tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post6131780746129876086..comments2024-03-09T03:20:20.004-05:00Comments on Tenured Radical: The Ice Storm: A Few Observations About The Workings Of The UniversityTenured Radicalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-19079053537817615252012-04-04T05:08:15.995-05:002012-04-04T05:08:15.995-05:00This is really good advice. i also like this! than...This is really good advice. i also like this! thanks so much for this post!Buy A Logohttp://www.logodesignuniverse.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-4382423983373394232012-03-19T02:22:50.252-05:002012-03-19T02:22:50.252-05:00Hello, This is really great information found here...Hello, This is really great information found here, I really like your blog. Thanks very much for the share. Keep posting.Social Media Optimization Companyhttp://www.ebrandster.com/social-media-optimization.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-52617514795558343022011-02-05T08:52:23.923-05:002011-02-05T08:52:23.923-05:0025 here in Houston and not only did schools shut d...25 here in Houston and not only did schools shut down, but the city shut down just about every major road.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-50975308390408018412011-02-04T10:24:44.109-05:002011-02-04T10:24:44.109-05:00I really like your point about the assumption that...I really like your point about the assumption that faculty and staff live on the borders of campus. My SLAC brags about the on-campus housing that it offers for faculty and staff. I hate that they tout this as a great benefit because 1) I am very uncomfortable having my housing tied to my employment. I like to keep my work life and the rest of my life very separate. And 2) Offering on-campus housing to a minority of faculty and staff is an excuse to keep salaries down for all faculty and staff.SWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-43895975887561603342011-02-04T08:33:37.928-05:002011-02-04T08:33:37.928-05:00Three buildings have collapsed so far, including t...Three buildings have collapsed so far, including two out of the three that contain the restaurants that are most favorable to entertaining job candidates. Is it a metaphor?Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-21994745392517210732011-02-03T20:18:28.255-05:002011-02-03T20:18:28.255-05:00Well, and I noted that a building in Zenith's ...Well, and I noted that a building in Zenith's town actually collapsed with the ice. <br /><br />I was in grad school during the great blizzard of 1978, and my university closed classes for 4 days. it was simple: the roads were totally impassible by vehicular transport, so if you didn't live within walking distance, that was that.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-13472291824879131842011-02-03T18:56:32.974-05:002011-02-03T18:56:32.974-05:00I'm a PhD student at a certain institution dow...I'm a PhD student at a certain institution down the road in New Haven, which has not had a snow day since 1978. And since I don't live in the "grad ghetto" right next to campus these storms have been a real nightmare. We too have the "faculty choice" approach. It's a complete cluster%^&, and puts a ridiculously unfair burden on individual professors. I'll be teaching next year, and am a bit concerned about how much "choice" I will have when it comes to my section...Natalie P.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-36696650006100149792011-02-03T16:31:27.866-05:002011-02-03T16:31:27.866-05:00I like how this post reflects on the socio-economi...I like how this post reflects on the socio-economic inequalities embedded in universities' assumptions about where their people live. In many towns, living close enough to campus to be able to walk or take a major bus route, is an option only open to those earning 6-figure salaries. The more likely a worker is to be penalised for staying at home (staff, custodial services etc., junior or adjunct faculty), the more likely they are to live in places that make coming to work a challenge even on good days, let alone during a storm.<br /><br />Even as a tenured faculty member, I live 25 miles north of my campus because living in city limits is unaffordable. Lots of staff people - and increasingly, lots of students - live in this same suburb. We can't afford the cost of a campus parking permit, so we take the bus. Even when it's running normally, the last bus leaves campus at 5.30, so custodial and night staff have no decent way of commuting from here. I've heard stories of custodians sleeping in supply closets until they can catch the next bus. The transit system shuts down at the first snowflake, so no way can we come in during a snowstorm. <br /><br />Absolutely, the assumption of easy access to campus at any time of day, is highly classist. It's also the product of a period when most workers were straight men who had stay-at-home spouses to take care of things while they attended late meetings etc.