I’m in the habit of posting reviews for all the books I read, having done it all throughout 2005, so I’m posting this one too, which I posted over at Allconsuming.net, even though it goes against the principle of saying nothing at all if you have nothing to say. But if it saves time for someone for whom this book is not really worthwhile, it’ll be worth. Not a diss on Pickover, by the way: as you can see from his site, the guy’s published a lot, and I’m sure he’s made a tidy profit doing so. But his prose …
Month: November 2006
Still More Gobbledygook and Odd Inferences From The Academic Slushpiles
Ah, for my cup runneth over with gobbledygook. More absurdities from the — ooh, I’ve coined a new term! — the Academic Slush Piles: “Jewish people study economics from childhood, which is why they are all rich.” Uhhhhm. And while “… Jews are like Koreans because they were oppressed by a bigger powerful country, Jewish people think poverty is a fault of the poor, not a misfortune.” Child abuse is appearing in newspapers more than ever, which means it is happening more than ever. Because it’s really not possible that people just worry about it more, or the media is …
Asian American Mental Health — The Book!
Whilst googling phrases from a potentially plagiarized essay, I chanced upon this book on Google Books: Asian American Mental Health: Assessment Theories and Methods. Man, that sounds like the book to have on hand when reading the comment sections on Marmot’s blog. Not to cast asparagus on Marmot himself, but some of the commenters… yeah.
The Speech Contest, Semester 2
I helped adjudicate a speech contest today. It hurt. Okay, I was paid for the time, but the rate was negligible considering that what I was paid for was precious time from my life, which I cannot and will not ever ever get back. Plagiarism is very much alive and well, even in the relatively good school where I work. The other foreign prof I work with and I had been talking last semester about a crackdown on it, and some of our Korean co-workers agreed, while others didn’t think it was fair on students who, ostensibly, “don’t know better.” …
One Tiny Rant
Actually, just a question: Why is it that it’s always the nitwits writing the knee-jerk anti-Japanese generalization-crammed those-islands-are-ours-and-[all-of]-the-Japanese-are-would-be-evil-oceanic-rock-thieves-type essays that think they can get away with plagiarism and cheating? Evidence of not thinking in one area relating to not thinking in another, perhaps? Ah well. Not many more rants left… according to the progress meter, I’m 24% done as of today. By this time tomorrow night, I’m hoping for 50% or more.