Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Varying viewpoints

On campus recently I passed by a flier for an event advocating for protecting women sports. I guess the subject matter pertains to a discussion of whether or not trans women (biologically born men who now identify as women) belong in women athletics. This particularly group seems to be advocating for exclusion.

It’s good to see this type of discussion being allowed on campus. Let’s face it, college campuses skew heavily to the left, and this one is in San Francisco of all places. It’s rare to see other viewpoints out in the open. Straying from dogmatic left positions leaves one open to ridicule at best, cancellation at worst. No conservative-leaning student would risk showing up to campus with a MAGA hat. The “speech is violence” crowd would pounce immediately.

Yesterday, the campus community received at email from the VP of students to the affect the university has a duty to protect the first amendment. To allow free and open discussion on varying topics, from varying sides. You have a right to protest speech you don’t like, but you do not have the right to shut it down. I have to think this is in response to the protecting women sports event. I sure hope that event happened without fuss.

Because I think it’s very important to have open discussion on a college campus. A marketplace for ideas to duke it out. A gathering of information from all sides so students can critically think for themselves. What I don’t want is for campuses to become an echo-chamber of far-left ideology. These kids are then taught what to think instead of how to think. Those who oppose are effectively silenced due to the crippling social costs of speaking out.

I’m glad my campus is a place where an event on the other side of the trans right discussion can happen.

This is going to be fun

I was at IKEA over the weekend and boy was it packed full of people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a crowded showroom. There were many a young couple who most likely just purchased a house and are now looking to furnish it. Universities are also starting back up for the fall semester, so there were bunch of those sort of families buying stuff for their beloved undergrad.

And all I wanted to buy was a simple laundry basket! Good thing masks are enforced indoors in this part of the country.

It seems time is going in slow motion this year, because it’s difficult to realize the fall semester is upon us once again. It will be another school year of the unprecedented because our campus is going for a hybrid model. Not in the sense that classes will be physical and streamed online concurrently (we don’t have the money for that). Rather, a third of the classes will be on campus, and the rest will be online; either or. Of course, on the support side this poses a tremendous challenge for us. One that we’ve never done before, and hopefully, the last time we ever do it.

Also hopefully people will realize the pandemic is still very much going on, and to carry some grace for everyone else. It’s almost guaranteed that things will not go smoothly, with many hiccups along the way. I can’t speak for other departments, but for sure our department is trying the best we can. Like most places of employment, we are short-staffed, and going through the pandemic all the same ourselves.

As for me. I’m surprisingly excited for the upcoming semester. Nothing quite like extreme novelty to mix things up and create good learning opportunities. For an entity that’s as cyclical and unchanging as higher education, the past two years have been utterly chaotic (to say the least). Scarcely has there been a dull day at work. That’s a silver lining to COVID I can live with.

Best two months

The final two months of the year is my absolute favorite, mainly because as the weather turns colder (or stays cold, as is normal for San Francisco) and the sky turns dark earlier in the day, people tend to spend more time indoors. That means they aren’t outside in the neighborhood making a ruckus, which means I get to enjoy more peace and quiet time, which is just lovely. Indeed, I am that old man yelling at the clouds when the kids are playing out in the streets during the Summer months. Shut up!

You might notice the irony of someone living in a dense, urban city complaining about noise, and believe me, I am looking to change my living situation some time in the near future. What I really want is some place small out in the woods, where the only noise I can possibly hear is the wondrous sounds of nature. Whether that is ultimately doable or not vis a vis making a living wage remains to be seen, but it’s not like I can possibly afford to rent a place within the Bay Area anyways, much less talk of actually buying a house. It’s a very grim future when a six-figure salary is considered low-income in San Francisco.

But that’s a worry for another time.

Another reason why November and December are favored months has to do with my particular line of work. The standard schedule of a university calls for week-long holidays for Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year, and as university staff I get them off as well. It would seem petty to be giddy about having fewer days of work, but even the most ardent of people who love their jobs - I would include myself in that pool - welcome extra days off to do other things, or simply relax. Thanksgiving break is when I collate the best photos I’ve taken during the year and put the top 12 into calendars of next year to give to my friends.

Christmas break, as usual, I am flying back home to China.

Finally, December is the best month because it’s the month of my birthday, though I don’t possess the vapid narcissism of some to celebrate the occasion of my birth for the entire month. I’ll be turning 32 soon, which isn’t quite as scary or stress-inducing of an age milestone as 30. I do wonder if there will be one like it before turning 40. Maybe 35? Obviously, I’m not yet ready to find out.

Let’s finish the year strong, friends.

My brother graduates from college

Yesterday my brother who is 10 years my junior graduated from university, so you can say I’m particularly feeling my age today. Despite my in-jest adverse feelings, I am supremely happy not only for my brother, but for my parents as well: both their sons are now fully adult, and their sacrifice in raising us is at a symbolic and tangible conclusion.

Next step for them is probably retirement soon, so they can do a bit of traveling. Us millennials aren’t the only ones affected by social media and its related ‘fear of missing out’ pangs: my parents get it as well. A lot of my uncles and aunts have retired already, and they spent their leisure time traveling within China and around world. The pictures from those trips gets uploaded to social media, and from viewing them my mom particularly gets low-key jealous of those opportunities.

