tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145308752016-08-31T09:50:28.006-07:00Janine's BlogJanine White's Personal BlogJanine Whitenoreply@blogger.comBlogger483125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-68248002292167666442010-11-19T11:37:00.001-07:002010-11-19T11:37:56.010-07:00Sandra Day O'Connor<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/xeIgjfHoolIDEwrutxwEzxhzlsaxcJCulmvAuymtoFtwzAfljkdErtzFaqBt/media_httpfarm5static_ggwtr.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="180" height="240"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/janine-white/5190264664/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>I was honored to hear Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speak today. She discussed her history growing up on the Arizona-New Mexico border, the difficulty she had establishing herself as a lawyer, her time serving in the Arizona State Legislature and the day-to-day workings of the Supreme Court. She was eloquent and humorous, emphasizing the need for respect and compromise in Leadership.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/sandra-day-oconnor">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-23647004233158998252010-11-15T09:44:00.001-07:002010-11-15T09:44:58.504-07:00Randall Amster: Pot Luck? Arizona Approves Medical Marijuana Amid Conservative Landslide<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p>The beleaguered state of Arizona has just concluded one of the most lopsided elections in state history, in which Republicans captured every statewide office, seven of ten congressional seats, and three-quarter supermajorities in both legislative bodies. Conservatives took most of the local and municipal seats as well, and voters further passed ballot initiatives prohibiting affirmative action, allowing secret ballots in workplace elections (to hamper union organizing), and challenging coverage-mandate aspects of the recently-passed federal healthcare bill.</p> <p>Despite this resoundingly ideological state sweep, a number of surprising results were to be found at the same time. Voters soundly rejected an NRA-backed proposition to make hunting a constitutional right - the only state to do so in this election cycle, where a similar measure passed in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Also rejected was a provision that would have allowed state trust land to be sold in the service of "protecting" military bases, as well as one that would have transferred over $100 million from a land-conservation fund to the state's general fund. And overwhelmingly rejected (by 70 percent of the voters) was a measure that would have ended an early childhood services program and transferred its $300 million in revenues to the general fund.</p> <p>Most surprisingly, Arizona became the 15th state to adopt a medical marijuana law with the narrow passage of Proposition 203. The measure was trailing in the tally following election day, began picking up ground as provisional and mail-in ballots were counted, and finally surged ahead ten days after the election to ultimately prevail by about 4000 votes out of almost 1.7 million ballots cast. Prop 203 was unique in that it was the only citizen-referred initiative on the 2010 ballot, with all of the others mentioned above being referred directly by the Republican-dominated state legislature. The initiative garnered more than 250,000 petition signatures to get on the ballot, which exceeded the required number by more than 100,000. It passed despite being opposed by law enforcement, the state's top-ranked officials, and both U.S. Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl.</p> <p>Opponents of Prop 203 advanced arguments about morality and legality reminiscent of the "reefer madness" propaganda of the 1930s, arguing that the measure would essentially be a "gateway" provision toward the full-on legalization of marijuana (and potentially even all drugs) in the future. "Marijuana for medical treatment is the foot in the door for legalization," Kyl said at a news conference in October. Despite, or perhaps in anticipation of, such predictions, the proposition was narrowly drafted to require a doctor's recommendation for patients with serious or debilitating conditions, and requires user registration with the state department of health as well as fingerprinting and licensure for dispensaries (which are to be capped statewide at 124). Further, employers will not be allowed to discriminate against or terminate registered users, but workers will be prohibited from being on the medicine during performance of their jobs.</p> <p>Arizona's history with medical marijuana actually dates back to 1996, when voters approved it by 65 percent, only to have it eviscerated by the state legislature. This led to a 1998 ballot initiative that prohibited the legislature from overturning voter-approved propositions, and also in that same year voters rejected a legislative-sponsored provision that would have required Congress or the federal government to approve medical marijuana before a doctor could prescribe it; despite this, the medical marijuana initiatives were not implemented due to issues with certain wording that conflicted with federal laws and enforcement policies. In 2002, a more sweeping decriminalization measure failed, which would have required the state to dispense medical marijuana to patients for free and - perhaps most problematically in terms of the propaganda debate - would have required state law enforcement officers to deliver it to users.</p> <p>Another key aspect of the politics of marijuana concerns the larger border issues that Arizona has become synonymous with in recent years. In addition to human border crossers, the transportation of marijuana from Mexico is responsible for many political and economic tensions in the region. For the drug cartels that have become an increasing source of violence (predominantly on the Mexican side of the border), marijuana trafficking is a primary enterprise. As a DEA agent recently told the <em>New York Times</em>, "marijuana is the king crop. It consistently sustains its marketability and profitability." A 2008 Congressional report further observed that "there is evidence that Mexican cartels are also increasing their relationships with prison and street gangs in the United States in order to facilitate drug trafficking." Some of the allegations raised by demagogues in Arizona and elsewhere in support of border militarization policies and draconian anti-immigrant legislation in fact draw upon allusions to these sorts of impacts.