selkirk

I think were still crossing wires a bit, and sorry to come across harshly, but what's spray without a little holier than thou-ness and crossed signals Though we still need a little name-calling. This is far too civil still! And no, the comments about people who don't participate but still whine are directed at you. It's more me venting than anything else. No RUMR on the otherhand Your right, I haven't been legal for that many presidential elections (a whopping 3) but i've expressed my opinions in every one (and in all the wonderful state and local stuff as well) And done my damdest to influence those I know to think for themselves and to independantly analyze the issues, and dissabuse them of any empty rhetoric they spew whenever I get a chance, regardless of where the rhetoric came from. I've written a few letters to the people I feel need to see them and use my bullypulpit as a teacher a bit to get my students to think independantly and analyze issues for themselves. (I teach young engineers who would just as well never open a paper or tap into any news source, and throughout the 1/4 make extra credit available for looking into contenious issues, analyzing them, and then writing up a short papers supporting the side they were initially opposed to and no I don't force feed them my own political beliefs so I don't want to hear any whining about liberal indoctrination from the peanut gallery) I may not do much, I don't volunteer, I don't contribute a great deal of money to PAC's, I don't go down to Olympia and lobby, but I do try to advocate that which I feel is important. Primarily that people don't think and analyze enough for themselves but are willing to take someone elses analysis and decisions on usually blind faith. People who are unwilling to participate in the process of running the country (at any level from local to national) in any meaningful fashion get on my nerves. I know more than a few people who do absolutely nothing (from voting to being aware that there are important issues) but like to whine about the results regardless of what they are or who instigated them. And pointless whiners piss me off. Not only do they not participate (vote, protest, volunteer for an advocacy organization, write their representative, discuss the issues with people who feel differently aobut them, anything at all) they dont even deign to be aware of what the issues are since they're "too busy" watching crap on tv and getting tanked every chance they get. and it's not quite: "either vote or quit whining" but "either particpate or quit whining", and I guess in my own definition voting is the absolute bare minimum level of acceptable participation. However there are other avenues that are also valid instead of or in addition to voting (vocal protest, lobbying, etc.) The options aren't mutually exclusive. But people who don't to anything at all get the big Sorry if I offended too greatly! And if your still feeling marginalized feel free to call me ignorant asshole

Silly girl Your reading things into my statement that aren't quite there. If a person does absolutely nothing else, they should at the minimum vote. If they want to make a concious choice not to vote, and have some other mechanism of getting their opinions heard, more power too them. That doesn't fullfill their obligation to participate in the process but it's a start. However i'd love to know how many people actively abstained from voting as a political statement, and let their will be known as such, vs how many people didn't vote because they were lazy bastards who couldn't take the time to be informed about whats happening to them. If you in no way participate in the process of running this country I don't want to hear you whine when you don't like the results. Now if you got something constructive and useful to say that's a different story and your welcome to the discussion and i'd love to hear your viewpoint. Now me? I voted so I get to call bush a moron all I want

Agreed, but if you don't at least vote than you've given up your right whine later. Even if you do nothing else you should at the very least vote.

Thinks like sleeping in class, or not paying attention may be a bit disrespectful but it seems to me they end up being their own punishment. If your not getting what you need in the lecture but can absorb in other ways so be it. However I still think showing up is important if for no other reason than to keep abreast of assignments, changes to the syllabus etc. So long as it they aren't disrupting the class and are keeping up with the understanding/work I could care less what they do during the lecture. Though I must admit, I was awfully annoyed the first time I had a student fall asleep in class. But then I remembered that i've probably fallen asleep at least once in just about every class i've ever had and it had nothing to do with how dynamic the lecturer was, how important the material, or my sleep schedule. I was just blessed with a 15 min attention span and get bored easily. One thing that's worth noting is that some current research points to the fact that if your lecturing, your students really aren't learning. There's an interesting self-enforcing dichotomy between how the people who tend to become profs learn, and how the vast majority of students (specifically engineering students learn.) Most students need to be actively participating to learn (working through problems, deriving formulae, applying stuff, etc) and absorb very little during lectures which are typically passive. While the people who tend to become prof's tend to learn by "conceptual mapping", where they focus on the ideas and how they interact and fit relative to each-other, so for them lectures aren't as bad. So... they more knowledge they "produce" as opposed to you giving it to them, the better they'll learn. 2nd big tip is to remember that the average persons attention span is 15 to 20 minutes (I know mine is right in there). Watch a class sometime, that's when a significant number of people start to drift and nod off if it's pure lecture. If you can change the rythym, and break them out of the passive mode, even for a couple of minutes it helps immensely and they'll stay much more focused.

