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By Katie Kish, March 5, 2009 11:24 am

Happy March everyone. (its Women’s Month, btw…)

You know what I hate a lot? (well, i hate a lot of things…but right now…) When people comment on my site telling me not to do things. Like on one of my paleontology posts someone told me to not use bad language because kids might read it. And other people tell me I should do more editing in my posts and make them more “formal” and other people have tried to tell me that I need to pick one particular topic and start writing on it exclusively.

…Here’s the thing though. …I work at a job where I don’t really get to make decisions. I make suggetions that usually get shot down or ignored. If I disagree too much I get anger spewed at me. My boss is apprarently the exclusive decision maker. Then I go to school. I don’t know how many people are in the current education system, but freedom isn’t really what they like to promote. I worte a wonderful paper on tourism/romanticism and only got a 76% because I didn’t focus enough on the EXACT example given in class……… were we all supposed to write the same essay? And then in another class I wrote a paper disagreeing with the prof and he went to the extent of just telling me my opinions were wrong. …wtf. Then I go home, where I live in someone else’s house. I don’t own it, so I have to abide by their rules…cook for them now and then…and be more or less uncomfortable most of the time.

So. When I write on my blog…i will write about whatever the fuck I want, use whatever language I want, sepll as worng as I sea fit and nto corrcet it if I dunt wnat to and I will not censor myself because your children might stumble across the words “anal” “fucking” “dickhead” or “sex”.

On a happier note – I start new classes today and for some reason think they’ll be better than last semesters. Although that’s rarely the case.

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By Katie Kish, December 2, 2008 4:26 pm

I went to legislature today as Peter Shurman brought to Dalty’s attention the matter of students being screwed over for money. After I was leaving parliament I ran into a few people who were strikers from York taking a day off of their hard larboring on the picket line to come and brother students that don’t agree with what they’re doing. …Because of this irritating display and my trip to visit my friend Cristine on the line last week I’ve been inspired to make this list of Top 10 Reasons I hate The Strike and Strikers.

1. “So we don’t get basic human rights?”
…When Cristine said this one to me I nearly shit my pants. This is a Canadian going to a University….in Toronto…who I know for a fact lives in a beautiful home and gets plenty to eat and drink. I also know that she voted in the last election and that she gets free health care, dental care and gets paid enough  money to live off of and then some. I also know that she travels, eats good food and has access to drinkable water. I also know that she has freedom of speech, is paid above minimum wage and etc. …If anything my right to education is being infringed on -_- lolz. kthx.

2. She says to me “Hey my strike money isn’t that much! “(*how much?* i ask…) “$10/hr for a max 20 hrs a week!”
…She is getting paid ON STRIKE the same amount that I get paid at work. She is getting paid ON STRIKE! what most people her age and my age would consider pretty fair. But I feel like I need to point out one more time, this is what she is getting paid ON STRIKE! greedygreedygreedy.

3. Its not *my fault* you have a shitty job.
This was her defense when I told her the above. …She’s right, its not her fault that I have a job that doesn’t pay more than $10/hr. But she is missing the point. Any part time, minimum wage, student job pays at most like $12/hr…and you’re lucky to get that. There are millions of people working at Tim Hortons, Mc Donalds, Wal Mart, any retail store…fast food joint…and call center that are only getting $9 or $10 per hour. What makes her PART TIME…STUDENT job more likely to get more than these other part time student jobs? Everyone knows the life of a graduate student (or student at all) isn’t one that is full of riches and glory. Its usually filled with tedious work and lots of it at a low pay rate – but people go because they’re there to research and to learn…not to earn millions. Unless they go to York, apparently.

And besides all that, as I mentioned before, they get full benefits. Most part time…student jobs…do not give benefits. I know that my job doesn’t give me benefits. And since when do 23 year old graduate students get the benefit of “wage and job security”? What? You’re students…this is not your career.

4. We’re working below the poverty line!
No you’re not.

5. You should support us because we’re making the graduate program here better for you.
No…you’re not. You’ll only delaying my graduation further so that I have to wait an extra year to start my graduate program. I’m not interested in money, perks and benefits when I go to do my graduate classes. I’m interested in working with people who are knowledgeable in my field and who can teach me a lot. I’m interesting in discovering something or writing a really great thesis. I’m interested in getting published and I don’t expect to be rolling in dough as I do this.