</p> <p>Supporters of measures such as Arizona's Prop 203 argue primarily for the humane and therapeutic benefits to ailing people that medical marijuana could bring. We can extend the point further to consider the humane benefits to society as a whole that could come with relaxing the criminalization of marijuana and the aggressive enforcement of prohibition laws. Exploding prison populations and expanding cartel violence are both enabled by current policies. Prohibition supports the profit motive that drives drug trafficking and its related practices of human smuggling, and further fuels the displacement and dislocation of people from Mexican villages that contributes to so-called "illegal immigration." The utilization of marijuana for medical purposes may well be, as opponents contend, a step on the road to legalization - and if so, this actually could become part of a process of healing beyond merely personal ailments.</p> <p>In this sense, liberalization of marijuana laws could address a number of deep historical rifts, ones that are especially prominent in the southwest and that continue to influence our border politics today. Cannabis historian Ernest L. Abel has reflected on this history of ostensible 'Reefer Racism':</p> <blockquote> <p>"When the 1930s devastated the American economy, the Mexicans bore the brunt of the scapegoat mentality in the southwest. Everything about them was abhorrent to many Americans, and there was a general hew and cry to kick them out of the country. Harassment was commonplace. The Mexicans were censured for almost everything they did or failed to do, including smoking marijuana. Marijuana, in fact, became the pretext for vexing the Mexicans just as opium had been the pretext for vexing the Chinese years before.... As the numbers of Mexican immigrants began to increase, especially in the border towns of the southwest, they were the object of close scrutiny by the townsfolk. Suspicious and often resentful of these newcomers, the townspeople humiliated, harassed, and abused them to make them feel as unwelcome as possible. When the Mexicans lashed back at their tormentors, their actions were often attributed to the influence of marijuana, which to many Americans symbolized the Mexican presence in America.... As the most conspicuous users of marijuana, Mexicans were oftentimes accused of being incited to violence by the drug.... The Mexicans were accused of spreading the marijuana vice throughout the nation.... When they began to resist efforts to jail and deport them, their resistance was attributed to the influence of marijuana and these charges lent further weight to the accusation that marijuana incited violence."</p> </blockquote> <p>This intertwining history of marijuana prohibition and the demonization of Mexican immigrants in the southwest includes recent incantations deployed for sensationalistic political purposes - prominently reflected, for example, in Governor Jan Brewer's imprudent campaign rhetoric:</p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>"Well, we all know that the majority of the people that are coming to Arizona and trespassing are now become drug mules. They're coming across our borders in huge numbers. The drug cartels have taken control of the immigration.... So they are criminals. They're breaking the law when they are trespassing and they're criminals when they pack the marijuana and the drugs on their backs.... I believe today and in the circumstances that we are facing, that the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming in the state of Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels, and they are bringing drugs in."</p> </blockquote> <p>Intriguingly, Arizona voters have approved a compassionate and progressive marijuana law at precisely the same time that openly-hostile anti-immigrant forces in the state have consolidated their political power in an unprecedented manner. We might surmise that the state's libertarian bent contributed to the passage of Prop 203, yet perhaps there is also a deeper motivation at work here. Incendiary sentiments such as Gov. Brewer's provide a potential subtext for Arizona's incongruous liberalization of marijuana laws: Perhaps in approving the medicinal application of marijuana to debilitating physical conditions, the Arizona electorate is expressing a desire to ameliorate the destructive societal ills in our midst as well. One can only wonder whether medical marijuana can further buffer the chronic pain of the political challenges that lie ahead.</p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-amster/pot-luck-arizona-approves_b_783572.html">huffingtonpost.com</a></div> <p>A summary of the recent Arizona election results, including the passage of a medical marijuana law by Randall Amster</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/randall-amster-pot-luck-arizona-approves-medi">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-64281762133879842102010-11-13T16:14:00.001-07:002010-11-13T16:14:30.731-07:00The nemesis of Unemployment Man is Outsourcerer. #NPR<div class='posterous_autopost'> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/the-nemesis-of-unemployment-man-is-outsourcer">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-46507625022487263162010-11-13T09:37:00.001-07:002010-11-13T09:37:49.935-07:00Tumblr<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/DozJnhgqqqdDrsfeJkdvpaAJljvyhqaAoqgmHEHagCCDIxxqefoIgkpjhrGd/media_http27mediatumb_AIbcq.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="261"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://archive.mistakereports.com/post/1562499093/mistake-66190-pronouncing-places-ive-only-read">Mistake Reports</a></div> <p>Lots of people mispronounce Tucson at first.