this is all very funny to me. as you know humanities journals have no research money of any kind riding on them. no one is going to get rich, after all, over michael berube's latest insight. and so many journals are simply shutting down, as libraries, themselves going through budget crunches, and unable to afford the humanities journals and the ultra expensive science and law journals, stop buying them. increasing the pressure on those who need to publish in the ever-shrinking pool of peer-reviewed journals for promotions and raises.

Finally, truth in advertising.

I passed a gleaming silver Porsche Boxter on the road yesterday with the license tag frame:

I DRIVE THIS
TO MAKE UP FOR MY SHORT PENIS

I don't know if the UK has gone any further down the same path, but I do recall that a few years back the Department of Education began awarding stars to departments with staff who published frequently? Why? Good writers are not necessarily even competent teachers, and there is no guarantee that any of the publications are much good in the first place. It is, as has been said, all very unimaginative.

In many academic circles the peer review process is pretty much a joke anyways. In my field especially, the physical sciences, since my advisor is a big-shot and very well connected, he basically justs sends off our latest paper to one of his buddies who is editor-in-chief of such-and-such "big name" journal, and the paper comes back two weeks later accepted for publication with no revisions by the so-called "reviewers". Honestly, a lot of our papers are kinda crappy and always get published immediately in "high-impact" journals. I am sure that if we sent in the same paper with the name of an unkown assistant professor on it, it would get ripped to shreds and rejected by any decent journals and wind up in lesser publications.

Why don't we just go back to the old way of doing things?

Kids went to the university, paid teachers and tutors, and eventually sat for exams when they felt well. No formal curriculum, no tenure guarantee. Good teachers attracted students, poor teachers attracted dust. Padua, Sorbonne, and Tubingen and others did that for much of a millenium...

(there are a few rating services which grade profs and departments, helpful for students who don't want to do a lot of work. One prof at Rutgers sued them for libel or some such recently, when he was described by his students as lazy and easy)

Although the old way of doing things was no doubt great for the education of the college student, teaching now takes a way, way, way backseat to bringing in grant money and patent money to an institution. We spend exponentially more time writing grants and attending patent licensing/technology transfer meetings than we do teaching. Teaching is, unfortunately, an afterthought.

getting rid of tenure is not a good idea. not in the state i work in at any rate. there are good reasons why tenure was set up, and while we can't discuss them here, those reaons have not gone away.

the problem with teaching as the major factor in tenure/promotion decisions is that the hardest graders usually get the worst evaluations. this is actually very easily measured. students don't usually appreciate the teachers who challenge them the most right when the challenging is happening.

in literary studies generally peer review is not a joke. not at the best journals anyway--social text and sokal notwithstanding. this is not to say that patronage and networking have nothing to do with it.

June 3, 2005
UC leads push for scholarly e-publishing
By Clifton B. Parker

Both faculty and students want 24/7 access to research, they want it online, on demand and, oh yes, make it free, too.

That is the message behind the breathtaking changes now taking place in the world of scholarly publishing. In a nod to the emerging reality, UC is taking a lead role, encouraging scholars to deposit working papers and monographs into a new free database — "Postprints" — launched in February at http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/about.html.

No doubt about it, the market is huge. According to Daniel Greenstein, associate vice provost for the UC system, UC spends $30 million a year on scholarly periodicals. And The Wall Street Journal estimates scholarly publishing is a $5 billion global market.

Beyond the dollars, these are transformative times. Librarians at UC Davis are challenged by the sheer magnitude of the changes — and they point out their mission of serving faculty and students.

"The Web is making it possible for people to access the information in an easier, more ubiquitous manner," said Gail Yokote, associate university librarian for Research Services and Collections. "Before you had to head to the library. Now you can sit at your desk and find it on the Web."

She added, "Our role is to help provide this information" to faculty, researchers and students.

All revolutions come with controversy. Critics say rising subscription fees for journals are blocking timely access to scientific progress. Others say the heightened costs are but a reflection of doing business in an increasingly complex society. Much has yet to unfold, to be sure.



UC Davis

Walk your pet day - a green talking parrot being marched by its owners on 1st ave. "Come on! walk a little, the doctor said if you don't move it's not good.". Parrot responds with various rants about wanting food. On 14th St., a woman walking her ferret on a leash, while someone in a newly established idiot/punk/nazi colony on St. Marks just off 2nd, someone has a leashed cat.

Pink Floyd: reunited on Live8.

Great set. GREAT.

This morning, as I'm standing in line for coffee at Muddy Waters, the guy behind me is on his cell phone. This is what I overhear:

"Yeah, you know that upside-down straightjacket escape act I do? The one where I'm suspended upside-down fifty feet in the air? In a straightjacket? Yeah. Well this guy calls me and says can I do it over some cougars!

