The Ph.D. Now Comes With Food Stamps: "Some adjuncts make less money than custodians and campus support staff who may not have college degrees."

ilamont · 2 days

That's because, only a few decades ago, it basically did.

But what happened a few decades ago isn't relevant to what happens now. It is foolish for anyone to rely on outdated expectations and akin to "Well back in my day..." stories.

Also, I've been following the thread and your comments. You have justified points though I don't necessarily agree (though the first response is not really a point of contention). However, I think you're really off the mark with this statement...

If your productivity is high enough to pay the salary you want, and you're not exploited, yes you can.

This sounds straight out of an Ayn Rand novel. Hard work can only get you so far and earnesty will get you nothing when you're up against market forces.

Let's say I play the world's best air guitar. Not only am I naturally good at it, but I practice my air guitar more than you can fathom. I don't think it's silly. I think it's culturally relevant, takes skill to master, and further more I am able and willing to tell you exactly why it's so important and so hard to master. And I'm more than willing to spend every waking moment teaching my air guitar to anyone who'll pay me. So why isn't anyone paying me?

Of course we all realize how silly a PhD in Air Guitaring sounds, but go ask an unemployed blue collared worker what they think of a Medieval History degree.

If you want to argue how messed up our priorities are for the job market then we can spend all day agreeing, but that won't change the game. And if you don't want to play the game, that's fine, but you shouldn't be so confused when you lose.

ilamont · 2 days

Because, clearly, having money for her is very important, so why the lack of financial planning? That's what bothers me.

This is more or less a statement I should have originally included. I think there's a certain amount of romance and even respect to be had for those who embrace bohemian culture. If you can tolerate the poverty for the sake of your passion, then you're a braver person than I am.

And perhaps it's because the article isn't communicating the point well, but it felt like it was implying that a graduate degree entitles you to job security and high wages.

It may be some of us are lucky enough to be passionate about a stable and growing sector - oh how I wish I could be enthused by finance - but there's a reality to face. Wecan't all do what we love and make a living from it no matter how much expertise you may have.

donjohnson210 · 2 days

For me, PT Anderson is my favorite contemporary American director (though I have not seen Hard Eight) and I thank you for the opporitunity to actually try and dissect why I think he's so great.

To me, while other auteur directors like Wes Anderson, Scorcese, Coen Brothers, or Tarantino can immediately inspire a distinct and unique attitude, watching a PTA movie doesn't have that sort of pull. His style is purposefully subtle and his techniques are broad.

In my opinion, this sort of suppression of style lets the characters really drive the film which makes it easier to get lost in it and have more empathy. Unlike the directors I mentioned above, never in his movies do I feel like his characters exist in a parallel world; it feels like they decidedly occupy my own which makes their plights even more poignant. Paul Thomas Anderson is like The Wire of directors.

ilamont · 3 days

The article makes a very poor decision in choosing medieval-history and film studies graduates as the example here. Since it didn't point out otherwise, it makes it hard not to assume that these food stamp graduates are probably from the humanities side of the spectrum.

That said, not only am I not sympathetic, but I might be downright resentful towards their plight. I can't help but believe that Ms. Melissa Bruninga-Matteau's studies in medieval history is less a dedication to preserve the discipline and more because, like all of us here, she's a passionate geek who has been to too many Renaissance Faires.

I'm not trying to suggest that certain subjects do not deserve its own academic dissection; any sort of knowledge is the bee's-knees. But there comes a point in the attainment of education and knowledge where the pursuit of such a specialization is simply selfish. For me, the article helped me find this point - when you start to need society to subsidize your geekery.

If you're a trust-fund kid, great. Go at it, I'd truly love to hear your dissertations on Mayan Ceramics. But otherwise, why not choose a more pragmatic subject and then once stable, go for your graduate degree in your passion later in life. I shouldn't have to feel guilty you can't make a living off your hobby.

marquis_of_chaos · 5 days

Interesting article but in not being a philosopher and having had experience working with substance abuse I can't really see a pragmatic point to this.

The viewpoint, which I do not disagree with, seems to end up not mattering in the end. Whether the addict is making a bad choice because they are "weak", or, as the article implies, a percieved good choice that's actually bad, I can't see how this will be able to effect addiction treatment when the end result is the user still makes the bad choice.

And I'm curious to know how this applies to something like heroin or an equally crippling drug that will cause you terrible withdrawal. By the articles claims, wouldn't the addict be making a percieved good choice that actually IS a good choice considering the body's physical need and not just desire to have heroin in them?

Anyways, very interesting article nontheless. I may be missing a lot of points. It's pretty late in the Friday workday.

scadsofemotion · 5 days

I'm sort of impressed by the level of hair bashing details you got into.

scadsofemotion · 5 days

This wouldn't happen to be at Sirens Festival on Coney Island three or four years back would it? I ask because it was outdoors and the Ravonettes were one of a handful of bands opening for...Matt and Kim? I distinctly remember because they sucked so bad it made me sober.

scadsofemotion · 5 days

I'll admit it was kind of dumb for me to buy the $80 ticket so early on but they definitely got me with the whole, "Limited, once in a life-time show" scheme.

