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Archive for March, 2008

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Mar 31

Tweets for 2008-03-31

Help Track Bees! - http://www.greatsunflower.org/ #

Mar 30

Tweets for 2008-03-30

One wedding down, another to go! #
Leu Gardens Plant Sale TOMORROW! - http://www.leugardens.org/ #
I went today and bought a passion flower vine and a mantis egg sack! #

Mar 28

Tweets for 2008-03-28

Tired now #
@ambermacarthur If you’re near Orlando, you should come check out the Florida Film Festival - http://www.floridafilmfestival.org/ #
@randomgong Don’t give up yet! Follow more people! #
Ok, not long now…company should be leaving any second now #
@ambermacarthur cool…my partner’s family lives over in Cocoa. Isn’t our airport the best!? #
@bigweale good luck! #
@cyberczar you get up before I go to bed #

Mar 28

Even though you’d probably expect me to post yet another link about Obama, particularly one that defends him from an attack by the Clinton campaign, this particular attack hits me rather close to home. You see, Obama and I share something in common - we’ve both been adjunct professors at a university. This attack that was put forward against Obama went like this:

Sen. Obama consistently and falsely claims that he was a law professor. The Sun-Times reported that, “Several direct-mail pieces issued for Obama’s primary [Senate] campaign said he was a law professor at the University of Chicago. He is not. He is a senior lecturer (now on leave) at the school. In academia, there is a vast difference between the two titles. Details matter.” In academia, there’s a significant difference: professors have tenure while lecturers do not. [Hotline Blog, 4/9/07; Chicago Sun-Times, 8/8/04]

Well, this is where labels can mean different things to different people, and possibly even to different schools. Besides just what your title is on paper or what your students call you, there’s the matter of which kind of contract you have signed, how many classes you can (or need to) teach, and whether or not you’re on a track to earn tenure. If this isn’t murky enough, there’s usually also unions that have different rules for each, department rules distinguishing faculty from non-faculty, and sometimes even what mailing lists you then belong to! All of this, of course, reflects the arguably undue complexity found in government bureaucracies!

So here we have Obama discussing his life prior (and concurrent) with his career in politics. He makes the statement that he was an adjunct law professor for the University of Chicago in his second book The Audacity of Hope, partly as a way in that chapter to compare his view of politics with his experience teaching students about law. The Chicago Sun Times decides to question that statement, as is their right as reporters, and somehow comes to the conclusion that he wasn’t actually a professor. Even though he did teach college students about law, which was the whole point of the statement at the time!

Well, thankfully the University of Chicago saw fit to clarify that, in fact, “Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School”, was “considered to be members of the Law School faculty”, and “was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position” several times over the 12 years he taught there.

I’m sensitive to this only because of the occasional distinctions made between someone like myself and full-time professor. Though most of my colleagues wouldn’t think to even make this distinction to me in some kind of derogatory way, there have been a few occasions where my “not being faculty” has affected me. I’ve even gone so far as to say that we’re considered “second-class citizens” of the department, partly out of jest anyway. In the instance with Obama, this distinction was only made to attack his credibility. While I’ve never suffered this kind of attack as an adjunct, I can still relate to its effect.

We teach college students material that we either know already, have to relearn after forgetting, or have to learn for the first time. We assume the role of a professor because of our expertise in that area of study, and that expertise grants us sufficient credibility to then be given students that will listen and learn from us. To have that experience or credibility questioned then not because of the role we’ve been assigned, the amount of experience we posses, or even by the degrees we hold. Rather, to have it questioned because of the contract we sign, the amount of classes we teach, or the mere title on our desks is misguided at best and downright misleading at worst!

