Caterpillars and Career Fair

Hal writes:

I have decided to take a new approach to the posts. Pictures and other visual images are very easy to share, so why explain something I can show you? Anna has had a digital camera from before we were married, but I have not really used it much until this summer when I started taking some photos. So, I'm going to try carrying it around more often and see what randomness comes from it.

Today I have two pictures to share. The first is the caterpillar below. (S)he was looking up at the camera when I pressed the button, but there is a couple of seconds in delay before the photo gets taken. Looks like I may need to take more posed shots than action shots. I'm not sure, but I think this furry little guy winked at me.

In my FTS (First Term Seminar) at Gustavus, Culture and Society in Africa, I read the story about a young man who was taken from his family as a boy and raised by catholic missionaries. When he was in his mid-twenties, he returned to his tribe and eventually went through initiation, something that was typically of boys 10 years younger than him. One of the comments he made about being initiated was that afterwards he was much more in tune with nature and saw small bugs and creatures in a magnified way that he had not previously. When I come across small creatures, I tend to think about his story. Although I have lived in Platteville for over a year, this is the first time that I have seen multiple caterpillars like the one pictured above. This is the dirt trail (that we hope some day to be paved) that goes from SW Hall to the rest of campus.

Below is a photo of the 41st annual Fall Career Fair at UWP. Most of the employers pictured below are looking for different types of engineers (UWP is the engineering school of the UW system) but there were also employers for Law Enforcement and other majors.

I think I would enjoy being a recruiter. But the businesses represented in the picture all deal in the area of science, not my strong suit, so I wasn't able to do much more than walk around and encourage my students who were dressed pretty for the event. The interesting thing is that this is the "small" career fair, with the one in the spring being larger and with more employers (since that is when most of our students are graduating). But this career fair also provided an opportunity for sophomores and juniors to explore potential internships and "co-ops" that are required for a number of majors.

Frustrations

Hal writes:

There are a number of observations and situations that I find myself in on a daily basis, but just can't blog about. With this being a public forum, I can never be sure who is observing my comments. Not to say that there are a lot of people checking in on us, but I need to be cautious because of the confidentiality issues involved in my position. Anna is similar when working with patients, there is only so much information she can provide when speaking about her day.

My frustrations revolve primarily with communication, or more specifically non-communication, between myself and some colleagues. As the RD of a new building, there are apt to be a number of problems associated with it. But when my students have questions about uncompleted tasks, I have no information to give them on progress because I am not given any information from those in the know. My inside voice usually says "don't ask me, I just work here" while my outside voice asks for patience. (Or, as my CSP colleagues understand, "trust the process".)

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was elected to the Academic Staff Senate last spring. Once at the meeting, there were executive board elections and I became the Vice Chair. One of my duties is to be the liaison to the Faculty Senate, which has been a very interesting experience. I am, of course, not allowed to vote or voice my opinions (I am, after all, only an academic staff member and not a full fledged tenured faculty person) but that gives me opportunities to sit back and observe. Today's discussion revolved around hiring practices and how to increase hiring of faculty of color and retention of said faculty. Something that all schools struggle with as they look to be more "diverse". One of our hindrances is that we are situated in southwest Wisconsin which is not exactly the most ethnically diverse area of our country. Although there was general agreement that there is a goal to attract and retain more non-white faculty members, nobody has figured out how to do it. The UWP plan calls for all faculty and staff to participated in an 8 hour workshop dealing with institutionalized racism. My date is in November, so I'll have to wait a bit before I find out what it is all about.

Anyone follow Dog the Bounty Hunter? Tonight on A&E they had an update with the family as they struggle with whether or not Dog will be deported to Mexico. This is making for a great ethics conversation (was it ok to arrest a rapist in Mexico when bounty hunting is not allowed in Mexico? Is it justified because a rapist is in prison or should it be condemned for breaking Mexican law?). But my heart still goes out to the follow as they worry about the possibility of deportation.

Only a week and a half until Gustavus Homecoming. Attention all former Gustie Greeters: all Greeter reunion at half time of the football game. Huzzah!

Anna health watch

Hal writes:

Since the picture in the last post was taken, Anna's checks doubled in size and they are now on the decline. She wasn't able to get to class today, but hopes to get back into a normal routine tomorrow. And she wants everyone to know that she misses real food. Her diet the past few days has been ice cream, popsicles, soup, and pasta that doesn't require chewing. She wouldn't let me take a picture for the blog, but her cheeks remind us of her Grandpa J.C. :)