mandarin.orange

Thanks for posting. A picture is worth a thousand words, and as I looked through these, I couldn't help but be struck by a couple things: 1) London has more critical mass than I'd realized. Reading about it is one thing; seeing it is another. 2) I suspect we're going to see a huge shift from NYC to west coast movements picking up steam, namely Oakland. One could argue it's already underway.

In the long run, I suspect your life is going to be easier without that 6-figure student loan debt.

I can't recall if I first saw this hilarity here, or on a friends FB page...at any rate, it makes me laugh every time I see it...worth the re-post (if that's the case), and hopefully bring a little much-needed humor and a smile! :-) (My attempt to give credit where its due.)

I have followed this with great interest, largely because it seems to be expressed so differently in each city, with different responses from local enforcement, etc. However, I think the fact that this is pervasive and universally happening in every metro area is telling. The overarching causes are deep-seated discontent at banks and corporations not being held accountable, and for the gov't not demanding transparency from them, despite bailouts and assistance. If this movement can organize behind that message - and adhere to a strict policy of peaceful protest and rational discourse - this could be very powerful. Check out this excellent article from The Guardian today. Unfortunately, the movement still seems a "catch-all" for whatever ails you, and it seems this is most true on Wall Street. I checked out my local "Occupy" movement this weekend, and of course saw everything from to "Legalize It!" flags to signs with lolcats to PETA propaganda. These were in the minority, however; most common themes were anger at corporate greed and big banks, and a lack of strong government leadership. My biggest take-away was awe at how well-organized, peaceful, well-supported by the public, and demographically diverse it is, at least here. As far this being "a bunch of spoiled white rich kids?"Sure, you can find examples of that, but to use it to characterize the entire movement would, I think, be unfair. Before you write this off with such blanket statements, I would urge you to check out your local movement (even just via its website), or even talk to those involved. I met a few who, after months of unemployment and near-clinical depression, feel revitalized for the first time in meeting others and rallying behind a cause...and they didn't fit this demographic at all. And if Yoda supports it...I mean, who can argue with that?

Man, you guys are really making me miss labwork! I have a couple terms to go before I get to that point...right now, it's all coursework and reading literature.

I saw the PhD comic movie (which I HIGHLY recommend BTW) recently, and there's a great moment where the newbie labmate confesses to feeling like an imposter...only to hear that EVERYONE in the program feels the same way. The first thing they told us at my dept's orientation was that the faculty strove to maintain academic rigor...by constantly reminding us of the holes in our education. I am certainly deficient in a few prereq's I either haven't had, or it's been 15 years, and I am working like a dog to understand and re-learn a lot of basic concepts. My dept's pretty collegial and non-competitive, but as I gradually learn of how accomplished everyone actually is, I am daily astounded and humbled. There's a sense of REALLY needing to stay on top of my game with current events, course prep, and journal readings, in order to bat in this league. Are your seminar discussions based on a common text? How are you prepping for classes? How much are you talking to your classmates? I tend to show up to class early (before the prof) and ask the people around me if they understood such-and-such or what they thought, etc. You could go to your prof's office hours, mention you are struggling, and ask for recommendations on how to approach the reading or if there's background info you can pursue. The counselor sounds like a good idea. At the end of the day, remember that your dept choose YOU based on accomplishments and potential.

It's hard for me to separate this out from all the relo expenses...it was cross-country and the time now just runs together in my mind. Everything was $4500, no furniture (place is furnished...I lucked out with a roomie who already had the place and seems to like highest-end of everything). There's probably a few hundred that could be subtracted for things I sold and cash I made during the summer. I've kind of been interested in doing a dollar/mi calculation thread about relos, if others are interested or would contribute to it.

Why the aversion to name-dropping? Many adcoms' strategy is to distribute their pile of applications to potential advisors as a first step. Seeing that you've clearly identified someone makes that task easier for them. I would be concerned about schools you haven't heard from. Either their funding is uncertain, they do not have spots open, or this is an indication of what to expect as a grad student there (e.g. poor communication, lack of effort to value potential students). I'd push for contact again before spending your ~ $80 to apply. Be more forward about finding out if a potential advisor is even looking for students for the coming year or not. I really like the SOP available for download here. She is very specific about her goals, what she wants to do, and who she wants to work for. You can try to continue dialogue, and I'd recommend a short-and-sweet approach. A mention of where you are in the application process, questions of clarification about their work or possible future ideas, and reminders that this is your top-choice program, etc. all seem appropriate. But some may only provide limited response, just due to the uncertainty of the decisions (and funds available) at this point, and they are juggling a staggering number responsibilities on a day-to-day basis anyway.

I'll send you mine, if you'd like - drop me a PM with your email. I wanted to go over the basic sections of lab reports with them, and why science writing is different than English class, and how we keep it appropriately formal. This was for a report following up a project where students had to construct a three-story model without adhesive that could withstand an earthquake. We put them on a springboard to test their strength. I ended up with a few lines in the final reports that were priceless, especially when it came to description of the materials used - e.g. "Stybermaphone," "wooden bowels," and (my favorite) "Pops Tickley sticks."

