Scott May

Since 2016, I’ve recognized the only reason our greatest generation wasn’t the worst is because of stronger financial and military ties to the Allies. Not strong moral convictions. I wonder if Europe understands that today’s America is already at war with them.

@sohayoussef.bsky.social

What It’s Like to Work in Higher Ed Key findings from our survey of higher ed’s work force

The Chronicle surveyed more than 4,000 employees at two- and four-year colleges in the United States about working in higher education. Here's what they told us. chroni.cl/3QllEP1

How long does overtime pay and the family medical leave act have left to live? Months or weeks?

Unifying supports for first-generation students on campus The University of South Carolina recently opened a center for first-generation college students, which unites offices across campus and faculty members to empower learners to thrive.

The new First-Generation Student Center by USC is changing the game by embedding support, resources, and a sense of belonging all in one place. Because success shouldn’t be a solo journey. www.insidehighered.com/news/student... via @insidehighered.com

#HigherEd #StudentSuccess #EducationForAll

California Sets Ambitious 70% College Attainment Goal Amid Persistent Equity Gaps Currently, just 56% of California adults aged 25-64 hold a postsecondary degree or credential.

Students drop out not because they aren’t capable, but because they feel isolated, unsupported, and financially overwhelmed. If we want to increase #completionrates, we must build #communities where students feel seen, supported, and empowered.

www.diverseeducation.com/leadership-p...

#highered

Daniil Kharms was a Russian Absurdist. His writing, when I first read it, made little sense. However, in these more absurd times, now they are perfectly clear:

I received my cancer diagnosis November 5th (no cap). Ever since, I have been considering posting to unpack my thoughts & emotions, & to raise awareness. Every day, the absurdity of the political scene overshadows those sentiments. I mean, why raise awareness when cancer research is halted? #cancer

@sohayoussef.bsky.social is prepped for her modified radical hysterectomy. #cancer

Saying the f-word over and over again under one’s breath doesn’t help with anxiety. It should though. Why the fuck doesn’t it!

It’s hard to argue “No one told me” when 98% of your peers knew because they read and responsibly engaged with their community. That’s the reality too often for students. Outside academia is no different. Some call it “chosen ignorance.” That’s right, our greatest enemy, far too many choose.

Wait… there’s still people who still think we’ll have a free & open election in 2028?

“Torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn’t feel right”: Meta emails unsealed

A photo of Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) when he was 19.

Last month, Meta admitted to torrenting a controversial large dataset known as LibGen, which includes tens of millions of pirated books. But details around the torrenting were murky until yesterday, when Meta's unredacted emails were made public for the first time. The new evidence showed that Meta torrented "at least 81.7 terabytes of data across multiple shadow libraries through the site Anna’s Archive, including at least 35.7 terabytes of data from Z-Library and LibGen," the authors' court filing said. And "Meta also previously torrented 80.6 terabytes of data from LibGen."

Meta illegaly downloaded 80+ terabytes of books from LibGen, Anna's Archive, and Z-library to train their AI models.

In 2010, Aaron Swartz downloaded only 70 GBs of articles from JSTOR (0.0875% of Meta). Faced $1 million in fine and 35 years in jail. Took his own life in 2013.

As an ex smoker, I still compare most everything to the price of a pack of cigarettes. For example, we just bought 18 eggs for $11.99. My wife handles them like fragile, edible, gold. I’m like, “can’t get a pack of smokes for that these days.” Stream a movie? Sure, that’s half the price of a pack.

Opinion | Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts The administration’s war on universities defies rational self-interest.

Shoulda voted

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

Reckoning with the Devaluation of Academic Knowledge and Research BY VERONICA VALENCIA GONZALEZ For decades, universities have served as bastions of knowledge, advancing research and shaping the intellectual foundation of society. Yet, in their pursuit of cost-cu…

The devaluation of academic labor isn't just a crisis for scholars—it’s a threat to the future of knowledge itself. In my piece for @academemagazine.bsky.social I examine how universities prioritize profit over research and learning.
#HigherEdCrisis #AcademicLabor #AcademicSky

I’m far less concerned about how students remember “how I made them feel” than about what truths I led them to discover. In fact, I often aim at the uncomfortable to facilitate the more necessary lesson. When we act otherwise, then we risk the truly uncomfortable. Kinda like, uh, right now.

Billions of Dollars Are at Stake Under Trump’s Funding Freeze. What Could That Mean for Your College? More than 1,500 institutions received federal funds for research, conservation, economic development, and curriculum development during the 2023 fiscal year.

See how more than $53 billion in federal money flowed to the nation’s colleges in the 2023 fiscal year. chroni.cl/4hwOKqq

I love my higher ed teaching job so much that I’m upset the college closed for the Eagles victory parade.

Donald Trump and his unelected co-president Elon Musk want to destroy public education and use public dollars for unaccountable private schools. #EduSky

Here’s a random thought: How many just willfully ‘trust’ A.I. models without questioning how it was trained, yet DEMAND every educator to justify EVERY SINGLE decision we make in pedagogy, assessment, or general practice? #EducationSky #HigherEdSky

The bottom of my brain feels like it is sitting in something thick. Something constraining. Like a ham in molasses but more morbid and bureaucratic than homey and delicious.

I’m trying to teach students to use lenses to see the meaning in the world instead of merely entertainment. It slows my inner metronome to see those dismiss my class as pointless when at every turn there’s evidence of the contrary.

A fundamental story of the last decade is that a lot of basically incompetent people got fed up by competent people telling them they were wrong, constructed a more welcoming alternative ecosystem of competency cosplayers, and then somehow turned the whole government over to them.

Snow day last week. This week, unofficial Super Bowl Monday skip day, snow day tomorrow, and official Super Bowl parade skip day Friday. Next week Presidents’ Day, and two unavoidable personal days. I feel like I’m teaching in sand this semester.

This semester, it’s me who is dull and unimpressive in the majority of my classes. I suppose it’s time to crumple up a bunch of old approaches, hit the trash bin, and start all over again. It always happens just when I get so comfortable.

It’s a good idea to download your own student loan repayment history and save it some place safe. Take screenshots, too. And act quickly as Aidvantage is moving their website in a matter of weeks.

“As scientists, we owe it to the world to do a better job communicating the wonders of science, and the incredible discoveries being made by our field, to everyone around us”

As a young(ish) professor, I feel this deeply. What are we doing this for, if we aren’t sharing? 🧪🌎

I was just told that I have to remove “climate” from the title of an ongoing grant if I want to keep it. And publications from that grant cannot include “climate” and other forbidden words. I can’t believe I’m writing this from the United States of America. #AcademicSky

Don't Gaslight Yourself. You're Right To Grieve What's Happening to America. I know what you're thinking.

The fact that you see how wrong this all is, means your faculties are intact, your mind is fully right, and your heart is working properly; you still have a soul doing what souls are supposed to do: keep you deeply human in profoundly inhumane times.

johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/dont-gasli...