tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post292380855321442441..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: A Thirsty on FertilityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-30729996364369819702011-04-06T13:04:37.057-04:002011-04-06T13:04:37.057-04:00@Thanks, Frog and Toad and Academic Monkey:
It'...@Thanks, Frog and Toad and Academic Monkey:<br />It's not so much that I can't take the hits, but sometimes it's more effort than it's worth to get advice or useful info when people DON'T know the particulars of the institution or the whys of the situation completely and end up judging based on the limited amount of information portrayed on here... and having to explain it allThe Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-30333636476551905672011-04-04T23:31:51.395-04:002011-04-04T23:31:51.395-04:00Well said, Froad! If you look at my first post, I ...Well said, Froad! If you look at my first post, I was all guns-ablazing, but over the course of this thread I have seriously had an epiphany about this entire issue, which I *think* has been conveyed by each of my posts.<br /><br />(although one never knows)<br /><br />I've loved this discussion for the most part!Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-35338757222194566412011-04-04T22:51:48.366-04:002011-04-04T22:51:48.366-04:00Oh, follow the blog. It gets heated around here, ...Oh, follow the blog. It gets heated around here, because it's not face-to-face, but there are Things to Be Learned. What you get here is an inside look at the mind of colleagues you might actually have, but never know think a particular way because you're so unlike them that they'd never tell you in person. Even when I hate what I see, that's useful. And everyone here has been Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78967064928246015292011-04-04T19:07:10.034-04:002011-04-04T19:07:10.034-04:00@Thanks, Froad. Very different machines: the SLAC ...@Thanks, Froad. Very different machines: the SLAC and the R1! I love my SLAC, which is why I stay committed to my department and my faculty. <br />We will work out our difficulties. My faculty will pull through, and we won't be glaring at each other for too long because our SLAC will get additional from more snowflake students to make up our budget and we'll soon go back to hating the The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13122567478802468812011-04-04T17:41:40.564-04:002011-04-04T17:41:40.564-04:00I big heart Stella.
CC, no problem, and thanks ...I big heart Stella. <br /><br />CC, no problem, and thanks for starting this debate, in however flawed a way. I left a SLAC in part because treating people like part of one big dysfunctional family is no way to run an institution. Transparency, consistency, and fairness make for good morale.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-69346437216037316352011-04-04T17:35:26.420-04:002011-04-04T17:35:26.420-04:00@Academic Monkey: thanks! I appreciate your cool-h...@Academic Monkey: thanks! I appreciate your cool-headed, calming presence.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67581875424310446682011-04-04T15:22:31.386-04:002011-04-04T15:22:31.386-04:00Hey: COOL IT.
The hyperbole here is getting ridic...Hey: COOL IT.<br /><br />The hyperbole here is getting ridiculous.<br /><br />No one is saying all parents are bad, or that all procreation is the Worst Thing Ever, or that all childfree people are Selfish Beings.<br /><br />Why can't we approach this as we would our teaching, where we can share our experiences and our points of view to help others understand without completely alienating Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72278945476006213932011-04-04T10:32:33.315-04:002011-04-04T10:32:33.315-04:00Yes. Everything that Stella just said. Thank you f...Yes. Everything that Stella just said. Thank you for calling CC out on all the backpeddling. <br /><br />CC, you made a highly incendiary post slamming parents in the academy as being in "one-tracked rhetorical mode" whose "lack of sleep often renders them less-than-emotionally stable (read ‘snappish’)," resulting in "discrimination" against non-parent colleagues andDr. Snarkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927913541614307813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41672580548251800202011-04-04T02:58:18.966-04:002011-04-04T02:58:18.966-04:00Also @ Stella - yes to everything you just posted,...Also @ Stella - yes to everything you just posted, too.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46311958654709357362011-04-04T02:55:16.774-04:002011-04-04T02:55:16.774-04:00@ Southern Bubba - I had never read that Dworkin p...@ Southern Bubba - I had never read that Dworkin piece. It's brilliant. Thank you.<br /><br />@Stella - re: the problems with senior women, or other women - yes, that is a serious issue.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-21236411035352268292011-04-04T02:38:17.488-04:002011-04-04T02:38:17.488-04:00CC: I'm going to start by saying "I symp...CC: I'm going to start by saying "I sympathize" when colleagues don't pull their fair share. And no, I didn't miss that the situation with your colleagues has been going on for years. But I also didn't miss it when you discussed colleagues "wanting time off beyond their six-week allotted amount covered by the state" as if that's a bad thing, or you StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41840570322125605292011-04-04T02:34:31.642-04:002011-04-04T02:34:31.642-04:00... aaand blogger ate my reply ....