Interesting. I can't say I respected the real badmouthing that took place in the guidance office at my last job, and the teachers that I (and the kids) most respected didn't go to quite this length. But a little sarcasm, sharing a story of ridiculous behavior, or a comment/answer? Sure! The students actually responded best to that demeanor, and quickly lost respect for those that were super-patient to answer repeat questions, use platitudes like, "there are no stupid questions," and idealize the profession. The donor who funded our "Excellence in Teaching" award stipulated that this always be student-chosen...those colleagues of mine who won it were always the ones fastest to call kids on their BS, and from whom I heard many a story or line about what transpired in their room. Having worked for park services as well, I've seen the following circulated many times (and it's hilarious): Outrageous Visitor Comments and Feedback I am sure similar exists in the business world from letters, comments, emails, that get widely circulated. If anonymous and public sharing of student work is indeed a breach of student-teacher trust, do we hold this practice in other sectors to the same standard? Is it a breach of trust between visitors and those of us working in a sector where we claim to be stewards of nature, the government, and general public?

All right, for some reason a "b" in parenthesis is getting replaced with smiley faces above...but you get the idea.

I wondered a bit if this thread would (a) pick up steam, or ( seriously offend someone. Despite my attempts to temper my post with acknowledging that this is a bit of dark/black humor - and that in my years of being an educator, I never once encountered a real-life "holier-than-though" colleague that saw themselves above this sort of humor - it seems that ( is inevitable on Grad Cafe. Grading is, by and large, a thankless job. In high school, the vast majority of kids will toss corrected papers in the trash after inspecting the grade and never look at your comments. Most that do read them don't do so for understanding or any ideals about "the learning process", but as leverage for an argument about the grade. In college, few will come to pick up their final labs, papers and tests that you've taken time to comment upon. I've done rounds of editing roughdrafts to help students, only to read final versions with the same mistakes. I've spent hours designing lessons and then activities to teach concepts, taken "Review Days," only to read answers about things I'd taken care to go over and over that were way off base. So, I apologize that I do not hold your ideals anymore about the grading process. Apologies if we take a few moments here and there to *anonymously* snicker at a comment or two. Trust me, this is not a fraction as bad as some of the words and snarky comments often exchanged behind closed doors. I found that learning support and guidance staff - those professing to be the primary go-to's for student assistance - were often the worst. Even I cringed to imagine the fallout or reactions if parents or students overheard. It is pervasive in the educational sector, and seen largely seen as a means of psychological survival. While I love teaching and the thought of having small classes I get to design curriculum for sounds amazing, I would hesitate to take a teaching-based job at a small school...solely b/c of the grading load. I have had my fill. Above all, people need to laugh at themselves. I encouraged that in my students, and tried to model it when I made plenty of mistakes in front of them. I once submitted a very thorough application for summer work in Turkey that I desperately wanted, wherein I waxed poetic about how much I wanted to visit eastern Europe. I was selected, but you better believe my advisor on the project took me to task about that phrase. I had a PowerPoint of "What not to do in your lab report," with actual examples I'd received over the years. It was always one of the most engaging lessons/presentations of the year, and I received huge positive response from students about it, and the lab reports got better and better over the years. (Mostly.) I also wanted to emphasize to them that a strong work ethic, and being a professional down the road, means checking and re-checking your work again to eliminate mistakes, and I used the example of once seeing a PR liason for a large power plant project give a presentation where the slides mentioned "pubic policy."

Melting fish!! That just made my morning. Here is one: Q: If we keep clear-cutting rainforest, why is it difficult for plants to re-establish themselves? A: It will harder for them to find their pray and with everything going on they could get scared. ...another display of the lack of understanding about basic ecological concepts (like...photosynthesis).

In the spirit of this website, I thought it might be fun to start a thread of your most memorable, funny, head-shaking, eye-rolling student responses, or moments in class. I actually started a Word file I've kept going for a few years now with some of my favorites. Here are few examples: Q. What are three benefits we obtain from the sun? A. Tanning, PRETTYNESS, and light! From a colleague who taught Religious Studies: "Another example of a covenant God made was with Joan of Arc. He promised he'd never flood the earth again. He gave a rainbow and a dove to prove it." And: "Most of Earth’s freshwater is in lakes, streams and rivers. Second to that would be glaciers and ice burgers." I love teaching, but always dreaded the drudgery of taking papers home to grade them. These are the dark humor moments that keep you going. Any others out there?

One suggestion would be to identify those professors you'd like to work with, and see what his/her recently-graduated students are up to - i.e. where did they land jobs, are they finishing in a timely manner, etc. Adcoms operate differently, depending on the discipline, internal factors, politics, number of spaces available, wind direction, etc. etc. Do some back-searching on this site and googling, and you'll find stories of how different adcoms process applications. Here's one example: http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,45917.0.html I read a thread on here last year, started by a professor who sat on the adcom and wanted to share what the process was like. For the life of me, I can't find it now. Anyway, one thing that struck me was that for his/her particular program, the bottom line was that they 1) had to do a minimum GRE requirement just to trim down the number of applications before even beginning to review them, and 2) they looked in particular to see who had the best chance of landing tenure-track jobs. My dept.'s approach is to distribute applications to those professors who match research interests listed in their SOP, then they meet, discuss, and advocate for who they want. Here, tenure-track aspirations may not come into play so much as the applicant who has a certain background or skill set the professor desires to bring on board. I definitely mentioned non-academic work in my SOP, since that's what I'd been doing for 7 years and the experience shaped my future goals (it was largely teaching and grant-writing however, so somewhat related). Two of my three references were not from professors, but supervisors for these jobs. As far as career goals in my SOP, I mentioned that I wanted to be involved in research and some form of teaching or outreach in the public sector, but was not gung-ho that I MUST land a professorship.

