Should take about 10 to 15 minutes! Thanks for your help! And if you know anyone else who might take it, forward away!

Invitation to Participate in Research Study:
Mindfulness, Social Attitudes, and Bias Awareness

This is a web-based survey research study involving: mindfulness, social attitudes regarding eperience, comfort and appreciation with diversity, and awareness of personal bias. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of mindfulness (awareness and acceptance) to social attitudes, specifically the experience and comfort with and appreciation of people who are different or similar.
We are asking you to complete a web-based survey that will take 30 minutes. Some items are sensitive, such as asking you about your religious beliefs or prejudices, but no more so than you would encounter in everyday life; you may skip a question if it makes you uncomfortable. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. By filling out the survey, you are agreeing to participate in the study. If you have any questions or concerns about this project, contact Dr. Sue C. Jacobs, Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology at (405) 744-9895; sue.c.jacobs@okstate.edu. Other research team members include, Anne P. Weese, Maria Howell, Nathan Richards, Julie Swagerty, and Rich Zamora. This study has been approved by the Oklahoma State University IRB. Thank you for your willingness to assist us with this research.

Follow the link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=MoIhbYqlJsRSieydarE57A_3d_3d

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Het
It All Came Tumbling Down~ 23/? by ruthkit Written in beyond_insane [Kara/Lee; M; Spoilers: All]
The Morning Light Has Washed Your Sins by crickets Written in bsg_creative [Caprica/Baltar; PG; Spoilers: Post Series]
Hour of the Wolf~ by geekbynight Written in bsg2003fics [Gaeta/Eight; R; Spoilers: None]
The Living VIII by umademebelieve Written in adama_roslin [Bill/Laura; NC17; Spoilers: None]
The Stars in Their Courses~ 9 by bugsfic Written in adama_roslin [Laura/Bill; T; Spoilers: 33]
Another’s Day’s… Work~ by tayryn Written in adama_roslin [Bill/Laura; MA; Spoilers: None]


Slash
Pleasure~ by bsg_aussiegirl Written in bsg_femslash [D’Anna/Kara; MA; Spoilers

What do you think about unions in universities?
Has your education been compromised by a striking union?
Have you been a staff or faculty member that has been severely underpaid?

Our strike is not the worst by far. I'd think York University's (Toronto, Canada, 2001 ?) might qualify though.

Brought to you by the fact that we are on strike

(cross-posted to gradstudents)

My university has recently swapped the way it is paying it's grad students.

We used to be paid by the hour.
We are now paid by the hour, up to a cap of 1 hour per lesson, 15 minutes prep time and 8 minutes per homework marked. (These figures are the average of figures given by postgrad students for the last year). Pay is £13.69 a hour.

The Postgrads are not terribly happy about this, as there are often times when courses take longer than average to mark and we don't really enjoy working for free. When we asked what we were supposed to do on the longer than average courses, we were told to judge which these would be in advance and mark faster to compensate. We also dislike the prep time, as last year it was 1 hour and now it is 15 minutes, and 15 minutes isn't long enough to prepare me for getting out of bed, let alone teaching 10-14 undergraduates.

We are attempting to argue this is an unfair system (in that other than minimising what we get paid and complicating our paperwork, it seems to have no benefit), and will lead to a lowering in quality of marking/teaching. It's not going well.

I was hoping there are other Math postgrads on here who would share how payment for marking/teaching works at their university. I'm primarily interested in UK based figures, but other answers would be helpful also.

Thanks in advance.

(cross-posted to academics_anon)

My university has recently swapped the way it is paying it's grad students.

We used to be paid by the hour.
We are now paid by the hour, up to a cap of 1 hour per lesson, 15 minutes prep time and 8 minutes per homework marked. (These figures are the average of figures given by postgrad students for the last year). Pay is £13.69 a hour.

The Postgrads are not terribly happy about this, as there are often times when courses take longer than average to mark and we don't really enjoy working for free. When we asked what we were supposed to do on the longer than average courses, we were told to judge which these would be in advance and mark faster to compensate. We also dislike the prep time, as last year it was 1 hour and now it is 15 minutes, and 15 minutes isn't long enough to prepare me for getting out of bed, let alone teaching 10-14 undergraduates.

We are attempting to argue this is an unfair system (in that other than minimising what we get paid and complicating our paperwork, it seems to have no benefit), and will lead to a lowering in quality of marking/teaching. It's not going well.

I was hoping there are other Math postgrads on here who would share how payment for marking/teaching works at their university. I'm primarily interested in UK based figures, but other answers would be helpful also.

Thanks in advance.

hi all,
i'm working on a postdoc application that is asking me to calculate the impact factor of my published articles, and tell them if the journal was "top" or "standard." (kind of a humiliating exercise, no?) anyway, anybody know how to make the calculation, and how to differentiate top from standard journals?
thanks!

