Comments on: Shooting fish in a barrel

By: On “Changing” Higher Education « Professor Zero

On “Changing” Higher Education « Professor Zero — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:22:26 +0000

[...] out response to Smith’s questions, as well as Historiann’s truly important (and funny!) criticism of some NYT pieces which appear to have helped to prompt Smith’s [...]

By: Reforming higher ed: unleash the power of the free market! : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present

Sat, 16 May 2009 14:47:04 +0000

[...] by the American Federation of Teachers higher ed blog to answer two questions inspired by that foolish op-ed in the New York Times by Mark C. Taylor last month. The AFT’s questions [...]

By: Fats Durston

Fats Durston — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:49:17 +0000

Just to pile on about the “merely $5000 per course” bit. Try 1800 fucking $US per course in mid-Missouri.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:40:42 +0000

I’m always irked when corporate entities trumpet “green” while planning to put the actual green saved straight to their bottom lines.
While there is a problem with “oh we’re so green” being more a PR tactic than actual environmentally-friendly changes, savings to corporations are really the strongest motivator to convince them to adopt sustainable practices. Sustainability is best approached as a comprehensive solution — planet gets cleaner, customers/employees are healthier or happier, corporation reduces its expenses.

Of course, technically you could consider laying off 20,000+ employees to be a “green” move by GM, since those employees won’t be emitting carbon dioxide while they drive to work — it can quickly get ridiculous

By: Historiann

Historiann — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:20:52 +0000

Cassandra–good points. There seems to be an unlimited appetite at the NYT for dissing professors!

I hope those proffies walked off with some of those trays before they were shipped to landfill, if indeed any of them really cared enough about the issue.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:42:44 +0000

Re: the cafeteria trays.

What happened to all the old trays?

Landfill, maybe?

What exactly were the professors’ objections to the loss of the trays?

“This is ridiculous” makes good copy, but conveys little more than “Professor X is unfair.”

Did not one of those many complaining professors proffer a compelling argument in their favor? Not one? Really?

To me, these 2 [related but not really] instances of journalism reveal the state of that profession and its inability to serve the public any longer by its refusal to explore answers to societal concerns instead of cultivating pathos to serve the corporate masters and sate the arena’s bloodlust.

By: Caleb McDaniel

Caleb McDaniel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:57:35 +0000

@Erika–thanks for the kind words. Right now I’m still just lurking around. But I can feel the blogosphere beginning to turn its tractor beam on me again.

By: Indyanna

Indyanna — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:38:10 +0000

The Times piece on trays in fact ends with the rhetorical note that it’s not clear yet what will replace the tray for impromptu sledding. Saving water and saving planets is all fine, but I’m always irked when corporate entities trumpet “green” while planning to put the actual green saved straight to their bottom lines. The Cornell profs probably got tired of having A-3 sub-deputy administrators address them as just so many additional stakeholders on the premises, which I think is a valid objection.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:32:12 +0000

Ha! That’s hillarious. You’re right, Emma: we are old fuddy-duddies, but it’s good to see that students have embraced the change. I think it makes complete sense, especially from a “take what you eat and eat what you take” perspective.

Maybe all of those Cornell proffies like to secret the trays out of the dining hall to go sledding on them? I don’t know whether I should be ashamed or proud of the fact that I still have the tray I purloined junior year in college for that very purpose. (It’s a very handy tray!)

By: Emma

Emma — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:24:27 +0000

Well, you profs are hidebound fuddie duddies:

At Cornell University, where 5 of the 10 dining halls have done away with trays since September, the biggest pushback has come from faculty. “They were more boisterous than anyone,” said Gail T. Finan, the university’s director of dining and retail services. “A couple of professors sent me e-mails saying, ‘This is ridiculous.’ ” Skidmore, a pioneer in trayless dining, tried to minimize the jolt by implementing the change between the spring and fall semesters in 2006, when the cafeteria, the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, underwent a $10 million overhaul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/nyregion/29tray.html?em

You can’t even give up your cafeteria trays to save the environment! (I wonder if this comes under the “Water” discipline?)

(Really, this is just a joke, and not at your expense.)