Hotashi

I decided to look into becoming a secret shopping to earn a little extra money until I can land a full-time job. I looked into Mystery Shopper Canada and was seriously thinking about applying until I read the part that I would have to pay a one-time fee of $37.00 for membership. Is this legitimate? Can a company seriously ask you to pay them money so that they can make money off of you? It seeks sketchy to me and I’m not sure what to do. =/

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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

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I’ve been feeling really stressed out lately. I’m not sure if it is because this term has more work than my previous term or if it is because it is the beginning of the term and I’m feeling overwhelmed by getting back into school mode. Perhaps it is a little of both. Either way it is making me go crazy. My reading list for my courses is insane, and I have to do readings for the two courses I’m TAing for (which I have to lead tutorials for too T_T!!!), and I have to work on my research. WTF?! What made me think doing my Masters in a one-year program would be better than a two-year program? UGH! I was seriously thinking about dropping out. I honestly don’t know how much more of this I can handle. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to be applying for jobs now too. Is the world insane? Am I the only one that thinks this is too much for one person to handle? And to top things off, I have become addicted to ice cream to sooth my worries. This can’t be good…why did I think it was a good idea to keep a deep freezer in my room?

On the brighter side I have been eating healthier and have started to exercise. I keep forgetting to take my vitamins so I need to have a daily checklist. My life has gotten so busy to the point that I need to write down everything I need to do in a day so that I don’t forget anything. I have a feeling though that one day I will forget something really important and then soil myself out of the fear of thinking about the consequences. *sigh*

Oh, it’s my parent’s 25th anniversary today. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! If I wans’t so busy I would have planned something for them…but lately the timing for things just doesn’t seem to work out. Man, I hope my life gets better soon. =/

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You know what’s great? Post-it notes. You know what’s better? Post-it notes for your desktop. Fuck yeah! [DOWNLOAD]

I’m so tired right now. This week is killer. Damn you all that are done exams…and school! I am so envious of you. I have to finish my 20 page proposal tomorrow and then go to a faculty lunch on Thursday followed by non-stop marking of 200 papers, and then work on my take-home exam for THEORY! I’m dead. Shoot me now. I am going to get wasted Friday night.

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My family is coming up to Waterloo tomorrow so that we can all go out for lunch. I’m really looking forward to it. When I was growing up, my family didn’t do things like this. The only time we went out to eat was randomly to McDonald’s, and that was usually because we were travelling and got hungry. They are also going to take me to the mall so that I can refill my printer cartridge and order a dress for Jack’s and my engagement party. I was planning on doing this yesterday, but it was Buy Nothing Day and I was determined not to buy anything. I am very proud of myself, especially since I was craving a bag of cheese puffs at work. Saved myself $1. =P

Speaking of work, we had an incident with a suspicious man. He had approached a young woman at Starbucks while she was purchasing something (no! it’s buy nothing day!), and he kept asking her for her number. After refusing and leaving the store he followed her to our work place (which is the campus recital hall) where there was a concert. I was working the at the concession stand. Before the concert and during intermission he made his rounds to all the ushers (who were all young women) and asked them if they had a boyfriend. He did this to me as well, which I didn’t think much of at the time since the conversation started out like just a friendly conversation. I was then approached by one of the ushers who was trying to warn me about how he has been asking the other ushers about their personal life, to which I told her he did the same to me. He was then asked to leave, which he did, but since nobody escorted him out we didn’t know if he really left the campus.

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