Locally, a 20-year-old young woman was arrested this week for 1) having sex in public (at a playground filled with kids, during the day!); and 2) underage drinking. On the online version of the newspaper story, oh-so-helpful commenters posted a link to her myspace page (hello, who uses myspace these days??) so that we could all see her youthful exploits with partying, drinking, and use of illegal drugs. Her 31-year-old boyfriend was not able to post the $40 bail. Must've spent all his money on the beer!
She is...(wait for it)....a criminal justice major at a state college in the area.
I could not make this stuff up! Thank God that ever-alert local reporters and the blogosphere are on the case.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
a tale of three cities
We spent a few hours yesterday in Haverhill, MA (say 'HAIV-rill') and it was quite interesting. Haverhill was a major shoe production center back in the day, along with Brockton, Lynn, and to a lesser degree, Newburyport. Before that it was a market town for the upper MA and southern NH Merrimack River valley area. I dimly remember (or remember hearing about) a disastrous downtown fire, and then the misguided redevelopment efforts of the 1970s. (A bank building of that era provides ample testimony.) In my growing-up years, Haverhill was a sad place: downtown of vacant, weed-infested lots. Polluted river. Left-behind commercial area "anchored" by the Registry of Motor Vehicles. (If you are from Mass., and over the age of 35, you will understand what a cruel irony the last one is.)
Right now, in the midst of economic doom-and-gloom, Haverhill seems HOT to me. I'm intrigued, and interested in teasing out the differences between it and other, not-hot places on the North Shore of Boston.
Let's compare with two other cities: Newburyport; and Peabody.
Pop: Haverhill 56K, up from 46K in 1980. Wow! What's THAT about?
Newburyport: about 20K
Peabody: about 50K
Economic base: Haverhill: not sure
Newburyport: tourism downtown; industrial park in the swampland south of town
Peabody: Northshore Mall, Centennial Industrial Park
Place promotion "hooks": Haverhill: Merrimack River, John Greenleaf Whittier; shoes.
Newburyport: Merrimack River and sea access, historically significant architectural assemblages
Peabody: George Peabody, low taxes for biz; what else?? (commercial district is tiny; prevailing community attitude in historic areas favors parking lots, vinyl siding, and chain link fencing)
State and federal funding: Haverhill: not much evidence of it: T station might be a bonus - it's on the Amtrak route to Portland; ancient streetscape improvements on River St. Everything lately appears to be grassroots; there is no evidence of recent major dollars for upgrades.
Newburyport: Congressmen really brought home the bacon in the 1970s - the renovated downtown is spiffy and oh-so-Federalist, but a bit of a stage-set.
Peabody: $6M in downtown infrastructure in the mid-1980s, but it looks a bit tired now. The focus on "getting the traffic through" to Salem makes downtown a bit of a traffic sewer to Salem, not pedestrian- or retail-friendly.
I was impressed with the can-do, make-it-work attitude I could see expressed physically in Haverhill. No waiting for grants; just get in there and slap some paint on the walls and open up a brew-pub -- or antique store, or gallery. In the end, that spirit will make this place successful, and make it endure.
It seems to me that one could develop an index (hello, Richard Florida!) as to the predictors of success of such small cities. As I say, I am intrigued...and thinking about this.
Right now, in the midst of economic doom-and-gloom, Haverhill seems HOT to me. I'm intrigued, and interested in teasing out the differences between it and other, not-hot places on the North Shore of Boston.
Let's compare with two other cities: Newburyport; and Peabody.
Pop: Haverhill 56K, up from 46K in 1980. Wow! What's THAT about?
Newburyport: about 20K
Peabody: about 50K
Economic base: Haverhill: not sure
Newburyport: tourism downtown; industrial park in the swampland south of town
Peabody: Northshore Mall, Centennial Industrial Park
Place promotion "hooks": Haverhill: Merrimack River, John Greenleaf Whittier; shoes.
Newburyport: Merrimack River and sea access, historically significant architectural assemblages
Peabody: George Peabody, low taxes for biz; what else?? (commercial district is tiny; prevailing community attitude in historic areas favors parking lots, vinyl siding, and chain link fencing)
State and federal funding: Haverhill: not much evidence of it: T station might be a bonus - it's on the Amtrak route to Portland; ancient streetscape improvements on River St. Everything lately appears to be grassroots; there is no evidence of recent major dollars for upgrades.
Newburyport: Congressmen really brought home the bacon in the 1970s - the renovated downtown is spiffy and oh-so-Federalist, but a bit of a stage-set.
Peabody: $6M in downtown infrastructure in the mid-1980s, but it looks a bit tired now. The focus on "getting the traffic through" to Salem makes downtown a bit of a traffic sewer to Salem, not pedestrian- or retail-friendly.
