tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91550992012-01-29T04:58:38.972-06:00Ah, college life. From both sides of the books--the learning and the learned--I share the stories. Send yours to ThePhantomProf@aol.com or leave them as comments here. Now sit up straight and if a cellphone goes off in class, it's mine. (Copyright The Phantom Prof 2007)writernoreply@blogger.comBlogger4141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-77328437321953092802008-04-30T12:31:00.001-05:002008-04-30T12:33:50.551-05:00

I’d use that line “Their parents must be so proud.”Trouble is, they probably are.Because this is how these animals were raised.From the WFAA report on how a group of 1,000 doctors staying in the Intercontinental Hotel in North Dallas encountered our fine university students partying:On all 15 floors, [one doctor] wrote, SMU students "urinated in hallways," "came close to physical confrontations

writernoreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-68110546104080229942008-04-29T14:07:00.002-05:002008-04-29T14:16:31.203-05:00

A Dartmouth lecturer is suing the students in her writing class for discrimination. She sent a series of bizarre emails to them. Read and weep on Dartmouth blogs.Priya Venkatesan (Dartmouth '90, M.S. in Genetics, Ph.D. in literature) emailed members of her Winter '08 Writing 5 class Saturday night to announce her intention to seek damages from them for their being mean to her. In one instance she

writernoreply@blogger.com107tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-82198302305341583412008-04-23T20:12:00.005-05:002008-04-23T20:49:02.853-05:00

Just happened to pick up a Daily Campus when I stopped at my local salad emporium tonight. There on the front page, a piece of reportage about changes in cafeteria food.Now there's an original story idea for a college paper.I can always tell when a reporter doesn't know what she is doing when I read a quote from a source that clearly screams chicken**** and isn't challenged.The reporter in this

writernoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-36002649541310036452008-03-26T08:31:00.003-05:002008-03-26T08:38:27.123-05:00

The construction site sat 9 miles south of Waco, a couple miles west of Interstate 35, in the small town of Hewitt. The workmen had been hitting it hard since sunrise. By 10 o’clock that Monday morning, with humidity high from weekend rains and the temperature climbing into the high 80s, they had sweat through their t-shirts. Taking a break, one of the workers headed toward the portable toilet at

writernoreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-64871008529656889432008-02-22T13:46:00.003-06:002008-02-22T13:49:03.617-06:00

The $200 million Bush Library and Wingnut Policy Center will sit smackdab on the west side of campus where all those nice people used to live in the condos they thought they'd own for life (ha!).Presumably the main building will include a porch where the ex-prez and his pals Heckuvajob Brownie and Trent Lott can sit in rockers, waving at the car-cars.Next year's newest undergrad majors:

writernoreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-52617082397912781742008-02-01T09:39:00.000-06:002008-02-01T09:48:23.877-06:00

Comes today the news that our university on the hill has come up with the PERFECT solution to the campus intoxication problem. This in reaction to three on-campus deaths last year by students who over-served themselves.A "task force created in the aftermath of three students death related to drugs or alcohol has recommended opening a campus bar and allowing parties at campus fraternity houses."

writernoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-81761864089313089812008-01-25T23:33:00.000-06:002008-01-25T23:57:22.118-06:00

So I've been away for a couple of months. Away from here anyway. Blogging elsewhere (for money). And becoming obsessed with the music of Belgian jazz virtuoso Toots Thielemans and with the Flip camera I bought myself for Christmas. I'm making short films about things that I like. Here's my latest, about the final dress rehearsal of a musical about Billie Holiday starring one of my favorite local

writernoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-62808245551166239402007-11-09T16:31:00.000-06:002007-11-09T16:36:31.768-06:00

Southern Fried Bigfoot premieres this weekend! The documentary about the legends of the Yetis of the South--more than five years in the making--will screen at 3 p.m. Saturday at the annual Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson, Texas.Congratulations to filmmaker Sean Whitley, one of my best students from 1992!

writernoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-57902533017989472322007-11-02T13:36:00.000-05:002007-11-02T13:59:15.004-05:00

Two days in a row I saw actual celebrities in the vicinity of Celebrity Bakery (the Highland Park cookie-teria where I often meet a friend for afternoon tea and gab). Wayne "The Great One "Gretzy strolled by, hand-in-hand with his six-foot-tall, six-inch-wide wife Janet on Wednesday. He's a golden god, that guy.Yesterday, who comes waddling along, looking like a smug little pouter pigeon? Lynn

writernoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-80229399753303989512007-10-09T09:52:00.000-05:002007-10-09T10:09:49.092-05:00

Another reason Richard Roberts should never have been allowed to run a "university." In his statement to the media this morning, he mispronounced "litigious."Also, hearing messages from God should get him committed to a small, safe, padded room. Or get him elected president of the USA.The most horrifying detail in this report from the AP about the brewing nastiness at ORU in Tulsa is that Mrs.

