a few defending them (generally for all the alleged money they bring into the economy). Plus there was this article today which is masquerading as news, but strikes me as an editorial. What gives?

I've received several emails this week that have left me shaking my head. First, there was the official one about the "riot" or whatever label is appropriate. Next, the Student Association emailed, asking us to mention in class this week's rally advocating for SUNY at the Capitol. It said that students might be coming around asking for a few minutes of class time, so they could recruit participants. I decided if a student appeared asking me that favor, I would say OK, but first you have to mention this event:

Alas, no one came, I should have known apathy would rule. Then, there was an email about a Community Day that was also scheduled for Friday. (I thought really? Is that the best timing?) Then, one about our annual April campus clean up day. (Again, is this good timing? Not for the event itself, but for the email announcing it?) There were emails about graduation and Fountain Day volunteers (are you kidding? That had to be moved to a Sunday because students got out of hand. When it was on a Tuesday, there was no point in holding class.) Today one arrived announcing the Community Day had been postponed, so that faculty and students could participate in the neighborhood clean-up. Someone finally got a clue!

All I can say is that we certainly partied hearty when I was in college, so I am not particularly shocked by all of the behavior. My observation is that many of my peers could drink today's lightweights under the table. "Locals" or "townies" or whatever they were called didn't like us much, either, although their biggest complaint was that we played loud music. And I think some students did puke in the streets on the way home from the bars (18 year old drinking age tends to keep partying more bar than house party focused...and no money for cars leads to a walking while drunk culture, not to DWI. Was "back in the day" better or is that old person talk?). 

There was one Halloween where a mob of students really got out of control and did vandalism to the campus bus. I did not participate in those antics, but I was downtown that Halloween. It created a big controversy, and after that, I believe the college had a break at Halloween, which completely stopped the foolishness. I am not sure why fake holidays such as Halloween and St. Patrick's Day cause such nonsense, but for some reason they do. The bus incident was bad, although I think the students who did it believed the bus to be "ours" and the acting out was directed at the college, not at the community.

They didn't overturn cars or throw televisions out of second story windows or mouth off to cops. (At least not when I was a witness, anyway.) And no one was stupid enough to be photographed or taped! Today everyone has a smart phone camera. You'd think the students would have enough sense to keep their faces off screen, or at least to delete what they captured afterward or only share it off-line. But today everything has to be documented on youtube and facebook and go viral, memory is just not enough.

Last Thursday, when the subject in one of my classes was ethics and academic dishonesty, and I cover the plagiarism episode in the student newspaper (see here), I mentioned some posters that have been distributed on campus for the past few years. I believe they came out of the effort to combat the image the university had after it won the Princeton Review #1 party school, and that's the reason I discussed the subject with students; the plagiarized story was about an alumni and student group's disgust with the party school label. 

Several messages are printed up every semester on posters, and pinned up all over the place on campus. They are statements that are based on the results of surveys of students. The current one says something like "70 percent of students report drinking 0-4 alcoholic drinks when at a bar." Whenever a new one comes out, the faculty with whom I chat laugh and laugh at the ridiculous messages. I've had students in my classes over the years tell me the statements are not supposed to be positive or negative, nor are they intended to be examples of good research - they are supposed to be dialogue starters. I am not sure the office that produces these posters realizes they are only wasting trees - they are not accomplishing any worthwhile discussion.

I could be wrong, but I have a sense that for many students who participated (maybe not as vandals, just those who were there partying in the crowd), it is a badge of honor. They are kind of proud, as if it gives them some sort of street cred. It's a pseudo-event; one of those incidents that goes down in school history for the next several years, it takes on a life of its own and becomes an urban legend, until the last participant has finished graduate school. The tale is told to new freshman every year, older students brag "I was here when the St. Patrick's Day riot happened" and the younger students lament that kegs 'n' eggs is now so tame or has been discontinued entirely. I felt the same thing after the party school ranking, and after the Fountain Day debacle too. It seems it is a lot cooler to imbibe too much, act like a jerk, have your photo taken as evidence and have it then make the news, than it is to be on the Dean's List or to volunteer at the soup kitchen.

This is not related, but another email I received was about how the university system is adopting that ugly logo I mentioned here.

Added: I'm not sure why the post starts out light and changes to a darker typeface. Too late to fool with it any longer!

I hate springing ahead! Seems we do it earlier than in the past...and wait longer to fall behind. Ugh. DST is fine in July. In March and November, not so much. Give me my hour back! It will take me weeks to get used to it.

I must have picked up another cold on campus last Thursday, because by that evening, I felt like crap. Friday I had unpleasant sinus symptoms. I'm still not sure if it was a cold or just my sinuses acting up, but since so many students on campus are sick, I'm leaning toward a cold. We didn't let it keep us from going to Samsonville. It was the first weekend we'd been there since Martin Luther King day weekend. The ride home on Sunday was a h-ll ride, pouring rain which turned to ice just as we arrived in Castleton. Monday was spent shoveling - the most difficult of the winter, believe it or not. Thick ice covered by heavy snow. It was like cement and had to be broken up first. It was cold and windy, too. What a winter! It is beautiful though.

I'd like to write more here on the subject of education. I share as much as I am comfortable with writing publicly. Sigh. Once again, I think about the paper journal of days gone by. Since 2002, when I started this blog, from time to time I've thought about trying the private approach again for some subjects, but I have not done it. The positives of this site are that I have continuously maintained it for nine years, and I think the longest break in posting has been a week. That's amazing.

I have never successfully done that with a private journal, whether paper volume or word processor document. I've kept a journal for various reasons and using different approaches throughout my life, until age 40, sometimes intensely writing regularly, while other times there would be long silences. In 2002 I started this blog, and since then the only private journal I have kept are from class observations (brief notes on student presentations and performance in my classes, and notes from my consulting about K-12).

The downside to this approach is that it is self-censored. So are private journals to some degree (at least after the age of 20 anyway) but it isn't anywhere near as much. It's funny because my audience is not large. Yet it still requires censoring.

There used to be a debate on blogs about whether the public nature was stifling, and if so, whether self-censoring was a good or bad idea. Was it necessary to do it? Did it stomp out "truth," however defined? Should a pseudonym be adopted? To me, then and now - that it is stifling is a no-brainer, but that can be both good and bad. Even when I wrote a private journal, I would ask myself if I was comfortable with someone finding it and reading it someday. While I definitely had more freedom to be expressive on all subjects using that tool, I did start leaving behind the teenage angst pretty quickly after considering the question. That was good. No one cares, not even me.

Stifling out voice, though, is another issue. That's bad. For instance, not writing on some subjects in education because of my professional responsibilities. This is similar but not quite the same as censoring details when writing a short story for print publication, to avoid hurting someone. Changing names to protect the guilty, so to speak. With the story you can craft it and claim fiction. That's not the case with a journal.

