UAW and Grad Students

As a whole separate can of worms for the unionization debate, it seems that even students that want a union are trying to get as far away from UAW representation as possible, though they aren’t necessarily succeeding. I knew that UMass Amherst had had their union made into an administratorship, but I only learned last night that at UCSB graduate students aren’t being represented in negotiations for their own contracts, though they are being asked to strike. A whole separate, independent union, United Student Labor, has been set up, but the UAW is saying that legally they are the only … Continue reading UAW and Grad Students

CASE/UAW Coverage

The Cornell Daily Sun had a sadly one-sided, and occassionally incorrect article on unionization in its first edition of the semester, including the false title Graduate Students To Elect Union Reps; we only elect representatives if we first vote to form a union. Of course, the article ignores that there might be any graduate student opposition, simplifying the situation to one of a fight between graduate students and the administration. I suppose, with that view of the world, it is a reasonable jump from Cornell’s agreement not to appeal the election, but hopefully the vote isn’t as sure as all … Continue reading CASE/UAW Coverage

But not five dimensional….

With minimal artistic license, a snippet of this evening’s conversation: Guy on TV, to skinny girl: You’re a stick figure! Them, to me: You’re not a stick figure. Me: No, I’m three dimensional. Them: I’m so big, I’m four dimensional! Me: Yes, you take up time and space….

The Google Quiz

Next time I find a piece of free time, though, I’ll probably use it to play with The Google Quiz. Play with Google, win Google swag. What could be better? [via Anita’s LOL]

CASE Opposition

My weblogging time over the past couple of days has been taken up with a real-life project, but at least it’s one with a web presence. At What Cost? is a group of graduate students who are concerned about the current unionization process taking place at Cornell. You can go there to read about some of the concerns the group has; we’ve tried to put together a comprehensive and consise list. I’m very interested to see what kind of response it draws, if any. Right now, there’s no way to tell how much support the union has. At the least, … Continue reading CASE Opposition

Book Reviews

Two more book reviews are up on my review site. The first is for Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken, a retelling of the events of Emma by Jane Austen, from the perspective of the “other” heroine, Jane Fairfax. It was very fun, and I would definitely recommend it to Austen fans. The other is for A Century of Science Fiction, 1950-1959 edited by Robert Silverberg, a collection of science fiction short stories from, you guessed it, the 1950’s. It’s a pretty good collection – the review has short comments on all of the stories.

Fussy Cooking, Creepy Gems….

A bunch of little links, which I don’t have many comments for… I would normally avoid any “news” related URL containing the word ‘heartwarmers’, but this picture is the absolutely cutest thing I’ve seen on the internet all month. [via Eclectica] While it appears to take a fussier approach to cooking than I prefer in real life, the food weblog Saute Wednesday is very fun fantasy reading. [via Eatonweb] If you thought NPR’s ludicrous linking policy was an abberation, go check out Don’t Link to Us!, a log of websites with stupid linking policies. [via RRE] And while I’m not … Continue reading Fussy Cooking, Creepy Gems….

Dave’s Toolbar Search

On the one hand, I disapprove of Windows configurations which try to conflate the content on my desktop with internet content. I don’t want my web favorites listed in the titlebar of all my windows. I would prefer to doubleclick my icons to open them. Blurring those boundaries is a bad thing. On the other hand, I’ve quickly fallen in love with Dave’s Quick Search Deskbar, which puts a search textbox on your Windows taskbar and automatically pulls up a browser window with the results of your search. It defaults to Google search, but has many nifty tags and is … Continue reading Dave’s Toolbar Search

Classic Trek Recaps

Everything on TV may be in reruns but if that means you haven’t been bothering to stop by Television Without Pity, you’ve been missing out on recaps of “classic” episodes of many of their shows. And, in the case of Enterprise, this has included recaps of The Original Series and, just this week, of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Cataloging the Canon

I love sites which try to draw in the knowledge of experts from around the web and present it in a useful way. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy about the internet. Canonical Tomes is trying to compile a list of canonical books in any topic. Users can submit book titles and vote on currently listed titles. If this flourishes, it could be a very nice resource, though it will need many more entries and voting experts than it currently has to beat out checking out the reviews, sales rank, and other information Amazon has on their site. [via … Continue reading Cataloging the Canon