ramble through the bronx

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

And the beat goes on...

I would like to let all of you know that your friendship while I was deeply worried and anxious over my future sans funding was amazingly wonderful, and that I have probably never felt so overwhelmingly blessed.

So thanks!

I also want to share that on Monday I was elected Vice President of the Graduate Student Association. Consequently I have funding for next year, and so am going to remain in NYC for at least one more year. Further, not only do I have funding, but upon reflection I actually have a pretty clear mission: I want to shape the GSA and its activities in a way that better represents the Jesuit nature of the university -- care of the whole person (cura personalis) and hence the adequate service for & treatment of graduate students, and the mission of social justice and education, and hence try to promote the idea of graduate students as a community being involved in this mission beyond merely getting their degree.

There's a long saga behind my election as VP. Last year, in order to address the problem that the officers (President & Vice President) of the Graduate Student Association had historically been drawn from outside the GSA Council (and hence had little knowledge of what the Council had been up to), and that they had historically only stuck around for one year (and thus did not really end up moving the council forward, since that's a lot of turnover, and the new officers never knew what the old ones had been up to), we decided to reform our election procedures. What we wanted to promote, then, was (1) institutional memory and (2) commitment to the GSA.

Rather than soliciting nominations from the whole graduate student body, we would have the current president & vice president announce their intentions in the Spring of either leaving, or staying on for a second year. We wanted to encourage officers to stay for this second year so that their work could be carried on. So, the officers would announce their intentions to the Council, and the Council would then deliver an up-or-down vote on whether they agreed that the officer should stay on or not.

If the Council decided the officer should stay on, then life is easy.

If the Council decided the officer should not, then a call for nominations from the Council would go out (promoting from within in order to promote the goal of institutional memory). The incumbent would then run against whatever Council members wanted to run. If no Council members were interested, the incumbent would run against whatever members of the graduate student body wanted to run. (and of course the incumbent could drop out of the race at any point).

What's the major problem with this? The problem is that with a young & inexperienced Council, it's really easy to just give a 'pass', or a 'yes' vote, to any incumbent. We did not build in a procedure for members of the Council to actually challenge one of the officer positions. This is a big problem, both in terms of democratic procedure and also in terms of money: the officer positions come with a stipend, which ought to be earned, and not merely preserved as a sinecure.

So when I talked about challenging the current VP for the VP slot, there was no procedure for me to do so. And, since I was part of the election reform last year, and part of the ongoing Constitutional Review process that's trying to reform our whole constitution (including & especially our election process & duties/responsibilities of officers), I was kind of right in the middle. It made sense for me to be one of the people trying to work out what a procedure for challenging should be, because of my experience with the Council (3 years) + this constitutional involvement, but it also put me in a pretty hard position, conflict-of-interest-wise, since I really wanted the position and particularly needed the money.

Further, anything we chose to do could not be merely ad hoc, since in the absence of a pre-established procedure for challenging, whatever action I took would help determine future procedure.

See the difficulty?

Oh, and did I mention that the current VP already had a source of funding? So this year he was on 2 sources of funding (a departmental position + working 1/2 time as VP), and next year he was still going to have the departmental funding. Whereas I, of course, was faced with the possibility of no funding.

And of course, I knew perfectly well that the current VP didn't have a great relationship with the President of the Council (Josh - not my ex Josh, another Josh), since Josh & last year's president (Reuben), and I get along real well & talk about this sort of thing & in fact are friends. (and if you want to see the sort of job the VP had been doing, look at the GSA website, particularly the "Upcoming Event" of the Fall 2005 orientation. one of the VP's responsibilities is updating the website. Uh-huh.) Oh, conflict conflict conflict.

Anyway, eventually the current & past presidents talked me into running, and so I did.

Here's my letter to the president:

Dear Josh,

I would like to let you know that I intend to contest the position of
Vice President of the Graduate Student Association and submit myself
for candidacy.

Over the course of last year's strategic planning we resolved to
encourage institutional memory and commitment among both officers and
council members. In light of this, a decision was made to encourage
officers to remain for two years. In order, however, that this not
become a sinecure, and in order to make sure that the mission of the
GSA is served, a review and ratification must take place before an
officer can serve a second year.