'Frustrated over cheating allegations, one professor at Middle Tennessee State University took the idea of a traditional honor code in a controversial direction. Suspecting that one of his MBA candidates had just cheated on an exam, Professor Thomas Tang had each of them sign a pledge that said if they had cheated, they’d be condemned to an eternity in Hell. The pledge went on to say if the student cheated they will “be sorry for the rest of [their] life and go to Hell."'



More here: http://www.wkrn.com/global/story.asp?s=11445552

(Via improbable_blog.)

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )

Gen
Trying to Get Home by fai_dust [Lee, Kara, Adama, others; PG; spoilers through S1's "You Can't Go Home Again"]

Het
Thirteen Hundred by flamingo55 and zaleti [Adama/Roslin; M; spoilers through S3]
Trick Or Treat by bsg_aussiegirl [Adama/Roslin; M; no spoilers given]
Happy Halloween by bsg_aussiegirl [Adama/Roslin; M; no spoilers given]
The Living 1/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; PG; contains no spoilers]
The Living 2/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; R; contains no spoilers]
Through a Glass, Lightly: Truths and Consequences 3/? by katamaran78 [Adama/Roslin; Teen; spoilers through S3]
The Living 3/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; NC-17; contains no spoilers]
The Living 4/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; R; contains no spoilers]
The Agency: Troubles Compounded 14/? by cj_quickwit [Adama/Roslin; M; contains no spoilers]
The Living 5/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; PG; contains no spoilers]
The Living 6/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; PG; contains no spoilers]
Insanity Underrated 7/? by amidala_thrace [Kara/Lee, Kara/Sam; R; spoilers through S2's "The Farm"]
Five Untitled Drabbles by bsg_aussiegirl [Adama/Roslin; not rated; no spoilers given]
The Living 7/? by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin; NC-17; contains no spoilers]
The Stars in Their Courses 8/? by bugsfic [Adama/Roslin; T; no spoilers given]

Slash/Femslash
Cinders and Smoke by geekbynight [Gaeta/Daniel, Gaeta/Daniel/Baltar, Gaeta/Baltar; PG-13; no spoilers given]
Only To Excess by fai_dust [Cain/Kara; PG-13; spoilers through S2's "Resurrection Ship, Part 1"]

If any guys could help me out and complete this survey for me that would be great! Thanks!
Complete an online survey and be entered to win up $50!  Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin are conducting a survey to understand reasons why people have sex. The survey takes 30-45 minutes. You must be 18 or over and sexually experienced in order to participate.  If you are interested in participating in this study, or learning more about it, please click here https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=128703

Gen
Cylon Series by puszysty [Gaeta, no rating or spoilers given] (multiple fics)
Untitled by lyssie [Cavil, no rating or spoilers given]

Het
Acknowledgments 1 and 2 by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
Fire in Space, 7/? by gentlehobbit [Adama/Roslin, PG, spoilers for S4's "Daybreak, Part 2"]
Confessions I and II by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
A Match (Nearly) Made on New Caprica by zinke [Adama/Roslin, PG, spoilers for S3's "Unfinished Business"]
Last Rites II by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
Imagine - Chapter 23 by bsg_aussiegirl [Adama/Roslin, no rating or spoilers given]
When the Soul Has Suffered by somadanne [Adama/Roslin, M, spoilers for S4's "Daybreak, Part 2"]
The Penetration Test by bytesofspencer [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, S3 spoilers]
Sine Qua Non - Chapter 19 by ashes452 [Adama/Roslin, K+, spoilers for S3's "Unfinished Business"]
Last Rites I by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
Counting the Hours I and II by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
Industrious Angels by bugsfic [Adama/Roslin, M, spoilers for S2's "Home, Part 2"]
Simple Comforts I and II by umademebelieve [Adama/Roslin, NC-17, no spoilers given]
Impressing the Neighbors by bsg_aussiegirl [Adama/Roslin, MA, no spoilers given]
A Father's Lament I and II [Adama/Roslin, PG-13, no spoilers given]
The Stars in Their Courses - Chapter Seven by bugsfic [Adama/Roslin, T, no spoilers given]
Not The Colonial Dream II by rayruz [Kara/Lee, PG-13, no spoilers given]

Slash
Solitary Acts by tjonesy [Bill Adama/Saul Tigh, MA, spoilers for miniseries]
Everyday Mundanity by icedteainthebag [Helena/Gina, NC-17, spoilers for S2's "Resurrection Ship, Part 2"]

Other
The Conqueror Worm by geekbynight [Gaeta/Doral, Gaeta/Eight, Gaeta/Baltar; R; spoilers for S3's "Exodus, Part 2"]

Miscellaneous
Winners at makelaurahappy
Mod announcement at makelaurahappy
pilotsbigbang is open for business.
Halloween Kinky Drabble Challenge at bsg_kink
Bill Drabble Challenge at rememberlaura

Hi everyone,

I posted here about two months back when I thought things couldn't get worse at this school. I stand corrected.