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-52818223640358562932007-10-02T14:06:00.000-05:002007-10-02T14:16:45.446-05:00

From Boston.comAt the elite colleges - dim white kidsBy Peter SchmidtSeptember 28, 2007AUTUMN AND a new academic year are upon us, which means that selective colleges are engaged in the annual ritual of singing the praises of their new freshman classes.Surf the websites of such institutions and you will find press releases boasting that they have increased their black and Hispanic enrollments,

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-76561464702872837432007-09-18T10:59:00.000-05:002007-09-18T11:06:19.440-05:00

At a Monday afternoon University of Florida town hall event featuring John Kerry, a journalism student was Tasered by campus cops for asking a controversial question from the open mike. (Actually, it wasn't all that controversial. See the story for details.)Appalling. But no longer surprising. Free speech ceased as a civil right when our current dictator-in-chief put his hand on the Bible and was

writernoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-29475373210043195042007-09-12T21:38:00.000-05:002007-09-12T22:12:08.908-05:00

Oh, how the neighborhood changes when the trustafarians return for fall semester. Like the swallows back to Capistrano, like the buzzards back to Hinckley, Ohio--Generation Obnoxioso flaps in, lands and starts to shit all over everything. And it's hell. You cause complete gridlock at Old Town Shopping Center. The entry and egress there is tricky, kids. You have to fucking YIELD to other cars, not

writernoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-57819491894089117802007-09-10T13:53:00.000-05:002007-09-10T14:10:56.155-05:00

This ran with my byline in Southwest Airlines' Spirit magazine last fall. If you've read it anywhere without my byline, it's been copied without my permish. Enjoy!Short summer, wasn't it? If you're a first-year in the class of 2011, welcome to the big show. If you’re a college senior or grad student knocking out those last credit hours, well, it’s never too late to learn lessons about making new

writernoreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-83694707817913126892007-08-01T08:33:00.000-05:002007-08-01T08:34:58.398-05:00

Another college prof deals with the "But I'm special!" attitude by today's students. Here's the story in today's FW Star-Telegram.Back soon with more posts. It's been a busy teaching summer.

writernoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-62430867563884382412007-06-27T12:20:00.000-05:002007-06-27T12:23:10.232-05:00

The trend now is to hold college classes Mon-Wed and Tue-Thur. No Fridays no' mo'. And this has led to more Thursday night binge drinking by students, says this study, quoted today in USA Today.Of course, the study doesn't take into account the profs who enjoy three-day weekends. And who may do a bit of Thursday night tippling themselves.

writernoreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-29475229532138783942007-06-27T08:58:00.000-05:002007-06-27T09:01:11.361-05:00

What do you mean you don't have apple juice, bitch! And I think you WILL let me into your over-enrolled class, bitch!

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-88590567741688018052007-06-27T08:46:00.000-05:002007-06-27T08:52:05.301-05:00

She cries rape. He's expelled. But the judicial process wasn't exactly pristine in the case.Another one handled abysmally by the school. The DMN has the story today.I typically heard one of these stories--or one very similar-- every semester. Completely changed my mind about "date rape." If you drink to excess, you give up your power. That's how I see it.And ladies, never accept rides from

writernoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-80866216773809102292007-06-26T22:52:00.000-05:002007-06-26T23:06:21.957-05:00

In my role as journalista culturata, I was chasing a story last week about a Disney Channel documentary being shot around here. Since I write for money for a blog about television, I knew it could be a quick turnaround. Then I got a press release about it from Disney and, holy dorm key, Batman! One of the people appearing in the docu is my old college roommate, the slutty/pretty one about which I

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-9634622803000553972007-06-12T14:05:00.000-05:002007-06-12T14:09:14.893-05:00

But the school won't do it. Hmm, wonder why? Because maybe the path would lead to a frat brother of the victim? And we wouldn't want a nice fraternity boy to stand accused of a dirty crime like drug dealing and possible manslaughter, would we?Here's what Jake Stiles' parents told their hometown paper, the Naperville Sun.

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-71992332973150916122007-06-09T16:47:00.000-05:002007-06-09T16:52:35.761-05:00

The students call it "snow." Not all that original a name for cocaine, huh.A sophomore who died in his frat house bedroom had it in his system, along with other drugs, including the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Months after his son's death, the student's father says campus security did little to investigate the drug angle. There were text messages on the young man's phone, for instance, that

writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-26025771071025805262007-05-25T15:39:00.000-05:002007-05-25T15:45:37.177-05:00

Meaghan Bosch was born into money, blessed with brains and beauty, outfitted in designer clothes and accessorized with diamonds. Her tight-knit family vacationed in the Caribbean and Costa Rica, indulged her passion for thoroughbred horses and decorated her bedroom with cascading sheets of golden silk, creating the sanctuary of a princess. Ms. Bosch, a 21-year-old student at Southern Methodist

writernoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-4292496501778278322007-05-20T22:00:00.000-05:002007-05-20T22:24:23.204-05:00

I hadn't seen or spoken to my college suitemate for over 30 years. The day we graduated we just lost touch somehow. That happens.Her name popped into my head recently and I Googled her. Sent her an email. She'd just Googled me, too, it turned out. So she called me. We talked for over an hour today. Fun.We were theater majors together. Knew each other all four years of undergrad and shared a suite

writernoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-52346147253796458192007-05-15T22:26:00.000-05:002007-05-15T22:38:16.542-05:00