The debate seems settled at this point? I think most people have concluded good or bad it is necessary to self-censor, and that using a pseudonym is no guarantee of anonymity.

Have to write a midterm! Lots to do.

The subject in class this week is philosophy of education. I told one of my semi-tangent stories in class when I was explaining the Socratic method. I didn't talk about the Memorial Day parade or the band, I told them of not taking instrumental music and so landing in the feared and hated general music in junior high.

I also spoke a bit about inclusion. It isn't really part of the philosophy of education area - I cover inclusion during sociology of education. But it has been on my mind lately because I am observing elementary school classes. Educational research supports it, law requires it, and it is the company line. It does seem fair, when properly implemented (and incredibly misguided when implemented on the cheap).

Last night a student posed the question, could we be harming students' self-esteem with constructivism? The question captured what I have been thinking this week. Do inclusion classes need more structure? Is constructivism fair to kids with special needs? Is a disruptive atmosphere fair to the regular education students? What is the proper mix in terms of (so-called) "special" v. "regular?" How are the regular education students selected for placement? Randomly? Because they are nicer? Because their parents are more supportive or less involved? And the biggie, which is about philosophy (and sociology, and economics, and history, and policy)...are we replicating or changing society?

Yesterday was my first day back on campus after winter break, and since I rarely write posts when I am on campus, it passed by without my acknowledging that it was the ninth anniversary of this blog...or ejournal, as I've always preferred, while admitting long ago that the "b" word had won.

I seem to be having a relapse. I heard that was one of the downsides of using zinc. The cold subsides for a while then comes back. I have never been able to really try it before, since the pills make me throw up. This time I used Zicam, which made me nauseous, but not as bad as doxycycline - so I sprayed it four times. Seemed to work like a charm. I think I will never use it again! Better to tough it out immediately, than have it diminish the symptoms so quickly, only to have them linger for longer.

Anyway, I have been trying to do a few non-academic things during this break. That is made easier by being sick, because I feel less guilty. I still have some work that I must do. I have been chipping away at it, and I will continue to do so. But I refuse to spend the entire break on it. I have been reading - yay - and also, inspired by this post of Elaine's, I decided to try working with plarn, something I have wanted to attempt for the past few years.

Besides grocery bags (which for some reason I still collect even though I have mostly used re-usable shopping bags for the past few years), the bags I most often have on hand are from Stewarts' (our local convenient chain) and from the campus food service. Both are high quality, much better than grocery bags. 

I sorted them and made two skeins of plarn:

Then, using the Stewarts' skein (on the left), I crocheted a granny square:

The skein made the above square and about half of another. I haven't used the food service skein yet, because that will become the trim. I am going to make place mats consisting of two granny squares each and trim. Unfortunately, I am out of Stewarts' bags! So the project will have to wait until I have accumulated more.

I'm having fun working with it. It is different than yarn, hard to describe; it can be frustrating at times - mainly because I find it difficult to count the stitches and I always forget how many I have done :-). [Insert favorite old age joke here.] I am getting the hang of it, though. The result is very sturdy. Eventually I will try something with grocery bags. I would like to have more color, but since I rarely go shopping at places that use colorful plastic shopping bags, my options are limited. Bob said, "go and ask if you can have some bags," but I told him that defeats the purpose!

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this. Is it alleged that he is receiving communion? Or is this just calling for him to be denied communion? There are a couple reasons I have a hard time understanding the story. I am under the impression that he would have to have his marriage annulled for this even to be an issue that could be raised? Is that not still true? The next reason, in my experience, people who chafe over the rules tend not to attend Mass regularly. I don't know any Catholics who would take communion without going to confession first, even if it's only occasionally, much less go up when they have been divorced. But I've never seen a priest play arbiter during the ceremony. Some people don't go up to communion; they decide, whether following church tradition or for another personal reason.

I'm not going to link it here, if you are wondering you can google it - but if anyone who reads this is a Daily Show fan (I am not, I can barely tolerate most television, including "real" news, so forget Comedy Central, I'd rather stare into space and do nothing than waste my time watching it - on second thought, they are the same thing...) please contact them to express outrage about the camel stunt. What moron thought that would be funny and clever rather than cruel? I also contacted animal advocacy organizations, as I always do when I see something that warrants speaking out.

We watched the Social Network last night. It felt very tense, almost anxiety-producing. Definitely kept both of our attention. Performances were convincing, dialogue was clever. It's a hatchet job to some degree, like most biopics. They generally take famous people who you admire or respect or at least whose art or works you appreciate, expose all their rumored flaws, and judge them harshly. 

Kind of interesting that the founder of a social network is portrayed as if he has a social disorder or maybe even Asperger's. But I guess it makes sense in a way. I wondered how much of it was true, so did some googling today. Read a lot of different perspectives, and it seems a mishmash of truth, distortion, and lie, which in a weird way winds up seeming kind of fair except maybe in one aspect (gender). I think the take away message probably is pretty close to the truth, though.

He's a painfully socially clumsy whiz kid. The blue blood twins had a great idea, but they could never close the deal. He screwed over his friend, but more from cluelessness than malice. In the end he settles. It wasn't a flattering portrait, but it wasn't unsympathetic, either. (Now the napster guy, that was unsympathetic.)

It is interesting to think of how fast social networking has grown, to consider the implications of technology. (This movie doesn't really address this, but it sparks me to think about it.)

I dashed off Friday's post and one minute later, came down with a cold! Just the way to start the break.

It's no surprise - the students were coughing and sneezing all over the place on Thursday. I am careful, wash my hands about 50 times per day and use a paper towel when turning doorknobs and turning off the faucet (I always feel a little guilty about this and hope no one sees me - don't want to be labeled a germophobe?). But this time it didn't work. Can't always be on alert, and what to do about the air?

I have managed to fit in some reading. It is such a great book! Hard to tear myself away. I was going to paste an excerpt but I can't find the paragraph I want in any of the PDF samples that are posted by the publisher or Amazon. I don't feel like typing it right now, so it will have to keep.

I also had a comment brewing on a political column I read in today's Times Union, but I don't have the patience to find it online. As I was searching I got distracted by seeing a reporter's name that always stops me in my tracks, because of my obsession with plagiarism. So I gave up on trying to find the article. That will keep too, but in this case, it will probably keep forever.

Which reminds me, I decided to cancel the TU. This is uncharted territory for me. The morning newspaper is one of my pleasures. I have received the TU every day since I have lived in the Capital District. I have always read some local morning paper, even as a kid, and sometimes I have subscribed to more than one newspaper. Now that it is on the Internet, it isn't quite the same as not reading the paper at all, but it still will be a big change in morning routine. I don't see myself reading the news in the morning on an electronic device, while in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating my breakfast yogurt.

