For those who ask if I've considered adjuncting

Looking at all courses part-time faculty respondents reported on, the median pay per course, standardized to a three-credit course, is $2,700. There does appear to be a wage premium based on credentials among part-time faculty members: those who hold a bachelor’s degree earned a median pay per course of $2,250, those with a master’s degree earned $2,400, those with professional or other terminal degrees earned between $2,800 and $2,937, and those with a doctorate earned $3,200 (table 19). 

This wage premium, however, reflects differences only within an employment category that is significantly underpaid, not just in comparison with tenured and tenure-track colleagues but also in comparison with similarly credentialed workers across the United States in all professions. If we were to annualize the median per-course salaries of part-time faculty respondents and compare them with the median earnings of all full-time workers, it becomes clear just how underpaid this group of professionals is. We first annualized pay based on an annual load of eight classes that might be configured in more than one way (i.e., four courses in each of two terms during the traditional academic year, or three courses in fall and spring and two courses in the summer [table 20]). The gap between what a part-time faculty member earns and the median earnings of full-time, year-round workers of equivalent educational attainment is staggering and becomes more dramatic as the level of credential rises. 

Some would assert that while eight courses per academic year might be considered a full load for full-time tenure-track faculty members, such a teaching load without any research or service requirements does not truly represent the work of a full-time faculty member. Others would assert that, regardless of outside work, an annual course load of eight courses does not reflect fulltime employment. Even if we annualize salaries using an extreme model of a teaching load of five courses in each of three terms during a year, however, we find that the annualized earnings of a part-time faculty member are still dramatically below that of professionals with similar credentials (table 20). 

For most Americans, higher educational attainment regularly and predictably leads to higher earnings. The wage premium for an advanced degree for part-time faculty members who responded to this survey, however, is minimal and comparatively lower than the median earnings of other professionals with the same level of education.

--From "A Portrait of Part-Time Faculty Members: A Summary of Findings on Part-Time Faculty Respondents to the Coalition on the Academic Workforce Survey of Contingent Faculty Members and Instructors" by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce

Pack of animals on school bus terrorizes passenger

Yeah, I'm talking about the kids in Rochester, NY, who ganged up on and ridiculed the bus monitor until she cried. And, yeah -- I did, in fact, mean to call those children animals.

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I've seen a lot of focus on the fact that these kids are being disrespectful to someone older -- a grandmother, it's pointed out. That fact does make this seem extra-disgusting. But the main problem is not, in my opinion, that Ms. Klein is a grandmother. The main problem is that she's human, and these kids are being abusive. It would be abusive no matter what age the abused. I love it that Matt Lauer is so angry about this. To be honest, I don't think it was necessarily a good thing for someone on YouTube to put the kids' names on blast, but I'm glad someone did. But the collective anger of the viewing public won't fix this, and I have a hard time believing that anyone cruel enough to participate in this has the decency to be properly humiliated by his or her participation being made public. They did, after all, have one of their peers record it, presumably to show off. Lauer wanted to know if they'd apologized. My guess would be that, if they're sorry for anything, they're sorry they got caught and reprimanded. 

School officials promise that their parents have promised to "punish" them. But what sort of "punishment" do people presume is appropriate for this? Yes, I'd like to know that they got grounded, because it hurts me to think that these little shits won't face any consequences for being little shits. But grounding them won't make them better people. Wouldn't it be better for school officials to to promise that the parents have actually taken responsibility for re-socializing the animals they've raised into decent human beings?

And, yes -- I know that that they're young and immature, and that kids do all sorts of things when they're away from parental supervision. But does a well-socialized child actually go full-on Lord of the Flies with no more provocation than a ride on the school bus? They are young. They are immature. They are also cruel, and people don't really just grow out of that. They just grow more strategic about displaying it.

Rock of Ages: nothin' but a good time

Went to see Rock of Ages on Friday night. I really enjoyed it, but I should say, in the interest of full disclosure, that I had really low expectations. I hadn't actually planned on seeing it at all, but a friend suggested that it might be terrible in a really excellent way, so see it I did. If you're not the sort of person who thinks thatmovies can be terrible in an excellent way, you should probably skip this one. I can't say that it's actualy a "good" film -- it is (intentionally) over the top and (also intentionally, I think) contrived, and even the contrived plot is pretty weak. Somehow, this doesn't stop it from being highly entertaining. Perhaps it's because, as my friend M. recently reminded me (speaking of an opera we'd seen), the narrative structure is always weak for these sorts of things, because it's not really the point. 