As a former student of mine said in his email to me about this, "Last Thursday she just disappeared off the earth."Today they found her body in a portable toilet at a construction site in Waco. What a sick, sick way for a young life to end.Meaghan Bosch, 21, was about to graduate with a degree in English from the university up the hill from here. She lived one block from me in a complex of

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-91118321869294894972007-05-03T09:43:00.000-05:002007-05-03T09:44:35.991-05:00

SMU freshman found dead in dorm room06:20 AM CDT on Thursday, May 3, 2007By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News A freshman at Southern Methodist University died Wednesday for unknown reasons, campus officials said Wednesday. Jordan Crist, 19, was pronounced dead at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas at 11:05 a.m., two hours after a student found him unresponsive in a friend's dorm room on

writernoreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-55684821962941048072007-05-01T13:27:00.000-05:002007-05-01T13:35:18.498-05:00

Barbara Ehrenreich writes about the "scam" of higher education in a provocative column for Huffington Post. I'm not a big fan of Ehrenreich's, mostly because her book and her play about working class women struck me as being exceedingly condescending. But this time she really got me thinking about just what college degrees are worth anyway these days.She begins with the recent news about the MIT

writernoreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-17958678426676314762007-04-24T14:41:00.000-05:002007-04-24T14:49:43.044-05:00

USA Today reports that college girls get stalked a lot. And once it starts, it's hard to get the stalker to stop.Then over on the biz page of the same USA Today is this story quoting employers who think it's weird how parents of kids applying for jobs interfere to a ridiculous degree. Like, would you let your dad call to negotiate your salary? Or have you actually grown up like a real person?At

writernoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-77391568851434221112007-04-19T08:58:00.000-05:002007-04-20T12:03:52.052-05:00

From the New York Times: Despite Mr. Cho's time in the mental health system, when an English professor was disturbed by his writings last fall and contacted the associate dean of students, the dean told the professor that there was no record of any problems and that nothing could be done, said the instructor, Lisa Norris.That makes at least three professors, including the renowned poet Nikki

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-40442597767273602622007-04-17T16:52:00.000-05:002007-04-17T16:58:29.343-05:00

A professor tried to warn them. Teachers can see these things in the words students put on the page. This Virginia Tech creative writing prof felt the vibe and tried to convince administrators to intervene. But "there were too many legal hurdles," she was told.More of the story is at ABC News online. Here's an excerpt:Lucinda Roy, a co-director of the creative writing program at Virginia Tech,

writernoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-63194632318796278942007-04-12T09:51:00.000-05:002007-04-12T10:33:39.963-05:00

Student Jen Nikoloff, from the university on the nearby hillock, changed her name to Taylor Reid when she did the gettin' nekkid thang for Playboy. So does that mean she grew up on Reid Street and had a puppy named Taylor?Here she is on video yesterday at Parkit Market, the skeevy convenience store up the road here where students and construction workers buy beer and porn.Not exactly Les Deux as

writernoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-16001937193299203002007-04-11T23:12:00.000-05:002007-04-12T00:19:37.449-05:00

Looks like you can either read books or write them. I haven't read an entire book in two years. But I have been writing one--and rewriting and now for the third time rewriting it again MUCH funnier and meaner--which takes up every extra minute of time.This is between my five other jobs: teaching "Movies About Movies" at the college way up the tollway; writing theater and restaurant reviews for

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-70362520645879719602007-04-04T13:24:00.000-05:002007-04-04T13:35:27.404-05:00

The following op-ed from the NYT sounds SO familiar to those of us who've taught the young scions and scionesses on the college level. Why is it that the children of the "best families" tend to have the worst manners, worst work habits and most raging cases of "me first"? Guess the answer is obvious. They're puffed up with the inflated sense of entitlement from the day they're born with that

writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-65279628439221804962007-03-27T17:22:00.000-05:002007-03-27T22:01:51.502-05:00

Here's why the "intelligent design" people are so scary. Among other things, they perpetuate a view of earth science that maintains that Adam and Eve cavorted around Eden with peaceful, plant-eating dinosaurs. And Noah welcomed baby 'saurs onto the ark.There's a $25 million museum going up in Kentucky that will be full of exhibits of this horseshit. Read about it here.Other creationist museums

writernoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-79706025085402271102007-03-24T10:52:00.000-05:002007-03-24T10:57:40.839-05:00

Determined to become the laughingstock of all institutions of higher learning, the university up the hill welcomes this group of antediluvian thinkers to campus.Up next: Age of Enlightenment a Bad Idea Debate (Pro-Rollback to Dark Ages Advocates Allowed Free Parking).After that: Slavery Not Such a Bad Concept After All Convention.Followed by: Reunion of Bob Jones University Alumni.

writernoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-50912218983924322152007-03-20T13:28:00.000-05:002007-03-20T13:32:27.825-05:00

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Three fraternity brothers accused in a case that tested Florida's law against hazing avoided prison by pleading no contest Monday to a lesser charge in the beating of a prospective member.Each received probation, including 30 days in a sheriff's work camp, after entering the pleas to misdemeanor hazing. Prosecutors offered the plea deal only after two mistrials on felony