There are a lot of reasons for canceling, including:

1. It often never arrived this winter. I know the weather has been extreme, but it is a hassle to have to contact someone all the time to receive a replacement, which then either comes late in the day and so goes unread, or is delivered the next morning, or isn't delivered at all. Why should I pay for that? Even if it does arrive, I've already read what I wanted on the Internet. Most of the time I do not bother to call and report it, so I am paying for nothing - not even paper to wrap the Christmas ornaments in. (It doesn't help that our carrier stuck a note in a week or so ago with 10 disclaimers about why service has been poor [the snow and ice, his crappy car*] and asking us not to call the TU since his pay gets docked.)
2. When it did arrive, it was frequently late. It is supposed to be delivered by 7, but when it comes late I mean 8 or later. I am not complaining about 15 minutes! So it goes unread, see #1.
3. It isn't cheap, and this seems to be an area where we could cut expenses pretty easily, something that we decided to attempt since the price of oil (and a couple of other things) is so high. It is not cheap to heat S'ville! Even when left on 50 degrees. Then, our giant icicles melted. I was relieved! But during the thaw on Friday, the ice on the roof tore down half the gutters on one side of the house. Who knows whether there is damage to the shingles. (No leaks yet, thankfully.) Sure, insurance will pay (and raise our premiums), but there is a deductible. This is unrelated, but in our quest to cut costs, we converted our landlines to cell! We didn't get rid of them and go with our cells alone. We got a device that two regular phones plug into and it picks up the cell signal. It is from Verizon, $20 per month. It included caller ID and voice mail, and unlimited calling - no long distance charges! So now my DSL will no longer be competing with the telephone. Sometimes these cost cutting measures wind up improving services! It goes live on Tuesday. I'll post a review here eventually.
4. Much of the content is available on the Internet. 
5. They have gradually eviscerated it over the past several years. Ann Landers dies, cut down to just Abby. Assault the comics regularly. No more Dr. Fox. 
6. So many stories irritate me, why expose myself to it? Why pay them for annoying me? Bob agrees and he said today, "I'd rather you read me excerpts from Mark Twain in the morning." So that will be the new life's pleasure!

*it isn't. I saw it one day when I was "hunting" the paper and he drove by on his route. It is rather nice and new. But it is a rear wheel drive van. Not a good choice for someone who depends on driving to earn his bread.**

**I am inspired by M. Twain - he used this phrase all the time.

I've been crazy busy this week, so no time for posting. It isn't that I have more work than is typical really, but I generally have a lot of flexibility on MWF, and that wasn't true this week, I had to be away from my home office more than usual. But now I am looking forward to winter break, so I should be able to tie up a lot of loose ends, and maybe even read some Mark Twain..

I completely agree with this post. Should have been done long ago, in fact.

A very good day.

What a ridiculous post.

The discussion in the newsroom must have gone something like this: "How can we generate high traffic and a guaranteed flame war in the comments on a dead Saturday?" "Oh, I know. Let's pose an inflammatory question based on an unsubstantiated assertion." "And let's make it at the expense of animals." "Just be sure to put it in one of the more active, volatile blogs." "Great idea!"

Then once the comments erupt into nastiness, there will be a follow-up post or comment about the awfulness of the community's commentary and how uncivil the posters are. There will be much hand-wringing and eventual censoring.

I think not liking animals very much is a hiring criteria at the TU. Otherwise why would the alleged discussion have taken place at all? If the story was the subject, wouldn't you instead be talking about how cute the puppies are, how terrible puppy mills and disreputable breeders are, or how important it is to neuter and spay pets?

This is dreadful. Nothing more to say.

This was taken Palm Sunday 2010 at St. Augustine's. When I was a kid, for a couple years there was a man who played guitar and sang during Mass. It was the Godspell-inspired folk music that was a fad in church during the '70s, and he sat in a pew with the congregation, not in the front or back of church. That was the only time in my memory that we had instrumental music at St. Augustine's, which does not have a regular choir or organ player. In the musical aspect it is a big contrast to Sacred Heart, which has a phenomenol director and choir. It's like a weekly concert. So beautiful. At St. Augustine's, currently there are two songs per week, sung a cappella. (Psalm 118:24, God Bless America, and Holy, Holy, Holy are the favorites.)

Palm Sunday 2010 was extra special. St. Augustine's has had the organ from nearby Boiceville (which closed during the Diocese reorganization) for the past few years but still no organist. The mother of a neighbor of ours was visiting from England, and she is a retired music teacher. The neighbor is a professional musician. She does not go to church with us, and neither is Catholic, but they offered to come to Palm Sunday Mass, play the organ and sing. She took this picture of us afterwards, posing inside our beloved little mission church. She sent it last week. It was kind of dark but I lightened it a bit and I'm pleased with how it turned out. A new picture for my compilation!

Isn't this backdrop a little too busy? And wow, is that new logo ugly or what? Looks ridiculous pasted to the front of the podium. So tacky.

I've been with SUNY in some capacity since 1988...RF, System, UA. (1978 if you count my days as a student at SUCO and SUNYA.) I think this is the most awful marketing design in our history.

About the substance of the article, I have mixed feelings. We are between a rock and a hard place in terms of funding. So many competing demands for the State's money. At the same time, I know my students are feeling the pinch, just like everyone else. It is costing a fortune.

This reminds me, related to last night's post: I notice a thread running through all my classes this semester. They're "edgier" than usual. What is driving it? This cold snowy winter? The economy and job market? Talk of budget cuts? Gender mix? These are outspoken times? Luck-of-the-draw sample of students? Classroom setting? Or have I finally arrived in terms of sparking provocative discussion?

It's exciting when it is volatile, but I do have to be careful about the atmosphere. I read a reflection yesterday written by one student I know from the past. It was about the difference in tone between the classes. The one last semester felt warm and fuzzy. It isn't that this spring feels nasty to her; she is afraid she is less knowledgeable compared to her more glib peers. I doubt that is true. It's just that she is sweet and not as assertive. I will have to be sure to work on making everyone confident enough to raise their hands. Frequently the quieter ones do have something great to contribute.

Lively class tonight. Something I have found ever since I started teaching the subject is that the majority of students are subjectivists. For some reason, they aren't comfortable with that label, however. They want to pick and choose moral values they support individually, but basically argue for conventionalism - ie, social norms are morally correct at the societal or cultural level, and outsiders shouldn't judge the cultural practices of other groups. Historically, that does seem appealing, I suppose. I mean, the opposite side of that debate in 1900 tended to be paternalistic, insensitive and judgmental.

When confronted with the ugliness conventionalism can entail (that moral reformers within a society are wrong, or that speaking out about atrocities elsewhere that they care about [rather than ones they do not care about] conflicts with relativism) they are uncomfortable and don't want to own it. Instead they wind up arguing for subjectivism, but realize that could be chaotic or a contradiction, so they won't own that either. Still, they chafe at the idea that there could be ethical universals. This is true for all but a handful of students, who tend to favor objectivism. So tonight I told them not to pick that question on the midterm if they can't defend their position.

