I had a Professor...
 

...once who was a rabid right-winger type. He taught sophomore Comparative Non-Western Cultures.

His advice to these sophomore baby-faces was to simply work for themselves - no need for a company or to lament the lack of jobs; just market yourself and work per diem.

I asked how one should pay for things like health insurance this way. He turned on me, furious, and said, "People can purchase their OWN health insurance!"

Average monthly cost of a COBRA plan is 550/month.

I hope this professor finds himself "self-employed" very soon.


Why am I bringing this up? My Uni is cutting 700 jobs this year. Now, I realize these will probably be jobs like secretarial work, maintenance, security, grounds keeping, assistants of all sorts...but I wish, oh, I wish that just once some pompous, old, professional fuddy-duddy could feel the pain.

maybe they DO feel the pain - but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe the revolution IS coming...and maybe I am putting off writing my Othello paper because I just can't make myself DO IT. What's the point? How many papers on Othello do we NEED? My real problem is a crisis of my major. I am beginning to see all this work as just hateful dross. NOTHING new can be said about anything, esp. Shaxpeer. I am soooo tempted to title my paper: Never Mind the Bullocks, Love Is a Battlefield and go from there like I'm writing for Cosmo or something.


UGH.

Wow, Bri. Since I'm not on campus this quarter (taking online classes instead) I hadn't heard that news. Man, that bites -- maintenance, cleaning and clerical support is already crappy there; I can't imagine what things will be like now.

As for Othello -- I totally empathize. I really did not enjoy Othello; I thought it was stupid and the ending just tacked on in a hurry. If you don't know what to do with your characters, hey, just kill 'em all off! Problem solved.

But don't ever think it's a useless enterprise, even writing bullshit papers on topics you know have been done to death. I don't know what your ultimate goal is in this degree plan, but I know that the best thing I get out of it is being forced to write on things I'd rather not write about. If you are trying to become a better writer, there is nothing more valuable than to write, write, write.

Good luck! And if you need someone to bounce around some paper ideas with, let me know. I studied Othello with Dr. Mac fall quarter.

Dr. M. is quite, um....well, he's cancelled seven classes (add that to Mem. day off and there's eight). He just doesn't give a hang and I don't feel i should have to perform if he doesn't, eh?

Yes, but alas, you're getting a grade and he isn't.

Rumor has it that ..... (bad attempt at humor removed) :eek:
:right:

classic...shhhhhhh.

I agree with you to a certain extent, Bri, but there's never been another you before and what's different is what you bring to the table. I bet you could draw something out of Othello based on your life story.

Having said all that, I understand procrastination.

He sounds like a real gem. Is that how he works and does he pay for his own insurance, is it takin' out of his check or somethin'? I don't really know how "Professor's" are employed, so just asking.

In the US there are generally 3 types of college/university professors.... Tenured, meaning they pretty much have a job for life barring criminal misbehavior or radical program cuts--including salary and benefits; Tenure-Track, meaning they are in line for such a position after a period of several years and evaluation of the university and their peers, also with salary and benefits, and an understanding that they will usually be employed to the end of the period where they will be evaluated for tenure (usually 4-6 years); or Adjunct, meaning paid on contract on a per course basis with no benefits and no commitment of employment.

Yep. That's why we have Theory. Throw Shaxpeer in a blender with Gadamer or Foucault or Derrida and see what comes out.

ETA: My academic stylings are almost 20 years old. I'm sure they're out of date. Adapt as needed.

Take something interesting and useful... like welding. ;)

So there I was in the gym, lifting wieght and lowering them. And I started wondering, why am I doing this? The weights end up in the same place, and anyway, if we wanted the weights up higer, we'd have put them there to start with. Besides, anyone else could lift these weights instead of me. What IS the point?

It isn't about the essay. It's about what happens to you as you write the essay. Arm-curls for your brain.

Exactly, Zen. Pretty much what I said, but with a nifty analogy!

I agree, but I maintain that it can still be hateful dross.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 59

If there be nothing new, but that which
Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled
Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child!

Likely he was referring to the bible verse "The thing that hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1.9)

Maybe a good angle for an essay, if you're willing to stretch things a bit.

Shakespeare was a plagiarist. :haha: