US University Education more affordable than Canada

Well I kind of thought this might be true after working in a state institution for the last four years but now it has been confirmed for me. A study done by the Educational Policy Institute compared four year programs in both US and Canadian universities and found that the public US universities provide more financial support for students than their Canadian brethren. In Canada there are no corresponding grants that compare to the Pell Grant system. Student loans are how most people fund their educational pursuits, me included. I don't resent the money I spent it will be repaid many times over by the end of my career. But paying off loans while starting your career can decidedly impact your work options. If I hadn't had the financial assistance of my parents I would never had the chance to attend ALA Annual in 2001 where I interviewed for this position. Here is the link to the full article.

Fighting Stereotypes

Lately, I have been getting alot of complaints from my male friends about non-communicative women. One friend who has been trying the online dating thing was complaining about his latest find not responding as quickly to his emails after he had made (he thought) a connection. I told him that she was either not interested or conversely interested but tremendously busy. It is interesting how some of my male friends claim to be attracted to one type of women but continuously pursue someone who doesn't match this type. Would he really be interested in someone with no life and lots of spare time?

Men who want to go out with professional women with outside interests then begin to resent the fact that they aren't the primary focus of this person. Dating is awkward enough without building expectations in at an early point. The title of this post has to do with the idea that my male friend is complaining about this lack of willingness to communicate which is traditionally associated with men themselves. I think many women associate communication with intimacy and initially might withhold this aspect of themselves until they feel safe. Politeness aside, if communication becomes a barrier early on than a relationship is unlikely to flourish. My friend has two choices, hold fast until his female interest moves past this stage or start over with someone new.

Urban snobs

I have been experiencing some interesting reactions to my impending move to a suburb of Houston. Several friends have expressed concern about the increased commuting time and the distance between the erstwhile suburb and everything else that matters. I agree that it might be less likely that I will be available for a last minute social engagement but is that really the problem?

A city the size of Houston offers many diversions and opportunities to explore cultural centers such as museums, art galleries, and the like. Have I done so? Not so much. My point to these concerned individuals would be this. Maybe by moving further away I will learn to appreciate these resources more and will not take them for granted as I have done previously. Canadians are accustomed to driving long distances to get to anything so I feel that I have sufficient experience to judge what would or would not be worth the drive in.

Houston does get cold ... really it does

As a Canadian, weather is one of those things that just "is". In the winter we complain about how cold it is and talk about what we will do when it "warms up." Here in Houston we have a seasonal reversal where in the summer we complain that it is too hot and talk about what we will do when it "cools down."

My keen sense of observation allows me to make the following statement. "People will bitch about the weather irregardless of where they live, how bad the weather actually is, and simply because it provides you with a conversational topic that neither offends nor informs."

This post has been inspired by an email from a friend who can't get enough of my wit.

Technology and Libraries

I was reading through my email when I ran across this job posting and in the description was this.

"Awareness of customer uses of new technologies and new ways of interacting with customers using new technologies is required."

"Candidate should be comfortable using and updating web pages, blogs, newsreaders and RSS feeds."

See Jane, there is hope. I am sad to report that this was for a public library position.... in Canada.....

Patriot Act: The Home Version game

Oh I so want this. And the kicker is it doesn't cost anything, unlike the war in Iraq.

My new fav game. Adios Trivial Pursuit.

For my brother

My brother recently moved from Seoul, South Korea to Singapore, er, Singapore. Jane's blog, Wandering Eyre featured several hilarious t-shirts including this which I will be buying for bro's birthday.

Romance Phobic

Half watching an episode of Sex and the City as I did dishes, I was struck by something Carrie said. Being treated to extreme romance by Mikhail Baryshnikov (oh damn!) the character says something to the effect of romantic gestures being icky. Now its been a long time since I dated a musician who wrote a tonal poem for me which I neither enjoyed nor understood but I would like to believe romance isn't dead for me. Being a little older and wiser I hope I have learned to appreciate the truly romantic gesture. I would be inclined to consider the following gestures as more romantic than a dozen roses.

• Helping me pack/move. Chivalry truly is dead, most of my male friends tend to find reasons why they can't help, aren't available, lost their ability to lift boxes that wouldn't tax a fourth grader, or are just not willing to give up their X-Box time.
• Willingness to listen for more than a five minute time period. I don't know if this is Gen X/Y/Z thing but men for whom communication needs to be in sound bites, really need to commit to any lengthy discussion unless its related to the following topics.
• Conversely the ability to not lecture on any topic related to cars or mechanical/electronic equipment. If I am frustrated with any of these, I am not asking for a technical explanation, I am looking to vent.
  

Survey Hell

I don't know if anyone else is encountering this but I feel like everyone and their dog are asking me to complete a survey for their very important research. Last week I completed; a survey about food services on our campus (okay there was the implied ipod incentive), an ALA Reaccreditation survey for my alma mater, a survey created by a coworker about my comfort level with incorporating technology into my teaching, and a fun questionnaire that determined that I would be the Saddam Hussein of famous world leaders. Honest answers never help you on such things.

Sites like http://freeonlinesurveys.com/ or http://www.freesurveysonline.com/ encourage users to create surveys IN ONLY 10 MINUTES! Is this going to help the researchers who have actually thought through their survey questions and have used effective survey construction techniques to find someone who isn't in a state of survey fatigue? Has Surveymonkey created a new set of monsters? Those who must know what you think about US foreign policy, gasoline prices, or how effectively their customer reward system is working for you. Aaarggh!

Association angst

As an academic librarian I am strongly encouraged to develop a record of service. As a newbie I had no idea how to go about doing this so I went to my first ALA in New Orleans as rather fresh meat. I had no idea that I would leave Midwinter with several commitments to different committees. Having decided that I would focus my efforts on ALA membership and committee work I hadn't necessarily realized all it entailed. The people that I have met through my committee work have been for the most part fabulous. The level of frustration dealing with the bureaucratic nature of my professional association has veered wildly. As a committee chair there are many more opportunities to observe the truly anal rituals involved in planning any events at conference.

Some of my committee members would like to see the possibility of virtual membership and virtual conferences to be emphasized by ALA. I see some real potential in creating such opportunities as not everyone is as well funded for conference travel as we are here. I know that Meredith of Information Wants to be Free discussed this issue with great eloquence in a post entitled "Martyrdom and ALA".

I agree with Meredith in as far as participating in ALA is challenging. I don't however agree with the personal attacks against other ALA members in the post. I know that trying to understand the other side of an argument can be incredibly difficult when you feel strongly about an issue. Does she really think that playground tactics will ever advance finding a solution? My brothers and I were experts at "they started it". Maybe the best thing to do is walk away. Or maybe if you sat down and talked to the people who were attacked you might discover that there are shared goals hidden amongst the animosity.