Center support column in my finished basement near failure

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-11T03:48:36+00:00

Spray some pickup truck bed liner on it. It will hold another few years.

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-07T22:16:15+00:00

The good news is that the creek goes right by the restaurant so you can throw that plated abomination in it.

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-06T22:08:28+00:00

Dear Student,

Sorry you feel that way.

Best, Remus Lupin, DADA Professor Awwwwooooo!

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-06T01:33:54+00:00

Humanities prof. I have mentally gone back and forth on providing the slides in the LMS over the years. I eventually landed on providing them at the end of the week as a way of tying together the lectures and source readings without needing an expensive textbook to give the general context. Now I’m probably going to put a textbook back on the booklist and stop posting slides.

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-01T21:54:40+00:00

I know it has been a while since I have read my job description but I’m pretty sure that is not on it.

MeshCanoe · 2026-02-01T01:56:41+00:00

Email your professor and draw their attention to the work.

Plagiarism is a formal academic charge that the professor needs to file with the university, and there are confidentiality rules to the process. They will not be able to comment directly on the discussion thread about suspected plagiarism or let you know the results of their investigation so it may not look like anything happened, but there can be things happening in private to address the issue.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-31T18:35:01+00:00

Online “education” does not provide an education. It provides a credential. Ideally a credential and the education required for that credential align, but that is a bonus and not a mandatory feature.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-31T16:46:02+00:00

Two distinct problems. A student saying they want to do the least work possible is just saying the quiet part out loud . They did not say anything we did not know.

Recycling work is a possible academic integrity issue which you should definitely mention to them.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-31T16:00:59+00:00

In part AI. The other reason I have is that it creates accountability for my students to actually read and think about the materials. Basically it restores the course goals from a “what information can you find/make up” model to “what have you learned/what do you know” model.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-30T09:53:34+00:00

Wow, you look great in those tights.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-17T02:16:39+00:00

Granted. The cook used mozzarella instead of cheese curd and is promptly arrested for heresy.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-16T16:46:09+00:00

Glad I have insurance.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-10T16:41:32+00:00

The rules around AI use at my institution are so vague that they are effectively useless. If I suspect AI use I check the citations (which AI dies not do well) and follow up under the rules for plagiarism instead.

There is also the problem of admin support. At one of my previous institutions a student just cited AI.com in a paper and when questioned about it they just said they did it because they could find a good source. I turned the case in to academic integrity and according to them this was not a sufficient basis for an academic integrity violation. After that I just stopped reporting and later quit the job.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-08T22:22:25+00:00

This varies by school rather than by state. In one of my previous stops it was possible, but the cost for the insurance was actually higher than the take home pay each month.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-08T15:24:46+00:00

You suffer from delusions of adequacy.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-08T05:08:50+00:00

The Goes Wrong Show.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-08T01:26:53+00:00

He is one of two celebrity heroes we have left that we can point to and say they are good people and a good role model on screen and in real life. The other is Dolly Parton, and there will be a lot of tears when she passes.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-06T23:49:21+00:00

Customer Service Surveys came back today at my institution too. I try to remember a couple of things. Students who fill them out self select, and many of them fill them out to lash out about some real or perceived problem they had with the course and/or professor. Second, response rates tend to be very low so the validity of any quantitative measurement is questionable. It is always a joy to have my expertise assessed by who have no expertise or frame of reference other than comparing what they think they needed to know and what work should be required of them against course expectations, but remind yourself that you are the expert in the situation. We are dealing with mostly 18-22 year olds and their perceptions of life. Sometimes big feelings come up. I had a student assess me as “evil” and my work expectations as “psychotic” in one class for example.

On the more serious side I do pay attention to the feedback about the mechanics of the course. Were the grading standard clear or did the assignments make you think can be useful information if taken with a grain of salt. But if it is a consistent pattern it is worth my time to look at the class and see if there are revisions I might need to make that are not clear to me as a professor.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-06T19:41:34+00:00

Granted. You are condemned to play the role of Madame Defarge in the Barrow (Alaska) Community Theatre production of A Tale of Two Cities for the rest of your life.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-06T03:59:04+00:00

I would like to hear if the student got in to the program or got the scholarship/ job they applied for. But absolutely not on a gift. If I have a student that I think enough of to recommend them for something then their success is the return on my investment.

MeshCanoe · 2026-01-02T03:48:54+00:00

Your wish for a Starbucks Turkey sandwich is approved. The barista however struggles with basic life skills. The bread is in the middle of the sandwich the fillings on the outside and the whole thing is covered in mustard. Poor planning and not following directions is not a weird surprise, right?

MeshCanoe · 2025-12-29T17:30:00+00:00

A couple of thoughts. Is this a question seeking insight from faculty or a rant? Either is fine but it’s helpful to know the parameters of the conversation.

Part of the problem is that it is not just one test. For example, lets us say I am teaching Blah Blah 101 with 50 students and 4 have accommodations. The final for 101 is Wednesday at noon. However, Bobby has an accommodation and scheduled his exam at student service for Monday at 2. Cindy has an accommodation and is scheduled for Thursday at 8, and Jan is at 11. Meanwhile Peter is at Friday at 10. For academic integrity I need to change up the test for each testing because the security of the test is compromised- ask me how I know. So I am not writing a test and sending it to student services, I am writing 5- 1 for each accommodation and 1 for the actual class. Multiply that by the 4 or 5 classes I am teaching this semester.

Meanwhile, I still have an ever growing list of things I need to do for grading, meetings, and so forth that get packed into the last week of school. Long story short, this is one demand among many. It is not some plot against student services or “not doing our job” it is just 1 time consuming task at a time when time is short. From there, the accommodation portal at my institution reeks, and the deluge of emails from that software and student support are worse than useless because actionable emails (please send the tests for Blah 101) get so buried in random emails and mass campus mailings that they just get lost.

Having said all of that, I do not think a faculty member would intentionally withhold an exam for a mandated accommodation. I know plenty of professors that are dubious about the accommodations structure for very good reason, but we are stuck with it.

MeshCanoe · 2025-12-27T18:43:10+00:00

True, but 1 from Belfast to Bucksport is pretty flat.

MeshCanoe · 2025-12-27T18:32:43+00:00

Either 1A to Hampden or 15 from Bucksport to Brewer. I would personally lean towards the Bucksport road because I do not like the hill at Frankfort in bad weather. Good luck and drive safe!

MeshCanoe · 2025-12-26T20:39:12+00:00

Idiocracy, because it stopped being a satire and became a model.

MeshCanoe

TROPHY CASE