I believe that my candidacy fulfills the spirit of the GSA Council's
intention: having served on the council for four years, I possess
institutional memory, and certainly my participation over the years
speaks to my commitment. Further, I also have a commitment to the
future of the GSA, and a desire to work toward the ongoing development
of the GSA Council and the improvement of the GSA, in accordance with
the strategic planning process. In other words, I have memory and
vision. Therefore, I do not believe that my candidacy violates the
agreement that was made last spring.

In order to ensure that my candidacy is considered with full
procedural fairness, and in the light of the ongoing process of
establishing clear rules for the GSA Council, I submit the question of
how best to proceed to you, as President.

Best wishes,
Jane

So the solution Josh eventually proposed was to make a call for other challengers from within the Council, and have the current VP and I run in a more or less straightforward election race.

Which seems reasonably easy now -- but was very difficult to get to. Hence the saga.

But it's done now. And I'm pretty excited. I'm a woman with a mission, one might say. (Insert Blues Brothers quote, if you like)

In other news, Josh (the ex) and I had a great time hanging out this past Sunday; friendship really does seem to be working for us. So I'm happy that I made the right decision, and happy with all that in general.

Friends are obviously so much better than boyfriends.

And in still other news, I've been reflecting a lot about meaning, and life, and truth, and things like that. I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit some of those thoughts yet to this blog, but I will let you know that I'm really very happy. (In a way that goes beyond the mere fact that once I pay Reuben back for the flight out west, and pay my taxes, I'll be dead broke 'til the summer -- that makes me anxious, but doesn't take away from this current sense of joy.)

Love to you all,

jane 11:57 AM [+]

Mondo road trip post!

I also just want to say that while I'm writing this, I'm listening to Seattle's KEXP 90.3 FM on streaming audio. Keeping the West Coast love alive!

So, Reuben and I flew to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday, March 10. The flight was supposed to leave at 7.30pm from JFK, but what with one thing or another ("The plane is not accepting enough fuel to get us all the way to Seattle. If all goes well, we may be able to find another plane") we didn't leave until 9.45pm -- this put us in Seattle at midnight local time, but 3am Eastern time. Doug met us at the airport, and after having grilled cheese sandwiches at a Denny's, we proceeded to our motel room.

Apparently reading is a really loud activity. I woke up pretty early the next morning, and, not wanting to bother the boys (Doug sleeping on the floor, Reuben in the next bed over), I pulled out my book (David Sedaris, Dress your family in corduroy and denim), and started to read. I could make out the pages reasonably well in the dark, and didn't turn on a light. I figured this was pretty considerate of me.

I find out later on that Apparently This Was Highly Loud and Disturbing -- my turning pages was thunderously loud.

Anyway. Somehow in the morning we all got ready. While the boys were getting showered and dressed I ran over to the nearby drive by coffee place. My first Seattle-ish coffee. It was tasty indeed. But maybe it was just because I really needed it?



We had breakfast at a lovely place in Tacoma, WA, called Alfred's Cafe, or Cafe Alfred, or something like that. We found it 'cause Reuben asked a woman working at the gas station where there was good breakfast to be had -- Reuben said her face light up and she said, dreamily, "Alfred's...." High praise! And tasty food. If you're ever in Tacoma, ask at a gas station where it is.

We then drove south along I-5, past Olympia (we saw the sign for the turn off for Sleater-Kinney Road! Yes!!!)... all the way down to Eugene, OR, so that Reuben could meet up with an old friend of his. While they chatted & caught up for a bit, Doug and I wandered around the town.

I hate to say this -- almost too liberal. The only folks were either young (18 years old?) or old (burned out); the only shoe stores were Birkenstock stores. What would you do if you wanted to wear stilettos and meet a hip 30 year old? No luck for you. It seemed a little brainwashed. I think I like a little more balance... but it was definitely pretty.

After we hung out in Eugene, we headed up back north to Portland, where we were staying with Doug's friends Lee & Mary, plus their adorable 2-year old Graham, plus the other folks living at Lee & Mary's house. A full household indeed, but good times, and great folk.



The next day we hiked around the Columbia River Valley -- pictures here include us by Multomah falls (with Graham), the 2nd highest falls in the US, and us at the top of the Angel's Rest trail. Stupidly beautiful. There's more beauty than you can shake a stick at in this corner of the world. We also got to go to Powell's bookstore, now one of my favourite bookstores in the world. Fantastico! I picked up Michael Ondaatje's The Cinnamon Peeler, the Neil Gaiman-writen 1602, about the Marvel characters set in the Elizabethan era, and Peter Singer's short book on Hegel. Huzzah.



