Today UC Davis's department of graduate studies held an orientation for new teaching assistants in all departments. It was a nice little affair, with coffee and donuts provided, and seminars on how not to make an ass out of yourself in the classroom, and others on how not to let the students make an ass out of you, and, of course, what to do when each of these things inevitably happen.
What was interesting though, was the representatives from United Auto Workers posted outside of the doors armed with clipboards, urging us to sign up for the union that negotiates with the school for a contract for all of the TAs. I had a great time telling them that I did not wish to join (this is, by the way, quite an understatement), and then watching them get all flustered over why someone might actually not want to be in the union. "Don't you want to get paid well?" they would say. I gave up on trying to give them a coherent explanation of my opinion, but I did enjoy answering a few of them that asked why I did not wish to join (they all asked) by saying, "because I don't agree with your tactics." I got to use this answer to segue into a little economic evengelism with my colleagues who overheard, so I was thankful for that part of it.
Here's the deal though: you accept an offer to come to UC and study. The department agrees to pay you $14k per year to work for them as a TA for 8-10 hours a week, 9 months a year. Now that right there is pretty good. In addition, they also offer to pay your in-state fees, amounting to about $5k, which includes very good health insurance. Hey, now we're talking here. Now on top of that, the taxpayers of the state of California kick in another $15 a year to cover the additional cost of education that your fees do not. All of this amounts to a hell of a deal for working 10 hours a week for 9 months. So you decide that this sounds good to you (better than what any other school was offering), so you sign a paper saying that you accept the offer, and you move to Davis. Now, after you sign that contract with the school, you are asked to join a group that will agitate (their word) with the administration to get you more. And when you sign up, you authorize that union to put you on strike, at which time they would withhold your pay, while they demand more than you already agreed to work for, all the while claiming that you are entitled to more than the amounts I mentioned above. First of all, with a family, I do not have the luxury of authorizing the union to withhold my pay in the event that they are not satisfied with the offer put forth by the administration. And I am supposed to refuse to do the work that I committed to do, in writing, before the start of the quarter. To me, this all amounts to all kinds of violations of my own conscience.
Well, It's 5:11 am Tuesday morning, and I've been up for 2 hours. If this isn't the height of boredom, I don't know what is: I just watched an infomercial for a computer, and I went online with Dell.com to see if I could beat the infomercial price. The result? I built a comparable Dell (perhas better) for $100 bucks less. The funny thing though, was that the guy on the infomercial was going on and on about technology that anybody even remotely familiar with computers knows is no big deal, such as an optical mouse ("this mouse is so accurate, it actually uses a laser to track its movement!"). But must I really blog about the fact that infomercials are deceptive? Like I said, it's 5 am, and my brain isn't processing at a high enough frequency to discuss anything of consequence. I started to feel sick last night, and it apears that I am coming down with a bug that has afflicted the children in our apartment, including my daughter Abigail. I'm just waiting for my Vicotin to kick in so I can get some sleep.
In other news, I started class two weeks ago. Well, the qurter doesn't officially start until the 25th, but for now I'm attending lectures called Math Camp, a four week course designed to prepare new econ grad students for the mathematical rigor that they will face in the first year. I had been more or less keeping up until yesterday, when panic set in. I listened to a 2 hour lecture and understood maybe 20% of it. I then met with a study group and worked for an hour and a half on part "a" of a three part problem, wrote three pages of calculations, and I'm still not finished with that part of that part of part of a problem set, two of which are due on Friday.
I just can't figure out if I need to be a part of the class that turns in 20 neatly written (or, in one case that I saw, typed, with printed computer graphics) pages on the due date, or the other group that laughs at the very idea of finishing the set. In a sense, I don't want to be a part of either group, one of which doesn't seem to care whether they pass their prelims and leave in a year with a Master's, or the other group that is literally going to study day and night, every day, for the next year. I think I somehow need to strike a balance between the two, while at the same time benefitting from the collaboration that finding a study group can provide. I think that it would be best to find people that are jsut a bit more dilligent than I am, because I am so impressionable by the slackers. I'm struggling so hard to overcome the bad study habits that I have spent years developing. I have distinct memories of crying in front of my third grade teacher for having to tell her (again) that I did not do my homework. I was one of the best students in the class, and the combination of my ability to understand concepts without spanding much time practicing them, my tendency to blow off what needed to be done for what I wanted to do, and my parents' tendency to tolerate it, I developed the worst study habits of anyone in the top half of their class. I started settling for mediocrity in high school, and didn't really begin to reverse that trend until I got married, started seminary, and ultimately, decided I needed to get into a good econ program. At that point being at the top of my class was a necessity, and I rose to the challenge in spite of myself. This, however, is a new chapter entirely. Even with my "new and improved" study habits, I have a long way to go to catch up with my colleagues, at least 50% of which will not make it past the first year, if past years are any indication. I did not, however, move myself, my wife, and my daughter to California after two years of preparation for grad school to flunk out after a year. I'm in it for the long haul. So there.
Ok, after hearing it from several friends, I have to apologize for the inexcusable neglect of my blog. I guess though, that it would be much worse if no one noticed that I have not been writing. I guess part of the problem is that I put a lot of pressure on myself to write something really good if I write anything at al, but that totally misses the point of this blog, which for me is supposed to be an exercise in writing for an audience. It's not much exercise if you don't do it, right?
So here's my new baby:
I finally pulled the trigger on a road bike soon after moving to Davis, the (unofficial) road biking capital of the world. Boy, did ever get a good deal on ebay, too. Why would anyone buy a new one? I got a 2 year old bike for 25% of its new price. I'm very excited to ride it now, as my former favorite form of exercise, running, has become really difficult lately because of an aggrivated back injury. The great thing about riding here is that I can literally go to the next town in four directions and be on a bike lane the whole way, as well as having a lane all over the city. And the Davis Bike Club has, on average, three group rides every day. Hopefully I'll be able to find some time for this as school starts in 2 weeks, and life as we know it is officially over.
Ok, Matthew, that wasnt so bad, now was it? A couple of paragraphs every now and then. Let's see if I can keep this up.