Astoria Park’s pool in the fall.
Summer’s over
August 20th, 2011This is just a test.
August 11th, 2011
Insanity Wolf getting ready for the fall
August 8th, 2011
Jury Duty without Pauly Shore
August 7th, 2011I’m posting this here so that hopefully a google search may turn it up when someone else needs this. I wish I had it 2 months ago.
Search terms:
Grand Jury Duty
Queens
New York City
CUNY
I was called for jury duty at the beginning of this summer. Grand jury duty. Four weeks, five days a week, 7-1/2 hours a day. I was, at the time, teaching a summer class online. I contacted York’s HR department to seek guidance. I was originally told to talk to my chair because finding a replacement is a departmental matter. I then explained that I’d need to be replaced for four weeks. They said that they would check on it. Their solution was for me to seek a postponement until after my summer class is over. I found out, fortunately in time, that a postponement would not work.
The term and frequencies of grand juries vary from county to county and also within each county also. So what I’m describing will not be exactly the same if you live in Brooklyn. But usually there is a set term. Mine was five days a week for four weeks. Other Queens county grand juries run two days a week for several months. I was called for the 7th grand jury of the year which ran from June 20th to July 15th. The next jury began July 18 and ran until 8/12. The next grand jury after that began 8/15 and will run until 9/9.
Thus, my problem. If I would have postponed my jury duty as HR suggested, until after July 26 (the end of my summer class), I would have to wait until the 9th jury, which runs from 8/15 until 9/9 … which would have meant that I would miss the first two weeks of fall semester. I was also concerned about the 7/18 to 8/12 jury – I would have had jury duty the last two weeks of the course (including when I would be grading final projects and submitting grades) and would need to cancel my family’s summer vacation plans.
Given this and the promise of wi-fi in the jury room, I decided to get it over with asap and started serving June 20. Unfortunately, there was no wi-fi in the jury room which made it difficult to keep up with my online course. However, I was able to use wi-fi at Starbuck’s during lunch and kept up with the course.
If you are teaching at CUNY, and teaching in the summer, there is no time to serve on a jury. As I’ve worked out above, you can’t serve in the summer. And I bet that the first jury term of the year begins the first Monday in January and runs into the first week of February (and the first week or two of spring semester). Thus, you cannot squeeze it in during January.
Shame on an intern who tries to run game on an intern
July 28th, 2011click for full size
I’ll use this in class this year, something along the lines of “do you have the skills to work for the Wu-Tang Clan?”
Of interest in this month’s JASP…
July 27th, 2011
Car crashes go down the day of NASCAR races but increase over normal for the next several days. In West Virginia.
New Frontier
July 27th, 2011We’ve explored most of our physical world and there are just a few blank areas on our maps.
But the age of exploration and discovery isn’t over.
We’re creating a new world with new beings which much be captured and analyzed.
Hummm.
July 24th, 2011
This is one reason why I don’t allow unapproved advertising in my research pool.
One is a neuron. The other is the structure of the universe.
June 30th, 2011
Very comforting.
FAQ: THE “SNAKE FIGHT” PORTION OF YOUR THESIS DEFENSE.
December 26th, 2010FAQ:
THE “SNAKE FIGHT”
PORTION OF YOUR
THESIS DEFENSE.
BY LUKE BURNS
BY LUKE BURNS
– – – –
Q: Do I have to kill the snake?
A: University guidelines state that you have to “defeat” the snake. There are many ways to accomplish this. Lots of students choose to wrestle the snake. Some construct decoys and elaborate traps to confuse and then ensnare the snake. One student brought a flute and played a song to lull the snake to sleep. Then he threw the snake out a window.
Q: Does everyone fight the same snake?
A: No. You will fight one of the many snakes that are kept on campus by the facilities department.
Q: Are the snakes big?
A: We have lots of different snakes. The quality of your work determines which snake you will fight. The better your thesis is, the smaller the snake will be.
Q: Does my thesis adviser pick the snake?
A: No. Your adviser just tells the guy who picks the snakes how good your thesis was.
Q: What does it mean if I get a small snake that is also very strong?
A: Snake-picking is not an exact science. The size of the snake is the main factor. The snake may be very strong, or it may be very weak. It may be of Asian, African, or South American origin. It may constrict its victims and then swallow them whole, or it may use venom to blind and/or paralyze its prey. You shouldn’t read too much into these other characteristics. Although if you get a poisonous snake, it often means that there was a problem with the formatting of your bibliography.
Q: When and where do I fight the snake? Does the school have some kind of pit or arena for snake fights?
A: You fight the snake in the room you have reserved for your defense. The fight generally starts after you have finished answering questions about your thesis. However, the snake will be lurking in the room the whole time and it can strike at any point. If the snake attacks prematurely it’s obviously better to defeat it and get back to the rest of your defense as quickly as possible.
Q: Would someone who wrote a bad thesis and defeated a large snake get the same grade as someone who wrote a good thesis and defeated a small snake?
A: Yes.
Q: So then couldn’t you just fight a snake in lieu of actually writing a thesis?
A: Technically, yes. But in that case the snake would be very big. Very big, indeed.
Q: Could the snake kill me?
A: That almost never happens. But if you’re worried, just make sure that you write a good thesis.
Q: Why do I have to do this?
A: Snake fighting is one of the great traditions of higher education. It may seem somewhat antiquated and silly, like the robes we wear at graduation, but fighting a snake is an important part of the history and culture of every reputable university. Almost everyone with an advanced degree has gone through this process. Notable figures such as John Foster Dulles, Philip Roth, and Doris Kearns Goodwin (to name but a few) have all had to defeat at least one snake in single combat.
Q: This whole snake thing is just a metaphor, right?
A: I assure you, the snakes are very real.
via http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2010/11/19burns.html
