Krabby Kathy submits a question

I see a lack of imagination in some of these people's responses, and one serious case of savior
syndrome.  Is it just me?

Adjunct Professors Are So Poorly Paid They're Sleeping in Cars and Turning to Sex Work

--Krabby Kathy

License Plates, Bumper Stickers, etc. -- A Thirsty

While crossing the road to a campus parking garage this week, I noticed that one of the cars stopped at the crosswalk had a license plate listing dual (or perhaps his-and-hers -- or his-and-his, or hers-and-hers) degrees (Ph.D plus other capital-D. professional degree). Seems a bit boastful, but at least they
stopped. 

I'm also rather fond of a bumper sticker on a large white truck, with some pink trimmings, near which I often park (in an area that allows both faculty and student cars): "don't flatter yourself, buster; I'm admiring your truck."

There are also a fair number of political decals of various sorts, some symbols of fraternity/sorority allegiance, the occasional declaration of love for a pet (and/or animals in general), some indications of religious allegiance, and the occasional (blessedly, only occasional) confederate battle flag.  

So, I'm wondering:

Q.  What sorts of vanity license plates, car stickers, and the like do you see around campus? Do the ones on faculty and student cars differ markedly? 

Hump Day Thirsty

The dirty little secret of higher education is. . .


________________________

The Lonely College Student [Psychology Today]

A professor's advice for students and parents

So you're feeling lonely?

1) Recognize that these thoughts are very typical and very normal.
2) It can take awhile for a new place to feel like home.
3) Keep your door open when you are in your room
4) Spend as little time in your room as possible other than to sleep.
5) Attend evening and weekend events
6) Look into the array of extracurricular activities
7) Consider any opportunities to assume leadership roles
8) Consider seeking help at the counseling center.
9) Seek out other resources on campus that are there to support your intellectual and emotional well-being
10) Seek out mentors; these can be professors who seem interesting, coaches who seem challenging and supportive, etc.
11) Students are well served when they find study buddies and study groups
12) As students juggle all that is required of them, they benefit from cultivating habits of good self-care
13) Find your passion; follow your bliss
14) Commit to turning off your phone at least an hour every day.

and

15) _________________ ?

Delhi University professor lands in trouble after calling goddess Durga a prostitute [India Today]

The flava:

An assistant professor of Delhi University is receiving strong criticism over a Facebook post about Hindu goddess Durga.

Kedar Kumar Mandal is an assistant professor at DU's Dyal Singh College. On September 22, he wrote on his Facebook, "Durga is the very much sexy prostitute in the Indian mythology."

The aforementioned controversial Facebook post has hurt religious sentiments of several groups.

Mandal's remark on goddess Durga has gotten him in a massive trouble as student organisations like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Students' Union of India (NSUI) have demanded the dismissal of the professor from DU administration.

More:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-university-professor-durga-prostitute-navratri/1/1054638.html

James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos

The flava:

Wheaton College, in Illinois, punished five football players by assigning them to write essays and complete community service for their role in a 2016 hazing episode. They also now face felony charges.

The Chicago Tribune reported that a first-year football player, who has since dropped out of Wheaton, was in his dormitory room in March 2016 when several of his teammates stampeded in and tackled him, wrapping his legs and arms in duct tape. The players covered his head with a pillowcase, carried him from the dorm and loaded him into the back seat of a car.

The students played the victim -- whom the Tribune did not identify -- Middle Eastern music, intimating that he had been kidnapped by Muslims, making offensive comments about them. The players at one point pulled down the victim’s pants and underwear and attempted insert to some sort of object into his rectum.

After the drive, the assailants dumped the victim on the baseball field; he was half-naked, still restrained and without his cell phone.

A second player was then carried onto the field. Both were found by classmates of the second player. The victim drove himself to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with muscle tears in both shoulders. His injuries required at least two surgeries.

More:
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/09/21/wheaton-gives-community-service-players-facing-felony-charges

Tirebiter Rouses Himself, by George Leroy Tirebiter XII

It’s been a while since I said whatever it was I said last time, so I’m taking the liberty of providing a few updates. I was going to say “scores to settle,” but I have to admit I don’t really have any of those, which I consider a positive.

I’m actually Doing Something about the sleep apnea next week—I’m heading overnight to a sleep center in my Doctor Dentons, teddy bear in tow, to try out some form of CPAP device. I’m hoping it’s not the kind that I’ll be ripping off my face and hurling across the room in the middle of the night, but we’ll see.