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-74274694382500316032007-03-15T11:22:00.000-05:002007-03-20T13:24:39.662-05:00

Happy birthday, Judy W.Even though I haven't gotten so much as a Christmas card from my old college roomie, I somehow always remember that her birthday is on March 15, the Ides of March.For those of you in college, and therefore immune to the important factlets of history, it was on the Ides of March, 44 B.C. (which does not mean "before calendars," as one of my students once wrote), that Julius

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-13673087936306643232007-03-14T00:20:00.000-05:002007-03-14T00:24:33.936-05:00

I'm angry enough to have written this, but he wrote it better than I could have:Maybe We Deserve to Be Ripped Off By Bush's BillionairesBy Matt TaibbiWhile America obsessed about Britney's shaved head, Bush offered a budget that offers $32.7 billion in tax cuts to the Wal-Mart family alone, while cutting $28 billion from Medicaid."Now, after she shaved her head in a bizarre episode that

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-39701935592135253052007-03-13T23:39:00.000-05:002007-03-13T23:55:54.289-05:00

I know. I suck lately with the blogging thing. Part of it is monetary. Mediavillage.com actually pays me real money to watch TV shows and blog my bitchy snark about them, which has to be the best, easiest and most ridiculously rewarding gig I've ever had. Last week the assignment was to watch all the TV shows I could find on the Internet and then write about how good or totally shit-on-a-stick

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-88545582863939714082007-03-04T23:55:00.000-06:002007-03-04T23:57:59.943-06:00

More here about the fallout from the great Depauw U. Delta Zeta sorority purge."There's no one left in that house bigger than a size 10," says Joanna Kieschnick, who left of her own accord.Good for you, Joanna Kieschnick! We who dress in double digits salute you!

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-40344067400788647542007-02-27T12:34:00.000-06:002007-02-27T12:38:15.683-06:00

MSNBC reports that today's college students are impossibly narcissistic. Well, shee-it, we who have encountered them from this side of the podium know it only too well.To quote: [Writer] Twenge, the author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before, said narcissists tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-16529846625030841332007-02-26T11:54:00.000-06:002007-02-26T11:56:16.618-06:00

I got paid to live-blog the Oscarcast last night. Not paid nearly enough to devote more than three hours to the most stultifying telecast in Oscar history. But it was lesbian-friendly to the max! Here's my column at Mediavillage, if you'uns are interested.

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-64833570345703830752007-02-24T17:00:00.000-06:002007-02-24T18:21:59.188-06:00

The blog and I have been angry at each other. We weren't speaking. Now we're trying to make up.Just read about the trend of universities banning citations from Wikipedia on research papers. The NY Times has this story.Look, Wikipedia is handy but unreliable. The entries are compiled sort of like info passed around in a game of telephone. One source adds something, then someone else edits, then

writernoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-14488915602379476262007-02-15T14:16:00.000-06:002007-02-15T14:18:21.629-06:00

Daughter of one of America's richest families says her massive trust fund won't cover too-ish and expenses at our favorite university. Had to drop out. Here's what happened next.

writernoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-69017991588702768422007-02-06T13:47:00.000-06:002007-02-06T14:05:34.217-06:00

Follow me here. The half-nekkid lady is Kim Kardashian. She's the daughter of the late Robert Kardashian, the O.J. Simpson defense team member with silver-streaked hair who looked completely aghast in the famous "Not guilty" verdict footage. Kim's mom is the ex-wife of Bruce Jenner, the Olympic decathlete who got one too many nosejobs and last year made us all embarrassed with his appearance on

writernoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1170269405717848752007-01-31T12:45:00.000-06:002007-01-31T12:50:05.806-06:00

"Perhaps SMU's board of trustees will see the folly in erecting a propaganda mill on campus. Then again, the board of trustees' most famous member is also its most politically prominent alumna."Thus ends today's regurg of the whole megillah about the 'brary on Slate. Read the rest here.Is it snowing where you are? Big fat frozen flakes are flying sideways past my second-floor office window right

writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1169829412620122852007-01-26T10:34:00.000-06:002007-01-26T10:42:02.556-06:00

Comedy's Central's The Colbert Report comments on the wuss factor among the faculty re: The Decider Library. Click here for the clip from last night's show, in which our host declares that he is someone who "loves our president and hates books."Don't bother me today, as I am busy building a personal shrine to the genius of Herr Colbert.

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1169745691683315212007-01-25T11:15:00.000-06:002007-01-25T11:21:31.776-06:00

They've drunk the brew over at the university. Pussies. Big, soft pussies. Forbes.com reports (via AP) how the tiny squeaks of protest about the Library de la Bush have been silenced.To read the faculty gobbledygook firsthand, there's the Bush Library Blog.I'd suggest inundating their in-boxes with empty packs of Kool-Aid, but that campus is to protest what Britney Spears is to modesty. Or talent

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1169482206997209072007-01-22T09:54:00.000-06:002007-01-22T10:14:02.330-06:00

My Dallas Observer colleague Jim Schutze blogs about Library Bush today in response to the Dallas Morning Snooze's editorial in support of the edifice complex:The Morning News editorial page’s notion that this president’s library can be some kind of high-minded forum is a pathetic self-delusion, an ugly joke and a monstrous lie. What Dallas and SMU will get from George W. will be a huge neon