6. They sit there being self congratulatory all day.
This is the most irritating. They sit there and high five each other and talking about how hard done by they are and who right they are and how wrong the university is. They don’t get any sort of “other opinion” instead they just sit and stir inside their own rhetoric day in and day out.

7. We tried to settle but the administration is being unreasonable
Actually – the administration has offered plenty of different options – all better than what you have now and all better than every single school in the rest of the entire country. I don’t blame them for not wanting to negotiate with you (the TAs) every single day because the report from the last meeting was that you were all disruptive, annoying and immature.

8. This is the gem from parliament this morning: It’s not my issue that you’re not in classes. You would be if the university were fair.
Actually, it IS your fault. …100%… totally your fault. Yours and your unions.

9. The University is rolling in money!
No, it’s not. I don’t know if these people have turned a television on in the past few weeks, but the world economy, which just so happens to effect the Canadian economy (*gasp!*shock!*awe!*) is in turmoil. Unemployment is going to go back up, and we’re going to enter into some pretty tough times. …The University might be running on a surplus, but that doesn’t mean they can go and spead it all on raising your pay and benefits by 41% over the next couple of years.

10. Summer classes are looking less and less likely.
Thus delaying my graduation even further. I hate this strike and want to kick it.

Having said all this I should mention that I feel sort of bad for contract faculty. …Sort of. I was talking to the cute boyfriend’s mom and she told me about people who have been on contract for 25 years. At first I thought that was pretty horrible. I’d have to have such limited job security as to have to renew my career contract every single year. But then she pointed out that these people havn’t gained tenure for a reason, and why should they enjoy the perks of a tenured faculty without the effort? Contract faculty get pissed off when someone who is new in the field enters and gets a full time position..but their research is better and they’re just more qualified. So why give tenure and these sorts of perks to people who have simply been teaching introductory language courses for 15 years. I’d rather see a person who has taught quantum mechanics or advanced pedagogy for three years get the perks. That’s the harsh reality of academia I guess. You have to really stand out to get the benefits.

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By Katie Kish, November 6, 2008 11:30 pm

My school’s TA union is striking. *sigh*

CP24 had a poll, and im glad I’m not alone in my sentiments, but rather have 54% of these people agreeing:

yeah know… I get…that people want more money. And that they feel like they deserve a pat on the back for marking a paper or two. But honestly – I really don’t want their gosh darned demands interupting the school year that paid a LOT of money for… like, a lot. A LOT.

So… dear TA’s, school and everyone else involved in me missing classes and fucking up my entire next year…, SCREW OFF AND LET ME GET MY EDUCATION!

To the TA’s specifically: GROW THE FUCK UP AND LEARN THAT YOU CAN’T HAVE A HUGE INCREASE IN PAY IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ECONOMIC CRISIS. IT IS ALSO PRETTY UNREASONABLE TO WANT FREE TUITION. I LIVE OFF OF $10 000/yr WHILE PAYING TUTION. SO CAN YOU!

To the school: STOP BEING DICKS AND TAKING AWAY BENEFITS THEY ALREADY HAVE. LET THE PROFS TEACH WITHOUT THE GODDAMN TAs SO I CAN GET MY GODDAMN EDUCATION!!!!!!!!!!

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By Katie Kish, September 26, 2008 12:52 am

The maximizing principle… it is central to the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Egalitarian principles care not only about the total good an act produces, like the maximzers, but about the distribution also. The “humans-here-and-now-ers” only consider the consequences of people here…in the now. The “people-of-all-times” consider future generations. The “people-everywhere” consider those in other countries. The “people-everywhere-all-the-time” consider everybody, all the time…and you guessed it…everywhere. The non-human-centraled thought – or the environmental-centered view directs us to care for the natural world around us. An individualist extends this to give intrinsic value to nature, as to maintain “ethical consistency” and resulting in “speciesim” if we don’t.  Consequentialists are going to tell you that consequences are all that are relevant to any athical evaluation. Throw in some rights and compensation and you have a nice big fucked up mess.