Now that my brother is finally finished with school, likely forever, I think my parents have more freedom to retire early, should they choose. It’s definitely a decision to think over properly, because the “grass is greener” effect is strong; traveling is immensely rewarding and fun, yes, but what about the rest of the time when there’s nothing to do - no work to go to? I think that’s something to visualize and plan out before taking the step to retire, because being home all the time may not be as ideal as imagined.

But that’s for my parents to figure out. As for my brother, his unfortunate selection of sociology as a major means it’s going to be tough for him to find a solid-paying job. The real-world application for a sociology degree seems quite limited beyond working for non-profits or a teaching position, and we all know how meager those jobs pay. Not to say money is everything, but we do live in San Francisco, currently one of the most expensive cities in the United States, and the world.

Besides, if he’s to feed his car addiction as I have done, he’s going to need to make some money for sure. Congratulations and the very best of luck to my not-so-little-anymore brother.

UC Santa Cruz: a beautiful campus nestled within a redwood forest.

Spring final exams are here

It’s the time of final exams around these parts, so the university library where I work at is teeming with students looking to cram in that last bit of studying, or project finishing (perhaps starting?). Look at all these people who’s got perfectly fine desks at home but choose the library instead. Whatever it takes to get the job done, obviously, but it’s a phenomenon I can’t understand.

Why give up the peace and tranquility of the home for the bustle and noise of a crowded study lab during finals weeks? How are these people able to concentrate better at a place with more auditory distractions?

I’d really like to know.

Some would surely argue there are other items around the home more distracting than the din of fellow students, such as a gaming system, or an over-talkative roommate. I would counter that it may be true before the first iPhone was invented, but nowadays we carry around with us the biggest time-sucking device ever created: the smartphone. I don’t suppose any of these students doing work in the library have left their phones elsewhere.

One scant peek at twitter and it could easily be an hour lost into the abyss. Don’t ask me how I know.

Again, however a student chooses to finish his or her studies is not for me to criticize, but for me, I absolutely need a place of silence and solitude. I do my best work when there’s nothing to disturb me for a solid period of time, and the studying halls of the university library is not it.

That said, good luck to all who are amidst final exams these few weeks; it’ll soon be over.

Fall semester 2018 begins

Fall semester starts up at work today, and for the first time in three months the campus will be teeming with people, largely wild-eyed freshmen not knowing which building is which. Summer is officially over as far as I'm concerned (suck it, Labor Day) and pretty soon it'll be pitch dark before 6pm. Once the calendar turns over to September, the rest of the year goes by super swiftly.

My own brother is also about to start his final year of undergrad. He is majoring in sociology, which on one hand more knowledge is always great, but on the other what the heck is he going to do for money armed with such a degree? What other paths are there for a sociologist other than remain in academia? Hindsight being what it is, I think my brother chose the wrong major; even he knows it's large useless.

Children of rich households can afford to study a silly subject for a diploma, but sons and daughters of the poor and lower middle-class haven't got the luxury of a parental safety chute. The purpose of college for people like us is to enhance our ability to attain a well paying job. A big reason why I chose to major in business was because I figure business skills are paramount and applicable to all industries. I would've loved to major in philosophy and have heated discussions about the differences of Platonic and Socratic thought, but like sociology that won't pay any of the bills unless I continued on further and become a researcher.

I wonder how many incoming freshmen are cognizant of the monetary utility of the major they selected. Most probably don't care because it's infinitely more fun to think about all the alcohol-fueled sex college is fertile ground for. But student loan debt is at record highs; don't high school counselors have a duty to direct kids to the proper channels so that the debt incurred would be worth the future income?

Some of these kids would be a better served not by a standard four-year institution, but rather an accredited trade school. Despite being maligned and stigmatized by society as low-rung, blue-collar jobs can pay equally well as the office desk. The growth potential can be the same, too: the auto mechanic, can after years of service, open his own shop and reap all the profits. One does not need to wear a white-collar to make six-figures.

I think it'll benefit the university system and society as a whole if some forethought and advice is given to kids beforehand, that college is not the only option to a good career. Because one can always become a Youtuber or Instagram influencer.

Power outage on campus

I work as tech-support at a college campus and last evening the power to the entire campus went out. Due to this I got to go home early from work which is nice, but for the students and teachers that had classes it probably wasn't a good thing.

The month of May is the tail end of the semester therefore missing a single class period can be detrimental to things like presentations and tests - especially for classes that only meet once a week (which classes in the evening tend to be). For sure students in lower level courses likely couldn't care less (I'd be happy as a fox), but I'd be pissed if I were a graduate student and it was my day to present thesis.

Today a professor shared with me that a student of his was due to perform for his final masters last night but the blackout torpedoed that plan. What made it worse was his parents flew all the way here from Russia for the occasion. Dreadful.

The University needs to be responsible for the lost instruction time. Students pay good money for tuition and to have power outages cancel class without recompense of say adding an extra day is unjust. Last evening's incident wasn't even the first one this calendar year!

Though I guess we can't rule out the possibility that last night someone really didn't want to take a final and did some grade A sabotaging to the power-grid to avoid it.