I was impressed with the can-do, make-it-work attitude I could see expressed physically in Haverhill. No waiting for grants; just get in there and slap some paint on the walls and open up a brew-pub -- or antique store, or gallery. In the end, that spirit will make this place successful, and make it endure.
It seems to me that one could develop an index (hello, Richard Florida!) as to the predictors of success of such small cities. As I say, I am intrigued...and thinking about this.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
7 days out
I am trying to segue into a routine and some self-discipline, after a summer of doing what I wanted, pretty much when I wanted. (Even the online course offered quite a bit of flexibility, at least on an hourly basis.)
That means: going to bed earlier and toughing out insomnia instead of succumbing to the lure of laptop video. It means getting up early, in prep for the 6 am alarms. It means staying on top of household chores so they don't get out of control (Laundry Mountain, anyone?).
Also, this term, it's gonna be really important to keep up an active research and writing program, not just on my "research day" but consistently, every day. So today I resisted the urge to fiddle around with my syllabi, and instead conference-called with my co-author on the chapter of our book on traditional cities (still have to make an outline out of the notes), and read, cover to cover,
Edgar M. Hoover's scintillating 1937 Location Theory and the Shoe and Leather Industries for a research project I intend to present at a conference in November.
Oh, and I read Sunday's NY Times and the local papers. I urge my students to keep up with events, so I have to walk the walk.
It's 7 pm, so I think I'll "take the rest of the day off," which is what my boss used to recommend at 6 pm when he stopped in my office on his way out of the building. Ah, those were the days!
That means: going to bed earlier and toughing out insomnia instead of succumbing to the lure of laptop video. It means getting up early, in prep for the 6 am alarms. It means staying on top of household chores so they don't get out of control (Laundry Mountain, anyone?).
Also, this term, it's gonna be really important to keep up an active research and writing program, not just on my "research day" but consistently, every day. So today I resisted the urge to fiddle around with my syllabi, and instead conference-called with my co-author on the chapter of our book on traditional cities (still have to make an outline out of the notes), and read, cover to cover,
Edgar M. Hoover's scintillating 1937 Location Theory and the Shoe and Leather Industries for a research project I intend to present at a conference in November.
Oh, and I read Sunday's NY Times and the local papers. I urge my students to keep up with events, so I have to walk the walk.
It's 7 pm, so I think I'll "take the rest of the day off," which is what my boss used to recommend at 6 pm when he stopped in my office on his way out of the building. Ah, those were the days!
Monday, August 24, 2009
shift-share analysis for the toddler set
I've been working for what seems like weeks but is probably only a few days on my last syllabus for fall, Economic Geography. Last time, I took a very traditional approach: theory; basic concepts; four economic sectors; trade; transportation and communication. I did a bit with local economies and wanted to do more (eventually I will probably teach a course on community and economic development and we'll take it up there).
My lecture material was dull, and I was dull, and the textbook was so boring that I routinely fell asleep while reading it. So this time I am trying to be more lively and introduce more relevant topics. About half of my students are in our globalization track; the other half are in early childhood or elementary education. The latter is especially a challenge in terms of making the course meaningful. I am trying to think of how they might use this stuff in their teaching. Doesn't every preschooler need to know something about the global economy?? Sigh.
In other news, it has been a very social few days, and it's weird to be sitting alone at my desk all day again.
My lecture material was dull, and I was dull, and the textbook was so boring that I routinely fell asleep while reading it. So this time I am trying to be more lively and introduce more relevant topics. About half of my students are in our globalization track; the other half are in early childhood or elementary education. The latter is especially a challenge in terms of making the course meaningful. I am trying to think of how they might use this stuff in their teaching. Doesn't every preschooler need to know something about the global economy?? Sigh.
In other news, it has been a very social few days, and it's weird to be sitting alone at my desk all day again.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
out-curmudgeoned!
"Many students are simply not prepared to engage in serious academic work and do not know how they are expected to behave on campus. Most of them bring a consumer mentality to school and very little concern about approval from the older generation. That their own generation was raised on oversized portions of self-esteem is part of the problem, not to speak of their massive exposure to coarse popular culture on television and the internet."
P.M. Forni, professor of Italian at Johns Hopkins, from the Fall 2008 issue of Thought and Action, the NEA Higher Education Journal.
P.M. Forni, professor of Italian at Johns Hopkins, from the Fall 2008 issue of Thought and Action, the NEA Higher Education Journal.
Monday, August 17, 2009
cherry strata
I experimented yesterday with the strata form, seen in such classics as B's family's Christmas Bake and a more modern twist, New Year's bake. This one is not terribly sweet and is a terrific way to use up bread leftover from BBQs and the like. I have a new cherry pitter which is a blast to use! Probably any other kind of summer stone fruit or berries could be substituted - just vary the spices accordingly.