For some reason I am in pretty good shape in terms of workload. (Probably because no essays have been due yet, so there is nothing to grade.) Instead of procrastinating on the low priority tasks as I usually do, today I created my grading spreadsheets and scanned some articles for later in the semester. I was itching to go read Mark Twain, of course, and that is what I would have done in the past...then paid the price in several weeks when there are a lot of other demands on my time. If I play my cards right I may be able to fit in a guilt-free hour or two of reading this afternoon. Hmm. Which is the better approach?

So cold! Our glorious winter of '10-'11 continues.

Not being television sports enthusiasts, some years we go to the movies on Superbowl Sunday. It's a really great day to see a movie, because the theatre is empty. That's what we planned to do yesterday, after we knew that the weather was going to keep us from traveling to Samsonville on Saturday. (Seems like an awful lot of S-word alliteration.) The plan didn't work out, so after getting much-needed cleaning out of the way, instead of going to see The King's Speech, or joining the majority of the country in watching television all day, I started to read Mark Twain's autobiography. I bought it for myself at Christmas. I've been excited to read it, but it is as thick as a dictionary, and the type is very, very small - so I knew starting it would take focus. It's great - especially once I finished all the front matter (a lot) and got to Twain himself. I've read the earlier versions so I expect some of it will be duplicative (not that I mind), but there is new material - such anticipation! Now the challenge will be resisting reading it constantly, and ignoring myriad other demands.

She talked during the victim impact statement so that her client wouldn't have to listen? How rude -- has she no shame? And did she really reference Matthew 19:23-24, Mark 10:24-25, and Luke 18:24-25 to describe his life's chances, substituting "elephant" for "camel?" Does she think it is an apt analogy? Is she aware that it is about a rich man's chances of getting into heaven?

I was so tired after class, more than I should have been considering the snow meant plenty of time at home this week. This contributed. I received two emails about it yesterday. This time around she wasn't in my class, but we were encouraged to give students contact information for counseling and religious services, regardless of whether they knew the young woman. So I brought it up in the night class, since it is half freshman. Very sad!

Just as I was about to start shoveling today, four teenage boys appeared, shovels in hand, and asked me if I wanted to hire them. "You got a deal!" I responded, and they completed what probably would have been a two-hour job for me in about 20 minutes. They did a great job. I paid them twice what they asked.

Today (actually yesterday, but I haven't been to bed yet) was Sophie's "made up" birthday. She is 12. I don't know the exact date she was born, but we adopted her in early December 1999 and we were told she was 10 months old. So Groundhog Day seemed to be as good as any other date. Since her surgery, she's doing absolutely great. She had been seeming very old to me, but she has a new lease on life now, and that's wonderful. Happy Birthday Licious!

Funny, we had a little party for her. We had carrot cake and ice cream. I took pictures. A little while later, in his monologue, Jay Leno talked about the increasing trend to celebrate dogs' birthdays. He joked that dogs don't know it is their birthday. We often celebrate the dogs' birthdays. I think they do know, at least that it is something special that has to do with them. They definitely know when the Christmas tree is brought into the house that something special is happening. They seem to remember year to year. I think Jay is a cat person! (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I have to go out soon and shovel...before tomorrow's installment arrives. No need for a gym membership this winter.

On another note, I watched the second half of the governor's budget speech. Very impressive. Not happy times certainly, but he really seems to have a team assembled that gets right to the point, which I appreciate.

Something funny, he seems to have coopted S.O.S. Except that instead of meaning Save Our SUNY it means Save Our State.

When I read this on Sunday I could only shake my head. How incredibly naive...and elitist.

Don't get me wrong. I am a big proponent for people getting educated. I can sympathize with the dream of all students having the preparation and the confidence to apply and attend. Do I think that is realistic, though? No.

Who would fund all these applications? Who would pay for the remediation that would undoubtedly be needed? Who would cover the tuition? How about all the additional expenses the colleges would have if enrollment skyrocketed? HELLO.

And what about the flip side of the author's assertion (that getting an acceptance letter would boost self-esteem)...how about the rejection letters that would be generated? Wouldn't that make some young people feel even worse about academics?

Finally, isn't there dignity in all work and all workers? What's wrong with the trades? Most are lucrative and offer decent opportunities, even the possibility of being self-employed and owning a business. Not everyone needs (or wants) a four year liberal arts degree. In fact, I have friends and relatives who found their calling and landed in careers that were unrelated to their college degrees; in some cases higher ed was not necessary for these jobs. I'm not arguing that there are no returns to education. I know there are. And even putting aside the economic aspect, I'm sure the higher education experience benefited them, but can't people learn, and be smart, in all different ways?

If reform of high school is the subject, why bother with this simplistic (and likely expensive and ineffective) change in graduation requirements? Why not focus on curriculum or course-taking or some of the other expectations in school?

The byline says the viewpoint is the author's, not the employer's. Wow, I certainly hope so!

The Freeman had previously incorrectly reported that charges against the driver who caused the accident were unlikely. I'm relieved that the prior reporting was wrong on this point, but I think it highlights something that Bob and I were discussing earlier today.

We want more information about Egypt, but what is out there is insufficient, biased, and most likely contains lots of incorrect information. I first heard of the unrest in an email from a student who was there visiting. She wrote about the massacre at the church and said the atmosphere was tense and felt like it could explode at any moment. Then shortly afterwards at church Fr. George mentioned the violence toward Coptic Christians. Even afterwards, there was nothing much reported in the news. I know this because I was actively seeking to learn more and came up short.

That's the sense we have, on this and every issue (both trivial and significant, local and far away): television, newspapers big and small, and Internet sources are not trustworthy. "News" is a combination of omissions, outright distortions, and careless mistakes. This can be easily detected on local stories that you can quickly fact check - because you have witnessed the event. The only story you can trust is what you collect firsthand with your own senses. So naturally we turn away and disconnect.

I don't understand this. An illegal lane change, someone is killed, and the result is not even a ticket? Does that make sense? Fiddling with the heater or the radio causes you to be a menace and that is acceptable? What if it was a cell phone (which it probably was) or just plain inattentiveness? Are those things OK too? What if she intentionally cut off the van but claimed it was innocent? Or maybe she is just a bad driver. How can the police know for sure? Isn't the result the same? She managed to sweet talk her way out of any responsibility? Or maybe she is connected in some way?

I have always believed that if you want to kill someone and get away with it, do it with your car. The only thing you have to be careful to not do: 1) be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs or 2) leave the scene. #1 is more critical than #2, because you can claim you thought you hit a deer or road hazard, and may be able to walk away with only a slap on the wrist (if that).

I had a really good day. Lots to reflect upon in the consulting arena.