And I have Professional Goals. Three of them, altogether: 1) Stand Up Straighter (I’ve been diagnosed with “mild scoliosis”); 2) Be More Social; and 3) Recapture the Childlike Enthusiasm I had for Basket-Weaving for roughly my first 5 years here. No, I lied—there’s a fourth: Go Above and Beyond. Yeah, I know, I’ve become a walking, talking, “Hang in There!” poster, complete with kitty grasping onto a precarious branch.

Sometimes the “go above and beyond” decision gets made for you—in a shockingly quick application of the Peter Principle, I’ve been voted chair of our university’s small grant committee. I am now that Idiot Chair of a committee we all like to bitch about while gathered around the Water Cooler. (I’ve been chairs of committees before, but just on the department level—this will be my first opportunity to be a university-wide Idiot.) So I will add a 5) to my Professional Goals—try not to be an Idiot. (And admit it freely whenever I fail to accomplish #5.)

My family remains the ongoing challenge it has been since roughly January 2015 (when foster care started; adoption was June of 2016). Sometimes I do wonder where my humor goes when dealing with the family—usually I can tap into it in other aspects of my life. I guess that leads to #6—get some counseling.

All right, then—that’ll do for now. Tirebiter out.

Hello, police officers.

If I could say just one thing to the police officers on my campus, it would be . . .

Georgia Tech police kill student in apparent suicide-by-cop.

http://www.ajc.com/news/local/tech-student-shot-officer-killed-campus/cU4dldHd4sCKYS5tjmGIaN/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41302571

Homeless San Jose State Professor Struggles Living Out Of Her Car

A professor teaching at San Jose State University who can’t afford a place to live in the South Bay tells KPIX 5 she is spending most nights sleeping in her car.

Ellen Tara James-Penney is adjunct professor at San Jose State.

She teaches four classes of English 1-A and has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree.

That has not kept her from becoming another member of San Jose’s homeless population.

The article:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/08/30/homeless-san-jose-state-professor-struggles-living-out-of-her-car/

graduate school prison

"People don't survive 20 years of incarceration with any kind of grace unless they have the discipline to do their reading and writing in the chaos of that place.  Forget Harvard.  I've already graduated from the toughest school there is."

--Michelle Jones, Ph.D. Student

5 Professors You Will Encounter at NYU [NYU Local]

By Samantha Paige Ruggiero

1. The Uptight Asshole
2. The Surrogate BFF
3. The Weird One
4. The Big Shot
5. The Ancient Artifact

The article:
https://nyulocal.com/5-professors-you-will-encounter-at-nyu-cd96aa1da697

Monday Magic in September

If you were 19 years old and had to spend a year at one of these places, which would you choose?
 And why?

A)  Reed College
B)  UC Santa Barbara
C)  Deep Springs College
D)  Shimer
E)  Sewanee
F)  Oregon State University
G)  Maine Maritime Academy
H)  McGill
I)  Northwestern University in Qatar
J)  The University of Tokyo
K)  Oxford
L)  Lamar State College - Orange

A weird MIT dorm dies, and a crisis blooms at colleges [wired.com]

"As classes got underway this week, something was missing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Something weird. . . . "

BIG HUNGRY

Are you glad you are a proffie?

Baylor, alleged gang rape victim reach settlement in Title IX suit [Waco Tribune-Herald]

The flava:

This is the fourth Title IX lawsuit Baylor has resolved related to its sexual assault scandal. The school has also reached settlements with at least three other alleged victims of sexual assault who did not file lawsuits. . . .

Baylor still faces six active Title IX lawsuits.

Gang rapes committed by football players, according to the suit, were often recorded and circulated around the team. The suit took aim at a culture perpetuating sexual violence at a school that, months before the suit was filed, saw Ken Starr fired as president and Art Briles as head football coach amid the scandal. Athletics Director Ian McCaw resigned days after Starr and Briles’ removals.

The article:
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/baylor-alleged-gang-rape-victim-reach-settlement-in-title-ix/article_da7a083d-42be-570d-adb8-a1a87d4681b6.html

The 10 best college dining halls in America [Business Insider]

#5. Bowdoin College

Average student rating: 4.7 out of 5

Average meal plan cost: $7,000/year