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/tumblr">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-46230497441426474742010-11-04T16:09:00.001-07:002010-11-04T16:09:46.293-07:00Arizona Job Training Program Funds Available<div class='posterous_autopost'><p>The <a href="http://www.azcommerce.com/Workforce/JobTraining/" title="Arizona Job Training Program" target="_blank">Arizona Job Training Program</a> has been funded and is accepting applications from eligible employers. Employers must pay into the Arizona Job Training Fund, or be exempt, and meet or exceed the average annual <a href="http://www.azcommerce.com/doclib/wrkforce/job%20training/qualifying%20wage%20rates.pdf" title="qualify wage rate" target="_blank">qualifying wage rate</a>. Employers may request a Net New Grant, which reimburses up to 75% of eligible training for new jobs, or an Incumbent Grant, which reimburses up to 50% of eligible training expenses for current employees. Detailed information on the program is available in <a href="http://www.azcommerce.com/doclib/WRKFORCE/JT_Fact_Sheet.pdf" title="AJTP PDF" target="_blank">this document</a>. </p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/arizona-job-training-program-funds-available">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-26250854611642661272010-11-02T00:01:00.001-07:002010-11-02T00:01:02.067-07:00Day Of The Dead Procession | Tucson<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/sGrasuIgGDmHctrdpGynGpAFFccxqgrujHJkGDmIFBwuhDojbuIGundilEJv/media_httppcpstudiosc_ICdly.jpg.scaled1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/sGrasuIgGDmHctrdpGynGpAFFccxqgrujHJkGDmIFBwuhDojbuIGundilEJv/media_httppcpstudiosc_ICdly.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="333"/></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.pcpstudios.com/photography/home/events/21-events/107-day-of-the-dead-procession--tucson">pcpstudios.com</a></div> <p>Day of the Dead Procession 11/8/2009 - Paul Cervantes</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/day-of-the-dead-procession-tucson">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-24295864242661028062010-10-30T21:51:00.001-07:002010-10-30T21:51:21.161-07:00FART - Frustrated Arizonans Rejecting Tea<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/fgpnqvlljbmjDpJGuhyepdEoJpanDtgAAAkceldGifBnAFAfIrCstbGEGJjJ/media_httpfarm2static_CJdFs.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="333" height="500"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlyfaye/5129460572/in/set-72157625149476599/">flickr.com</a></div> <p>Frustrated Arizonans Rejecting Tea at the Rally To Restore Sanity</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/fart-frustrated-arizonans-rejecting-tea">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-49426499767584660982010-10-25T23:57:00.001-07:002010-10-25T23:57:30.993-07:00Creepy Sheriff Gives Sarah Palin Pink Underwear<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/ujECqenhHdpydjJqrosskeuvBHcquEBCgGrJekGscJpvpCwHjtnkJwcHtAeq/media_httpcachegawker_CsDsG.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="267"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://gawker.com/5672861/creepy-sheriff-gives-sarah-palin-pink-underwear">gawker.com</a></div> <p>Wow! Arpaio +Pink Underwear + Twitter + Palin = Super Creepy</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/creepy-sheriff-gives-sarah-palin-pink-underwe">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-7278564577078044192010-10-21T10:02:00.001-07:002010-10-21T10:02:14.881-07:00CDC Study Shows Teen Pregnancy About Education, Not Race - COLORLINES<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/hogderojfrgzoBxtJamzzbthCkvJCEuCEpqcIIrvihiIfignsjbbgdEvjbGw/media_httpcolorlinesc_gccBh.jpg.scaled1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/hogderojfrgzoBxtJamzzbthCkvJCEuCEpqcIIrvihiIfignsjbbgdEvjbGw/media_httpcolorlinesc_gccBh.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="368"/></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/10/teen_pregnancy.html">colorlines.com</a></div> <p>It's not surprising that Arizona, as a conservative state with a high rate of dropout, is among those with the highest rates of teen pregnancy.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/cdc-study-shows-teen-pregnancy-about-educatio">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-33671637209552403052010-10-09T21:54:00.001-07:002010-10-09T21:54:10.165-07:00Bellemont Tornado Tracks<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/HaAEDqoJyJfomFfBamgGBuGhoduauAruCBiyzevGpjcbCawmjaIwknIIvGyv/media_httpwwwwrhnoaag_aBrAF.jpg.scaled1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/HaAEDqoJyJfomFfBamgGBuGhoduauAruCBiyzevGpjcbCawmjaIwknIIvGyv/media_httpwwwwrhnoaag_aBrAF.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="416"/></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/FXC/wxstory.php?wfo=fgz&img=3">wrh.noaa.gov</a></div> <p>Arial photo of the damage caused by the tornadoes in Bellemont, Arizona</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/bellemont-tornado-tracks">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-78242782171890650602010-10-09T21:47:00.001-07:002010-10-09T21:47:59.939-07:00Suntech opens solar panel factory in Goodyear, Arizona<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/GnnqstoJkbIDtnkAzvofdzufgxrvojupHpDBkbJitxtBiDdvzhAnlJeaHoAl/media_httpwwwbrighter_wAfun.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="250" height="200"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.brighterenergy.org/17375/news/solar/suntech-opens-solar-panel-factory-in-goodyear-arizona/">brighterenergy.org</a></div> <p>Suntech has opened a solar panel factory in Goodyear, AZ, and plans to expand production and employment through 2011.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/suntech-opens-solar-panel-factory-in-goodyear">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-39680955245145222852010-10-06T23:11:00.001-07:002010-10-06T23:11:34.133-07:00Volcano fuels massive phytoplankton bloom<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/juvCerrpioJgatjDuhJAJHwoyCskAHyrsqhvtrqFurIqlHFhqunGwkmexCxt/media_httpwwwscienced_gyBtF.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="300" height="168"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006094059.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">sciencedaily.com</a></div> <p>Ash from the Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutian islands led to the largest recorded phytoplankton bloom. Seeding the ocean with iron on a large scale may help capture atmospheric CO2 and reduce global warming.