I noticed a student wearing one of the S.O.S. buttons in last night's class. I asked her how the walk out was, and whether it was well-attended, and she said it was great, and yes, including lots of media. Here's the article about the protest. I didn't ask her whether any faculty attended, didn't want to pry. Reading the article, it appears that any faculty who were there were graduate teaching assistants. Or at least no other instructors are mentioned. GAs have their own union, and own set of rules. So maybe all faculty members who let students out of class and encouraged them to attend the protest were graduate assistants. I am not sure whether their participation raises the red flag of the Taylor Law, but I suspect it doesn't and that explains the teach-in angle. I didn't hear them marching or banging pots and pans, but I didn't venture outside at that time. I used the tunnels to get to class. I've been using them this winter in order to avoid ice. I can't afford to fall again.

I was a little tempted to use the protest as an example when I was telling the students about the critics of toleration, in particular when I mentioned conflict theory (a conflict theorist would say that the university tolerating such activism is just an "opiate of the people" and the walk out will have little influence) but I didn't. I stifled myself from using the protest as an example, even given that I always take the vanilla approach - neither endorsing nor condemning such theories. I just explain that proponents say eliminating toleration does not improve things for the disenfranchised - in fact, it makes it worse, so what are the anti-toleration theorists hoping to achieve? Still, using yesterday's activism as an example seemed mean-spirited, and as uncomfortably true as some of conflict theory's cynicism can seem at times...I am too much of an idealist myself to rain on the students' parade.

I have an old S.O.S. button, and these two other buttons that relate to my system days. The current button is larger, and yellow. I would have loved to get one for my collection, but as a non-participant, I suppose I don't deserve one. I see that UUP was more supportive of the group's agenda in the '90s. Does it seem there was always a crisis? Even in the days people now look back on with a nostalgic glow?

My classes this semester are awesome! I am looking forward to a semester filled with bright lights. I have 33, 30, 26 and 24 students in my classes, and 6 in the independent study (classroom observers for my consulting project).

I tried some experimental things this first week. I didn't hand out paper syllabi on the first day. Instead, I emailed them a copy the day before class, with a few links to short articles. I made a powerpoint of the important bullet points in the syllabus. I handed out pieces of drawing paper and pencils. I had them brainstorm what they hoped to learn in the class, draw their impressions, write what the drawings were about, then asked for brave souls to share their drawings and their words.

I followed that in toleration with the same ice breaker activity that I have done for the past few semesters (writing 10 things about oneself on a piece of paper; taping to shirt; I time five two minute exchanges where the students have to circulate and discuss the 10 things). That class went pretty much as expected, but in foundations, the articles were about the recent study on limited learning taking place in college. (Also this and this.) We discussed whether that is true, and whether there are flaws in the study. It went great, the students seem very engaged and interactive. I'm extremely pleased!

On Friday, I received an email from my union, UUP, with the following attachment. The attachment was not directed at me personally, it was more FYI in nature. I had not, and still have not received the original email from S.O.S. (Save Our SUNY) proposing the walk-out.

I have been provided a copy of an email (with the subject heading of: “Draft of Open Letter to the Faculty about Walk‐Out”) and an attachment that was sent to you. Although that message was not addressed to me, I want to share with you my concern that the actions proposed are likely to be construed as violating New York’s Taylor Law. Therefore, I ask that you cease and desist from engaging in this type of activity.

A public employee violates the Taylor Law prohibition against strikes by “engaging in” a strike or “condoning, instigating or causing” a strike against a public employer. Additionally, a public employee may not “authorize, approve, condone or consent” to a strike under Civil Service Law §210. A “strike” can be “any concerted stoppage of work or slowdown by public employees.”

UUP‐represented members involved in planning, instigating and causing the concerted action proposed in the January 19, 2011 Save Our SUNY (S.O.S.) notice; that is, encouraging students to walk out of their classes and have faculty instead “teach in,” may be construed as condoning, instigating or causing a strike. Penalties resulting from a strike‐finding can include disciplinary penalties under Article 19 of our collective bargaining agreement and the loss of two day’s pay for every day or part thereof that the member is found to have struck.

The Taylor Law also prohibits the bargaining agent from condoning, instigating or causing a strike. Hence, I must formally state that UUP cannot support these proposed actions and urges its members to refrain from participating in them.

I fully understand the concerns that have been raised by the actions of administrators at UAlbany, brought about by decreased funding over the past several years. UUP has raised similar concerns through many venues. And, more importantly, UUP will continue to press and advocate for appropriate funds to support the operating budget of SUNY. I invite you to join us in our organized activities to bring such concerns to the attention of our governmental officials as well as the public. UUP has organized a number of Outreach Activities at which you would be most welcome. Please feel free to contact me [deleted contact information].

Then yesterday, I noticed this poster taped to the (newly painted!) wall in the hallway near my office (I also saw it in many other places around campus). It doesn't mention S.O.S., instead the sponsor is listed as the Student Crisis Committee.

No mention of faculty on the poster. I would not have interpreted "teach-in" as code to professors. Is it? If so, is that a relic from the '60s, and that's why I didn't get it? If I didn't get it will other instructors (some are younger than I am) get it?

If it was being held where most of the (pretty minimal) activism takes place on campus (it isn't), I would walk by the protest on my way to class. Maybe I could get a picture, if the crowd was interesting. But I would not have participated, even if the union had not copied me on the cease and desist letter. It isn't in my nature. I would never withhold my contracted services. I expect students to attend class, and in fact, attendance counts for ten percent of the final grade. So I would not encourage them to walk out, and I would not excuse them from class. Class time is precious.

Luckily my class is at 1:15, hopefully the walk-out / teach-in will be over by then. Although I don't think the students in my afternoon class are the type to attend something like this. No one has asked, anyway. In fact, it has not come up at all in class. I suspect it is too early in the semester for students to risk blowing off class, especially when I just let in several on overflow. My classes are much in demand.

Would I have participated when I was a student? Yes, if I was free at noon. I would have been very motivated and excited, maybe even would have made signs or worn a button. I'd have listened to the speakers and shouted the slogans. I would not have missed class to participate, however.

I am wondering what they hope to accomplish in Campus Center 375, though. I am not sure how big that room is, or even exactly where it is. I know it is cold outside and often it is snowing, but they are mostly hearty young folks of 18-22 years. Wouldn't they get more attention if they were on the podium, in front of Campus Center?

Yesterday, I watched about half of Dateline. It's a show I never watch, because it strikes me as only one notch away from EW, and I don't care for celebrity gossip. But TV was jammed with football, I'd just come in from shoveling (we got a very small amount yesterday) and I was defrosting myself near the electric fireplace.

The segment I watched focused on a woman who was shot three times in AZ. She's doing pretty well, although she was using a wheelchair. She was the woman who brought the little girl who was killed to the event. I felt a growing discomfort as I watched, sort of like rubbernecking.

