Culinary truths

Gorgonzola makes everything taste better.

When your reputation precedes you

Once you get a reputation as a bad teacher, is there any way to change it?  Or are students always going to write you off from the beginning?

I have a colleague who has quite the reputation for being rude to students, unapproachable during office hours, and disorganized in the classroom. Students complain to me about him all the time (I just put on my I-support-my-colleagues face).  His ratemyprofessor is full of student rants and, truth be told, some fairly logical, well-supported complaints.  Students start the semester knowing his reputation, and I wonder if that fact alone is the biggest contributor to their low opinion of him-- not his actual actions in the classroom.

So is a frowny face on ratemyprofessor too much to overcome?  Are there any strategies that professors can employ to turn around a reputation?

Academic appearances

I've been pondering my wardrobe options lately.

Does it matter what you wear in the classroom?  What about to faculty meetings?  Do people even notice?

Certainly our student take note of what we wear (I know I did when I was an undergrad).  Are jeans okay on a prof?  Does it make a difference if you are at a research institution or a PUI?  What about faculty rank?

Do appearances matter to anyone, or am I just entering into my annual I'm-going-to-overthink-everything phase?

Touch screens completely ick me out

I don't care how cool iPhones look.  Touch screens are gross.  They show all my grimy fingerprints, and they make me feel like I have giant, stubby fingers.


(It's been one of those kind of days.)

Battling the heat wave

It's days like these that make me look forward to the winter slush.  How do you get through the summer burn?  My brain is scrambled, and I have the beginnings of a sunburn.

My summer choice for combating the escalating temperatures?

More experiments in the cold room.

Why it is awesome being female (at a conference)

As you all probably have guessed by now, I'm woefully behind in my blog reading.

Luckily, I did manage to catch a semi-recent post by The Prodigal Academic about why it is awesome to be a female attending male-dominated conferences.

TPA points out that there are no bathroom lines when you are one of a handful of women at a conference.  So true!  In fact, at a recent conference, another conference attendee (a rock star Big Name) was so surprised to have someone else walk into the bathroom (me), that we actually struck up a conversation....which led to talking about my research with my students.  Awesome.

The second advantage that TPA lists is that, as a minority presenter, you are more easily remembered later in the day.

The third deals with presenting while pregnant.  You can read it for yourself, since it doesn't pertain to me (whew).

The fourth is my favorite because it happens to be true AND I had never really thought about it before:

4. You are easier to find in the crowd, so it is easier to run into old friends and colleagues at coffee breaks without necessarily prearranging things.  (link)

And TPA's fifth advantage to attending a male-dominated conference?  Well, let's just say it deals with getting free stuff.


So what about it?  Are there more advantages that should be added to The Prodigal Academic's list?  Or do the wee annoyances (you know, like being asked eight times in one afternoon if you REALLY are a presenter and not a vendor representative) outweigh these benefits?

Academic workers' comp

"What did you do?  Poke yourself with a pencil?  Massive paper cut?"  My mother laughed after I told her I got injured at work last week.

This particular injury of mine was quite the gusher.  It was a pretty dumb injury, so I didn't bother going to the ER (although it probably could have used a stitch or two).

Dumbness aside, it actually WAS work-related.  And I've had students do all kinds of things to themselves in lab (mostly unintentionally).

What's the worst on-the-job injury you've seen/had?  And does anyone take it seriously when you come home and say "honey, I hurt myself in the classroom....again" ?

Stop telephonin' me!

I recently went to lunch with a friend of mine, Mark, who is a high school teacher.  Our conversation eventually led to a discussion of students and cell phones.

"I used to give my cell number to my students," Mark said.  "But now kids have no sense of boundaries.  They call late at night, or they text early on weekends."

Does he have a point?  When we only had land lines, I would never have dared call someone at home earlier than 9 am or later than 10 pm.  With cell phones, is it safe to assume that everyone puts their phones on silent at night?  Is it okay to call at any hour of the day without fear of bothering the call recipient?

Does telephone etiquette exist anymore?

You can take the girl out of academia....

Last week I paid a visit to my mom and pop.  They are considering downsizing, so I had to go through quite a few boxes from my schoolhouse days.

I enjoyed spending time with my parents, particularly since it got me away from work for a few days.  Work has been a little hectic lately, and I've been doing a lot of writing-- especially with collaborators.  One of my collaborators doesn't appear to believe in such silly conventions as grammatical rules.  And so I edit.  And edit.  And edit.

I decided I wasn't going to work when I visited my parents.  As I picked through a box labeled "Unreaction--elementary school", I came upon a poem my ten-year-old self had written to my mother.  I frowned, noting a grammatical error.

Sigh.  I guess I just can't help playing the editor... even if the writer is myself.  Twenty years ago.

True independence

Some of you celebrate the 4th.  Some of you celebrate the 1st.  Others celebrate on other dates.


My Independence Day will always be the day I finally deposited my thesis.  I celebrate with a stiff drink, of course.


What/when/how do you celebrate your independence?

Magic numbers

People say that three's a crowd, it takes two to tango, and one is the loneliest number.

But what's the magic number when it comes to publications?

How many pubs do you need to get tenure?  When I ask around, the answer varies.  At my PUI, I've heard anywhere from one up to five as the magic number that will ensure a worry-free pass on the research front.

My favorite response so far?  "Enough.  You need enough."


Maybe there isn't one magic number for publications.  But it does make me wonder: is there a national standard for demonstrating publishing prowess?