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/volcano-fuels-massive-phytoplankton-bloom">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-47628286136929623682010-10-06T22:57:00.001-07:002010-10-06T22:57:51.920-07:00See Through Kayak<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/rpeDnkusAwoEvwDCjpsaexgEevwvwFceFBpuFcqgiafoFoGurHyGbxsuvkHk/media_httpdornobcomwp_hFmBh.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="468" height="389"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://dornob.com/spectacular-and-see-through-dude-wheres-my-canoe/">dornob.com</a></div> <p>My mom would love a see through kayak.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/see-through-kayak">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-84827416382452984532010-10-03T03:20:00.001-07:002010-10-03T03:20:20.753-07:00A Sign of the Times<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/ffgappxoDuhqencfcHBqzHcnHeCuksviBriclfDaAtpJtpoxqgoIqxymHqbm/media_httppicchorecom_kCzGH.jpg.scaled1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/ffgappxoDuhqencfcHBqzHcnHeCuksviBriclfDaAtpJtpoxqgoIqxymHqbm/media_httppicchorecom_kCzGH.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="209"/></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://picchore.com/funny/garys-dollar-bill/">picchore.com</a></div> <p>Please return this bill to me. <br />Gary <br />15615 W. 35th Ave, 114 <br />Phoenix, AZ 85053 <br />I am very poor.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/a-sign-of-the-times">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-58165212317884893392010-09-29T18:55:00.001-07:002010-09-29T18:55:03.793-07:00I want to work in a tree house, but I'm not excited about lab coats because we already get to wear bunny suits in the Fab.<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/ehxyDEBDtuBibDfwFtyHtegfCblkcwhHvvhgmbFzqfefnDuBdAigwcIoGqII/media_httpwwwofficesn_kIJrw.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="333"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.officesnapshots.com/2010/09/29/inventionland-offices/">officesnapshots.com</a></div> <p><a href="http://www.inventionland.com" title="Inventionland" target="_blank">Inventionland</a> has very innovative offices.</p> </div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/i-want-to-work-in-a-tree-house-but-im-not-exc">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-23300767607776401132010-09-22T20:12:00.001-07:002010-09-22T20:12:17.699-07:00Can I get my shirts made out of this and just call myself artistic?<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l6x0x0bCU-g" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"> </embed><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://inventorspot.com/articles/tablecloth_takes_your_clutzy_wine_spills_stride">inventorspot.com</a></div> <p>Underfull, "The tablecloth that turns spilling into poetry."</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/can-i-get-my-shirts-made-out-of-this-and-just">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-89764855100771254642010-09-17T03:23:00.001-07:002010-09-17T03:23:00.474-07:00Down for everyone or just me?<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <div class="posterous_quote_citation"> Check out this website I found at <a href="http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/">downforeveryoneorjustme.com</a></div> <p>If you've ever wondered if a web site that keeps timing out in your browser is working or if you're having Internet connectivity issues, got to <a href="http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/">http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/</a>. Enter the URL of the web site in the box, then click the "or just me?" link. You'll get a quick response on whether or not that server can reach the web site. Of course, if you can't get to the <a href="http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/">http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/</a> web site to ask the question, it probably is you.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/down-for-everyone-or-just-me">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-84010035494040656472010-09-16T23:32:00.001-07:002010-09-16T23:32:40.035-07:00And then #Buffy staked Edward. The End.<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/BsbniIxEivCdHbapvboaBivewBlcrAbczewflpaqEoFeviBeGjjucGIhhwBi/media_httpcdnshopifyc_ivntt.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="240" height="195"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://shop.geekbadge.ca/products/buffy-vs-twilight-button-set">shop.geekbadge.ca</a></div> <p>I love Buffy. I've never read/seen Twilight.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/and-then-buffy-staked-edward-the-end">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-30127554982275755172010-09-16T22:04:00.001-07:002010-09-16T22:04:09.466-07:00Droid and Droid X 2.2, how to get your root on. via Unstable Apps<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p>Ok everyone, by now most everyone knows that with the latest 2.2 updates from Motorola and Verizon, your automated software rooting tools no longer work. Easy Root is of course included in this. The following is what I recommend you do to get your root back.</p> <p>Droid 1 Users:<br /> 1) SBF Flash back to FRG01B 2.2. <a href="http://alldroid.org/Default.aspx?tabid=40&g=posts&m=6478&#post6478">Here is a great guide for this.</a><br /> 2) Use Easy Root to root your newly downgraded phone.<br /> 3) Install ROM Manager by Koush from the Market (If you can, get the $4.99 version to support this great work. If you can’t, there is a free version as well.)<br /> 4) Install a custom ROM (I recommend CyanogenMod 6 personally) and never deal with Motorola and Verizon taking all your roots away again.</p> <p>Droid X Users:<br /> This are a bit unclear for you guys at this time. With the /boot partition getting locked down for now and no “real” recovery partition it makes life a bit difficult. The official 2.2 update will remove your root and block tools like Easy Root. Once the official 2.2 OTA hits we will see what our options are.