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 Discussion on answer by Anonymous Phy…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
May 18, 2018 23:54
This extends to other parts of my lab - for example, one of my postdocs asked about relocation bonuses, the other did not. Both got them in their offer letters. There's other stuff I could have spent that money on, but that matters to me.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 23:53
There is a notion of "Be the change you want to see." Yes, not taking on undergrads if I don't have money for undergrads means people miss out. And it also means I have less workers in my lab. But that's a cost I'm willing to bear. It forces me to seek out funding for undergraduates. It forces me to not take an easier path that reenforces a negative thing. It puts the people in my lab on an equal footing.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 23:52
@LLlAMnYP In the sense of "N People Got Research Experience", no, it's not a positive outcome. But I'm a systems scientist, so I take a system-level perspective. The way the U.S. education system is designed rigs things heavily in the favor of the economically advantaged. There are several patterns in higher academia that reenforce this. Not compensating undergrads for research is one of them. I choose not to contribute to that.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 19:10
@LLlAMnYP Fair. It's the next part of that sentence:"...unavailable to those at my institution who need to work to support themselves" that's important. Paying those who work in my lab solve that, which removes any objection I have.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 17:47
Once I set things up so that "If you need a job, this would count" was true for my lab, I didn't ask. It's none of my business.

I did know a couple labs, when I was an undergrad, that had expressly work-study positions, which by implication would be reserved for those who needed some income to support themselves.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 01:21
@ASimpleAlgorithm Undergraduate students, when given sufficiently directed projects, are useful contributors to research. 19% of the papers on my CV have undergraduates on them as authors. I am happy to mentor someone. What I'm not willing to do is to compound the privilege of the already economically privileged by letting them accrue CV-boosting research experience unavailable to those at my institution who need to work to support themselves - and given I'm at a land grant school, that's a fair number. If you work in my lab, you're compensated for it. Full stop.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 01:21
@ASimpleAlgorithm Having been in the position of a brand new professor with no unallocated money sitting around, I did turn away students who could afford not to be paid to keep a level playing field. Principles aren't principles if they only apply when it's convenient.
Fomite
May 18, 2018 01:21
This. Paying undergraduate researchers is an essential part of encouraging equity and diversity in academia.
 

 The Ivory Tower

General discussion for academia.stackexchange.com
Fomite
Mar 25, 2018 09:43
@Wrzlprmft Will check when I can. Currently hiking to Victoria Falls ;)
Fomite
Mar 16, 2018 08:53
@Ooker Not even a little bit. Lots of vaccine and HIV denialism, "this crystal/this diet/healthy living cures cancer" etc.
Fomite
Mar 16, 2018 08:13
@MassimoOrtolano This happens all the time in my field as well. Someone who is an august physicist/chemist/etc. develops some genuinely oddball ideas about medical science. Sadly, often in the form of denialism.
Fomite
Dec 6, 2017 23:37
@D.Hutchinson @D.Hutchinson This is a late response, but the answer is no. Academia.SE is pretty much a concentrated clearing house of the worst of academia, but it's not nearly that bad. Just no one posts about the good stuff, because "How awesome and supportive is my advisor?" does not make for a good question. Honestly, the same is true of academic Twitter.
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 03:08
@Fomite Their acceptance rates factor into rankings. There's also practical matters - they'd have to house and teach those students, and why bother if they don't need to?
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:49
@SirCumference Depends on the university. It's usually a blend of income from their endowment, grant funding, and tuition, as well as state/national allocation in the case of public universities.
Fomite
Nov 17, 2017 22:25
So talk to them. Ask to schedule an appointment to talk about your grade. Honestly, it sounds like you're just spinning your wheels right now in a panic - which is a bad way to get responses.
Fomite
Nov 17, 2017 21:48
And have you talked to the course instructor about your grade?
Fomite
Nov 17, 2017 21:48
@Ponponhollamon You could try asking this as a question on the main site?
Fomite
Oct 26, 2017 18:14
@ff524 "Hello Student. I have altered the file types of all assignments. Pray I do not alter them any further."
Fomite
Oct 24, 2017 21:56
@ff524 For things like that, I don't know. Ironically, the one class I took with all "Professor Made" materials, it was generally regarded as a bad idea, because if you didn't understand his lecture, you probably weren't going to get there from his writing either.
Fomite
Oct 24, 2017 21:50
@ff524 I think there's the belief (accurate or not) that if it was just on Wikipedia and YouTube, they could have learned it on their own. The massive bookmark list of YouTube and other videos on topics I'm going to learn on my own someday in my ample free time that have never been visited suggest this is flawed.
Fomite
Oct 11, 2017 21:39
@StrongBad If the question wasn't closed, I'd be happy to remove my comments too. But definitely no harm no foul.
Fomite
Oct 11, 2017 21:38
@StrongBad No worries dude :)
 

 2018 Academia Moderator Election Chat

Open Discussion for academia.stackexchange.com/election/2
Fomite
Mar 17, 2018 08:05
I understand mine a little better - but I had to go digging. When @SSimon first posted, I didn't even recognize the username, despite him being convinced that I would be the head of an elaborate moderator vendetta. I did some digging and found what I *believe* he's taking issue with.

