coldhearted scientist وداد

If the sound of my poor lyre were strong enough to trumpet my tastes above the cyclone’s rage, I would award a large prize to DISSENT the BLOG for this graphic:

One might consider replacing “Cal State University Mission Viejo” with the name of one’s own institution.

And in matters universitarian (observe my neologism), I have a complaint. I would like to say that in the past, you could print out letters of recommendation and sign them, and place them in envelopes. If for some reason you misplaced the address to which they were to be sent, you could look it up in your handy MLA directory, a print publication.

Now, it is more often than not necessary to load them up to a cyber-location. This means you must have a login ID, a password, and then another password for the specific letter you are loading up. This password only works once. And you have to have an electronic signature. Then, sometimes, if they have not allowed you to load up a .pdf in the first place, you wait while the cyber-location makes a .pdf of your letter so you can proof it. This is an onerous set of operations, particularly when your Internet connection keeps falling down.

I am also tired of creating these e-letters and e-mailing them as attachments to graduate advisors. I would like, as I say, to print them, sign them, and place them in envelopes. It is faster.

My composition problem, however, is letters of recommendation for faculty members, which are not always easy to create. It is rather like formulating grant proposals. I therefore grant myself an award as well today, for bureaucratic writing.

Axé.