</p> <p>So, this post will get updated later for the Droid X when the official OTA hits, but the key thing to get out of this…get away from official ROM’s from Verizon/Motorola. They will constantly try and stop you from using your phone as you like. If you have a Droid 1, get CyanogenMod and enjoy having root and faster more open phone.</p> <p>Thanks.</p> <img style="display: none;" /> <p> </p><p> <span>« <a href="http://www.unstableapps.com/?p=79" rel="prev">Droid 2.2 – The future</a></span> <span></span> </p> <p> </p></div></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.unstableapps.com/?p=81">unstableapps.com</a></div> <p>Rooting doesn't currently work for Build FRG22D on Droid, but you can flash back to FRG01B and go from there. I haven't tried this myself.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/droid-and-droid-x-22-how-to-get-your-root-on">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-29029277216685323562010-09-16T18:01:00.001-07:002010-09-16T18:01:26.482-07:00University Ban on Social Media for a Week is a an Unethical Experiment<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/AdEjJFkHvGhwbgBFCJmqwtBiueeydEeIleByqrJmjdfwyiBEyIpBdtwaeDsw/media_httpmashablecom_rulAD.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="260" height="225"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/09/13/harrisburg-university-social-media-ban/#comment-78367035">mashable.com</a></div> <p>Closing down a campus network to social media for a week should not be imposed on an entire campus at the whim of an Administrator. Facebook, Twitter and IM are only latest versions of social media. When I was in college in the 80s and 90s, there were bulletin board systems, MUDs and chat rooms for multi-user interaction. Telephones were originally implemented as party lines. Why not ban them? As technology has evolved, it's social uses have as well. Singling out a particular population to be cut off from normal interaction for an arbitrary period of time is an experiment that should ethically require consent. Also, students still have access to social media through smart phones and off campus, so the ban on social media is somewhat voluntary. Why not ask for volunteers? I can imagine it being part of a specific class assignment, but imposing it on an entire campus disadvantages younger and lower income students disproportionately. Cutting off a campus from social media for a week is unethical because it is an arbitrary experiment being carried out on a disadvantaged population without their consent.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/university-ban-on-social-media-for-a-week-is">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-37528015979391180122010-09-15T20:13:00.001-07:002010-09-15T20:13:51.925-07:00Ask Jo: What is the difference between a sponsor and a mentor?<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p><strong><em>Question: </em></strong><em>What is the difference between a sponsor and a mentor? Do I need both?</em></p> <p><strong><em>Answer</em>:</strong></p> <p>Yes, you need both, and understanding the difference can make a world of difference to your career.</p> <p>I jumped for joy and let out a Howard Dean-like scream when I read Harvard Business Review’s <a href="http://hbr.org/2010/09/why-men-still-get-more-promotions-than-women/ar/1">Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women</a> because I believe the authors have stumbled upon a game-changing, ground-breaking insight into how women can advance within corporations.</p> <p>The report draws from Catalyst’s research to describe how men and women have roughly equal access to mentors, with women slightly more likely to report having being mentored. However men are still gaining an edge in the career opportunities that result. So the authors asked “<strong><em>If the women are being mentored so thoroughly, why aren’t they moving into higher management positions</em></strong>?”</p> <p>Read the full article if you have time, and if you do not, here are my key take-aways:</p> <p>1) All mentorships are not equal.</p> <p>2) The difference is sponsorship, when the mentor “uses his or her influence with senior executives to advocate for the mentee.”</p> <p>3) Men and women both get valuable advice from their mentors, but it’s more likely for men who describe being sponsored.</p> <p>4) In comparison to male counterparts, high-potential women are overmentored and undersponsored.</p> <p>5) The more senior the mentor, the more rapid the mentee’s career advancement.<br /> The authors concluded by summarizing what companies could do to advance women (less over-mentoring, more accountable sponsoring) but I am more interested in what women can do with this knowledge, to advance themselves.</p> <p>Firstly, I’d like to <a href="http://anitaborg.org/news/archive/ask-jo-making-the-most-of-mentoring/">defend mentoring</a> as a valuable career tool, and not just for the knowledge you’ll gain. Asking someone to mentor you is a good way to expand your ‘upward’ network, and it is easier than asking someone to sponsor you. Engaging mentors is a great way to break the ice with potential sponsors.</p> <p>We as women do need to rethink or at least expand the role we expect our mentors to play. Most of us are comfortable seeking guidance from our mentors, asking them for performance feedback and asking for help navigating workplace situations, but less comfortable asking our mentors to open doors for us, make introductions and connect us to career opportunities. Notice if you feel a bit uncomfortable reading that last sentence, and ask yourself if you have recently asked a mentor for any of those things. In my experience, guys are more comfortable asking their mentors to sponsor them. We need to do it more.</p> <p><strong>Career Planning Conversations</strong></p> <p>Sometimes a well-placed comment is all it takes to turn a manager or a mentor into a sponsor, and you can’t know what opportunities they might connect you to until you ask.</p> <p>I call these ‘career planning conversations’, because they involve A) stating your career plan, and B) actively engaging someone who has the power to help you. Here are some things you could say:</p> <ul> <li>I am interested in becoming (<em>state your career goal</em>). Do you know of any opportunities I should go after? Who should I speak to? Would you be willing to connect me with them?</li> <li>I am interested in (<em>job opening</em>). Would you advocate for me?