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1168616307142013862007-01-12T09:35:00.000-06:002007-01-12T09:38:27.300-06:00

Where were all these professors three or four years ago when the school first invited the Bushies to build their library/museum/think-tank there? Complaining now seems like empty, face-saving posturing. From today's New York Times...January 10, 2007S.M.U. Faculty Complains About Bush Library By RALPH BLUMENTHALDALLAS, Jan. 9 — Intimates of President Bush have singled out Southern Methodist

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1168447624745757872007-01-10T10:36:00.000-06:002007-01-10T10:54:13.786-06:00

The new dean of the arts on the hill is almost too cool for the school. Wow. Good profile in the DMN today. If I'd been working for him instead of under the wizened old pigeon....And from Pegasus News, the letter from the university prez regarding the Bush-Libe.Check out this week's Dallas Observer (on stands today in most close-in neighborhoods) for my feature on the outdoor fitness bootcamp

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1168296898376123542007-01-08T16:51:00.000-06:002007-01-08T16:54:58.503-06:00

In my day it was "streaking." Now the Ivies have "naked parties."Read about it here. Then jump in the time machine to 2020 when some of these smart 'n' skivvy-less seniors are running for Congress or going up for partner at the firm. Mark your calendar for easy blackmail, my friends.

writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1168026663753606472007-01-05T13:42:00.000-06:002007-01-05T13:51:03.846-06:00

Headline of the day: "Herpes may cause Alzheimer's." Well, at least the latter makes you forget how you got the former.Many crushing deadlines keep me from blogging this week. Back with new items and links when I finish with the flurry of journo-work.Rotary breathing, by the way, is what you call that motion of turning your head out of the water to suck in air during the front crawl stroke. I

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1167659599329969682007-01-01T07:45:00.000-06:002007-01-01T08:03:27.143-06:00

NPR's Studio 360 explores all things Oz. The Wizard pervades in art, music, film and all areas of our modern vernacular. But I'll bet you knew that, didn't you, my little friends of Dorothy?It is true. To wit: I went to a party two weekends ago. The guests included a numerologist (this is my year, he said, and "33" is my number), a man who leads canoe trips down the Trinity River, two gay guys

writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1167622942848751112006-12-31T21:13:00.000-06:002006-12-31T21:47:06.270-06:00

A Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, I am. Passed the tests, did the butterfly, after which the teacher said, "A lot of people couldn't have done that." I took that as a compliment, although it probably meant something like, "Your butterfly stroke lies somewhere in the 99.9 percent of all people, old or young, multi- or uni-limbed, who have attempted the butterfly and somehow made it to the end

writernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1167190800295657842006-12-26T21:30:00.000-06:002006-12-26T21:56:11.833-06:00

So this week I have to master the hardest stroke in swimming: the butterfly. Been practicing for weeks. To gain strength and endurance, I did a month of bootcamp exercises three nights a week in the dark in a public park alongside thin, fit 24-year-old blonds aiming to be "buff brides."Humiliating. Much.Doing the butterfly, you should look like a sleek dolphin, rising up and out of the water in

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1166653010385455512006-12-20T16:08:00.000-06:002006-12-20T16:16:50.470-06:00

The DMN has the results of the toxicology tests on sophomore Jake Stiles, 20, who was found dead in his frat house bed on campus here a couple of weekends ago.If you can't get past the paper's "register log-in" to read online, here's the basic rundown: a mixture of alcohol, cocaine and a pricy "synthetic opiate" called fentanyl that is ingested via loaded lozenges meant for cancer patients."This

writernoreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1166541605552915022006-12-19T09:16:00.000-06:002006-12-19T09:20:05.690-06:00

"President Bush is putting together his presidential library and apparently the library is going to cost $500 million, which will work out to $100 million a book." -- Conan O'Brien.Inside Higher Ed has a long piece looking at various sides of the issue, including suggestions by Methodist ministers that if the GWB presidential library ends up on this campus, the school should remove the word "

writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1166462086308068772006-12-18T11:08:00.000-06:002006-12-18T11:29:25.700-06:00

They say he made an A in "Life 101." So he gets his degree after dropping out in 1929.And soon enough he'll be enrolled for grad school...in "Afterlife 101."Happy holidays, everyone! Between theater reviewing, TV reviewing and talking my brother into getting me cute boots for Christmas (thanks, bro!), I've been winding up my first grueling month of fitness bootcamp. My bod feels like it's been

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1166193534643347632006-12-15T08:35:00.000-06:002006-12-15T08:38:54.780-06:00

The likelihood that the George W. Bush presidential library will be located at SMU has not been welcome news for at least one segment of the university community. A letter, dated December 16, from "Faculty, Administrators, & Staff" of the Perkins School of Theology to R. Gerald Turner, president of the Board of Trustees, is now circulating not only on the SMU campus but also among a wider

writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1165956821317840202006-12-12T14:52:00.000-06:002006-12-12T17:22:31.080-06:00

Um, well, on second thought, maybe not so much.Ditto University of Texas at Dallas. (Dallas Morning News requires registration. Sorry if story doesn't pop up.)

