tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post1187847668332461805..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Turtle Rant: rambling musings from an occasional contributor.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-38021976709337068132012-10-06T00:51:36.325-04:002012-10-06T00:51:36.325-04:00Turtle here, absolutely. Thank you for describing...Turtle here, absolutely. Thank you for describing in such exquisite and painful detail exactly what has been going on in my institution too. Every year there is less money for teaching but VPs keep hiring more of each other and sending each other on expensive junkets to "workshops" to learn how to be VPs. Meanwhile they are so sure the job market will keep faculty scared and under Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34660703671432081882012-10-05T21:05:08.198-04:002012-10-05T21:05:08.198-04:00I'm not a turtle (does 15 years in count?), bu...I'm not a turtle (does 15 years in count?), but I'm not sure I ever want to be one in the current climate of academia. Having our reality laid out so clearly and miserably makes me wonder what I'm doing on my campus with its multiple VPs.<br /><br />Thank you for this insightful, thoughtful glimpse at why we are so miserable.<br /><br />I second the vote of the term "turtle."The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-85919084431413366502012-10-05T16:44:33.327-04:002012-10-05T16:44:33.327-04:00No tenure here, so this 'ol turtle will be (mo...No tenure here, so this 'ol turtle will be (mostly) keeping her neck firmly inside the shell. My husband is gravely ill, so I don't have the luxury of mounting the barricades.<br /><br />I will fight the battles that are "bright lines" in my ethical universe, but the fact is that a mediocre health plan is standing between my family and penury. Fixing the crazy is something to Valhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042271913445019874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9806469359232879862012-10-05T16:11:01.213-04:002012-10-05T16:11:01.213-04:00Amen. You've described the misery (and the wo...Amen. You've described the misery (and the work/job distinction) all too well. From the perspective of someone without tenure or the prospect thereof (but a long time at a single institution; I guess I'm permanently impermanent), I'm especially drawn to your comments about there being work for adjuncts (and other contingents), but no real jobs. I'm on the next rung up the Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-39751240965039873362012-10-05T16:00:38.925-04:002012-10-05T16:00:38.925-04:00And family (a very hierarchical notion of family, ...And family (a very hierarchical notion of family, but family nonetheless) was also the metaphor used to justify slavery, with the slaves as perpetual children. <br /><br />I also find myself thinking of my university/department as a dysfunctional family, with those in power feeling free to change the rules, and the sticks and (occasional) carrots used to shape the behavior of those with less Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-30947569712331080502012-10-05T14:09:21.849-04:002012-10-05T14:09:21.849-04:00Love, love, love it. What a great post. Thanks for...Love, love, love it. What a great post. Thanks for sharing it, Tuba.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-76229899992536442222012-10-05T13:26:48.652-04:002012-10-05T13:26:48.652-04:00Turtles? Terrapins? This place is going to need it...Turtles? Terrapins? This place is going to need its own Voight-Kamphh test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiuAI-GuOOc.HPPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11927706471904009157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-56541079853563234772012-10-05T11:34:00.873-04:002012-10-05T11:34:00.873-04:00From 1965:
Are you a turtle?
You bet your sweet as...From 1965:<br />Are you a turtle?<br />You bet your sweet ass I am.Walt Lessunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06543175448330140638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34274239642142340802012-10-05T11:23:44.989-04:002012-10-05T11:23:44.989-04:00Chiming in as another "middle-aged service sl...Chiming in as another "middle-aged service slogger"...I watch spacious, fabulously appointed and equipped libraries being built, then see them nearly empty most of the time. At the same time (in response to intense pressure by administration), we have a program that has increased enrollment by 40%, and still have the same 2 1/2 classrooms (and no more equipment OR full-time faculty) Valhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042271913445019874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5790750238659921202012-10-05T09:41:52.090-04:002012-10-05T09:41:52.090-04:00Oh, the misery. Despair, even. Hear, hear.Oh, the misery. Despair, even. Hear, hear.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58566484319198984212012-10-05T09:00:18.122-04:002012-10-05T09:00:18.122-04:00Unpaid and underpaid labor is pretty common in fam...Unpaid and underpaid labor is pretty common in families. It's an apt metaphor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60217431382737242982012-10-05T08:33:54.580-04:002012-10-05T08:33:54.580-04:00YES omg YES. Great post. I'm in between fres...YES omg YES. Great post. I'm in between fresh young gumdrop unicorn and turtle -- a middle-aged service slogger, I guess, with a decent job that gets harder and harder -- but I notice these things too.<br /><br />And THIS: "the offensive, problematic, questionable, and inaccurate metaphor of 'family,' instead of community." Yes, yes, yes. "Community" can be Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-3954986503166096232012-10-05T07:27:30.879-04:002012-10-05T07:27:30.879-04:00Making a distinction between work and your job hel...Making a distinction between work and your job helps me deal with one portion of misery. Educating people and continuing our own education is a noble profession that benefits mankind. I really believe that. Where I work? That's a human endeavor, with well-intentioned, intelligent people having to make decisions with incomplete sets of facts and no easy solutions. Oh, yeah, I forgot to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-27936702798981912982012-10-05T06:42:20.706-04:002012-10-05T06:42:20.706-04:00Thanks TPP. I've been trying to think of a wa...Thanks TPP. I've been trying to think of a way to articulate this for a while. Those of us with tenure are indeed lucky in many ways, and can have no complaint with a steady job doing work that is in many ways enjoyable. But the misery comes for me from seeing the idea of university scholarship - something that should be uplifting - turned into an assembly line for widgets, to be managed Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-25848996296936339992012-10-05T06:40:39.507-04:002012-10-05T06:40:39.507-04:00Yes. Your poignancy is worthy misery.Yes. Your poignancy is worthy misery.Mrs. Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00398436173535554878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23838004987585692272012-10-05T06:37:04.802-04:002012-10-05T06:37:04.802-04:00Post of the Year. Post of the Year. Surly Templehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05057191570792423261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-36998584934108963772012-10-05T05:56:51.336-04:002012-10-05T05:56:51.336-04:00I'm more of a terrapin than a turtle, but I kn...I'm more of a terrapin than a turtle, but I know exactly what you mean in your post.<br /><br />POW, if we haven't yet had one this week!EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63403183161765611582012-10-05T04:57:35.501-04:002012-10-05T04:57:35.501-04:00Oh yes! Yes yes yes, THIS is what it's like f...Oh yes! Yes yes yes, THIS is what it's like for me and my department. We had more turtles than silverbacks, but then there were two rounds of 'voluntary severance or early retirement' in which most of them either chose to leave or were taken to one side and talked to after which they chose to leave.<br /><br />I'm too young for that, but I would definitely like to claim 'Grumpy Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02896982515031823267noreply@blogger.com