"Yeah... cougars. Like big cats... like mountain lions!

"And I'm like, man, what happens if I drop in there?"

Edit: not "mount lions"

A gondola trails red, white and blue balloons. Fourth of July (weekend) on the Lake in Central Park:

Seeing a "class notes submission" email from my prep school. I opened it up and it was a class email from yours truly about my forthcoming nuptials, latest work/school achievments. Funny, didn't send that one.

looking up restaurant recommendations in Seouls, eG had a reference to a blog that contained the following gem:

Finally, here is a picture of Jake and his girlfriend. She's 22, a university student, very pretty and has a really warm-hearted personality. Not only that but this girl thinks nothing about making dinner, washing the dishes (she feels bad leaving them for the maid), giving Jake, that slimebag, a long massage (and whatever else he wants!) every night she's here and just being sweet and kind to him in general. Now, let me clarify: she doesn't just do all these things because she's unempowered as a woman and hasn't seen enough Oprah yet. No, she simply is a sweet and gentle femine creature who genuinely enjoys selflessly pampering her lover. According to Jake, Chinese girls are just like that. Women of the world, take note!


Below - Chinese woman putting on a show for her lover.

Yummy.

Seen on the steam table today: Polak fish [sic].

Yesterday - or whenever it was last sunny - a smartly dressed and made-up woman, with a nice shoulder bag, walking up Sixth Avenue at midday... with no shoes. No socks, nothing. And she was clearly in discomfort.

What became of her footwear? Ladies, please advise - all I can imagine is that her shoes suffered some accident so horrendous that she felt better off barefoot.

I've heard of someone losing a shoe in the gap between the subway and the platform- maybe one fell down there and she took the other off. Maybe she lost a bet.

There's been a young girl wandering the streets down here for the past week or so who's particulary distressing. She's very dirty, and has recently had her throat slashed in three broad lines across the front of her neck. She stopped me the other day to ask if I knew the way to the Twin Towers
(euphemism for LA jail) and took off before I could really help her.
She's attracted some notice because her throat wound, while superficial, is alarmingly red and scabby. A few of us have been trying to find her to get her some medical attention. I came across her today sleeping on a heavily trafficked sidewalk in broad daylight. Anyway, her name is Sarah, and today is her 21st birthday. Her throat was slit in an attempted rape but she got away. She walks the streets at night and sleeps during the day because it's safer. She says she dosen't want any help. So we made her some food, I gave her some cards for free medical treatment and she was gone.
So I just wanted to post this because I know that she's out there and I worry.

Happy Birthday Sarah.
Be safe.

God that's heartbreaking. How kind of you to try to help her, Monkey.

I know what you mean. I saw a young pregnant woman begging on the subway recently, crying, and other than giving her some money and a hug, I felt absolutely helpless to do anything for her.

Late lunch unch today at Nice Matin after meetings. Next to me sat two women, both talking about music and singing. One was obviously a performer. The other, her mother. After making contact says I "are you a singer." "Yes," says she. How did you know?" "I eavesdropped," answers I. What is your name?" "Anne Hampton Calloway," says she. "Oh my, I have several of your records and enjoy your singing." We had a nice chat and exchanged email adresses. She promised to put me on her mailing list.

Had my wiring checked by Ron Johnson.






(new electrician)

Apparently deleting posts around here doesn't have to have anything to do with violating the guidelines.

Aside from the gratuitous last--and argumentative--four words of her most recent post, I agree with Leslie. Suggesting an avenue of help for a person desperately in need of it violated no guidelines.

Ya might wanna move yer apostrophe there.

Life.

Surreal.

Browsing through the children's books at Barnes and Noble yesterday, I saw a kid version of Who Moved My Cheese?.

Nah, you're thinking of The One-Minute Manager.

from the WSJ:

Walking along 17th Street last night after leaving Cibar and encountering a rather frantic plainclothes cop with shield hanging round his neck waving his arms and shouting, "Get back! Go back! Do you want to blow up?" Discernable over towards Union Square: flashing lights, sirens, massive traffic jam. Head east to go west and finally reach home on foot. Not a word in today's Times or on the NY1 website.

Yesterday I went to the courtyard of Somerset House in London to have a drink in the (rather patchy at the time) sun. There is a large fountain in the courtyard, made up of a grid of water jets that can be set to jet up to various heights. Sometimes children play in them for fun when it's hot. Yesterday however, there was a marching band marching around in the fountain along with some dancers and other performance artists. Sitting there drinking a beer watching all of this seemed quite surreal indeed.

Graffiti spotted earlier today on a wall off Grays Inn Road:

have you read wuthering heights vicky

Saw in the Times today that the leading grower of Vidalia onions for Wal-Mart and Publix is Bland Farm.