</li> <li>I would like to work for you one day.</li> </ul> <p>I was coaching a woman to have more of these conversations, and we did some role-plays. Even though it was uncomfortable, she practiced saying: “I am interested in becoming a (<em>career goal</em>). Can you let me know if you hear of any opportunities I would be a good fit for?” Not long after our coaching session, a senior leader stopped by her office to check in on a business issue. As he turned to leave, she blurted out her pre-prepared script, and although she felt awkward asking for sponsorship, the leader nodded, looked thoughtful, then left. Twenty minutes later he stopped by her office again and said “I think I have an opportunity for you”.</p> <p><strong>Jo Miller is CEO of <a href="http://www.womensleadershipcoaching.com/">Women’s Leadership Coaching Inc.</a> which offers women’s leadership seminars, webinars and coaching programs. To read more of her career advice, <a href="http://anitaborg.org/news/archive/ask-jo-columns/">visit the Ask Jo archives</a>. Copyright 2010, Women’s Leadership Coaching Inc.</strong></p> </div></blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://anitaborg.org/news/archive/ask-jo-what-is-the-difference-between-a-sponsor-and-a-mentor/">anitaborg.org</a></div> <p>Excellent career planning advice</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/ask-jo-what-is-the-difference-between-a-spons">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-51849720000916651122010-09-10T21:32:00.001-07:002010-09-10T21:32:34.865-07:00No, you don't own it: Court upholds EULAs, threatens digital resale<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/cdbhaspArslqzeuzrapGlpzAtcJbdAHzAlwqvBrgtvFDitgizrFmBkdsHxnD/media_httpstaticarste_uFFHn.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="300" height="169"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/the-end-of-used-major-ruling-upholds-tough-software-licenses.ars">arstechnica.com</a></div> <p>According to a Ninth Circuit ruling, software cannot be resold if the EULA forbids it. This could be extended to all other media.</p> </div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/no-you-dont-own-it-court-upholds-eulas-threat">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-67738663524274909842010-09-08T23:43:00.001-07:002010-09-08T23:43:32.458-07:00Housing Choice - Help Today’s Owners or Future Buyers<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p> Over the last 18 months, the administration has rolled out just about every program it could think of to prop up the ailing housing market, using tax credits, mortgage modification programs, low interest rates, government-backed loans and other assistance intended to keep values up and delinquent borrowers out of foreclosure. The goal was to stabilize the market until a resurgent economy created new households that demanded places to live. </p><p> As the economy again sputters and potential buyers flee — July housing sales sank 26 percent from July 2009 — there is a growing sense of exhaustion with government intervention. Some economists and analysts are now urging a dose of shock therapy that would greatly shift the benefits to future homeowners: Let the housing market crash. </p><p> When prices are lower, these experts argue, buyers will pour in, creating the elusive stability the government has spent billions upon billions trying to achieve. </p><p> “Housing needs to go back to reasonable levels,” said Anthony B. Sanders, a professor of real estate finance at George Mason University. “If we keep trying to stimulate the market, that’s the definition of insanity.” </p><p> The further the market descends, however, the more miserable one group — important both politically and economically — will be: the tens of millions of homeowners who have already seen their home values drop an average of 30 percent. </p><p> The poorer these owners feel, the less likely they will indulge in the sort of consumer spending the economy needs to recover. If they see an identical house down the street going for half what they owe, the temptation to default might be irresistible. That could make the market’s current malaise seem minor. </p><p> Caught in the middle is an administration that gambled on a recovery that is not happening. </p><p> “The administration made a bet that a rising economy would solve the housing problem and now they are out of chips,” said Howard Glaser, a former Clinton administration housing official with close ties to policy makers in the administration. “They are deeply worried and don’t really know what to do.” </p><p> That was clear last week, when the secretary of housing and urban development, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/shaun_donovan/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Shaun Donovan.">Shaun Donovan</a>, appeared to side with current homeowners, telling CNN the administration would “go everywhere we can” to make sure the slumping market recovers. </p><p> Mr. Donovan even opened the door to another housing tax credit like the one that expired last spring, which paid first-time buyers as much as $8,000 and buyers who were moving up $6,500. The cost to taxpayers was in the neighborhood of $30 billion, much of which went to people who would have bought anyway. </p><p> Administration press officers quickly backpedaled from Mr. Donovan’s comment, saying a revived credit was either highly unlikely or flat-out impossible. Mr. Donovan declined to be interviewed for this article. In a statement, a White House spokeswoman responded to questions about possible new stimulus measures by pointing to those already in the works. </p><p> “In the weeks ahead, we will focus on successfully getting off the ground programs we have recently announced,” the spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said. </p><p> Among those initiatives are $3 billion to keep the unemployed from losing their homes and a refinancing program that will try to cut the mortgage balances of owners who owe more than their property is worth. A previous program with similar goals had limited success. </p><p> If last year’s tax credit was supposed to be a bridge over a rough patch, it ended with a glimpse of the abyss. The average home now takes more than a year to sell. Add in the