THE GEO

The GEO

So a couple of observations about Grad employees and Unions. Please note that this is only my perspective and understanding and I am always looking for clarification or new stories.

First, I do generally agree with the ideals of union formation. Unions are important to make a statements that low pay workers do deserve a certain amount of compensation for the work which they do. Unions have traditionally developed in places where work was otherwise dangerous, difficult, unskilled or semi skilled. Sometimes these unions to have a tendency to get a bit out of hand. For example unions seem to be having a choking effect on GM, a company which is sometimes referred to as a health insurance company which sometimes spits out a car. I do believe that unions some have a tendency to create an unrealistic comfort for workers and an unrealistic value of skills. Sometimes.

First off, the graduate employees at the University of Illinois are held to very different expectations within different departments. For example, much more work is required from math TAs who have to spend meticulous hours grading exams and quizzes. TA's in classes like architecture design classes or certain lit. classes might be expected to do the same amount of work but can realistically "get away" with quite a bit less work, if they are under the gun. And its these under the gun situations which do make a difference.

Keeping in mind these particular points of validity in union formation, the GEO protest is a real stretch. GEO employees are young students who are generally still in college for their education benefit. To me this voids the living wage argument. Furthermore, a lot of people are being affected by the economic times of the moment. This is truly not a situation where those in power have a great deal of say; therefore its not really fare to hold trustees accountable. The state of Illinois is cutting expenses left and right because spending has been down, lowering sales taxes income and housing foreclosures are high, limiting property tax income.

As a young student myself graduating this May, I do sympathize with the difficulty in getting funding for school, and living expenses. Ive been forced to take a number of difficult and boring summer jobs making 10-15 an hour. I don't however feel that this is unjust. Its part of the process of career development and the first step in trying to develop valuable life skills.

Wouldn't You like to Know?

Over the past few years I've been wanting more and more to make something from mosaic tiles. There is some inherent interest in the idea that each tile has its own mass and identity as a subcomponent of the larger item. Id like to someday work on something practical like this table top.

There's also this artist who I met in the Twin Cities who makes these cutesy domestic projects with different pieces for his tiles. He basically uses super glue to get the individual items attached, then he fills the cracks with tile grout. The process is pretty inexpensive and yields an attractive result.

www.mosaicguy.com

More Idea(ls) from the Ivy Tower

Do you remember when you were in high school and you were expected to remember insane amounts of information for constant quiz and test situations? If you were an outspoken student, or if you had a teacher who listened you explained that you should be allowed to have a cheat sheet for those famous five physics equations, or you were told that knowing dozens of verb conjugations was completely fair.

Though I don't advocate the British educational system's fact-less teaching, I do take some issue with some of the idealistic views involved with memorization.

Case #1 : The derive IT! argument This argument is popular in math and science classes. This is the one where your teacher tells you that you should be able to derive the equation or value- sin30 for instance. What my teacher didn't tell me is what killed me. There wasn't really time on the exam to understand every step to derive things. This was especially painful for trigonometry. I should have just tried memorization of those trig functions. However, the act of memorization was generally minimized.

Case#2 : You should know this by now! This is the favorite of foreign language. Here is the lesson plan: Step one Drone your student through the text book explanations of grammar idiosyncrasies. Step two- pair them up to "exercise" something they don't understand yet. Step 3 Quiz them! You should know this by now! Again, minimizing the actual act of memorizing.

Neither of these cases deal with the way in which we actually learn; the way we memorize information. Ill be the first to admit that my short term memory does not cooperate with me. So what should I, and others like myself have done through high school in these classes?

I argue that the answer is to constantly be creating flash cards. My question is- why was this never really emphasized or considered seriously as an in class activity or seriously suggested as an out of class arrangement? If our education system demands memorization, than we need to look at it as nothing more and nothing less. We can't keep pretending that every student is able to derive equations. The successful students are excellent at quick and dirty fact recovery. They are not the creative young geniuses which society hopes they are.

Lightrail

I would love to see this type of thing running on 183 from the theater on the east end to the vacant lot near the Pop Eyes' on the west. 183 is a four lane road which could accommodate a light rail system. The rails could be set into the pavement so that the right lanes on either side could still accommodate auto traffic. This system would bring commuters within 1/2 mile of the metra line and would bring students within a mile of High school and a stones throw from Junior High.

Our Modern Lifestyle

The word modern has quite a few meanings. Probably the most common understanding of the word is simply as an adjective, meaning new, or of the present times. This is a bit of a deception because most writers and academics understand the word to mean based on reason and science.

Considering the second definition, most actions can be judged as having either a modern or a traditional motivation. The traditional mindset is based on love and feeling.

Compared with many cultures, I live a relatively modern lifestyle. I wake up by an alarm clock, a reasonable decision. I go to a school which is taught by certified professionals. I drive a powerful machine which is an automobile. Essentially all of these choices are motivated by reason and order with a process. Here and there I'll make a traditional choice. I might buy a cup of coffee because I feel like it. Ill walk around before class for a view of the campus. I do this because it makes me feel good.

But its a primarily modern course of actions; classes, schedules, computers, books, GPS, car etc. This is really the word I understand best. I've spent two years on campus at a major research university, one of the most modern campuses in the country. Nearly limitless internet capabilities, state of the art recreational options, online schedule planning. There is a process for everything from registering for classes, to checking email, to passing a class, to borrowing a library book, to finding the most interesting club to join.

So what about finding a summer job. As the product I am, of the most modern system within my reach, the best teachers, the most informative lectures and the fastest internet, I've struggled every summer to find a summer position within my field. Im not in a plundering profession, and being an optimal candidate, I can't even blame the economy.

Now because I've phrased this a certain way, you understand exactly where this is going. A modern University provides a Modern education, producing modern students, for a surprisingly traditional work environment. How many people get the jobs who are qualified and don't know anyone? Ill tell you, only the best in the fasted growing professions, with the absolute most needed skills.

So do your best my fellow students. Try to be friendly and a bit nosy, put your best foot forward and always look for every opportunity. In the traditional world, trust your gut over your reason.