How Research Works: 32

LAB: 2PM

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT
Did your plumbing situation get fixed.

SENIOR GRAD STUDENT
Not really.  They decided to just raze the house.

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT
That sounds... rather extreme.

SENIOR GRAD STUDENT
Well.  In the grand scheme of things, not really.  Since I've been in grad school I've been kicked out of a place, had a place burn down, left a place after the landlord descended into madness, and lived on campus.

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT
Um...

SENIOR GRAD STUDENT
Living on campus was the worst.  By far.  Compared to that, this is nothing.

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT
Everything about your life terrifies me.

Grant Morrison's X-Men

I've been thinking a lot about what comics would be good to share with someone who has never read any comics before.  Mostly I think the answer depends on individual taste.  If someone likes the Spiderman movies, give them Spiderman comics.  If they like sci-fi, give them something by Warren Ellis.  The list is really endless.

Because of the prevalence of X-Men related media out there, and the diversity within the X-Men line, introducing someone to comics via X-Men comics is not the worst idea.  The monthly titles are (still) mostly a mess, but some of the collected editions are actually rather new reader friendly.

(New) New Order- Hellbent

Somehow there is still new Joy Division/New Order material being released.  This is apparently appearing on some sort of greatest hits collection.  When I first saw headlines about this I got excited thinking it was a new Joy Division song or an unheard New Order song from the 80's.  Sadly, it appears to be neither... I guess the bottom of those particular barrels have already been scraped.  Anyway, though this track isn't particularly necessary, it'll have to do.  I guess I'm going to have to break out all those (two) Joy Division records.

New Order - Hellbent (Previously Unreleased) by Rhino UK

How Research Works: 31

GOOGLE WAVE: 10AM

GRAD STUDENT

I'm going to have to stay home today to deal with a major plumbing disaster.

RA

Should I still run subjects?

GRAD STUDENT

Of course.  You don't require my supervision anyway.  If there are problems, just blame them on me and I'll deal with them tomorrow. 

RA

Should we still have the lab party today?  I bought in all kinds of food.

GRAD STUDENT

Food? Is running water more important than food?  

RA

Is that a rhetorical question?

GRAD STUDENT

Sadly.  I don't think so.

Lego Music

I've been super busy the last few days, but right now I'm stuck at home while a plumber terrorizes the apartment.  I'm not sure if that is the cause of the depressing mess that is this week's playlist or if its due to dwelling on the education bubble.  Anyway.... here goes nothing.

microarchitecture

Never Come Around- La Sera
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out- The Antlers
The Messenger- Papercuts
California- EMA
Lammicken- Braids
Moses- Chelsea Wolfe
Trying to Pretend- Vivian Girls
White Like Heaven- Gowns

Its a toss up between EMA and The Antlers for my favorite album of the year so far.  After The Antlers released Parenthesis I sort of lost interest.... but the album is really great.  Not as good as their last release maybe (although its still growing on me) but really solid nonetheless.  As far as EMA, if this album is any indication, she is going to be huge.  I expect I'll be hearing her stuff in television montages and blasted from dormitory windows any day now.

How Research Works: 30

ON THE PHONE: 8AM (LOCAL TIME)

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT

I don't think I'm going to be able to come home this summer.

PARENTAL UNIT

But isn't your stipend only for the 9 months?

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT

Nobody told the department that.  I don't get paid but I still need to be here.

PARENTAL UNIT

Huh?

PARENTAL UNIT

Grad school seems like a scam sometimes.

JUNIOR GRAD STUDENT 

You have no idea.

The Education Bubble

There is a notion out there that the next economic bubble to burst will be in education.  The longer I stay in grad school, the more obvious this becomes.  Heck, the SUNY system (including Stony Brook) provide a pretty good case study in where things are starting to go wrong.   Its sort of terrifying actually.  I have a lot to say about all of this, though no time to organize my thoughts presently.  With any luck, I'll be able to write something substantial in the next week or so.

I stumbled upon a Frontline documentary that provides some perspective on where higher education is, and where it might be going.  The issues we're facing are actually much larger and much more pervasive than just the rise of for profit universities, but the documentary is still worth checking out.  This sort of thing is one of the reasons why the "How Research Works" posts are becoming increasingly cynical.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.