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July 28, 2005
End-of-term chaos
Not only do I request prayers for my students, as I usually do when final exams come close, I need 'em pretty bad myself. There is just SO MUCH right now in my world that has blown up, fallen apart, or come to a head, and I am even more mental than usual. (And, if you see me face-to-face ever, you know that's saying a whole lot.)
I'm going to try to get back to a better reading and blogging pattern going into the fall term, although I might inherit so much on my plate that I won't be able to get a good pattern then either.
In the meantime, this is an interesting blog, and I'm trying to figure out how much I disagree with her, even if we're on the same page with wanting greater cross-gender participation in science.
And if you have any aspiration of going to graduate school and going into academia when you're done with your undergrad, this is required reading.
Posted by Chuck at 09:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 15, 2005
Microcosmographia Academica II
It's old English, but hopefully this is a bit clearer of a quote than what I quoted yesterday. Please bear in mind that I, as I read this, am thinking about every effort I have made over the past five years to toss out my good and reasonable ideas about how the academic enterprise should be run and the responses that I have gotten back to those ideas (which have been varying flavors of "no, thanks, not today").
So, with that in mind, from the introduction to the book, which is ominously titled simply "Warning":
I shall take it that you are in the first flush of ambition, and just beginning to make yourself disagreeable. You think (do you not?) that you have only to state a reasonable case, and people must listen to reason and act upon at once. It is just this conviction that makes you so unpleasant. There is little hope of dissuading you; but has it occurred to you that nothing is ever done until every one is convinced that it ought to be done, and has been convinced for so long that it is now time to do something else? And are you not aware that conviction has never yet been produced by an appeal to reason, which only makes people uncomfortable? If you want to move them, you must address your arguments to prejudice and the political motive, which I will presently describe. I should hesitate to write down so elementary a principle, if I were not sure you need to be told it. And you will not believe me, because you think your cases are so much more reasonable than mine can have been, and you are ashamed to study men's weaknesses and prejudices. You would rather batter away at the Shield of Faith than spy it the joints in the harness.
Hammer.
To.
Head.
All over again.
So much of my general frustration with Life, The Universe, and Everything has been tied up with this idea that, dang it, my ideas make sense, and why doesn't everybody else jump on board with my ideas? Cornford's response to that (translated into a less elegant, but more direct, contemporary English) would be something along the lines of "you dork, why do you think that everybody else is motivated by the same high ideals that you are? People want to protect their own positions. People want to protect their own principles. People, for God's sake, want to protect their own incomes. And many people just want to protect the way things are, for the sake of protecting the way things are and nothing else. And you're so arrogant to believe that you have a better way? Fine. But you're never going to get anywhere unless you convince everybody else that your way is better, and don't you dare think that should be an easy task, because it's not."
Common sense, I suppose, but I've never been accused of having common sense.
(Edit after comparing the titles of the two posts: Has anybody noticed how easy it is to sneak in an extra c into a hyper-long Latin title? For crying out loud, I keep wanting to type Microcosmographica Academi_a, instead of placing the c the other way around, which is the way it's supposed to be (and, I think, finally, the way I have it in the title to this post).)
Posted by Chuck at 08:36 AM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2005
Microcosmographica Academica
I'm learning my way around Inside Higher Ed. It's a wonderful news site for affairs of higher education generally.
One of the recent pieces that has popped up there is a review of a 1908 English work of satire and wit called Microcosmographica Academica. It was authored by Francis M. Cornford, who was at the time a not-too-young professor of classics at Cambridge. An online copy of the book is available; it's apparently escaped to the public domain, always a good thing.
