Wednesday, March 11, 2020
It is just past 7 a.m. as I start this blog entry, and I will soon make two hard-boiled eggs to take to campus with me for lunch along with some fruit and some leftovers from last night’s dinner.
Here are the news stories that provide the context for the day ahead at California State University, Long Beach:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-10/ucla-to-cancel-most-in-person-classes-until-early-april-to-protect-against-coronvirus?utm_source=LAT+Breaking+News&utm_campaign=a5ff7c8ffc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_10_11_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b3d39b0044-a5ff7c8ffc-85653757
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is apparently on his way to being nominated as the Democratic candidate for President. Congratulations, Joe, but don’t waste your time sending me any e-mails requesting money for your campaign. I will hold my nose, as the saying goes, and vote for you, but I will not give you any money whatsoever, nor will I pick up a phone or walk a precinct. Why would I give money to my oppressor — a man who voted to authorize the Iraq invasion, supported NAFTA, and is in the back pocket of credit card companies who pretend that a 24.9 percent interest rate is not usury. The virus of bourgeois stability replicates itself with astonishing efficiency.
As for the coronavirus crisis, I am ill prepared to start teaching on-line. I’ve been told that I should anticipate administering “a higher-stakes exam online with proctoring” and that I should provide my students with ways to feel comfortable with that process. There is not the slightest hint as how to proctor an online examination. While I have been reminded that students are not necessarily “digital native technology experts,” there is no complementary acknowledgement that most college professors born in 1947 are not “digital native technology experts,” either. I am not even sure what exactly would qualify one for that status, in fact.
Onward!
About Bill Mohr