The next day we drove on to Vancouver BC. Yay Canada! Obviously life was wonderful. My uncle met us at the harbour in Ladner, we went kayaking -- we saw great blue herons, bald eagles, cormorants, all sorts of birds -- all with the amazing backdrop of snowcapped mountains.



We also had a day to wander aimlessly around Vancouver, shopping and drinking. Doug expressed a love of Canada and tried to elope with a Mountie, as you can see. I recommend the Railway Bar, at the corner of Seymour and Smithe (as I recall), above the 7-11. Yummy bar, great atmosphere. Obviously we all became a little the worse for liquor -- see the picture of me & Reuben.



Also, I think that you should all be warned that there are wild bears in Vancouver! Reuben and I were captivated by their eerie spell. Beware! Beware!



Then we had to back to the Evil Empire (an hour's wait at the border, the bastards!). But Seattle was nifty. We walked around the Space Needle area (the picture is taken nearby, also close to the Experience Music Project). Capital Hill and Fremont - nifty-tastic. And cheap drinks. All good.




Late Wednesday night we headed east to Spokane -- somewhere along the 4 hour drive, from about 8.30pm to 12.30pm, we passed mountains lit by moonlight. It was oddly affecting... but mostly I napped.

Spokane was cooler than I expected. Doug reserved the President's House at Gonzaga University for us -- also known as a 3-bedroom bungalo (though only 2 of the bedrooms had beds, oddly enough). This was our home for the next couple of days... very very comfortable -- the first time the three of us had separate bedrooms all week! I could now turn pages to my heart's delight (but mostly I slept).

We watched the Xavier-Gonzaga game on Thurs March 16 -- so sad that Gonzaga's now out, but that Xavier game was great. Gonzaga was behind, of course, almost the whole game, until the last 2 minutes. Brilliant!

The campus of Gonzaga is pretty cute, actually -- there's no gate. There's a neat social justice/community activism organization that Doug's involved in & he showed us their building. We also had lunch & dinner on Friday the 17th at Jesuit House -- because it was a Friday in Lent, and thus no meat, we had to console ourselves with crab and salmon.

Ah, poverty!

What else? Oh-- on our last day we went to Idaho! Idaho! Idaho!



OK... I invite comments from both Doug and Reuben, and will continue to embellish this post with greatness.

It was an amazing trip.

jane 8:24 PM [+]

An easy essay

Teachers Of Subjects

1. Our business managers
don't know how to manage
the things they try to manage,
because they don't understand
the things they try to manage.

2. So they turn to college professors
in the hope of understanding
the things they try to manage.

3. But college professors
do not profess anything,
they only teach subjects.

4. As teachers of subjects,
college professors
may enable people
to master subjects,
but mastering subjects
has never enabled anyone
to master situations.

(one of Peter Maurin's Easy Essays, from the Catholic Worker Movement website.)

jane 6:48 PM [+]

And yet another update

I promise, when I get photos from Reuben, I'll post trip photos & give a full run down of the fun, which included kayaking, hiking, bald eagles, great blue herons, an adorable two-year-old, fun bars, great shopping, climbing up to where there was snow on the ground and mist below, many many hours in a car, and a town so liberal even I was a little awkward (a.k.a., Eugene OR).

For now, a photo I received that was taken after the first day of the conference two weeks ago. I'm taking a break from making sure that wine, food & other things hospitable had happened. I'm not sure why the halo is there, as I'm certainly no angel.

jane 12:01 AM [+]

Quick post

I'm back.

OK, I'll need to post more later, 'cause I want to get a move on. The trip was great. I'll post photos when Reuben sends me the ones he took. The Northwest is stupidly beautiful.

And I broke up with Josh. Yup.

Still no news about what I'm going to do next year for money, except that the GSA Vice President thing seems kind of out. I may check on that. But it doesn't look good, as the current VP doesn't plan on leaving, and we've been (in general) trying to promote 2-year terms. So that's that.

jane 11:24 AM [+]

The Economist hearts Dan Savage

Depressed over my funding, I've been reading back "Savage Love" articles on the Onion website, and caught this (please someone tell Preetom about this; I don't think she reads my blog, but I think she would enjoy this particular exchange --)

Dear Dan Savage: I was flattered to hear that you and your readers had picked up our reference to santorum in The Economist, but I just wanted to disagree with—or hope to disagree with—your reader who ventured that they were unusual in reading both Savage Love and The Economist. I hope very much they are not. Although nonreaders often think of us as a conservative magazine, we've actually always been socially highly liberal, whether on immigration, gay rights, or many other things, including favouring the legalization of drugs. The Economist was among the first mainstream publications, on either side of the Atlantic, to advocate legal recognition of gay partnerships when I ran a cover on the subject in 1996 and then another in 2004.