Mar 27

Tweets for 2008-03-27

Recorded my first internet radio show tonight with Charlie D on Radio Jimmy Dreamz - http://www.radio.jimmydreamz.com/ #
New comics day! - http://www.ifanboy.com/users/bryanpittard/comics #
my guinea pig has two daddies - http://www.afterelton.com/Print/2008/3/unclebobbyswedding #

Mar 26

Tweets for 2008-03-26

Today - Vet visit, computer rebuilt, Flex lecture, WoW night, and Frontline Iraq War Special…good NIGHT! #
OMG Shoes Pie Chart - http://tinyurl.com/2m44he #
Doctor Who is of the Dev-ill - http://tinyurl.com/2u3tno #
Clinton owes Obama and apology - http://tinyurl.com/2mb9zy #

Mar 25

Tweets for 2008-03-25

Planted asparagus, cherry tomatoes, some kind of cabbage, and watermelon tonight before dark! #
wow…just, wow - http://tinyurl.com/38hk3s #

Mar 24

Tweets for 2008-03-24

Back at work after the crazy weekend. Middle Pekingese seems to be in pain after pooping, so off to the vet tomorrow. #
Pregnant Woman-to-Man in Oregon (with pic) - http://tinyurl.com/2gnrxb #

Mar 23

Tweets for 2008-03-23

Hung over #

Mar 21

Tweets for 2008-03-21

Almost forgot, new comics! - http://www.ifanboy.com/users/bryanpittard/comics #
Still groggy from a late night #
Newsweek article on Obama’s church - http://www.newsweek.com/id/123604/page/1 #

Mar 21

Girl in 3am Ad Makes Video for Obama

Mar 20

Tweets for 2008-03-20

Littlest Pekingese bathed! Let the crazy running-around commence! #
Took the middle Pekingese and our Persian cat to the groomers today. I have the hairy shirt and scratch marks to prove it! #

Mar 20

A More Perfect Union

Mar 19

Tweets for 2008-03-19

"My God, its full of stars!" - Arthur C. Clarke dead at 90 #
Ran out of class in DIG4921, but is class ever not-in-session, at least virtually, these days? #

Mar 18

Tweets for 2008-03-18

Getting ready for DIG4716 over at UCF Digital Media - today’s topic: Flex Basics! #

Mar 17

Tweets for 2008-03-17

Sick of grading shopping carts! #
Still sore, but (almost) ready for classes this week #
DIG4921 - Media for eCommerce I - begins NOW! #
Am I crazy for wanting to build a simulated SSL example with PHP? If not, what if I want to make it a homework for my DIG4921 students? #

Mar 17

Wright/Obama Kerfufel

Its a difficult reconciling disagreement and friendship, but of course its something we have to do quite often throughout our lives. For those in politics, its even more challenging, to reconcile public positions with both public and private relationships, having so many speak for you overtly or through their own words and actions. McCain faced this recently when a minister with which he had met used Obama’s middle name Hussein to remind his audience of Obama’s father’s religious ancestry. Clinton faced this with the Ferraro Kerfufel. Now Obama faces this with Rev. Wright’s, the minister who brought him to Jesus, divisive comments on America.

I’m used to vehemently disagreeing with members of my own faith, so this doesn’t seem all-to-shocking for someone to deal with, particularly in this age of renewed fundamentalist rhetoric from various faiths. I am, however, glad to see Obama deal with it so directly. David Kuo provides the response, from which came the following:

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

and later

With Rev. Wright’s retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

As many Christians are so fond of saying, we should remember to “love the sinner and hate the sin.” It is clear that Obama can reconcile his friendship with Wright, his commitment to his family’s church, and these terrible, terrible statements.

Mar 16

Tweets for 2008-03-16

still up…just finished learning how to play Catan…going to crash soon! #
Excellent personal opinion on Obama - http://tinyurl.com/36ahnk #
@QCast_Michael Mother Goose or Blade Runner reference? #
Back on the couch after running around west Orlando (visited Lakeridge Winery with Patrick) and a little gardening…still sore! #

Mar 15

Tweets for 2008-03-15

Watching The Good Shepherd…in HD-DVD! Yeah, I’ve got it! Its still cheaper than BluRay! #
Making my private key work! #
Great double feature - The Good Shepherd and The Bourne Identity #
Listening to NPR’s "Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me" #
@cyberczar hope all is well up in Atlanta. keep your ruby slippers handy! #
Done gardening for the day, now just feeling the sun burn radiate all over my back! #