First, she seemed way too composed and happy, to the point where I wondered if she was still in shock. Or maybe on sedatives? But her mind seemed clear, so I am not sure. Then, it seemed as if it was all about her. Her interviewer focused on the girl, but the responses felt very narcissistic. When she burst into tears, it seemed contrived.

That made me feel bad - here she has been through an awful ordeal, and I was feeling negative, judging her. What I finally landed on: enough. The media really is bloodthirsty. Parasites. Disgusting. And AHs like me are wasting our day, watching their crap.

Stop it. Stop the continuous, relentless coverage.

I am cold. And for the past couple of years, I am at that point in my life where I am never cold! So in a way it is refreshing, I guess...

I am just about ready for tomorrow, yay. The ice on the sidewalk is still an undone task, though.

This is a disturbing article. I'm afraid it might be true.

It's still Tuesday to me! Nice three day weekend in S'ville. We left the tree up! It is just like the day we cut it, probably because the heat is turned down low. Technically, it is supposed to be up 40 days after Christmas = February 3. We still have it up in C'ton, too. That one is more dry. It was fresh cut too, but we keep the house very warm for Sophie. The livingroom is particularly toasty, so I doubt we will make it the full 40 days here.

My first day on campus will be Thursday. I still have to revise my syllabus for foundations, but toleration, the online class and the independent study are finished. I don't have copies made to hand out in class any more, instead I email attachments to students the day before class. This saves paper, but causes me to procrastinate! If I had to have copies made, I would need to be done a few days sooner.

The storm today is a shoveling nightmare. I only got about 1/4 done, will have to work on it again tomorrow. It is so heavy - it slides down the snow banks (which are high, and now slick) so there is no where to throw it - and I'm afraid the sidewalk that I clear becomes very slippery because of the light drizzle. What a winter!

Sophie will be 12 next month, and we've had her for 11 years, having adopted her in December 1999 from MHRHS when she was 10 months old. She was a fully grown young dog, about 10 pounds underweight, with almost no hair. So pitiful. I know everyone thought I was crazy to choose her. (Doesn't help that besides her heartbreaking looks, she has a grumpy disposition.) The shelter had tested her for hypothyroid, I'm sure because of her hair condition, but that wasn't the problem.

When we brought her home, the only place she had visible hair on her back were two small, symmetrical, tear-shaped patches high on her neck. It was puppy hair, and it gradually fell out. At first I thought maybe she would grow hair once her diet was good and she wasn't under stress, but that didn't happen.

She has short hair on her legs and feet, and soft fuzz on her muzzle and parts of her ears, she's had an occasional patch of thin hair here or there elsewhere on her body at times, as well as few stray hairs in other places, but her underside seems to be completely hairless, and everywhere else is practically bald. She is bald with patches of hair, not furry with bald spots. In the summer, she gets rashes from the grass, she digs at her chest and chews her legs constantly. She's terribly allergic to bee stings.

We never deeply explored it, although we took her to the vet right away after adopting her (she had kennel cough), and she has had routine exams every year and some exotic bloodwork over the years. We've gone to three vets in Sophie's lifetime, the current one (a holistic and conventional veterinarian) for the past five years. None has figured out what is wrong, although as I mentioned, we haven't really pushed the issue. I'm sure it would be a costly process to figure out, and that assumes it could be figured out and treated at all, which is not a certainty. We give her benedryl when she has an allergy flare, she eats a homemade diet and takes calcium and fish oil. She wears a coat on very cold days, and we keep her out of the sun on very hot days. She's not much for the outdoors anyway. When inside, she is usually wrapped in a blanket.

She's been otherwise (relatively) healthy, until she developed hair follicle tumors a couple years ago, and had to have surgery in November. Bassets are prone to hair follicle tumors, and I imagine Sophie is even more susceptible with her hair issues. In preparation for her surgery, our vet prescribed a supplement regime starting in August. In an effort to discourage growth of the tumors (she has many more besides the two that caused problems and had to be removed), we added some new supplements starting when she had her stitches out, so since December 1 (ironically, her "Gotcha Day" :-) she has been taking about 10 different supplements, at total of 18 pills plus some powders and liquids. (Luckily Sophie's a voracious eater and happily takes anything I give her.)

For the first time in her life, Sophie is growing hair! It is filling in very quickly, from her hindleg area and moving forward. It's almost up to her shoulders at this point. I don't think it will be a normal coat, or that she will ever grow it on her chest and underside, and on her back it is still sparse in places, but it is really coming in. I always thought if she could grow hair, she would be a Red and White Basset. Her skin has a sort of color pattern - and that is how it looked to me, that she would not be tri-color, but two colors, mainly dark brownish with a white chest. But now that some is growing, I have discovered that she is Lemon and White! Such a pretty girl!

The Honey colored hair that is coming in is very fine, like puppy hair. Just like the two little patches that she had when I adopted her. The white hair is coming in wiry, more like I would expect a hound dog's hair to be. I wonder if her alopecia was why she was dumped at the pound all those years ago? She was a cute Lemon puppy who promptly lost her fur? Maybe the product of a puppy mill or other disreputable breeder?

Armed with new information, I found this site that discusses the reasons dogs lose hair. I can't find anything exactly like Sophie's problem, but a couple of the hormonal ones sound similar. Or the dilute nature of Lemon coloring may have something to do with it. Some of the treatments I've read include melatonin, which is one of the supplements Sophie has been taking. Miraculous! Wish I had known about it sooner.

She has a cool white stripe on her back!

This story reminded me. The news coverage of people stranded in airports really annoys me. I don't have one iota of sympathy for these whiners. Oh boo hoo. You can't go on vacation right now to someplace warm because it snowed in the winter. What a tragedy!! What a crisis! What an outrage! How dare the weather do this to you! How unfair!!

Took me less time to shovel than after the Christmas weekend storm. It was the same type of snow but it hadn't drifted, and the task was made more pleasant by no wind! So my toes were fine (I suspected two pairs of socks made my shoes too tight so I only wore the wool ones).

My classes start on the 20th, and so I have started to get ready. I am really hoping to not have to use a cane on campus this semester. As long as it isn't icy, I will be OK. Fear of falling is more of a concern than my ankle holding up. (I think.) I wonder if it would look too strange to wear a pair of ice grippers on my shoes? Would that add to my dorkiness? More than my cane?

If the winter continues to be a snowy one, I think I will have to find someone to shovel. It isn't the workout that bothers me, but my poor left foot. After the Christmas storm I couldn't feel my toes, and I was wearing two pairs of socks (one wool, one cotton), a plastic bag over my foot, and great shoes. Once I got inside the pain in those toes was terrible for a few minutes. Really freaked me out.