Good luck on it. If you have any question send me a PM. I've been teaching a stand alone for the past couple of years at the U., though it's more of a hands-on quasi-lab based class then a lecture format.

just make sure you set a stiff official policy up front in your syllabus. It's much easier to back off later if you feel its justified, then get caught by some bugger abusing your policy. Also helps cover your ass if someone decides to challenge a grade. Is this your first solo class?

mine was about the same length. This damn thing was up over 200 (just the body) at one point, and is now back down to 140 as my advisor has a red pen fetish, with a bunch of appendices and more that still need to be included. I've enjoyed the whole PhD thing though. I've been teaching for the last two years and that's been a lot of fun! I've managed not to get utterly absorbed into being a lab monkey. It helps that my advisor is semi-retired (Emeritus) so i'm his last and only grad student so out relationship is pretty low key.

How long was your thesis? damn I always miss these!

depends on the day. If not feeling focused it's pretty much pointless. But 4 or 5 days a week 6 to 7 hrs a day, with a few evenings thrown in working slowly. Trying to get it wrapped up and polished. I wasn't able to work on it much during the year (between active research, teaching a class, and managing 3 other sections, hiring issues, supply issues yada yada yada) So this summer has been all about the typing! Have thrown in a few teaching things though and some time working on my computer model, but in general I'm so bored with it I could shoot myself. There have been stretches where if it weren't for spray I could probably go for week and half without ever talking to anyone but my wife after she gets off work.

Saw a dude a latino dude in pimped out ride in downtown seattle with "fluffer" on his lisence plate! wtf?

I'm just a bored grad student who spends all day everyday working on my dissertation. I've found I can only talk to myself for so long before I get on my own nerves and would rather get on yours After 6 or 7 hours of sorting through variables to make sure they're consistant I feel like I want to kill someone. So come here to torment Knotzen! Will actually be teaching again in 3 weeks so back to semi-work!

That depends, what would you like?

I don't know about that. What else has been in your mouth?

Officially all the grad students and student employees at UW are now unionized under the United Auto Workers and part of the "contract" is 4 weeks off per year. What it really amounts to is the time between quarters. So long as your advisor is the chair of your committee it doesn't matter though, he's the one you have to keep happy and ultimately controls your fate to some degree. Nothing on the research end has changed. Maybe a little has changed on the teaching end for some of the liberal arts people, but nothing has that I can see on the engineering end. I just loose a few bucks in fees each paycheck. (Even though I opted not to join the fuckers still take a small cut of my sallary). Of course.... For my last quarter here I'm not actually employed as a grad student! I just realized I don't have to deal with the wankers at the UAW anymore! the Univ. of Wa. UAW can kiss my

Just remember, if he's tenured (even if he's not) you have no leverage. The only thing that could give you actual leverage would be a funding source sufficient for his work and additional grad students. You may not like it but if you piss him off your hosed.

very good point. Some people just suck.

You would hope so. But there are a lot of people (not necessarily the poor folks in Lousiana, just folks in general) out there with an immense feeling of entitlement who don't seem to think that way. (My wife has the pleasure of working with lots of criminals and people who have defaulted on debts they owe, and the way some of them act/think is mind boggling to anyone who's decent and rational.) It's all about them, and what everyone else "owes" them

but at the very least everyone should try to be responsible for themselves, if your capable of more so much the better, then you should take on more responsibility and do your best to care for others.

Something like 50% of people who start their PhD programs end up finishing everything but there dissertations.

They're so cute when they're young and naive. Personally i'm at about that point just before the motivation crashes when you realize that no one will ever read your research! But at least i'm almost done!

And where would that be my future fellow research slave?

Are you an Engrish major? what do you think

grad school is it's very own special sort of suck. How many other places to you get to pay someone else to make you fell like a moron afterall! My condolences in advance

Hot date with Gary's advisor?

fond memories?