Random Quote
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
---- Terry Pratchett
Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
---- Edward R. Murrow
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'"
---- Sam Levenson
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
---- Isaac Newton
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
---- Isaac Asimov
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
---- H. G. Wells
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
---- Thomas Merton
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
---- Edward Abbey
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
---- Kin Hubbard
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
---- Thomas A. Edison
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
---- Mitch Hedberg
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
---- Evan Esar
it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.
---- Tenser said the Tensor
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
---- J. Robert Oppenheimer
Question for those teaching at a University
Kevin, of The Big Hominid Asks questions of university teachers. I have reposted his entire post here and will respond later. Right now you would not believe how busy I am. And on top of that there is this article in the Korea Herald that is deserving of commentary, but I probably won’t have time to get to that either.
a question for you university English teachers
No need to identify your university in your answer, but I’m currently mulling over the following questions, which require replies from people working at many different Korean universities:
1. How does your university calculate the number of hours you are required to work, and does that calculation vary? What does “work” consist of? Teaching and… what other duties? Is the method of calculation spelled out in precise language in your contract?
2. How does your university calculate overtime pay? Is the method of calculation spelled out in precise language in your contract?
3. If, in a given semester, it is determined that you have not worked the required minimum number of hours, what is done about this? How are you informed of this “undertime”? was the possibility of “undertime” spelled out in your contract?
4. Do you feel your university’s methods of calculation are straightforward, up-front, trustworthy, consistent, etc.? If the answer is not a definite “yes,” then do you feel that the problem(s) you’re experiencing may be the result of malice, disorganization/incompetence, or both?
5. If you have breaks between terms (say, a one-week break between summer and fall terms), are these breaks considered vacation (and noted as such in your contract), or are you “on call” during this time? If you are considered on call, are you paid for being on call, or are you obliged to “make up” that break because you weren’t teaching?
I look forward to many and varied replies. If a particular question doesn’t seem relevant to you, please note its irrelevance. If you have something more to add, something not covered by the above questions, please feel free to unload.
I decided to post these questions here rather than over at Dave’s ESL Cafe because I’m convinced that, collectively speaking, DESLC has no sense of perspective. The bitterness, the hatred, the more-than-occasional racism were a turn-off for me on the rare occasions I ventured into those forums. Better to post my questions here and elicit level-headed responses of a generally higher quality.
Oh, yes: PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS POST. I’d like a large library of answers from people all over the peninsula.





JMac wrote 35 words on Thursday Nov 8, 2007 at 10:23 AM
Tried to comment over there, but think my comment got eaten. I know he moderates, so hope it turns up.
If it doesn’t I’ll probably post here so he can at leat read it.
-JMac
JMac wrote 9 words on Thursday Nov 8, 2007 at 10:24 AM
As for the Herald article—thank GOD for my F-5!!
Kevin Kim wrote 10 words on Thursday Nov 8, 2007 at 09:14 PM
Thanks for spreading the word.
JMac, your comment’s up.
Kevin