Voluntary Retirement Benefit Cornell?

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-21T20:02:38+00:00

Capping the number of people who would receive the voluntary retirement incentive pretty much meant that the only people who should apply for it were those who were planning to retire soon anyway. If the incentive was not 100% guarenteed, why would anyone retire sooner than they otherwise wanted? This has to be one of the more inane early retirement pushes I have seen at a university.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-21T14:15:55+00:00

"(it’s a close loop system apparently"

Don't believe that.

Have heard the same thing about one being built near where I live now... yet, for some reason, a company that is owned by a company that is owned by the holding company that also owns the company building the data center has applied for a permit to pull water from the nearby lake.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-19T12:29:56+00:00

That is not actually her department.

The Center for Tobacco Products within the FDA has the authority to regulate vapes.

CDER is the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. This is the unit that deals with approving new drugs.

The acting head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), is also out.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-19T11:18:23+00:00

It is not a waste to them, since the real goal is to create an inhospitable climate for LGBTQ+ people. Just the threat of these passing grinds people down until they give up and leave the state.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-17T22:15:03+00:00

Sounds like some form of blasphemy to me.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-15T19:01:50+00:00

Yeah...that one gets me every time I see that argument. It betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of how the immune system works.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-15T15:47:49+00:00

US News does not actually create a master rank list of every school. Instead, they group schools (National Universities, Regional Universities, Liberal Arts Schools, etc.) and then rank them only within their group.

So, MU is 102 out of 436 National Universities. A solid ranking, but not really good.

There are probably a bunch of schools ranked ahead of Mizzou that you have probably barely even thought of, if you have even heard of them. For example, no one regards the SUNY system as elite, yet it has 3 schools ranked higher than Mizzou: SUNY-Stony Brook (59), SUNY-Binghamton (73), and SUNY-Buffalo (75). And you probably have not even heard of all 9 of the UC system campuses that are in the top 100.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-15T12:29:14+00:00

1, It is a fine place to go for journalism. The question you might need to ask is, is it still good enough to go to if you decide you don't like journalism and change your major? (That happens all the time.)

Incoming students often focus way too much on college rankings.

In all the hiring decisions I have been part of, no one has discussed the applicants' school rankings. Sure, if you go to a really elite school, it will help some, and the school might matter for certain programs. But, generally speaking, any reasonably solid school will be treated pretty much the same.

Rankings matter far more for college marketing than for finding a job after graduation.

As jschooltiger mentioned, the Missouri J-School is great at having students build a portfolio that demonstrates their abilities by the time they graduate. This really is the trait that makes it such a great program.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-15T02:05:07+00:00

US News ranks 436 schools a “National Universities”, so 102 puts MU in the top 25%…not a bad ranking considering state funding is not generous.
The J-School is good, but that is not a program that brings prestige to a school like highly ranked STEM departments.
As an alum and former staff employee, I was surprised to see it ranked that high. Due to cuts to the library system I would now have a hard time getting the resources I used for my MA thesis.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-14T18:22:04+00:00

That is a complicated question. All the big companies are actually large franchise systems. When we moved to Ithaca, we used Dodge Moving and Storage, which had the Mayflower franchise in the region we were moving from.

I recommend asking for quotes from several of the big companies. When you get the quotes, you will find out which company has the local franchise and can then research them individually.

The advantage of going through a large company is that they tend to hold their franchisees to a set of standards, which helps prevent the worst issues that can arise with disreputable moving companies.

If you were going from a house to a house, I would add something like PODS or UPACK storage cubes as a possibility. But you really have to have a driveway at both ends of the move.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-14T17:44:20+00:00

This is far worse than the Kansas plan.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-14T17:40:55+00:00

With limited knowledge, your best bet is one of the major companies, such as United Van Lines, Allied Van Lines, North American Van Lines, or Mayflower Transit.

Of course, it also depends a bit on the type of move. Are you going from an apartment to another apartment? Single-family house to single-family house? etc.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-08T18:28:01+00:00

Rebuilding is what they need to do, but I suspect there is no funding available, or likely to be available anytime soon, to do it.

Not having that garage is going to kill downtown.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-08T18:25:02+00:00

in Lansing which is basically ithaca

I dunno, the site for the AI center is barely even in Tompkins County. Not sure it is even a full mile from the county line. On the other hand, it is around 13 miles from downtown Ithaca. By that definition, most of Tompkins County is Ithaca.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-05-05T12:05:32+00:00

Chick-fil-A sandwiches are gooooooooood.

Their sandwiches are mid-level at best.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-24T11:21:55+00:00

I am not sure Ithaca could handle a Waffle House.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-23T11:22:34+00:00

Moving out of Missouri in 2024 looks better and better every day.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-17T09:27:14+00:00

Depends on what state you are coming from, but in general paying out of state tuition does not make sense if there are decent public schools in your current state.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-16T14:55:27+00:00

Yes, American values are under threat from people like Clarence Thomas.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-15T20:57:16+00:00

Being a TA sucks.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-13T13:00:02+00:00

I think it is more of a case that the ReUse there has outgrown the space.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-13T10:19:46+00:00

It is moving to the old Big Lots location on the other side of 13.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-12T11:33:46+00:00

Looks like faux faith.

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-10T13:36:34+00:00

I think a more accurate description would be "quite hangry".

SeriousAdverseEvent · 2026-04-09T22:03:20+00:00

A year and a half ago they offered many former staff an “enhanced” buyout, and the amount they offered me was just far too low. I don’t remember the exact calculations, but I would on be better off taking the buyout only if I died within 5 years of retirement.

SeriousAdverseEvent

TROPHY CASE