So what, then, was the point of Rock of Ages? Well, it's a film based on a Jukebox Musical. My understanding of jukebox musicals is that they're a thinly veiled excuse to have a bunch of actors sing songs people already know and love. For Rock of Ages, those songs are 80s rock songs, with a heavy emphasis on anthems and power ballads. I vividly remember listening to a lot of this music, which is how I knew that some of the songs had not come out in 1987. The set list spans from 1980-1990 (further back and a year later for the staged version), and has spawned a truly epic playlist on my iPod:

[Song (Artist) - Album, Year]

Paradise City (Guns n Roses) - Appetite for Destruction, 1987

Sister Christian (Night Ranger) - Midnight Madness, 1982

Just Like Paradise (David Lee Roth) - Skyscraper, 1988

Nothin' But a Good Time (Poison) - Open Up and Say...Ahh!, 1988

Juke Box Hero (Foreigner) - 4, 1981

I Love Rock n Roll (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts) - I Love Rock n Roll, 1981

Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Pat Benetar) - Crimes of Passion, 1980

Waiting For a Girl Like You (Foreigner) - 4, 1981

More Than Words (Extreme) - Extreme II: Pornograffitti, 1990

Heaven (Warrant) - Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, 1989

wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi) - Slippery When Wet, 1986

I Want to Know What Love Is (Foreigner) - Agent Provocateur, 1984

I Wanna Rock (Twisted Sister) - Stay Hungry, 1984

Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard) - Hysteria, 1987

Harden My Heart (Quarterflash) - QuarterFlash, 1981

Shadows of the Night (Pat Benetar) - Get Nervous, 1982

Here I Go Again (Whitesnake) - Saints & Sinners, 1982

I Can't Fight This Feeling (REO Speedwagon) - Wheels Are Turning, 1984

Every Rose Has its Thorn (Poison) - Open Up and Say...Ahh!, 1988

Rock You Like  Hurricane (Scorpion) - Love at First Sting, 1984

We Built This City (Starship) - Knee Deep in the Hoopla, 1985

We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister) -  Stay Hungry, 1984

Don't Stop Believin' (Journey) - Escape, 1981

And there are a few songs that are in the stage version, but not in the film:

Too Much Time On My Hands (Styx) - Paradise Theater, 1981

To Be With You (Mr. Big) - Lean Into It, 1991

Cum on Feel the Noize (Slade) - Sladest, 1973

The Final Countdown (Europe) - The Final Countdown, 1986

High Enough (Damn Yankees) - Damn Yankees, 1990

I HAte Myself for Loving You (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts) - Up Your Alley, 1988

Oh Sherrie (Steve Perry) - Street Talk, 1984

The Search is Over (Survivor) - Vital Signs, 1984

Rock of Ages (the film) is successful, in that I really had to fight the urge to sing along. So, while there's really not much of a story to get caught up in (almost everything in the film is a foregone conclusion), there are plenty of catchy hooks, crescendos, and guitar solos to get carried away by, as long as you're willing to surrender to the ridiculousness of it all. 

The one thing that really threw me? Tom Cruise's strangely contortion of his pelvis and torso. There are moments where whatever is happening with Stacee Jaxx is the exact opposite of sexy, and intentionally so. But I'm pretty sure there were moments when he was supposed to be strutting with confidence, and maybe even sexiness, but he really just looked like something was wrong with his spine.

OK, so there were two things that threw me. One was Tom Cruise's....whatever was going on there. The other was Julianne Hough. Was she really the best singer they could find for that part? And, if she's famous as a dancer, why was she so unimpressive during her big "dance" scene? So confusing.

Aside of the weird posture, Tom Cruise was creepy and messed-up as Stacee Jaxx, which I think was acting. Julianne Hough did not particularly impress me. Malin Ackerman continues to have a good sense of humor (see: 27 Dresses), Kathrine Zeta Jones gets the job done as Tipper Gore the rock hating activist, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand are amusing as rock n roll lifers, and Paul Giamatti is a fantastically slimy manager. Diego Boneta was pretty good (singing) as rock-hopeful Drew. Also? He's way hotter in press appearances than he was in the movie.

Sorry...what was I talking about?

Kind of cute, I guess.

Overall, the whole thing was ridiculous, but highly enjoyable. Or, as Poison once said...