Author: Frankie Bow

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First, spend a semester teaching intro comp. Then you can write about the “cushy” life of a college professor.

Gawker is on the story.

“Even when school is in session they don’t spend too many hours in the classroom. For tenure-track professors, there is some pressure to publish books and articles, but deadlines are few. Working conditions tend to be cozy and civilized and there are minimal travel demands, except perhaps a non-mandatory conference or two.”

That’s all?  Apparently papers grade themselves.

Also,  safe and low-stress ?  Sure, until the Entitled Genius who has Gone off his (or her)  Meds blows a gasket.

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Addio, Rita Levi-Montalcini, age 103

Her niece, Piera Levi-Montalcini, told La Stampa newspaper that she had died peacefully “as if sleeping” after lunch.

Her aunt had continued to carry out several hours of research every day until her death, she said.

A Nature article on the occasion of her 100th birthday is here.

 

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You can go to jail for grade-fixing.

I have to admit, I derived an unseemly amount of satisfaction from this story.

He was the kind of school administrator some college students might have considered themselves lucky to encounter, someone who was willing to raise grades issued by professors when the students’ marks fell short of graduation requirements…Mr. Koutsoutis, 56, who was director of executive programs at the college’s Zicklin School of Business, appeared in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to 21 felony forgery charges and 10 misdemeanor charges of falsifying business records.

He received no money or favors for making the changes, according to court papers. When Justice Larry Stephen asked him to explain his motivation, Mr. Koutsoutis quietly said that he just wanted to give the students their best chances to succeed.      

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Real life inspirations for mystery plots:

3. Paul Babeu

Babeu2012

Paul Babeu’s coming out may be one of the most sensational, and complicated, of the year. The fiercely conservative, anti-immigrant Republican Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, and a good friend of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, another extremely anti-immigrant law enforcer, Babeu was outed in February, when his undocumented Mexican immigrant boyfriend of a decade accused him of threatening him with deportation during a nasty break-up.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2012/12/2012_gay_coming_out.html#ixzz2FRVZdQpz

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Exercise doesn’t make you live longer, but it does help you deteriorate less rapidly.

“Typically, the most aerobically fit people lived with chronic illnesses in the final five years of their lives, instead of the final 10, 15 or even 20 years.”

Of course they can’t disentangle cause and effect, as  “aerobic fitness is partly determined by genetics, and to that extent, the luck of the universe.”

Still, “much of a person’s fitness, especially by middle age, depends on physical activity, Dr. Berry says speculates”

Women's gymnastics at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. The last Olympics at which solid gold medals were awarded

Fortunately, a moderate (rather than an insane) amount of exercise is best.

Thinking about this is exhausting.  I’m going to go lie down now.

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Science confirms what you already knew

When interviewing, “Employers sought candidates who were not only competent but also culturally similar to themselves in terms of leisure pursuits, experiences, and self-presentation styles.”

Or as Forbes puts it,

self-managed team

Employers Hire Potential Drinking Buddies Ahead Of Top Candidates

 

 

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No good deed

A former instructor blew the whistle on an English as a Second Language program that apparently tolerated substandard work and plagiarism from full-tuition-paying international students.  The whistle-blower photocopied plagiarized student papers as evidence for her claims.

She “was charged by SUU police for misdemeanor theft of lost property on Monday, and barred from campus upon threat of arrest.”

Thanks a lot, Turnitin.com

Southern Utah is not to be confused with Utah Valley, where a professor lost his job after committing such offenses as asking (senior level) students questions in class “even when they didn’t raise their hands.”