Comments for BackStage

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by pitse1eh

pitse1eh — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:11:11 +0000

Well, darn. This went into Spam for some reason, and I just recovered it. We’ve already bought tickets on a boat. This sounds cheaper and as good of a trip. Oh well, you live you learn! I really appreciate all the good tips though.

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by CJ

CJ — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:58:09 +0000

Oh, whoops. I should have added that the Burke-Gelman is great for running/walking along too. I’m just used to thinking about riding on it because I used it for commuting. You can rent a bike at Recycled Cycles, the most awesome-est bicycle shop in seattle. It’s also only a few blocks from the Burke.

I also just remembered that one of my best places for down-to-earth advice of where to go is Prof. Jack Lee’s recommendations of things to do in Seattle at http://www.math.washington.edu/~lee/outings.html. It’s a good page because it also has links to general transportation information in Seattle.

While I’m at it, another cheap thing to try (I promise, my last recommendation since you’re only there for a weekend) is to take the ferry to Bainbridge. It leaves from near Pike Place. It’s not that there’s anything at Bainbridge, but if it’s a nice day you get incredibly views of downtown Seattle, the mountains, and Rainier for only $7. Almost as good, taking the ferry straight there and then going straight back (there’s honestly nothing no Bainbridge–I checked) only takes about 1 and a half hours all told.

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by pitse1eh

pitse1eh — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:39:17 +0000

CJ, thanks so much. I’ve never been much of a bike rider, but sounds worth it. I wonder where I would get a bike… Anyway, I’ll let you know how the trip goes!

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by CJ

CJ — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:59:14 +0000

I used to live in Seattle. You’re right, the Pike Place market is a must. It’s got an amazing array of stuff and is right on the edge of the Pudget Sound. Another nice, artsy place with cool stores is the Fremont neighborhood. There’s a great, and pretty inexpensive, restaurant around there called Silence Heart Nest which serves incredible vegan and vegetarian food. If you go to Fremont, make sure to see the statue of Lenin and the giant troll statue underneath the highway. If you’re in the mood to exercise while exploring, just ride along the Burke-Gelman trail. It goes straight through the UW, Fremont, Gasworks park (a place with a great view), and several other places. I’d actually highly recommend doing that if you get a chance because you get to see so much that way, and it travels right along the channel between Lake Washington and the Sound. But all of those are more things to do if you have a bit more time to kill and would like to stroll around and get some incredible views.

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by pitse1eh

pitse1eh — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:09:36 +0000

Well, his acoustic stuff is far superior. I love his later work. Although, his early Pearl Jam material (ala Ten) does make me wax nostalgic.

Is that adequate? And, can I do this WHILE at the first Starbucks?

Comment on Rain On Everything I Know by Cartagena

Cartagena — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:32:56 +0000

Frasier may be set in Seattle, but there’s nothing local about it. Make sure to visit the first Starbucks, and talk about Eddie Vedder. That’s what real Seattleans do.

Comment on Classroom Politics by olderwoman

olderwoman — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:39:36 +0000

As a state employee, it is illegal for me to use my position to advance partisan politics (and also illegal for me to advance any religion), and ethically I think it is inappropriate for any professor to take advantage of a captive audience for non-educational purposes. That said, one’s general political stance is usually fairly obvious, even if it seems invisible to students (as dominant ideologies tend to be seen as neutral). I think the professor — or TA — has the obligation to remember his/her authority position and behave responsibly with it. If you are teaching controversial issues, it is helpful to give intellectual tools for distinguishing points of fact, about which there is evidence, from values & policy implications, for which there are not right or wrong answers. You can be dogmatic and off-putting from any political or intellectual standpoint, and you can be open and interested in others’ opinions from any political standpoint. You can say things like “look, I know there are different opinions on these issues and you can tell I have opinions, but let’s take this apart and see which things are matters of fact that we have evidence about.” If you sound like you value students’ opinions even when you disagree with them, they will generally not be offended that you have opinions that are different from theirs. Which is not to say that there are not some students who will be offended that the facts are not what they want them to be, and will take umbrage at your presentation of upsetting facts. But you cannot please everyone.

Comment on Classroom Politics by belle lettre

belle lettre — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:48:21 +0000

Very good points. It isn’t hard to guess which side of the political spectrum I’m on, since my work makes normative arguments for gender and racial equity in the workplace. But I’ve never graded down a student for disagreeing with me–only for making unsupported arguments. Get some data, get some other literature, and this to me is learning from each other. I don’t shove my opinions down students throats, but I do approach a question open-endedly, and ask students “well, how about this contradictory study…” and such and such. And yes, a transparent, “objective” grading key is important. Citing sources is mandatory, as is finding data, as is making an argument that utilizes the materials and approaches of the course rather than “I think” or “in my experience”….that’s the basis for the grade.

A debate is a fantastic approach. Fortunately in law school, where I plan to teach, everything is open to debate. But! I would insist on sources.

Comment on Ethnicity and Race–HELP! by Classroom Politics « BackStage

Classroom Politics « BackStage — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:28:47 +0000

[...] a Norm of Commenting pitse1eh on Ethnicity and Race–…Anomie on Ethnicity and Race–…pitse1eh on Ethnicity [...]

Comment on Ethnicity and Race–HELP! by pitse1eh

pitse1eh — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:40:05 +0000

@Anomie, yeah, let’s make this a post.