But I'll ...... aaand blogger ate my reply ....<br /><br />But I'll boil it down. CC, I am as you know entirely sympathetic to the project and work of child-rearing, and to reasonable accommodations being made for it, and some of what your colleagues want is unreasonable. <br /><br />a) reduced course caps so they don't have to mark as much? Seriously? I have never heard of such a thing, and it&#Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-54914981147670500372011-04-04T01:50:05.153-04:002011-04-04T01:50:05.153-04:00@Froad, yes, the SLAC is a different beast from th...@Froad, yes, the SLAC is a different beast from the R1, and I miss the R1 right this minute when my 'family at work' is dysfunctional. Thank you fory our insights and comments here.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9963951366556062762011-04-04T01:49:12.804-04:002011-04-04T01:49:12.804-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-7456219109739064472011-04-04T01:12:55.670-04:002011-04-04T01:12:55.670-04:00F&T said, "But then, too, I am with Merel...F&T said, "<i>But then, too, I am with Merely in thinking: I thought many of you were my colleagues, and I had no idea. While we can all sing Kumbaya and hold hands, I personally have been enlightened (yet again) by this blog as to how far academia has to go in considering women as actual people.</i>"<br /><br />And Stella said, "<i>And specifically because we're supposed Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6436481988103111052011-04-04T01:01:02.730-04:002011-04-04T01:01:02.730-04:00OK, I see. Except for protesting the requirement ...OK, I see. Except for protesting the requirement to show up at night for student events (a demand I think is insane of any institution to make on anyone, parents or not), your parents sound like big babies. You're either on leave or you're not. If you're not, do your damned job, even if you're performing at a mediocre level for a few years.<br /><br />We may be talking about Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8560895604205808482011-04-04T00:44:56.509-04:002011-04-04T00:44:56.509-04:00@ Stella: perhaps you missed where I posted that t...@ Stella: perhaps you missed where I posted that this has been going on for four years. All four parents in the dept have had their schedules and other requirements of the job changed and accommodated for four years. <br /><br />And the parents want me to continue providing schedules that fit their individual needs, not just for the semester or for the year, but until baby goes to college (it The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-27545710697220015122011-04-04T00:34:27.555-04:002011-04-04T00:34:27.555-04:00Another Canadian here, baffled by how anyone could...Another Canadian here, baffled by how anyone could manage to deal with a new baby with only six weeks of leave. Cripes.CouldBeBetterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17494567309967997639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13127731738890848022011-04-03T23:42:52.176-04:002011-04-03T23:42:52.176-04:00The real problem is often, sadly, that a lot of ti...The real problem is often, sadly, that a lot of times <i>women</i> don't think of women as actual people. Because motherhood is such an issue of conflict within feminism itself (and the issue of working mothers especially), many senior women are harder to deal with than men when it comes to parenting issues. <br /><br />Why? Because there is no conflict in a man's mind when a woman has StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13531044809494134622011-04-03T22:38:40.173-04:002011-04-03T22:38:40.173-04:00I'm still gobsmacked myself, F&T. These tw...I'm still gobsmacked myself, F&T. These two threads have been eye-opening to me.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-21072114810109632172011-04-03T21:36:10.210-04:002011-04-03T21:36:10.210-04:00I certainly didn't mean to imply that parentin...I certainly didn't mean to imply that parenting was more worthwhile than other activities, and apologize if that's how I came across. I was responding to the attitude that being a parent is selfish or a lifestyle choice. It is not. I said my kid would be paying your social security to make the point that children are a public good, and that non-parents ought to have some investment inFrog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-65011363901197507622011-04-03T16:51:40.575-04:002011-04-03T16:51:40.575-04:00I think Contemplative Cynic's most recent post...I think Contemplative Cynic's most recent post was a good way to end the conversation.<br /><br />You guys might think that this has been a hostile thread, but if you go over to Feministing or Feministe or Pandagon, and post about parenting, prepare to have your lungs ripped out. (they have nice things to say ther too, but this issue is thorny)<br /><br />This has been the first conversation Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-52845207531299519262011-04-03T16:14:25.226-04:002011-04-03T16:14:25.226-04:00I really wish people wouldn't be so divisive o...I really wish people wouldn't be so divisive on this. I do believe parenting is a good thing, a difficult thing, in some cases (but not all) a beneficial thing for society. But those of us who don't engage in it are not lesser beings who while those who do are engaging in some "highest good" from which the unchilded benefit with no contributions whatsoever.<br /><br />I get so EnglishDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12046114978214062491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14789433043393300532011-04-03T16:04:52.304-04:002011-04-03T16:04:52.304-04:00I have been astonished and appalled by the smug ho...I have been astonished and appalled by the smug hostility towards parents, and let's admit it, to mothers, that I've seen in this thread and the next one. I would not have imagined that people would actually think - let alone say - such things anymore, and without a trace of shame.<br /><br />I thought you were my colleagues. I had no idea.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82863374017023725582011-04-03T15:19:51.779-04:002011-04-03T15:19:51.779-04:00So, I guess my question to you, CC, is why academi...So, I guess my question to you, CC, is why academics in this case should default to "the state"? Why default to the "minimum" standard allowable by law? <br /><br />This is the same attitude that keeps adjuncts making shit, and the same attitude employers take when they hire. "The state" says they have to pay minimum wage, whether or not it is a <i>living</i> StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.com