My right foot wasn't a problem, but my left foot will never be the same after the ankle sprain, and it already wasn't very good from the metatarsal arch problem that I've had since I was a teenager. I have enough trouble not falling, don't need to exascerbate my problem with frostbite. Unfortunately, the teenagers that used to live nearby have all grown up, and when we tried to hire an adult to do snow removal (as we do with the major part of lawn work), it didn't work out to be reliable enough.

But none of that matters for this storm. Today I will be doing the shoveling!

LOL. I believe the offending comments that sparked this post were removed, although this isn't directly said. I don't like the negative tone of some blog comments either, but I am never sure how moderators draw the line, and I doubt it can be unbiased. I've been called worse too, btw. Why do I feel a Nileston News coming on?

Now, I know this is judging a book by its cover... The photos are everywhere so there probably is no need to link, but do you notice that the preferred picture being used of the guy who shot up Safeway in Arizona went from one of a nondescript, normal-looking college student to a terrifying crazed lunatic? The first time I saw the current picture accompanying the story I thought it was a mistake, or that the photo related to something else.

Whenever one of these sprees occurs, naturally we all think of the situations in our own lives where something like it could happen. The 24/7 of the parasitic media (I am so glad I don't have real cable or satellite TV) makes it seem as if these are common or likely events, when that really isn't true. But still, they make a splash when they occur, and I think awareness, or even fear, crosses our minds. It is true also that there is something riveting about it, pondering what goes through the mind of someone who would do such a thing and trying to figure out what sort of person would do it, if we have ever met anyone who fits that description.

College campuses are one place where similar incidents have happened. I've been teaching for 11 years this semester. Since 2002 I have taught about 100 students per fall and spring semester, and 30 over the summer. Have I had any weird students in my classes? Yes. Or this one, although it wasn't scary. When I was teaching the urban education classes in the mid-'00s, there was a student who failed the class more than once who kept showing up the following semester, disrupting and demanding a permission number. My memory is a little fuzzy (the classes were team taught) but I think public safety had to get involved.

I also remember a student from five years ago whom I do not seem to have written about here; she wrote disturbing, hostile things in her journal, blamed others for her own shortcomings - and she was very fond of the word "hate." She contributed to a class atmosphere that was not as successful as I'd like. I commented on her entries, tried to be soothing and discourage so easily using the hate label, without much success. I was so glad when the class was over that year!

Any upsetting incidents? Yes. Here's another, although again, not scary. And then there was this, a difficult time in my teaching, scary too, but not in this way...students were sad, felt vulnerable and wanted answers. But the crime didn't occur on campus and the perpetrator wasn't a student.

These were nothing even remotely like the crimes that make the news, or the behaviors reported in this story or in VA a couple years ago. Still, would it surprise me to hear that among the tiny handful of odd or angry students I've encountered...there was someone who had a psychotic snap? Hmm. UA did have a student who flipped out. I wasn't on campus, it was during my System years, and it wasn't on a day when I had class, but I remember it very well. Maybe not, in the case of the "hate" woman or "worst movie" guy, although I think it is a stretch. Would any of the others be violent? Not so much. If anything, self-destructive behavior is more common.

Did I do anything "official?" Yes, I did what seemed appropriate in each situation, which in most cases wasn't a lot. If it was referred out of my hands, was the student's problem addressed? I don't know, but I doubt it. But I think that if a young man went from perfectly ordinary looking to off the charts scary overnight, I just may have noticed and done something, although I know that's much easier to say than it is to do.

Wow! Great post.

Had fun yesterday - probably more than if we had been able to attend the SoS. We watched it on the Internet after we got home from Lee. I was impressed! Loved the graphics, saw some painful truths and there were even a couple of laughs. Having said that (and I hate to admit this), I (and lots of others) have become so alienated and dispirited about the entire political arena that it is going to take a big lift for me to feel differently. But then, setting the bar low may lead to an unexpected pleasant surprise. Too many people become naively infatuated with the flavor of the day -- and are wildly disappointed when achievements fall short of their rosy expectations.

Added: this irritated me when I read it in the "paper" but I forgot to look for it and link. Is he for real? Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address? A speech during the Civil War, at a battlefield opening a soldier's cemetery = NYS SoS speech circa 2011? Hey Casey, 1980 is calling. It wants its overhead projector back.

I spent the afternoon at a professional development meeting, part of my consulting. At the end, a teacher who was seated next to me mentioned Huck Finn being censored to strip out the N-word. I had noticed a story link somewhere on that subject this morning, but did not have time to read it, and so I thought there has been discussion of editing the book, not that the sanitized version will actually be published. You might say that I am a big fan of Mark Twain, almost obsessively so, in fact. I immediately reacted negatively, without thinking. Not that thinking it through would change my reaction, just that when I am in my professional role, particularly when wearing my consultant hat, I always filter what I say very carefully. She said "I can see both sides" and so I didn't elaborate much. I guess I can too, but I still am annoyed by the editing. How dare you?

When I got home, I noticed several articles and blog posts on the subject. Commentary about the editing is mixed. Many are offended, as I am. Some think it is no big deal. It strikes me that it is one more nuance of the language of cultural disrespect, which I wrote about after being called the C-word in comments. A response to the Heslep article that I wrote about is from Wagner (1996) in Tolerance and Intolerance: Gricean Intention and Doing Right by our Students: we should all lighten up until we understand speaker intentions. Twain wasn't insulting African Americans, quite the opposite, in fact. Is there a scholar who disagrees that Huck Finn is one of the most important pieces of American literature? That its impact was profound and positive? We think we know better than Twain how to engage audiences? That sanitizing his language will make his writing better? So we need to baby students and avoid challenge, because they are sensitive and stupid? Or are we just too lazy to really make an effort and teach?

It's interesting to me too that I just wrote about reading Twain's autobiography this intercession. It was the #2 bestseller recently. He continues to make the news 100 years after his death!

Happy Birthday to Bob! He took the day off, and we are going to Lee, MA.  We'll stop by the outlets, and then have dinner at the Salmon Run Fish House, which is amazing. It isn't a fancy place, but we routinely go to fancy places. This is casual, with great food. We did the same thing for my last birthday, sans the outlets; I hate shopping, but it is something he likes. The outlets are way more tolerable than the mall or a big box, but there is great risk of buying a shirt that's appealing in the heat of the moment because it is so cheap and from a famous designer, and then getting it home and discovering you hate it, because it is a really weird color of fits just a little funny.

Anyway, this will be a fun day in a spell that is my unwind month. Once grades are done and the holidays over, I resolve (not really a New Year's resolution, since I also do it in the summer - more a semester's over resolution) to do a bunch of things that have to keep during the semester. When classes are not in session, I have to recharge my batteries. Somewhat means relaxing but most of it is turning my attention to things that are different from academic work. Teaching can be very draining - that sense of always being "on." It's necessary to replenish energy during breaks.