The text itself I'm only starting to get through, but I'm already absolutely clobbered by one of Cornford's descriptions. As you work your way through the parties involved in academic politics, after he describes Conservative Liberals, Liberal Conservatives (and those two are as different as they appear to be), Non-placets (men of principle) and Adullamites (men who want all the money there is going), we reach this beast:
The Young Man in a Hurry is a narrow-minded and ridiculously youthful prig, who is inexperienced enough to imagine that something might be done before very long, and even to suggest definite things. His most dangerous defect being want of experience, everything should be done to prevent him from taking any part in affairs. He may be known by his propensity to organise societies for the purpose of making silk purses out of sows' ears. This tendency is not so dangerous as it might seem; for it may be observed that the sows, after taking their washing with a grunt or two, trundle back unharmed to the wallow; and the purse-market is quoted as firm. The Young Man in a Hurry is afflicted with a conscience, which is apt to break out, like measles, in patches. To listen to him, you would think that he united the virtues of a Brutus to the passion for lost causes of a Cato; he has not learnt that most of his causes are lost by letting the Cato out of the bag, instead of tying him up firmly and sitting on him, as experienced people do.
Ho-lee shaving cream.
I am convicted. Nay, I am pricked to my very soul.
I'm gonna have to read more of this.
Posted by Chuck at 10:40 AM | Comments (4)
July 01, 2005
Shorter's reconsideration request denied
Yeah, we figured that wouldn't work.
So now it becomes real interesting. Included in the news story above (and I'll include it here after the jump) is the response of Gary Eubanks, who is now a self-professed outgoing chair of the Shorter Board of Trustees. It is, shall we say, a way interesting statement, and things murmured about previously are now apparently coming to pass.
I'll leave it without too much more comment than that, except to say that apparently we need to get to know this guy over the next days and weeks.
Keep prayin'.
STATEMENT OF OUTGOING SHORTER TRUSTEE CHAIRMAN
Shorter College has come a long way from its modest beginnings 132 years ago. It has been fortunate to have trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and friends who have been dedicated stewards of the College’s educational and financial well-being.
Today, Shorter College is at a crossroads. And, its faculty, staff and students are in the intersection. If there has ever been a time when the Shorter family needs to keep its perspective, it is now.
Briefly, the Georgia Supreme Court by a 4 to 3 vote has ruled improper the Shorter College dissolution which was central to its trustees’ effort to bring the college outside of the control of the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC). This ruling became final today. The Shorter dissolution was in response to the position of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SACS, as part of an accreditation review, questioned whether under the fifty year old version of the Shorter College charter the Shorter trustees met the independence requirements of SACS accreditation standards.
Ours has been a long fought battle in the courts. We have been aided by some of the best legal minds available. I single out for special thanks former Shorter President Ed Schraeder for his devotion to this cause and former Governor Roy Barnes for his uncompensated vital assistance in the later stages of the case.
We must now face the fact that we have lost the court struggle. Complete, absolute control of Shorter College will shortly be in the hands of new trustees selected by the GBC. The leadership of the GBC has on numerous occasions in the courts taken the position that Shorter really did not really have an accreditation problem with SACS. We will soon see whose position is valid.
To the Shorter faculty and staff, I do not need to remind you that you need to brace yourselves for the likelihood of difficult days ahead. I thank you for your steadfast devotion to Shorter despite considerable personal sacrifice. Be open minded in dealing with the new management. Your support system of Shorter Alumni and former trustees will not cease because of the change in control.
To the new trustees elected by the Georgia Baptist Convention and Shorter’s likely new President, Rev. Nelson Price, I say that you have my good wishes as you undertake to run a wonderful private, Christian college during a difficult time. You are being given control of a Shorter that shows more promise than at any time in her long history. I will remind you, however, that with your new power comes both responsibility and liability. Be prudent.
I must also be candid with present and past Shorter trustees. After the change in control, there will not be opportunities of effective service for many who have dedicated much of their lives to this small college. Though less significant, my family’s involvement with Shorter would also appear to be at an end. I am sure I await new challenges elsewhere in my Christian pilgrimage.
Gary F. Eubanks
July 1, 2005
Posted by Chuck at 11:24 AM | Comments (1)