Their playing was...not special. Perhaps it was because of a years worth of expectation brewing or I was simply demoralized from everything, but I almost wish I didn't see them. Anyways, it's hard to say if their performance was good in general as a band who prides themselves on sloppiness, but I felt they were missing the energy I was expecting. I remember a couple of false starts and the guy who sang Date With Ikea was awful

scadsofemotion · 5 days

To be honest, in a different context I probably would have been saying it was awesome because of the lightning and if it was a little warmer the rain would have been fantastic too but I think the whole fighting situation spoiled the experience too much in addition to feeling exploited. There was a lot of tension for a good while in my vicinity. I pretty much had to ignore two songs because I was too on edge worried that I was going to get stabbed in the eye by this umbrella during a fight.

You happen to see this umbrella situation? I center-right about 5 rows away from the stage and the umbrella guy was one row in front. He caused quite a bit of commotion, I heard people yelling at him from far away.

scadsofemotion · 6 days

Seriously. I'm not the sort of guy who willingly engages in confrontation, but I actually stepped in to separate the two parties saying, "Come on guys, it's Pavement. And dude, you really are being rude to everyone behind you." (The cause of the tension was because the douchbag in front of me refused to close his umbrella despite a lot of protest).

TheBauhausCure · 6 days

I feel bad for the one parrot that wasn't cool enough to make the cut.

scadsofemotion · 6 days

Not the worst but perhaps the most disappointing was seeing Pavement's reunion show in Central Park. Being a huge fan, I paid $80 literally a year beforehand but then Pavement decided to open up five more shows the week of driving the value down to peanuts. Here I was with my $80 ticket like a sucker while scalpers are basically giving them away 2 for $5.

Plus there was a thunderstorm that day so it was rainy, cold, and they had to stop the set for 20 minutes because of lightning. Also, I nearly got caught between a fist fight.

truebastard · 6 days

I agree with rooftop bars, but $15-$20 for a legitimate cocktail isn't terribly priced (I'm no connoisseur though). It is for like, a Red Bull and Vodka, but speakeasy places should have a more thoughtful and better executed drink. I'd be apprenhensive if the cocktail was less than $10.

ndaly87 · 7 days

The Strokes at a small NYC venue just before Is This It gets released.

Or Jeff Magnum Live at Jittery Joe's.

plausibleD · 7 days

I really dislike this statement.

Yes, there's a double-standard. And until there's full equality and the long slow process of racial healing is completed, the double-standard has to remain.

If all aspects of a crime are equal, this statement implies that we should be more lenient towards one party (the double-standard) because of their history, a notion that is both complete rubbish as well as seemingly hypocritical of the rest of the article which I thought was accurate and insightful.

I think the author lays out an extremely thoughtful arguement that a double-standard doesn't even exist because the cases themselves do not start on equal footing. And the article further does a good job dissecting why the cases (and not just the two examples) do not start on equal footing.

...therefore members of the minority race beating up two members of the majority race is quite different in a societal sense than a member of the majority race shooting the minority race in apparent cold blood. White-on-black crime comes from a position of power. The opposite -- the minority oppressing the majority -- is impossible.

It's a shame that the author had to end with saying a "double-standard" should exist because it totally negates the rest of the article and is the cause of all the conservative rantings in the comments.

delabass · 7 days

A black female co-worker to gain the perspective of both a black person and a female.
A Mexican bike delivery guy to learn a thing or two about work ethic, being an immigrat, and to pick up Spanish.
Someone who can sing well.

jonscotch · 7 days

I gave up halfway in. I though the premise was contrived and the cinematography mind-bogglingly annoying. It's like watching a Tony Scott film on a rollar coaster.

HeyItsMau · 8 days

Thanks. I'm pretty sold on not doing an MBA based on your third answer. What do you think about other programs for question 1? I'm thinking Operations Management.

JeromeTomorrow · 10 days

Well, I think the point of the article is that geoengineering would in fact be a solution if the problem were "We need to keep the temperature a few degrees lower", but it is a shame that we are more or less resigned to seeing that as the problem that needs to be solved rather than addressing the problem of "We are causing global warming".

A better term to use throughought is the fact that it isn't a "Cure". I think the chemotherapy analogy the author uses is very apt.

Charmadillo · 12 days

I'm going to piggyback on this thread and ask if anyone going to Sunday's events would like to meetup. I'm going with friends but would it would be cool to meet new people for an event or two.

I'm pretty pumped to see Patton Oswalt and Collichio, Morimoto breakdown a fish, and Hall and Oates.

teegale · 14 days

He actually does quite a few commercial voice-overs, none that I can think off the top of my head, but there have been numerous times where I've had a pang of vague recognition and it turned out to be J.K. Same goes for Jeff Bridges.

teegale · 14 days

She kills it in Mystic River despite having less than like, 10 minutes of screen time.

teegale · 14 days

For a while there, Anne Hathaway seemed like a Teen Choice Award nominee and nothing more. But Rachel Getting Married showed that she's got some real talent there. Haven't really liked her in anything else though.

SRSco · 16 days

While I'm glad that you attempted to create some dissenting dialogue within /r/movies, I still had to downvote you on the way you are presenting it. It's obvious that you are not going to even give objectivity a chance which leads me to beleive your distaste for comic book movies is overcompensating and disingenuous.

I don't think it's implausible to dislike comic book movies as a genre. I don't actually think it's comic book movies that are the problem but rather the fact that comic book movies will nearly always be blockbusters. That said, blockbusters are certainly not auteur and definitely sacrifices depth for more widespread appeal. The Avengers doesn't break this mold which, in the scope of all cinema, can be a pretty big detractor. In the scope of blockbusters though, The Avengers is top-notch.

HeyItsMau

TROPHY CASE

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