To review, I am currently at a professional graduate school in a concentration that only took 3 people and it was something I was working towards for the past 2 years. Before getting here I had many negative encounters with the administration, who made it clear to me that this school was quite disorganized but I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. I got here and realized that the program I applied to had changed drastically - the slight 'restructuring' that was mentioned on the website and when I'd call in was never explained to me until i saw it with my own eyes over the past 2 months. Not only was the program a disappointment, but the professor put in charge was absentminded, unorganized, extremely unapproachable and couldn't teach if the world depended on it (I sat in a class for one month and did not understand anything!). Actually, I was so disappointed in the concentration that I stepped out of it and went into their regular program about 3 weeks ago. It was horrible. Something I worked so hard for and I had to leave it because it never even existed!! And not only was it me that felt this way - the other 2 people also felt the exact same way about it and one of them just decided this past week that he will be leaving the school at the end of term to go somewhere else.

We actually even had a meeting with the dean of the school to discuss our disappointment in this whole issue and how it has negatively impacted us beyond financially. We didn't get any form of apology - just an "ooh, well we'll make sure that doesn't happen next time" from them. I don't think they even understood just how badly they screwed up.

At this point, I have lost all respect and trust in this school, and my motivation has shot down to a big fat zero. I don't know what I am doing here if I'm not here doing a concentration. People have suggested I stick it out for the regular program, because going back out and re-applying to schools and then going for another 2 years is just going to take too much time and effort. They say - I'm in it, made it through the hard part. But at the same time I look around and see a school that, outside of my concentration, does not offer me anything I like - no professors share my research interests, no courses for electives catch my eye...and my research idea? I've been so upset and put-off by this whole situation that my mind just goes blank when i think I have to do research here.

I think I just need help big time here. Has anyone been in a school that has lied to them like this?? I am so lost right now :(

I am a PhD student in dissertation mode. I've just started. In fact I'm working on my first paper that will be incorporated in the whole in some way. I also have a 17 month old and have to split childcare with my husband who works from home. My question to you is on average how many hours a day do you put in on your school work? Not counting classes, if you take them. Reading? Writing? Research? Right now I seem to be putting in an average of about 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. This isn't getting it done, to say the least. But I find that 4 hours a day seems to be my max at this point. After that my brain turns to noodles.

Hi everyone,

Apoligies if this is a bit off topic here.

I'm going to be running a workshop introducing feminism to a group of university undergraduates in a few weeks. We're focusing on the representation of women in film and tv. Does anyone have any resources or suggestions for things I can get them to do/look at to help begin consciousness raising? I only have an hour and I don't really want to give them anything too long to read. Something that links to contemporary tv aimed at women or to very recent films would be perfect. Statistics are also very welcome.

Thank you!

EDIT: If you're reading this, our maintenance is OVER! The problem was not found on our equipment, which means we'll have to work with our ISP to fix this small problem -- which also means another maintenance window in the future -- but at least we have eliminated our side.

Thank you everyone, and a special shout out to rekoil for giving me a great suggestion AND also the opportunity to feel like I've just called in to a local radio station.

Have a great day, night or afternoon wherever you may be.

---

Hi everyone, sorry for the late notice but I'm going to have to do some testing on 1 of our 4 internet circuits TONIGHT; Friday night or Saturday morning depending on which time zone you're in.

Most of us shouldn't notice any impact, though there may be some slowness or lag when I switch traffic on to our other ISP circuits and then another hit when I stop the tests. If a page won't load or times out, try hitting refresh 1 or 2 times and it should load then. If it doesn't work at all... trust me, I'll be typing really really really fast to try to undo whatever I just did. Hopefully you'll have some Halloween candy (if you're in the USA and celebrate that kind of thing) nearby to take away the bitterness of a small site outage. :(

Here's the handy-dandy Website That I Always Use to get a feel for when the maintenance will start in your area. Our site traffic historically dips on Friday afternoons until Saturday morning which is why we tend to pick this time for maintenance work.

( tech details )

status.livejournal.org will, of course be updated before and after the maintenance window. Or else marta will get mad at me. :D

bt

'Many colleges now require criminal background checks of all new employees. But the University of Akron - in what some experts believe is a first - is not only requiring a criminal background check, but is stating that new employees must be willing to submit a DNA sample.

The requirement was added quietly and is now receiving attention - and criticism - because an adjunct faculty member at Akron quit this week, citing the new rules. "It's not enough that the university doesn't pay us a living wage, or provide us with health insurance, but now they want to sacrifice the sanctity of our bodies. No," said Matt Williams, who had been teaching four courses this semester in the communications and continuing education programs.'

More here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/29/akron

Edit: And some more discussion of the case here...

http://improbable.com/2009/10/29/criminals-hordes-want-to-work-at-u-akron/

In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join lj_releases.

Super-tweak for Yandex search

Some of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.

Postcards from the edge

Several years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.

Conquer Writer's Block

Here are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:

If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?

1. I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
2. Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
3. This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
4. I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
5. Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
6. SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
7. I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
8. I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
9. I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
10. Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.

For more daily questions and user comments, join writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this!

Spotlight community of the week

We can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.


halloween_fan

Photos of the week

We received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our new lj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful!

shutter	pancetta	ilya_gorokhov

Curtains

Thanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week.