<br /><br />Oh, and I hope everyone at Zenith cancels class.LouMacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-82858488891637125412011-02-03T13:42:04.275-05:002011-02-03T13:42:04.275-05:00I've been at 2 major midwestern public univers...I've been at 2 major midwestern public universities. At both places, there were big snow storms -- big enough that the local public transportation system shut down. At MWU1, the administration canceled classes after 3 pm (once) but required staff to take vacation if they wanted to leave early. At MWU2, no classes have been canceled. Faculty could cancel classes (and some did); staff, faculty, and TAs were "encouraged to come in and work but also make safe decisions." <br /><br />As others have pointed out, as terrible as the passive-aggressive decision-making is for faculty, it's even worse (and classist) for staff who often live even farther away.<br /><br />Cancel classes or create the appropriate accommodations (lodging, food, etc for staff, commuter students, and faculty alike).Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-42583597954800177832011-02-03T08:48:07.777-05:002011-02-03T08:48:07.777-05:00Katrina: We have practically no commuter students...Katrina: We have practically no commuter students, which I think contributes to the ancient belief that faculty ought to be "in residence" too.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-24010596151062546422011-02-03T07:12:30.132-05:002011-02-03T07:12:30.132-05:00Are all of Zenith's students resident on campu...Are all of Zenith's students resident on campus? I am wondering how commuter students are treated: would they be penalised for not being able to make it to class? <br /><br />[My verification word is PHALIK. Am finding that incredibly amusing].Katrinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11816155888326772079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-22995080204473456862011-02-02T22:33:26.843-05:002011-02-02T22:33:26.843-05:00I do love that faculty at SLAC are encouraged to t...I do love that faculty at SLAC are encouraged to teach online, prepare alternate assignments, or absorb snow days into the schedule -- or make up classes on designated make-up days. Unless weather is so bad that power is out, it's really easy to be safe, warm, and teach in pjs.Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-19952735902120066642011-02-02T22:18:48.203-05:002011-02-02T22:18:48.203-05:00Most of the faculty and grad student TAs at my uni...Most of the faculty and grad student TAs at my uni do live on the boarders of campus, if only because town is so small, but our massive and under-plowed, under-salted campus is still a treacherous hike. Even with good boots and young ankles, my students and I were wet and bruised from icy falls today, thanks to recent budget cuts to the grounds crew. Shivering, wet excellence without money (to quote an eminent historian).Eileenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10165692458130517925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-74113703947886690622011-02-02T22:12:56.655-05:002011-02-02T22:12:56.655-05:00That's a profoundly ableist policy, actually. ...That's a profoundly ableist policy, actually. Icy, slick conditions are a serious problem when you're using a wheelchair, cane, or other device to move around. If Zenith is anything like my university, it's hard to keep the paths and walkways free of ice with even the best of intentions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-87578714870117032692011-02-02T21:52:38.852-05:002011-02-02T21:52:38.852-05:002 hours northeast of Zenith, my institution closed...2 hours northeast of Zenith, my institution closed today and may well close tomorrow, if morning comes and we're still slicked with ice. This is fortunate, since the local commuter rail was canceling more-or-less every other trip to campus in an effort to keep any of its trains running at all.shanehttp://cliotropic.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-45480948781453108872011-02-02T20:44:22.462-05:002011-02-02T20:44:22.462-05:00I don't usually join in administrator-bashing,...I don't usually join in administrator-bashing, since there's no shortage of it on the interwebs, but that's really weak. <br /><br />Putting the burden on individual faculty is oddly passive-aggressive. It also makes no sense at all for lab sciences, where faculty decisions would have direct impacts on the lab techs who actually set everything up and break it all down. If some come in and some don't, ay, caramba.<br /><br />Either open or close and be done with it.Dean Dadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956229655057842122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-62914818009270695382011-02-02T20:43:42.442-05:002011-02-02T20:43:42.442-05:00In 1997, Ang Lee made a film called The Ice Storm ...