But I'm also going to decline to explain on @SSimon's behalf, because: 1) I'm not the one making the accusations about potential moderator/moderator-candidate impropriety, 2) I'm nigh positive my explanation will differ sufficiently from his that he won't find it satisfactory and/or it will launch a new round …
Fomite
Mar 17, 2018 02:48
I'm off to Zambia, and the election will be over well before I return. Good luck to everyone, and congratulations/commiserations to the winner.
Fomite
Mar 16, 2018 08:05
@SSimon The details of your accusations would surely help inform @Wrzlprmft 's decisions on how to vote. He is also a user of this site and a voter in this election.
Fomite
Mar 15, 2018 18:12
@StrongBad Indeed. But it's one step closer to actually having context.
2
Fomite
Mar 15, 2018 17:54
For reference, and because insinuations and veiled references are unproductive, I suspect the post SSimon is referencing is this one: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/99437/…
Fomite
Mar 14, 2018 21:53
Personally I think @Wrzlprmft got off easy. He's merely a liar, I'm "detached from reality". A little jealous to be honest.
Fomite
Mar 9, 2018 21:50
@StrongBad Reviewer 2 has much to answer for, and I give you my word that, if elected, my administration will launch a full scale investigation into their perfidious claims of "Flawed methodology", "Overreaching conclusions" and "Not appropriate for this journal."
5
Fomite
Mar 9, 2018 21:37
I will reduce your taxes and build you a new highway!* (*: For some definitions of "reduce", "taxes", "build", "new" and "highway").
Fomite
Mar 8, 2018 21:13
Indeed not.
Fomite
Mar 8, 2018 20:59
@Wrzlprmft For the record, I view your answer on comments as pretty similar to mine. Somewhat less equivocal in language, perhaps, but functionally similar.
Fomite
Mar 7, 2018 22:15
@nengel I'm a night owl in US PST.
 

 Discussion on answer by Anonymous: Ac…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Dec 8, 2017 19:31
@iammax It happens to my female colleagues all the time. And I agree with this answer - the appropriate title is "Professor" or "Dr"
 

 Discussion on answer by Dan Romik: Wh…

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Fomite
Nov 21, 2017 01:32
@user71659 That still doesn't solve the first year. As for whether professors consider URM, it's expressly in the mission of my university, is written into pretty much every NSF grant we write, and is reflected in our student base.
Fomite
Nov 21, 2017 01:32
@user71659 Public schools often charge relatively high tuition for out of state students - at best, this kills recruitment of out-of-state students. And qualifying for in-state tuition is often difficult - North Carolina is absurdly strict. Also the mission of many land grant universities is to help admit more URM students, for whom "just" $15K a year in phantom income is a major financial strain.
 

 Discussion on question by user83035: …

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:38
@Nat By "refactor" you mean major legislative changes to immigration law, student loan programs (some at the state level), and about a dozen other areas. All before the next time taxes are due.
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:38
@PatriciaShanahan Beyond that, even if it was always remitted, it's not always remitted from the same pot. Grant funding, state allocations, etc.
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:38
@aeismail Also, are your students supported by TA lines or the like during the academic year?
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:38
@Nat When you become and "Intern" rather than a student, do your loans come due? Are you able to go to student health? Are you eligible for student housing assistance? Will your student visa work?
Fomite
Nov 18, 2017 02:38
@aeismail Mine don't.
 

 Discussion on answer by Fomite: Photo…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Nov 6, 2017 17:35
@PsySp I have never had them articulated to me. Others may have a different perspective.
 

 Discussion on question by confusedpos…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Oct 24, 2017 17:25
@SSimon No. Just...no.
 

 Change of Heart

Discussion regarding transplantations, site name changes and m...
Fomite
Oct 13, 2017 03:06
Heh...I'm so detached from Health.SE at this point that I didn't even notice this. I'm following the new site, and honestly, I'm of the opinion that the current site needs to be shuttered. It's...pathological. Salt the earth and start over. I do, rather vividly, remember the day I walked out. It was when I decided that I didn't want to dig through trying to find a citation only to find three questions on penile enlargement on the front page. I walked.
 

 Discussion on question by Gabriel: Ca…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Sep 23, 2017 16:57
@Gabriel "Demanding" and "pressuring the author" are good ways to make things antagonistic quickly. There's plenty of ways the authors can be shitty back.
 

 Discussion on answer by nengel: The r…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Sep 16, 2017 17:28
@GennaroTedesco I guess you'll just have to trust me that I'm not idly making stuff up to disagree with a perfect stranger about something on the internet while I have other things to do with my day. But, since we're at the point where you're suggesting that's the case, I think this conversation has reached it's natural conclusion.
Fomite
Sep 16, 2017 17:28
@GennaroTedesco I'm really not - I'm just providing counter-examples to things you have asserted are capital-T True.
Fomite
Sep 16, 2017 17:28
@GennaroTedesco I recently had a major grant funded on the back of a research agenda that is exactly in the 2-3 papers per PhD/Postdoc/Associate Professor position scope. I think you're assuming there are things that are universally true based on Italy and Germany that are very much not.
Fomite
Sep 16, 2017 17:28
@GennaroTedesco Grant funding is partially a function of publishing "N papers", and the university does benefit from grant overhead.
 

 Discussion on answer by iayork: Is it…

Imported from a comment discussion on academia.stackexchange.c...
Fomite
Sep 7, 2017 21:50
@Oleg I was referring to your National Review article you originally cited as evidence - written by an attorney and journalist. The rest of your message is just insulting and intentionally misreading things and at this point I'm nigh positive you're not discussing anything in good faith, and frankly, you haven't been for awhile now.