Our readership is younger than that of other current-affairs or business publications, and I like to think that, like us writers, they are thoughtful, intelligent folk. But you were right: It is not only gay activists who use the term santorum in that way. Maybe being edited in London explains why we got that wrong.
Bill Emmott, Editor
The Economist, London

Thanks for being a big enough editor to admit that you were wrong, Bill. I was about to call for the entire staff of The Economist to be beheaded, but hey, now there's no need. But could you print the definition for your readers who aren't familiar with it?

(From the February 15, 2006 Savage Love)

jane 5:46 PM [+]

No news is bad news

Update 12.31pm -- well, the original message is below, but I wanted to update it here. So, the awards are basically announced -- there are three, and none are me. So the new plan is to see if I can teach 3 classes in the fall (in other words do my whole teaching associateship in the fall), then move back to Canada in the spring. This may be worked out probably after spring break. But failing getting the GSA VP position, it's all over....

--

All congratulations to the lovely Paul Kucharski, who earned a Senior Teaching Fellowship for next year. Paul is a good friend of mine and one of the awesomest people around. Dr. Drummond went down to Paul's office yesterday & gave him the good news. Paul doesn't know who the other Senior Teaching Fellowship has gone to (the department can give out two).

That said, if the news is out, & I haven't heard anything, that means it hasn't gone to me.

Especially since I ran into Drummond about four times yesterday and he didn't say anything to me about that (we talked about other stuff).

So my not getting it isn't Official yet, but it's as certain as it reasonably could be.

So, I'm hoping Rosa got it, because that would be great; she's not around -- I'm going to ask her later.

Sterling thinks that a person CAN get by in NYC on $12,000 a year, so that it may not be worth leaving, but I'm really skeptical about that budget, particularly given my $100/month minimum credit card payments.

I'm doing my best to be cheerful, but this really sucks. I'm waiting to hear about whether there might be a possibility of my running for Graduate Student Association Vice President, which would be good, but that's conditional on the current VP stepping down.

So wish me luck... although maybe my somewhat-flippant talk of just moving back to Canada isn't so flippant after all. How much work do temp agencies have in Ottawa? Maybe I'll try to teach two courses in the fall, & move back in January. Who knows.

jane 11:50 AM [+]

Conference over! Spring break soon!

Whew! The Fordham Philosophical Society's Third Biennial Conference is over! That was a lot of work, a lot of alcohol, and very little sleep. But we pulled it off OK, I think. People seemed to have a good time. And one of our participants knows Sarah, which is groovy (and also Kathleen's brother & sister-in-law, which is also groovy) -- we actually had two folks in from University of Ottawa. Very cool indeed. (No other Canadians -- and in fact the one who knows Sarah is not a Canadian originally but is in fact Californian. Faker!)

(We still need to go through & settle up & finish up the budget & submit reimbursement forms, etc., etc,. etc., but the stressful work part of the work is over.)

Also, folks seemed to like my response to one of the papers. (I can send it to any of you who are interested in seeing it; it got some laughs. I call it, "My Fichte Stand-up Comedy Act", but apparently people also thought it was intellectually OK & philosophically interesting. Who knows? Whatever. Given that I was talking about someone who once published an essay called A Crystal Clear Report to the General Public Concerning the Actual Essence of the Newest Philosophy: An Attempt to Force the Reader to Understand, my material's already pretty good.)

No news yet about funding for next year, except that we now Know That Our Department Chair Knows, and that he's Not Telling Us Anything Yet. Which is giving many of us (myself included) nightmares and cold sweats. Argh. I guess if I do move back to Ottawa, though, I'll know a bazillion people.

And finally, I'm happy to say that this Friday I'm flying off to Seattle with my friend Reuben, where we're going to join Doug the Jesuit for a weeklong roadtrip around the northwest -- hitting Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and the wonderful Vancouver, where my uncle will put us up, take us kayaking, and feed us BBQed salmon. YES!!!

(And even finally-er, no, I still haven't done much more work on my dissertation since February 13th.)

How are all of you? Megan, having a good time back in Canada-land?

jane 11:44 AM [+]