"For the above reasons, I believe that continuing my education at Xyz University would be a mutually beneficial experience." ...or something to that effect.

Truer words were never spoken. This was brought home to me the other day when I came across a citation in a paper that I recognized as one of mine (as 5th or 6th author, but still, it's def. on my CV), and found myself thinking, "I should really re-read that...I forget what it's about." I type up annotations for papers that are really key for my work. As someone else mentioned, it helps me with memory and evaluating what, specifically, is useful for me about the paper. The practice helps me keep my writing skills sharp, and usually yields some good "stock" phrases I can use later. I will probably type up notes as I read for my PhD coursework. I never did this in undergrad or my MS, but began the practice as a HS teacher - I would read and outline sections of our textbook, add supplemental stuff (pics, current events, questions, etc.), and then make my lessons and PowerPoints from there.

I dig your style, Dude.

Hm, does said sweater look something like this?

I don't think this is a fair comparison at all. Any accredited college/school/university is likely to have a statement about academic honesty in their student code of conduct. By enrolling, a student makes an implicit contract to adhere to said guidelines about submitting their OWN work. I highly doubt McD's has a Mission Statement that states they are not going to serve anyone 350+ lbs or the like.

Yes, we had an Honor Council. I took kids for several cases - most were students that would do a cut-and-paste, no paraphrasing, no bibliography job for their research projects (despite fair warning on rubrics). For the instances where I was convinced I had papers that were not the students', it was handled differently. I can think of two instances where it was clear a parent had written the entire paper. These were both kids with Accommodation Plans for learning disabilities, however...much stickier issue. Even a colleague who sat on the Council and was hard-core about academic honesty balked at all the issues this would bring up. Kids work with tutors all the time, but there is a wide spectrum between "I brought a draft to my tutor, who helped me with some minor editing" vs. "this work was done by someone else, for pay." Unless there in the room with the kid and tutor when it happens, who can prove exactly what occurred? I brought the issue to admin and the Learning Support teachers, and about the farthest we got was a parent-teacher-admin conference (another teacher noticing the same as me was present) where we tried to explain to the parents, as tactfully as possible, why this quest for top grades was ultimately doing the kid a disservice. Unfortunately at my school, several teachers didn't use the Council at all, and enough were completely oblivious that it was just a game to kids to figure out where Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So stood on copying worksheets, labs, letting eyes roam during tests, etc. Over the years I figured out ways, through my management style and requiring lab reports (very specific about activities/results in class), to minimize it from happening in the first place, at least in my classroom. I also required papers and annotated bibliographies to be turned in via turnitin.com, a service that organizes and scans all your students' papers for you for phrases similar to the rest of the class, databases, and internet...great resource!

Interesting - I didn't read too much beyond the first post, but it seems the author of that initial post seems fairly articulate and able to construct (somewhat) of an argument...why not just write the damn paper, than waste all this time, angst and energy battling the service's customer service and complaining on a vitriolic internet forum...? Here is an article I read this spring, penned by a writer for one of these services. He really details the vast and widespread scope for this practice of "purchasing" papers, theses and even dissertations. Rather chilling. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329 I taught at a private HS for many years where, sadly, cheating is rampant. It was most severe with certain special needs kids (dyslexia, severe issues with short term memory retention, writing, and reading comprehension) that parents insisted on forcing through a college-prep curriculum. Spots for colleges and then, jobs, are so competitive that some people feel absolutely justified in using such a service.

Depends on your discipline, but I applied for grants to fund my M.S. research. Some advisors may have grant money/connections to help out, but it's a good exercise and CV-booster to show you are successful at securing your own funds for research. Check to see if professional organizations in your field have grant programs to fund student research. Also, a few here have mentioned first year coursework, second year thesis. Things may not be so compartmentalized and you may be expected to define your research project, write a proposal, do the background research, and plan a calendar/strategy for its execution throughout your first year.

I read those reviews and researched this extensively, and still went with the WD 1TB. Mostly, I liked the size and easy Mac compatibility. I set it up about 2 weeks ago, so can't speak for its long-term functionality. I have done 2 backups, and so far so good. I second the poster who commented about storing the most important things in multiple locations, as I had a laptop get smashed in a car accident during my M.S. and am super vigilant about backing stuff up now. So, if this thing gets fried, I foresee a slight monetary setback...but I won't lose my data.

WOW! What I can't believe is how many exceptions he was given right off the bat. Also, I love how in what he feels is more "formal" correspondence (to the Dean) he starts throwing down his middle name.