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1165816148262104482006-12-10T23:43:00.000-06:002006-12-11T11:10:34.486-06:00

You've read Blink, right? The book by Malcolm Gladwell about the instinctual ability we all have to make judgments about people, places and things in the blink of an eyelash?Well, "blink" happens and it happened to me last night.What's worse than being my age and going out on a date? That's right, being my age and going out on a blind date. The guy--I'll call him Finger Foods--was to meet me at

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1165441258852024332006-12-06T15:40:00.000-06:002006-12-06T15:40:59.446-06:00

Post-It

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1165296193442584382006-12-04T23:18:00.000-06:002006-12-04T23:23:13.536-06:00

Sophomore Jake Stiles was found dead in his bed in the SAE house on campus this past Saturday afternoon. The Dallas Morning News had some details Monday night.More to come, count on it.Three times I knew students who died suddenly during finals or just before the holiday break. Heartbreaking to think of the parents facing a funeral this time of year.If alcohol is involved in this young man's

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1165036563713857732006-12-01T23:16:00.000-06:002006-12-01T23:16:04.293-06:00

Dancing clouds

writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164991155088878492006-12-01T10:37:00.000-06:002006-12-01T10:39:15.190-06:00

December 1, 2006/New York TimesCheating on an Ethics Test? It’s ‘Topic A’ at Columbia By KAREN W. ARENSONCheating is not unheard of on university campuses. But cheating on an open-book, take-home exam in a pass-fail course seems odd, and all the more so in a course about ethics.Yet Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism is looking into whether students may have cheated on the final exam in just

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164855496506551192006-11-29T20:42:00.000-06:002006-11-29T20:58:16.783-06:00

Item 1: Bootcamp, hereafter referred to as Buttcamp. Done two nights so far and can hardly sit, stand, climb stairs, put on socks, tie shoes or anything else that requires bending from the waist or the stretching of the tight strings of ham on the bag of legs. Jeesh. I haven't been this sore since my short-lived attempt to try out for cheerleader in eighth grade. One week of 7 a.m. workouts took

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164776272312575592006-11-28T22:57:00.000-06:002006-11-28T22:57:52.426-06:00

Sleepy Kitten

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164688770470913502006-11-27T22:36:00.000-06:002006-11-27T22:39:30.613-06:00

Arianna Huffington, that red-headed goddess of blogdom, puts in her two drachmas about the Bush lie-berry. And here it is.Excerpt of La Huff:Will there be a Heckuva Job Memorial Wing saluting W's sterling political appointments? A Hurricane Katrina Photo Gallery, with each image housed in its own airplane window frame? An exact recreation of Dick Cheney's secure undisclosed location (try to step

writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164652411507654122006-11-27T12:26:00.000-06:002006-11-27T12:33:32.163-06:00

His presidency is shameful. The man himself is shameless. Now he wants the public to pay for his half-billion-dollar erection. Here's the story from the New York Daily News today.There are rich people willing to give $10-$20 million to this idiotic thing. That's scary.Calling anything with the name Bush on it a "think tank" is akin to naming a weight-loss clinic after Nicole Richie.Horrors. If

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164607497373173232006-11-26T23:55:00.000-06:002006-11-27T00:04:57.456-06:00

This piece by reporter Charlie LeDuff can be found in the NYT and the Dallas Morning News. Interesting that the DMN credits only the "NYT News Service" and omits the byline. Bad enough that a DMN staffer didn't do it--they couldn't give credit where it's due?The subject is the employee at a Burger King drive-through window on a rough side of Dallas. She's a woman struggling to make it on $200 a

writernoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164213008728213732006-11-22T10:21:00.000-06:002006-11-24T12:29:26.776-06:00

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the JFK assassination. I was 10 when it happened just after lunchtime a few miles from the elementary school where I was in fourth grade. I remember teachers crying and that we were let out early on that cold autumn day and told to go home. We didn't go back to school until the following week (it happened on a Friday). That Sunday was when we saw Lee Harvey Oswald

writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1164003339542775182006-11-20T00:07:00.000-06:002006-11-20T00:23:29.666-06:00

You know that dream where you find yourself suddenly back in a high school math class? The one where you realize in a panic that you somehow never knew you were supposed to be in Calc II instead of hanging out in study hall and now it's one day till finals and you have no idea how you'll pass. And if you don't pass Calc II, you'll never graduate and then you can't go to college and your life will

writernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1163737826575752852006-11-16T22:30:00.000-06:002006-11-16T22:30:26.753-06:00

UCLA Student Tasered by UCLA Police for not showing ID

writernoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1163624531268637872006-11-15T14:58:00.000-06:002006-11-15T15:02:11.566-06:00

Reports of campus newspapers being stolen in bulk are on the uptick. So reports Inside Higher Ed, which is reporting on a report from the Student Press Law Center.Reporters of truths that administrators and sorority girls don't like--you have been warned.