<i>In 1997, Ang Lee made a film called The Ice Storm about the emotional perils of suburban living in the 1970s.</i><br /><br />What an awesome fucken movie!! When it came outte, my date and I sparked up a couple fatties and absorbed the ATMOSPHERICS!Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-59225014534184444262011-02-02T18:42:23.394-05:002011-02-02T18:42:23.394-05:00We closed, starting at 4 pm Monday, right through ...We closed, starting at 4 pm Monday, right through today. It was the only sensible thing, given that we're in a city and the public transit system has had to slow way down (although not stop, brave souls that they are). They also told the students that anyone who could go home, should, consolidated dining to minimize the amount of staff who would have to come in, and closed all the non-emergency offices at the med school. Although, weirdly, the athletics department did not cancel any games. Priorities!rustonitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-21354398091706442562011-02-02T18:34:38.256-05:002011-02-02T18:34:38.256-05:00We don't close for weather very often, which c...We don't close for weather very often, which can be rather crazy as the campus is only accessibly by a two-lane winding road that runs between a rock-cut and high-end houses overlooking the lake. It closes frequently for accidents in bad weather and then? You're trapped for both drivers and transit users.<br /><br />I hear administrators normalizing the on-campus student experience, yet they know the majority of our students are off-campus locals. One student told me of the three buses she takes to campus every morning and back home at the end of the day. That's hours in transit in the best of weather! In these winter storms, transit users and drivers take their lives into their hands coming onto campus.Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-71596139511236345832011-02-02T17:44:51.505-05:002011-02-02T17:44:51.505-05:00"Zenith has many virtues, but it doesn't ..."Zenith has many virtues, but it doesn't accommodate any of these things well, either as a school or as part of a community."<br /><br />Does any university? Not to minimize your point, but I think issues like these are symptomatic of a broader devaluation of academics as people. <br /><br />Also, I loved your closing statement. Hear, hear!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-4724934273035064892011-02-02T16:57:47.143-05:002011-02-02T16:57:47.143-05:00Actually, Anonymous, many of our staff are unioniz...Actually, Anonymous, many of our staff are unionized, although many aren't, nor are any administrators; and the untenured faculty have no contract protections. But your point stands.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-7986058874165856922011-02-02T16:57:08.491-05:002011-02-02T16:57:08.491-05:00I would love LOVE to live on the borders of my col...I would love LOVE to live on the borders of my college. In fact, just last year I saw a house for rent within stone's throw of my department, and I called. Rent was $8000 a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I bring that handy little fact up whenever an upper-level administrator bemoans the lack of faculty living on or near campus. Give me a 500% raise and I will give it serious consideration.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-9530116048855390342011-02-02T16:43:51.241-05:002011-02-02T16:43:51.241-05:00Zenith's childcare was cautious enough to refu...Zenith's childcare was cautious enough to refuse to open. So add parents to the list of those who face admitting they can't handle a normal ice-storm day.eshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09979600893564595218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-47247198440485675262011-02-02T15:58:03.928-05:002011-02-02T15:58:03.928-05:00Please do not go to work in dangerous conditions. ...Please do not go to work in dangerous conditions. That is a way of preserving your life and sending a message to your university. As someone mentioned, it is particularly unfair that many institutions force staff to take unpaid days or vacation days when the campus is closed. So, since you work at a private and therefore non-unionized campus where staff have no contract protections against this kind of abuse I also urge you to work on their behalf to get the administration to give all workers the right to stay home when getting to campus is dangerous and not to be punished for this choice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-74875379909337367012011-02-02T15:47:24.160-05:002011-02-02T15:47:24.160-05:00SUNY campuses will cancel classes but not close ac...SUNY campuses will cancel classes but not close academic offices, which means that staff need to take a vacation day to stay safely put.E Tuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15098904489114798860noreply@blogger.com