Hotashi

This morning I thought about a documentary that I had seen a few years ago on the Sampoong Department Store collapse in South Korea and I decided to look it up. Well I read about it on Wikipedia and found out all the details to this horrible accident. I’m not surprised that people would buy off officials and fire legitimate contractors so that they can cut spending to increase profits - it’s all part of capitalism. It’s still appauling though, especially since the chairman of the building Lee Joon and the store’s president (also his son *surprise surprise*) Lee Han-Sang barely got any prison time. 500 people died from this accident and all they got were 10 years and 7 years respectively. Seriously?! That is bullshit. They probably bought off the judges too.

read comments (0)

Who said only James Bond has a license to kill?

1. 4 RCMP officers taser and suffocate Robert Dziekanski to death
2. NYPD detectives aquitted on kiliing Sean Bell after firing 50 rounds of bullets

Does having a badge give you the right to murder civilians? Who is the real terrorist? Who is the real bully? Who should civilans really be afraid of? The supposed “bad guys” or the fiscade of the “good guys”?

read comments (4)

So I actually did something about my experience with CHAMELEON HAIR STUDIO AND SPA and I e-mailed the manager. It is my first letter of complaint ever, and I’m proud of it. I do hope that they take my seriously and don’t just brush me off. It would be unfortunate for others to experience the same disrespect, unprofessionalism and ethnocentricism that I endured. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just ignore me though. Here is the letter I sent them.

Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (2)

I recently have been making the effort to read my Bible before I go to sleep. It’s not much, but I want to become a better servant. From this, I have been thinking about two things that I came across recently. The first is Matthew 5:5 which states, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” What exactly is that supposed to mean? It can’t mean that those who are humble will come to power, because that is far from true. Those who are humble in this world get trampled on. Those who are weak are crushed and taken advantage of. Those who are seen as benefitting society are ignored and demonized. And if this verse refers to the earth as in land, then that doesn’t make sense either. Since everything is privatized now, it is hardly the meek who inherit land. You have to fight for it, and take advantage of an exploitative system in order to step on others to gain a place of privelege to be able to own land. So what exactly does this verse mean?

A second line that I’ve been thinking about is a lyric from the song Be my escape by Relient K. It states, “But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” This is a really interesting statement, and it’s true. Grace is not equal. Why are some people spared their lives while others die from terminal illnesses, unfortunate circumstances, or freak accidents? Why are some people born into poverty and others are born into wealth? None are worthy of a better life than others, really. It is by mere grace how lucky our circumstances are. And no, I do not believe in the myth of meritorcracy. Anyone who has ever acheived anything through their hard work has also cut others of opportunities and exploited others (usually through the use of an existing exploitative social and economic structure). I cannot stand here today and say that I am where I am because of the hard work I have done. Sure my hard work has contributed to it, but I am not so foolish to think that I was placed in a position of privelege where I could afford my education, my food, my shelter, etc. And this place of privelege is based on a system where profit is gained off of the exploitation of workers. Sorry, I digress.

Life is not fair. I am blessed by the grace of God who has given me the access to many places of privelege, but I am also disadvantaged in many ways because of my gender, my race, my ethnicity, my stature, etc. Should I sit back and accept these disadvantages claiming that God has not given me the grace to have such privelege? I know some people would interpret some scriptures this way, which I think is bullshit. I don’t think God applauds social injustice or passivity towards it. Yes, God’s grace does not make life fair, but that doesn’t mean we should accept the unfairness of life. We should try to make this world a better place for everyone because none of us are worthy. Nobody is perfect, so why should we accept that some have the right to privelege while others don’t?

That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately…

read comments (0)

The contract academic staff at my university are on a legal strike after six months of negotiations with the adminstration. It has been just over two weeks since it started. I went to an information session put on by some full-time faculty who are supporting the CAS. Sadly they were mostly sociology professors who showed up to show support, which really says something about the full-time staff in other departments and their commitment to social justice. The vast majority, if not all full-time professors were part-time at some point in their careers and they should know how underpaid, overworked, and exploited the CAS workers are. How can you NOT show support? It disgusts me, really. It’s one thing to be a self-centred student who is too ignorant and unaware of the world to understand how abismal the working conditions for part-time faculty are. But what excuse do full-time professors have? Especially those with tenure status. You’re not going to get fired. What are you doing to make your university a better place?

I was also disappointed at the minimal turnout from students, especially those who continually complain that they aren’t getting information about the strike. Well here was their opportunity and they didn’t even bother to show up. They would rather join facebook groups to rant about how they are victimized by the strike (as if CAS aren’t), complain about the lack of effort from their student’s union, and/or tell people picketting to get off the fucking sidewalk. Yes, students have done that. The former two items are valid reasons for frustration, but why aren’t students doing anything about it? What does it take for students to get informed and take action? When will students realize that the university should belong to them?

It is also sad to know how many people are misinformed about the working conditions of part-time faculty. I was definately one of these people during my undergraduate career since it wasn’t until I was a grad student and had more interaction with the politics in an acedmic setting where I discovered the injustices of part-time faculty. We (the grad students) were equipped with two grad study spaces on our floor, which included 8 computers, 12+ desks, and 12+ chairs (I can’t remember exactly). The two part-time offices on the same floor have less space than us and only 2-3 chairs in each office. So basically, only two or three part-time faculty members can use the room at a time even though there are eight desks in each office. I felt degraded for them when I saw that. If I were a part-time professor, why would I want to work there? I have no privacy, no place to store any of my things, and I have to fight for a chair to even sit at a desk.

I was also misinformed about how much part-time faculty get paid. For doing the same amount of work for a course as full-time professors, they get paid $6,212 per course. That is so pathetic considering the amount of education and qualifications they have. They also do not get benefits, have no job security, and have to work at two or more universities to have a full course load. And since many of them commute, the money that is left over is minimal. Many have to go on welfare and use foodbanks during the summer months because they are unemployed. That just disgusts me. Especially when I see the ridiculous amount of money that the members of the administration make. All six figures over $150,000 each. And why do they deserve that?

Anyway, I’m all over the place. But I just wanted to say how disappointed I am that there isn’t a strong voice that is crying out for injustice. People should not have to fight for fair wages and healthy working conditions. Especially those who are so dedicated to their work and their students that they end up working for free at the end of the semester because their contract money has run out. That is dedication. To all those students who complain that they are getting screwed over, seek out who is creating this chain of injustice rather than being so short sighted.

To leave off, here is an article written in The Record by a part-time professor at Laurier: Part-time professor putting in full-time hours

read comments (0)