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1163478581523507072006-11-13T22:23:00.000-06:002006-11-13T22:29:41.806-06:00

The fastest semester ever. Winding up the film class, all I can think is how fun it is to show great movies to students who love movies. This fall we've seen Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Sabrina, Stalag 17, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment. Nobody does film noir, comedy or romance like Billy Wilder did.If you're a fan, or if you're just discovering this director, see the movies and read

writernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1163098685618693262006-11-09T12:56:00.000-06:002006-11-09T12:58:05.780-06:00

...painted his face bland.Yes, college students did the ol' blackface trick again. Said they were having a Survivor party. So the school canceled classes today to teach some lessons in diversity. Read on....

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1162878066964834962006-11-06T23:41:00.000-06:002006-11-06T23:41:07.200-06:00

Why you should vote today

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1162568564991037442006-11-03T09:35:00.000-06:002006-11-03T09:48:42.016-06:00

ORLANDO, Fla. -- School officials investigating an apparent hazing ritual at a fraternity house on the University of Central Florida campus in which pledges were found in diapers, fairy wings and women's panties told Local 6 News that there is evidence that several of them may have been sexually assaulted.Or at the very least, extremely humiliated. Here's the rest of the story.Now this, as they

writernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1162490891942439612006-11-02T11:54:00.000-06:002006-11-02T12:08:12.160-06:00

My young friend and former student "Delia" is getting hosed by the university. She's a senior with several impressive majors and makes excellent grades. She did a semester abroad last year and came into her penultimate semester of college thinking she was on track for grad-jee-ation.Then she started getting her chain jerked by various advisers. One said, sure, you're all set, with enough credits

writernoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1162335674057365472006-10-31T16:59:00.000-06:002006-10-31T17:01:14.343-06:00

"Something smells good," College Republicans Vice President Keoni Medici said, as his club set up across the street from West Virginia University's Mountainlair Student Union last Thursday.The College Republicans' first Animal Rights Barbecue had begun.For the rest of the story in The Nation, click here.

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1161880852796558642006-10-26T11:40:00.000-05:002006-10-26T11:40:53.060-05:00

Good Day, Mr. Kubrick...

writernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1161806220332469342006-10-25T14:55:00.000-05:002006-10-25T14:57:00.443-05:00

Come to "Art & the Critic" at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary, 3120 McKinney Ave., near downtown Dallas. I'm on a panel with other arts critics and we'll be discussing what we do, why we do it and why we always give plays with nudity good reviews. Well, almost always. Depends on who's nekkid.It's free. Doors open at 7:30 and the gabbing begins at 8 p.m.

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1161637704588085412006-10-23T15:53:00.000-05:002006-10-23T22:29:43.136-05:00

If I am slow to blog these days, blame it on continued ennui. I am considering your suggestions about how to break through the boredom--I am trying, really--and will pick a winner shortly. Meanwhile, I watch marathons of Dexter and Heroes and try to amuse myself with other writers' fixations on serial killers.Also, I promise to post the Angelina "It's Not Easy Being Beautiful" Jolie anecdote soon

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1161037611635261742006-10-16T17:25:00.000-05:002006-10-16T17:26:51.716-05:00

UNT prof resigns after video tempest05:04 PM CDT on Monday, October 16, 2006By MATTHEW ZABEL / The Dallas Morning NewsDr. Paul Jones, a University of North Texas chemistry professor who showed a sexually suggestive video in his organic chemistry class, resigned Saturday, choosing to return to retirement. Jones, who already has apologized for the incident early this month, said the complaint about

writernoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1161033384057637902006-10-16T16:12:00.000-05:002006-10-16T16:35:43.793-05:00

Playboy is looking for Hilltop fillies willing to bare their fetlocks for the pleasure of horny boys who "just read the articles." Here's the scoop, as detailed by my colleague Robert "Fingers of Fury" Wilonsky on the Unfair Park blog at the Dallas Observer. Pub date for the nekkid Ashley issue is May 2007. Still not too late for implants, if you do it this week!

writernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1160491498620349312006-10-10T09:44:00.000-05:002006-10-10T09:53:35.640-05:00

Yay! The semester's already half over. Can you believe it?So now everybody skips town for a few days. Professor Lunch-Guy took off for, I don't know, Rangoon or somewhere. He's been gone so much this fall, I've just about forgotten what he looks like.I'm in Port Aransas, the Texas coast resort town that time forgot. Looks like rain, but at this point I'd walk on the beach in a thunderstorm. I

writernoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1160198248325078212006-10-06T23:59:00.000-05:002006-10-25T08:09:19.996-05:00

Buck O'Neil died today. You'd have to be a student of the old Negro Leagues of baseball to know that name and I had never heard of it myself until 1994, when PBS was readying the Baseball documentary series by Ken Burns. I was among TV critics in Los Angeles who shared some time with Burns and O'Neil.What I know about baseball wouldn't fit in a bag of peanuts, but I knew I was in the presence of

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159983123702486172006-10-04T12:26:00.000-05:002006-10-04T12:52:01.750-05:00

Garrison Keillor, the "Prairie Home Companion" big-head, was at the United Methodist church on campus here the other night for a speaking engagement. He writes about it today in the Chicago Tribune.Seems he was chilled to the bone by the response he got to his comments about how the Bushies have eradicated rights to habeas corpus. In their zeal to imprison "enemy combatants," the administration

writernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159822141801400552006-10-02T15:47:00.000-05:002006-10-02T15:49:01.923-05:00

