Seth Kahn (he/him)

Even "necessary" bugs me. Relevant is honestly all that should matter, and there's only one person who should get to decide that.

You know what's wrong with the full chart below? Everything that isn't this part of it.

Vice signaling is exactly what it is. It's Demagoguery 101 loyalty demonstration. "This is how Daddy talks and goddammit, so do I!"

Well, that's appalling. I'm not surprised people think this, but I'm surprised even she's dumb enough to say it into a live microphone.

I know a couple of people who think this might be enough to undo a good chunk of McFascist's support from the military. Do you agree? Feels like wishful thinking to me.

Tweet: text reads, "If you're being chased by an animal, just lay on the ground for 5 seconds. The 5 second rule will prevent the animal from eating you."

My wife sends me funny things sometimes.

Yes, and Dear Deity of Your Choice, do this before some swarm comes at you in real time. Why would you expect to have better ideas under duress than you would in advance?

University executives’ pay and “fat cat” faculty The Chronicle of Higher Ed’s yearly “Executive Compensation and Private and Public Colleges” is making the rounds again on Facebook, which got me thinking about some of the proble…

I wrote this in July 2018 and circulate it every now and again when I think it's helpful to remember that few people outside universities understand the difference between faculty and management, and have almost no idea what managers do because, well, why would they? There's more, too.

Some of the PASSHE universities used to do that too, during the time I've worked in the system. I don't think any do anymore, but they have pretty recently.

1. This is why I hate rich people. #NotAllRichPeople
2. This is why I hate economists. #NotAllEconomists

I made the former chancellor of my system very angry when I said to him about a huge, bad idea of his, "We all know what'll happen. Everything will crash, but you'll already have left for a new job with the CV line, and the faculty and staff who are lifers will pick up the pieces." He did. We are.

It was a never a conspiracy "theory." I've taken to calling these "conspiracy fantasies" or "conspiracy stories" in hopes of taking the dignity of the word theory away from them. Theory isn't what you do when there's no evidence.

As a compositionist: are you going to judge my grammar?

I may have to take some liberties with the arithmetic since I'm revising, not drafting, but I think I can commit to adding or cutting 250/day. I'll have to take Dec 30 and 31 off for cataract removal and recovery, tho.

Security Threats: Groypers on Campus A data-driven source asking tough questions about US higher education. Featured in national publications, including The Chronicle of Higher Education.

What's happening at OU right now also sets the scene for this kind of right wing activity by giving it cover.

Also, if they punish this instructor in ANY way and then have the gall to say it was a "hard choice," I hope whoever says that gets struck by lightning. Abusing the precarity of the most precarious people is never the hard choice. It's the easiest possible choice.

4/4

Then OU would claim to have "investigated" and "done due diligence" (thus satisfying the lawyers) and TPUSA could claim they "got the instructor fired" (which is basically true). A win for everyone except the faculty member. And the truth.

3/x

If this instructor were contingent, the "results" of their "investigation" wouldn't matter. It's the end of the semester. If the instructor is on a one-semester contract, as so many contingent faculty are, OU would just nuke their schedule for next semester. Poof! Problem solved.

2/x

To which I would add (not a slap at the thread, just something else) a note about the overwhelming majority of faculty in US higher Ed who aren't grad students or tenure-line and get disappeared at moments like this all the time.

1/x

It's December 1. Don't forget to pay the rent!

this just flooded my brain with so much dopamine

He seems to think murder is hilarious.

That's what #1 was supposed to say--they keep their funding while this charade is happening.

There's no grounds in anywhere in labor law for punitive damages to somebody who undergoes an investigation. Maybe the grad student could sue for slander or something like that, but otherwise that's not even a pipe dream.

And those are just the obvious ones. What else?

3. Depending where they are in the program, their adviser (diss? exam chair? whoever) needs to clarify that any disruption in their time line is the result of this horseshit investigation and won't be held against the student.

2. Their department (chair, grad coordinator, whoever) needs to issue a "hold harmless" letter, making clear that when the investigation leads to nothing, the student won't be penalized in any way. I'm thinking about wonky stuff like missing student evals that lead to lost teaching assignments.

I'm furious at OU management for selling out a grad student to the vultures at Turning Point. Here are some things I hope are happening to protect them--

1. The admin leave better be paid leave, and if the grad student needs financial support, I hope somebody sets up a way to get it to them.

1/x

Dear Steelers: I wasn't sure I could like you less after erasing Ben Roethlisberger's history of sexual predation, but signing Aaron Rodgers may have done it. Also, that defender just laid one of the cheapest shots I've seen all year on Josh Allen, and that's just the kind of team this has become.

Too bad there aren't a couple of hundred Christian colleges she could attend where she'd be "safe." Oh, can't afford it? Should have made better life choices!