homes that are foreclosed but not yet for sale and the total is greater still. </p><p> Builders are in even worse shape. Sales of new homes are lower than in the depths of the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/recession_and_depression/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about the recession.">recession</a> of the early 1980s, when mortgage rates were double what they are now, unemployment was pervasive and the gloom was at least as thick. </p><div><ul><li> 1 </li><li> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/business/economy/06housing.html#" title="Page 2">2</a> </li></ul><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/business/economy/06housing.html#" title="Next Page">Next Page »</a></div> <p> </p></div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/business/economy/06housing.html">nytimes.com</a></div> <p>The house next door hasn't been lived in and has been foreclosed twice since we moved in in 2007. There are 2 short sales across the street and a lease a couple of houses down. I only know of 1 person who had their mortgage renegotiated while I know many more that have walked away or lost their homes, and these are households that have at least one wage earner left in them. Where are the supposed programs to help people stay in their homes? I have yet to see any substantial indication that individuals, rather than banks, have actually been helped by government housing programs. The question is not whether the housing market will continue to fall, but how far and how fast.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/housing-choice-help-todays-owners-or-future-b">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-77244013338759757992010-09-08T21:28:00.001-07:002010-09-08T21:28:29.628-07:00Baroness Greenfield criticises 'Taliban-like' Stephen Hawking - Telegraph<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/jiwhite/eHijgGkIlmqreapowkcuFnkCaburfGiDhzxDbymhyqJFlbAkylcdpGyGavEi/media_httpitelegraphc_wAmty.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="460" height="288"/> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/stephen-hawking/7988785/Baroness-Greenfield-criticises-Taliban-like-Stephen-Hawking.html">telegraph.co.uk</a></div> <p>As someone who must be intelligent to be a "distinguished neuroscientist", Lady Greenfield is making some very stupid remarks. The basis of the scientific method is questioning and refuting the null hypothesis. In her attack on Stephen Hawking's statement she is doing exactly the opposite of what she says should be done in science, “What we need to preserve in science is a curiosity and an open-mindedness rather than a complacency and a sort of arrogance where we attack people who come at the big truths and the big questions albeit using different strategies.” She's the one who is apparently closed to the possibility of the non-existence of God.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/baroness-greenfield-criticises-taliban-like-s">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14530875.post-21202671771320721152010-09-08T21:02:00.001-07:002010-09-08T21:02:55.928-07:00Essay - The End of Tenure?<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p> At a time when nearly one in 10 American workers is unemployed, here’s a crew (the complaint goes) who are guaranteed jobs for life, teach only a few hours a week, routinely get entire years off, dump grading duties onto graduate students and produce “research” on subjects like “Rednecks, Queers and Country Music” or “The Whatness of Books.” Or maybe they stop doing research altogether (who’s going to stop them?), dropping their workweek to a manageable dozen hours or so, all while making $100,000 or more a year. Ready to grab that pitchfork yet? </p><p> That sketch — relayed on numerous blogs and op-ed pages — is exaggerated, but no one who has observed the academic world could call it entirely false. And it’s a vision that has caught on with an American public worried about how to foot the bill for it all. The cost of a college education has risen, in real dollars, by 250 to 300 percent over the past three decades, far above the rate of inflation. Elite private colleges can cost more than $200,000 over four years. Total student-loan debt, at nearly $830 billion, recently surpassed total national credit card debt. Meanwhile, university presidents, who can make upward of $1 million annually, gravely intone that the $50,000 price tag doesn’t even cover the full cost of a year’s education. (Consider the balance a gift!) Then your daughter reports that her history prof is a part-time adjunct, who might be making $1,500 for a semester’s work. There’s something wrong with this picture. </p><p> The debate over American higher education has been reignited recently, thanks to two feisty new books. <strong>Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — And What We Can Do About It (Times Books, $26),</strong> by Andrew Hacker, a professor emeritus of political science at <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/q/queens_college/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Queens College">Queens College</a>, and Claudia C. Dreifus, a journalist (and contributor to the science section of The New York Times), is if anything even harsher and broader than the cartoonish sketch above. It is full of sarcastic asides like “Say goodbye to Mr. Chips with his tattered tweed jacket; today’s senior professors can afford <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/marc_jacobs/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Marc Jacobs.">Marc Jacobs</a>.” But its arguments have been praised in The Wall Street Journal and given a respectful airing on The Atlantic’s Web site. They are also echoed in Mark C. Taylor’s <strong>Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities (Knopf, $24), </strong>which is more measured in tone but no less devastating in its assessment of our unsustainable “education bubble.” </p><p> The higher-ed jeremiads of the last generation came mainly from the right. But this time, it’s the tenured radicals — or at least the tenured liberals — who are leading the charge. Hacker is a longtime contributor to The New York Review of Books and the author of the acclaimed study <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/08/books/the-persistence-of-inequality.html">“Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal,”</a> while Taylor, a religion scholar who recently moved to Columbia from <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/williams_college/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Williams College.">Williams College</a>, has taught courses that Allan Bloom would have gagged on (“Imagologies: Media Philosophy”). And these two books arrive at a time, unlike the early 1990s, when universities are, like many students, backed into a fiscal corner. Taylor writes of walking into a meeting one day and learning that Columbia’s endowment had dropped by “at least” 30 percent. Simply brushing off calls for reform, however strident and scattershot, may no longer be an option. </p><p> The labor system, for one thing, is clearly unjust. Tenured and tenure-track professors earn most of the money and benefits, but they’re a minority at the top of a pyramid. Nearly two-thirds of all college teachers are non-tenure-track adjuncts like Matt Williams, who told Hacker and Dreifus he had taught a dozen courses at two colleges in the Akron area the previous year, earning the equivalent of about $8.50 an hour by his reckoning. It is foolish that graduate programs are pumping new Ph.D.’s into a world without decent jobs for them. If some programs were phased out, teaching loads might be raised for some on the tenure track, to the benefit of undergraduate education. </p><p> And if colleges are ever going to bend the cost curve, to borrow jargon from the health care debate, it might well be time to think about vetoing Olympic-quality athletic facilities and trimming the ranks of administrators. At Williams, a small liberal arts college renowned for teaching, 70 percent of employees do something other than teach. </p><p> But Hacker and Dreifus go much further, all but calling for an end to the role of universities in the production of knowledge. Spin off the med schools and research institutes, they say. University presidents “should be musing about education, not angling for another center on antiterrorist technologies.” As for the humanities, let professors do research after-hours, on top of much heavier teaching schedules. “In other occupations, when people feel there is something they want to write, they do it on their own time and at their own expense,” the authors declare. But it seems doubtful that, say, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/mcpherson-freedom.html">“Battle Cry of Freedom,”</a> the acclaimed Civil War history by Princeton’s James McPherson, could have been written on the weekends, or without the advance spadework of countless obscure monographs. If it is false that research invariably leads to better teaching, it is equally false to say that it never does. </p><p> Hacker and Dreifus’s ideal bears more than a faint resemblance to Hacker’s home institution, the public Queens College, which has a spartan budget, commuter students and a three-or-four-course teaching load per semester. Taylor, by contrast, has spent his career on the elite end of higher education, but he is no less disillusioned. He shares Hacker and Dreifus’s concerns about overspecialized research and the unintended effects of tenure, which he believes blocks the way to fresh ideas. Taylor has backed away from some of the most incendiary proposals he made last year in a New York Times Op-Ed article, cheekily headlined <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27taylor.html">“End the University as We Know It”</a> — an article, he reports, that drew near-universal condemnation from academics and near-universal praise from everyone else. Back then, he called for the flat-out abolition of traditional departments, to be replaced by temporary, “problem-centered” programs focusing on issues like Mind, Space, Time, Life and Water. Now, he more realistically suggests the creation of cross-disciplinary “Emerging Zones.” He thinks professors need to get over their fear of corporate partnerships and embrace efficiency-enhancing technologies. </p><p> Taylor’s eyes also seem to have been opened to the world beyond Williams and Columbia. After his Op-Ed article appeared, a colleague from a cash-short <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/california_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about California State University">California State University</a> campus wrote to say that the “mind-pulping” teaching load left no room for research of any kind, even if it fell short of the five-courses-a-semester load at some community colleges. “This is an extremely unfortunate situation,” Taylor writes, “because the escalating cost of higher education is driving more students to these institutions.” </p><p> Here we have the frightening subtext of all the recent hand-wringing about higher education: the widening inequality among institutions of various types and the prospects of the students who attend them. While the financial crisis has demoted <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/i/ivy_league/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Ivy League">Ivy League</a> institutions from super-rich to merely rich, public universities are being gutted. It is not news that America is a land of haves and have-nots. It <em>is</em> news that colleges are themselves dividing into haves and have-nots; they are becoming engines of inequality. And that — not whether some professors can afford to wear Marc Jacobs — is the real scandal. </p> <div> <p></p><p>Christopher Shea writes the Brainiac blog for the Ideas section of The Boston Globe.</p><p></p> </div> <p> </p></div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/books/review/Shea-t.html?">nytimes.com</a></div> <p>When I was considering going to grad school, people thought it was great that Baby Boomers were retiring and there would be plenty of openings for professors. Instead positions were closed and teaching is mostly done by adjuncts. Although I'm not sorry I went to grad school, I'm glad I ended up in the corporate world instead of academia.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://jiwhite.posterous.com/essay-the-end-of-tenure">Arizona and Beyond</a> </p> </div>Janine Whitehttps://plus.google.com/113460767714736387201noreply@blogger.com0