Study finds 'beauty penalty' can be harsh01:31 PM CDT on Monday, October 2, 2006By JENNIFER CHAMBERLAIN / The Dallas Morning NewsPeople are more likely to trust a pretty face, but when that trust is betrayed, the backlash can be ugly, according to a study published recently by Rice University.Numerous studies have shown that attractive people generally make more money, get higher reviews from

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159796300231989822006-10-02T08:33:00.000-05:002006-10-02T08:40:12.176-05:00

The New York Times writes about the Frisco, Tex., teacher who was bounced after taking her fifth-graders through the Dallas Museum of Art. The issue seems to be muddying up. Was she denied her teaching post because one kid told a parent he/she had seen a nude statue at the DMA? Or did she get the ax for wearing flip-flops in class?From the NYT piece: "In the May 18 memorandum to Ms. McGee, Ms.

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159567255094294132006-09-29T16:51:00.000-05:002006-09-29T18:13:34.490-05:00

Dig these emails from Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla), who resigned today over some pretty icky messages he sent to a male 16-year-old former Congressional page. I could go on and on about another hypocritical closet-case Republican jerk-off getting what he deserves, but here's what struck me most about the emails Mr. Foley sent: He doesn't know how correctly to use "your" and "you're," and "it's"

writernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159326281976034392006-09-26T22:01:00.000-05:002006-09-26T22:04:42.263-05:00

This country's getting dumber and dumber.A teacher in Frisco, Texas, takes her class to the Dallas Museum of Art. Kid goes home and tells parent, "Hey, I saw a nekkid statue!"Teacher gets fired.Read and weep, folks.

writernoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159067291852052092006-09-23T22:06:00.000-05:002006-09-23T22:08:11.953-05:00

Well, over there he is. Here's my friend Ed Bark's wrap-up of the Hannity & Colmes Fox News roadshow stop at the university just up the road. Egads. Just reading this made me throw up a little inside my mouth.

writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159065922255090362006-09-23T21:35:00.000-05:002006-09-23T21:45:22.990-05:00

My brother the cowboy (no, for real, he is) was stuck on the highway this morning and called to tell me the scene. On every overpass and at every exit ramp for 100 miles he had seen uniformed cops. Highway patrol. Local police. Big city and smalltown forces. They were there for hours, watching...for something. What was up, brother asked?I checked local newscasts. Nada. Newspaper website--zero (as

writernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1159038425532051832006-09-23T13:44:00.000-05:002006-09-23T14:20:59.146-05:00

"Stuckinna." That's a Marshall-ism. As in TV sitcom producer Garry Marshall, who started out as a writer for The Odd Couple series and went on to mega-success as creator/producer of Happy Days, The Odd Couple, Perfect Strangers and other shows.He used to say that when he was low on ideas for Oscar and Felix, he'd do a storyline called a "stuckinna." Oscar and Felix stuck in a busted subway car.

writernoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1158819230042253892006-09-21T01:13:00.000-05:002006-09-21T01:13:50.170-05:00

ABBA vs. Joan CrawfordBring me the ax! Shoot, how I do admire clever use of film editing and bad 1980s EuroPop.

writernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1158718999485595972006-09-19T21:13:00.000-05:002006-09-19T21:23:19.596-05:00

Back when I was the lonely adjunct at yon university up the hill, I felt most days like a ghost in the machine. As an adjunct, you're the outsider let part-way in--not quite a professor, not quite a maintenance worker. Something in between (although maintenance workers get better benefits, including free tuition for their kids).Here's another blogger toiling away in the halls of academe: New Kid

writernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1158592509230983092006-09-18T10:10:00.000-05:002006-09-18T10:15:09.473-05:00

My friend and TV critic colleague Ed Bark recently took the buyout from Belo and no longer works for The Dallas Morning News. Now, at last, after a couple of decades of being muzzled by the Belo idjits, he gets his real voice back. On his new blog he's gnawing on the hand that once fed him and it's a by-god juicy read. Thinking about a career in print media? Read Uncle Barky to learn the truth

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1158266214064912062006-09-14T15:33:00.000-05:002006-09-14T15:36:54.286-05:00

In her first week as the CBS anchor, Katie Couric did some unprecedented, exclusive firestorming of the English language--stuff that will really knock your socks off. Read this blogger's word-by-word analysis of her newsreading rhetoric. (Now if Katie could only learn to pronounce the "-ing" at the end of words, instead of saying "-een.")

writernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9155099.post-1158244296504154122006-09-14T09:16:00.000-05:002006-09-14T09:31:36.913-05:00

The scene is the fall semester get-together for instructors. Cookies, chit-chat, lemonade (the kind made from pink powder in packets, not lemons). Lots of talk of summer cruises to Alaska and how the price of gasoline made driving the RV to Disney World a little tougher this time around.We're about 15 minutes into the party when one of veterans hobbles into the room on two canes. "Charlie! [Not

writernoreply@blogger.com2