About 8-10 stale hot dog rolls, or whatever other miscellaneous bread is on hand, torn into 1- 1 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz cream cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (yeah, THAT'S a good trick in this heat)
most of a bag of cherries (standard supermarket size), pitted and divided: 1/2 cooked gently with 1/4 C sugar and a couple spoonfuls of water; the other uncooked and sliced for garnish
4 large eggs
2 C milk
2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 t almond extract
Layer 1/3 of the bread in a buttered casserole dish.
Top with 1/2 the cream cheese, dotted in place.
Top with 1/2 the cooked cherries.
Layer another 1/3 of the bread.
Top with the remainder of the cream cheese and cooked cherries.
Layer on the last 1/3 of bread.
Beat the eggs, milk, cinnamon and almond extract in a large bowl. Pour over bread mixture and press bread into the egg mixture until all the bread is saturated, taking care not to disturb the "layering" too much. Refrigerate for a bit - overnight is ideal, but if you are like me, you have about 30 mins of chilling before you have to bake it to be ready for dinner guests.
Bake 350 deg for about an hour uncovered until puffy and golden. If the casserole dish is very full, slip a cookie sheet under to catch any overboil.
Spoon onto bowls/plates, and serve with the sliced uncooked cherries. Whip cream garnish if you like.
About 8-10 stale hot dog rolls, or whatever other miscellaneous bread is on hand, torn into 1- 1 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz cream cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (yeah, THAT'S a good trick in this heat)
most of a bag of cherries (standard supermarket size), pitted and divided: 1/2 cooked gently with 1/4 C sugar and a couple spoonfuls of water; the other uncooked and sliced for garnish
4 large eggs
2 C milk
2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 t almond extract
Layer 1/3 of the bread in a buttered casserole dish.
Top with 1/2 the cream cheese, dotted in place.
Top with 1/2 the cooked cherries.
Layer another 1/3 of the bread.
Top with the remainder of the cream cheese and cooked cherries.
Layer on the last 1/3 of bread.
Beat the eggs, milk, cinnamon and almond extract in a large bowl. Pour over bread mixture and press bread into the egg mixture until all the bread is saturated, taking care not to disturb the "layering" too much. Refrigerate for a bit - overnight is ideal, but if you are like me, you have about 30 mins of chilling before you have to bake it to be ready for dinner guests.
Bake 350 deg for about an hour uncovered until puffy and golden. If the casserole dish is very full, slip a cookie sheet under to catch any overboil.
Spoon onto bowls/plates, and serve with the sliced uncooked cherries. Whip cream garnish if you like.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
helpful study "stick" or useless busywork?
B has finished final grades for the traditional class - a relatively even distribution of As, Bs, and Cs, with a couple of Ds. That's unusual for us - we usually see reverse bell curves - a bunch of As and a bunch of Cs and Ds, with a gap in the B and high C range.
Possibly the higher grades are due to the fact that students were REQUIRED to take reading notes and turn them in for a grade, before the classroom work began. This meant that, even if they did a half-assed job of typing out some definitions and chapter subheads, they had had to engage even if in a desultory way with the content of the day. Thus they understood more in class and did better on the exams.
But should we require notes to be turned in for college students? I tend to think that they have been informed as to what constitutes useful study practice, and they can do it or not as they see fit. (I always wanted to take reading notes but rarely could keep up with it.) Are we as professors obligated to MAKE them do better by putting in place this sort of policing of class preparation? I am of two minds about it: on one hand, part of the job of college is becoming fully an adult and learning for yourself how to learn, even if (perhaps especially if) you make some mistakes along the way. On the other hand, if we can make good preparation for the class session happen simply by requiring (and grading) notes, then shouldn't we do it? It would certainly improve the pre-learning and up the sophistication of what we could do in the classroom.
but then: who the hell wants to grade reading notes?? Yuck.
Possibly the higher grades are due to the fact that students were REQUIRED to take reading notes and turn them in for a grade, before the classroom work began. This meant that, even if they did a half-assed job of typing out some definitions and chapter subheads, they had had to engage even if in a desultory way with the content of the day. Thus they understood more in class and did better on the exams.
But should we require notes to be turned in for college students? I tend to think that they have been informed as to what constitutes useful study practice, and they can do it or not as they see fit. (I always wanted to take reading notes but rarely could keep up with it.) Are we as professors obligated to MAKE them do better by putting in place this sort of policing of class preparation? I am of two minds about it: on one hand, part of the job of college is becoming fully an adult and learning for yourself how to learn, even if (perhaps especially if) you make some mistakes along the way. On the other hand, if we can make good preparation for the class session happen simply by requiring (and grading) notes, then shouldn't we do it? It would certainly improve the pre-learning and up the sophistication of what we could do in the classroom.
but then: who the hell wants to grade reading notes?? Yuck.
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