School laundry is ready to go back
T and Emily are fighting in the bathroom and have been for maybe twenty minutes. I am not interested in talking to either of them any time soon. I'm going to read my compost book and try to deal that way.
I need a lot more silence in my house
My spouse is annoying me by singing. Not necessarily trying to annoy me, but definitely succeeding.
Pointless rant
A blog I read (why? just to get my bloodpressure up, I guess) linked to this study. The use (or the theme) of the study was to say that girls aren't interested in science (and engineering) as a career because they aren't glamorous.
Well, maybe girls (and boys) aren't interested in science as a career because it doesn't pay. Because it is difficult to be employed in.
It has low status and part and parcel of that is the large number of foreigners in it. There are lots of ways to think about the large number of foreigners. One is that the US is open to talent from all over the world and the best people in the world work here in science. Another is that science is very willing to give out visas, so an American-born scientist must compete against the best in the world. Another is that developing countries need scientists and engineers (to build the things that have already been built here) so their governments will train them, but all anyone wants to do is come to the US and we are highly willing to give out visas for scientists (to a lesser extent, engineers). There is a tipping point, where the labor market is based on the foreigners and only secondarily considers US citizens. Now, in academia, there are protected places for US citizens due to the willingness of the government to subsidize training of US citizens to "promote our competitiveness".
There are programs to get disadvantaged youth into the sciences. There aren't as many to get disadvantaged youth into banking, or the law or education or even medicine. (This could be due to a perception bias, because I see more recruitment ads for science.)
The study doesn't include computer programmer or computer person (technically a computer technician, but other titles are so often used that "computer person" has become the most descriptive). There are jobs there. Many of the former scientists are filling them.
I "hear" that things are better in other parts of the US.
Yes, I know that that article is about the United Kingdom. But my rant is about the US.
Well, maybe girls (and boys) aren't interested in science as a career because it doesn't pay. Because it is difficult to be employed in.
It has low status and part and parcel of that is the large number of foreigners in it. There are lots of ways to think about the large number of foreigners. One is that the US is open to talent from all over the world and the best people in the world work here in science. Another is that science is very willing to give out visas, so an American-born scientist must compete against the best in the world. Another is that developing countries need scientists and engineers (to build the things that have already been built here) so their governments will train them, but all anyone wants to do is come to the US and we are highly willing to give out visas for scientists (to a lesser extent, engineers). There is a tipping point, where the labor market is based on the foreigners and only secondarily considers US citizens. Now, in academia, there are protected places for US citizens due to the willingness of the government to subsidize training of US citizens to "promote our competitiveness".
There are programs to get disadvantaged youth into the sciences. There aren't as many to get disadvantaged youth into banking, or the law or education or even medicine. (This could be due to a perception bias, because I see more recruitment ads for science.)
The study doesn't include computer programmer or computer person (technically a computer technician, but other titles are so often used that "computer person" has become the most descriptive). There are jobs there. Many of the former scientists are filling them.
I "hear" that things are better in other parts of the US.
Yes, I know that that article is about the United Kingdom. But my rant is about the US.
Discouraged
Everything in this county is tightly regulated in a "If it is not explicitly allowed, it is forbidden" way. In particular, the library meeting rooms may "only be used for non-profit organizations holding a meeting or educational event that is open to the public". And the rooms are kept locked as a matter of policy.
9 years ago, when I was a tutor for the Literacy Council, we were regularly encouraged to use those rooms and they were not kept locked all the time, but locked up at the end of the day.
I suspect I will be reduced to the children's section again and trying to keep our voices down. Starbucks is not appropriate, nor is it a public service!!
9 years ago, when I was a tutor for the Literacy Council, we were regularly encouraged to use those rooms and they were not kept locked all the time, but locked up at the end of the day.
I suspect I will be reduced to the children's section again and trying to keep our voices down. Starbucks is not appropriate, nor is it a public service!!
Getting nothing done
I am barely cooking dinner.
I had a nightmare about all this biology that I am supposed to be doing and not getting to.
I didn't find a time to do any Spanish homework. Nor did I find a time to get on the treadmill.
My iPod is full of podcasts that I haven't listened to.
My taxes are half done. BTW, TurboTax sucks for taking a long time to load. It just doesn't work the way I do. I want to find a W2 and put it in right away. It wants me to gather all my papers and spend an hour entering the information and get it all done at once.
I had a nightmare about all this biology that I am supposed to be doing and not getting to.
I didn't find a time to do any Spanish homework. Nor did I find a time to get on the treadmill.
My iPod is full of podcasts that I haven't listened to.
My taxes are half done. BTW, TurboTax sucks for taking a long time to load. It just doesn't work the way I do. I want to find a W2 and put it in right away. It wants me to gather all my papers and spend an hour entering the information and get it all done at once.