I always do a little more exotic cooking than usual, bake a few of my standard apple pies, try a few new recipes. In the summer, I garden like crazy. Maybe entertain a little. Read some books. This intercession, that last one involves reading Mark Twain's autobiography, which will be quite a challenge even though he is my favorite writer, because it is 663 pages of the smallest type imaginable, and I find I don't read as voraciously since I have to wear reading glasses. Also must try out my new set of acrylic paints. I have artistic impulses, but I'm not a painter of my sister's talent, never have been, never will be. So no Hudson River School landscapes for me! The next Nileston News that's brewing, perhaps? Try cartooning with a new medium? 

During every break I always resolve to write more, and I generally accomplish that goal, but this month I had hoped to pitch an idea, maybe to a market that's a reach - maybe to a comfortable one, not sure - and then work on the story since I am certain it is a winner, a sure sale. However, the big nor'easter (we got 18 inches I think, although it was hard to tell since it drifted so badly...I was shoveling forever) meant we had to come back two days early from the Christmas visit to S'ville, and that meant I had to cancel the interview I'd scheduled. I have to get busy and re-schedule it, hopefully before the break ends. Time's a wasting!

I have several consulting days lined up this month. That will divert my attention from recharging I guess, and it is in the academic arena, but the arts flavor can be very inspiring. Then, it will be back to semester's planning in no time. Time's a wasting again! Get busy on relaxing!

I was discussing my recent nasty comment at dinner with Bob, who has no patience for such foolishess. He doesn't appreciate the world of blogging, or even of the print environment, where stating opinions can cause one to be attacked. It has happened to me a few times, and he doesn't like it at all, can't see it the same way I do.

This made me think of Heslep's (1996) The Moral Presuppositions of Multicultural Education, which is a journal article I assign in toleration class. Heslep asserts that because of multicultural education’s limits on tolerance, some of its advocates have tried to restrict hate speech, politically incorrect speech, and other “linguistic modes of cultural disrespect.”

I always get a lot of appreciative laughter when I explain what this means in a real-world way. I use the ethnic example of 1940s intermarriage between a quiet, reserved family - such as my maternal side, rural upstate farmers of northern European descent, and an exhuberant, warm family, such as my paternal side, urban ethnic folks of southern European descent. Did one side view the other as cold, distant, judgmental? And the other perceive vulgar, loud aliens, because of the different body language and communication styles?

I go from that example to a more contemporary one, purely cultural - that the "F" word is almost as common as "the" for many downstate folks, while to my ears it is grating, offensive, obnoxious, lazy, along with its four letter compatriots - such as the "C" word, and the longer swear words, for instance the "C-S" word.

I close with the "N" word, a racial example, commonly hurled among friends within groups of young people of the same culture, males in particular, yet taboo when said by an outsider or even "insider outsider" - the ultimate put down, with ugly overtones that go far beyond a simple insult. The students all "get it" at this point.

According to Heslep, cultural respect is a virtue in multicultural society. Cultural disrespect is a vice because it is the opposite of cultural respect. Disrespect is also bad because it is offensive to individual members of targeted cultures; being offensive, it also is antagonizing, thereby encouraging cultural discord, another vice for multicultural education.

He argues that the use of a linguistic sign of cultural disrespect might offend members of the involved cultural group regardless of the innocent intention of the user of the sign. Such is the case with youth - sometimes they absorb elements from popular culture and don't understand the context of the words they casually use.

Then, some cultural groups have language of cultural disrespect as one of their features. Think of my "N" word example, or the swear word one. Teaching intolerance of the language of cultural disrespect might be self-defeating in that it might promote cultural disrespect. Outsiders may judge users of those linguistic signs as being offensive, when the insiders do not mean each other harm. Heslep writes that multiculturalists answer that such intolerance is simply a necessary socially therapeutic act. A multicultural society cannot exist in harmony if any of its cultural groups are inclined to speak ill of each other.

How to remedy? It is not enough for multicultural educators to instruct their students to be intolerant of linguistic signs of cultural disrespect, explains Heslep. Students must be taught discernment - how to determine what the user of a linguistic sign actually intends in using it. Both speaker and listener are important. It is one thing to be intolerant of ethnic jokes whose users intend to be culturally disrespectful in telling them; it is another to be intolerant of such jokes when their users do not mean to be culturally disrespectful. They may be innocent, or ignorant, or mean-spirited.

I was thinking about this in reference to Bob's feelings about my obnoxious commenter. I see posters on blogs, mostly anonymous although occasionally not, use that word and others like it rather casually. Lefties use it to describe women like Palin, and righties use it to describe Hillary types. Do the users intend it to be culturally offensive? Is it a purposeful, gender-based insult? I think so. Did my commenter? Oh, definitely.

So is it OK to be sensitive to the slur? Or is there something special about the medium of the Internet that waters down the offensive nature of the linguistic sign of cultural disrespect? Or is it nothing more special than simply that anonymous cowards are comfortable with invective?

This dude probably got tickets to the SoS, while we didn't. It seems he didn't land a job (or wasn't able to keep a job) with the TU after all, as had been reported in May. (He does get occasional mention in Cap Con though.) You may wonder why I link? Explanation here. I occasionally check in on his journalism career. I'm objectivist that way! I can't find any headlines in his blogging for Gannett that mention the governor's ethics training requirement for executive staff. Probably couldn't bring himself to type such a title. Seems to me the media could use to attend a few sessions as well.

Added: I think I know who my foul-mouthed commenter is. Wow, I do drive some guys over the deep end. Get help, you need it.

We entered the lottery for tickets to see tomorrow's State of the State, but today an email arrived saying we hadn't been selected. Oh well. It's Bob's birthday, so we'll have to plan something fun instead.

My year in review. (At least the parts of it where I took pictures.)

A thousand paws up! This says everything I have been thinking - minus the four-letter words.

Back in Castleton early due to the snowstorm! Here is a picture of the Samsonville tree, cut in the yard on 12/23, a big Charlie Brown:

And here's Castleton's, cut by the boyscouts on 12/18:

How sad.

Added: the unsuccessful lobbying effort.

Also: My earlier post. She is as much to blame for this as anyone or anything else.

In memory of April, who died yesterday. My mother had her since 1981. I took this picture in August. RIP beautiful horse.

Added: This Christmas, donate to the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Ulster County SPCA, Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society or Maine Coon Rescue.

I'm done with fall grades! Something alarming, ten students failed (out of the total 100 students), the highest number ever. There were also two incompletes, but that is not unusual. Now I am waiting to see if any student with outstanding issues responds to my emails (from last week) before I post them to the system. My deadline is midnight, but I don't plan to wait that long.

Only one assignment left to grade, and more than 24 hours to do it!! I think I am going to be done earlier than ever before, probably about lunch time tomorrow. YAY.

Yesterday, 15 members of my family met at Dinosaur BBQ in Troy - what fun!