What does that mess look like? Have to do the most good for the most people on the entire planet for the longest period of time possible. Not only humans, but also animals…well, the sentient ones at least because “they feel pain too”. And NOT ONLY humans and “sentient” animals, but also the environment as a whole because it has value in and of itself. (The whole “you can’t cut down the last tree on earth even if you are the last person on earth because that tree has value beyond human appreciation” argument.) Then to top it all off, we’re going to have consequences that we need to deal with, and any of those consequences that involve trampling the rights of any of the aboved mentioned “important” organisms has to be compensated.Therefore we need to find a solution to climate change that benefits as many people as possible (avoiding it), for a cheaply as possible (or sticking the bill to the rich guys), not wrecking any environment or animal while doing it (but it’s okay to stop on ants), and we need to compensate those who get screwed over it not occuring (like farmers in Saskatchewan).

Fuck.

Or at least that’s what my classes tell me.

You know what I say? We need a “shut-the-fu)k-up-and-think” ethical view point. The world is warming, and yes, it’s warming faster than it ever has in 10 000 years, I’ll admit that. It’s gettin’ hotter out there! And some of it may be because of humans. But lets me honest here folks, we’re not going to stop it. We just won’t. For a few reasons: a) we won’t change in time, fuck that. b) our economy loves growth, the “powers that be” aren’t going to stop growth just because it’s getting warmer c) those that are going to feel the hit the hardest, are the poorest of the people. And the people who are in charge of the decisions, don’t care about the poor people, they care about themselves. So really, there is nothing we can do about it. We’re not going to get some cultural revolution where the hippies of the now take over the government. It didn’t work 30 years ago either.

To make matters “worse” (so to speak) climate change science is just a baby. … we haven’t been doing it for very long. We only have a teeny tiny fraction of the earth’s climate history stored up to go off of. But what we do know is that a) the anthropocentric effects of climate change become noticeable in the environment long after we actually do them, so we’ve already like way more damage than what we can tell currently b) the earth’s temperatures have been going up and down for the entire life of the earth c) who cares if humans die? the earth will be better of without us anyway. Any REAL earth loving hippy would want the world to end so that the earth could stop being pillaged by us horrible beasts. *sigh*

It’s times like this, when I finish a reading and just want to slap a hippy that I think to myself “geez, maybe I’m in the wrong program, I should probably switch to economics”. But then I remember economics in highschool and come to my senses…

Anyway – my real point is that we have bigger issues than climate change. There isn’t going to be some radical change in our lives, the best option that we currently have is nuclear energy, and the hippies won’t let us use it. …I hate how easily people are sucked into believing things……. I am reminded of this every time I watch that show Bullshit with Penn and Teller. …People don’t think, they just passively watch. I love it when someone believes the total opposite of the arguement P&T are making, but by the end of the show they totally agree. They’re like…missing the point – GO DO SOME GODDAM RESEARCH. And then go save a child in Africa. Because they’re cute and need hugs. <3

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By Katie Kish, July 8, 2008 2:56 am

“Next Generations“: Rumor has it the “next generation” of iPhone and rock band are coming out. Don’t get me wrong, I think the iPhone is super sexy and rock band is as fun as the iPhone is sexy – but what pisses me off is that there isn’t really anything wrong with the old ones… If it’s not broke, why fix it?

I’m all about technological advancements… b ut ones that are beneficial to our lives… like solar energy and cool cars that take like nothing to run them but children’s laughter (wouldn’t THAT be a breakthrough!). Hopefully people are at least recycling the old ones or trading it locally. …The iPhone is bad enough as it is, being a bit of an energy sucker. (Who am I kidding? I have a blackberry…)

I hate captialism. If we weren’t all slaves to the dollar we wouldn’t have to use up our minds and our physical resources just to make more money and keep the technophiles of the world occupied with new and cool things. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall victim to all the clever inventions… but that doesn’t make it alright. It just makes me stupid.

“Support Our Troop“: My company is doing a new initiative… They’re doing a “support the troops” dealy where we are supposed to send post cards to troops in the navy or where ever to show that we heart them.

The only issue? I don’t support our troops and I think displaying such biased and icky positions in the workplace is horrible. Not to mention people are rewarded if they send a post card – so those of us who don’t support the troops? We don’t get anything, because we refuse to support something that takes money away from real social services and allows us to get up in things that are none of our fucking business.

I’m not sending a post card. I don’t care if I don’t get a stupid word ribbon or pizza. >_<

“Pussycat Dolls“: that new one, Asia, yeah. the stupid bitch has the same face piercing as me. she’s so annoying!