Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Cover Letters for Journals

Direct from the WPA-list—you are subscribed, are you not?—some fresh answers by Dr. Duane Roen on what to include in a cover letter.  Quoted with permission, of course:

Because a journal article manuscript should stand on its own merits, your cover letter needs only several sentences:

1. A sentence stating that you are submitting the manuscript for consideration.

2. A sentence indicating that the manuscript is not under review elsewhere.

3. A sentence thanking the editor for considering the manuscript.

4. A sentence indicating that you look forward to hearing from the editor.

Another list member added word count as a fifth point to include.

These are exactly the kinds of questions and answers I love to see on the list!  Yes!  Clear, quick, and cogent.

WPA-Denver: Sense of Direction?

Wandering and watching for landmarks seems like a no-brainer, right?  Everyone pays attention to where they are walking and what is around them.  Sure.  Well, you obviously have not spent a lot of time with me.  Most of what I do when I am with other folks is let them remember and figure out how to get back home.  It is not that I like to slough off responsibility; the truth, honestly, is that I lose track of where I am and, in a large city, I get lost easily.  For hours.  Or days.  Or eternity.  I don’t want that to happen, so when I am alone, I pay extra close attention to street names and landmarks.

When in the company of colleagues or friends, it is easy to focus on the conversation and stop thinking about where you are going.

For your own sake, try to keep this in mind.

And, if all else fails, make sure that you have a map with you or at least the ability to ask people where you are and how you get back to your hotel.  I know that seems like a small thing, but it really is quite important.

WPA-Denver: Training and Conferences

At home, I spend a fair amount of time working out and training.  It calms me down, and it relieves any stress that I might have.  Both of those things make me a better teacher and a better colleague.

What better place to keep this up then at a conference?  Given the all day sitting and thinking, working out is a good way to work the muscles, relieve the stress, and stay on task.  Plus, it makes sure that any eating or drinking indulgences don’t go totally unchecked.

Fortunately, the Grand Hyatt here has a pool, a track on the roof, and a small gym where I can work out.  No, I do not expect to spend all of my time training—I’m here for the conference—but it was the first thing I did when I got here.  I worked through the travel tensions, tired out some of my muscles, and I found where the gym is.  This way, when I get up to train tomorrow morning I know what I am going to do without stumbling around the hotel all tired and exhausted.  This is a very good thing.

If there was not a gym, I am not sure what I would do.  Of course there are stretching exercises and push up variations I can do in my room, …

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

WPA-Denver: Conference Hotel

Today, as I registered, I learned about a few things that have somehow eluded my radar.  Perhaps my inability to attend many conferences or my lack of travel or my residing not at pricey hotels has led to this.  Or, put another way, my propensity to hermit (verb, yes) has left me ignorant in the ways of the world.

1. When you say no to “Would you like the keys to the mini-bar?” be sure that you repeat your answer.  They don’t seem used to people saying no and meaning it.  I’m not a tea-totaler, but I can’t imagine how pricey each bottle is.

2. Read all of the labels on each and every item in your room.  Where I am staying, they will charge you $4.50 per bottle of bottled water if you open it and drink it.  At least they tell you, but still, it is absurdly tempting to have them sitting here on a table.

3.  If you don’t have a credit card, it is unlikely that you are going to ever be able to get a hotel room.  They want some way to put any extra service charges on your bill.  Yes, that is a bit annoying.  No, I have no idea why they can get away with it.  Regardless, be sure you …

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WPA-Denver: Arrival

As I noted with my posts from New Orleans, some of these posts have more personal/journal styled entries than the standard useful tips and pointers I provide for adjuncts.

So far, everything is going well on my trip.  Getting up at 4:00 a.m. was a bit rugged, but I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and every 10 minutes or so after that.  By 3:48 a.m., I was up and in the shower.  I was on the road at 5:00, at the airport at 5:20, and in the waiting room by 5:40.  At 6:00 a.m. I loaded onto the plane and left the airport about 30 minutes later.

I must confess that flying on a plane with jet engines—the one I flew on today from Arcata to Salt Lake City—was far easier on the nerves than the propeller plane I’ve flown on to San Francisco a of couple times.

I spent a solid two hours yesterday bringing my presentation up to a presentable and acceptable-to-me standard.  It was worth the extra work!  All of the little extra changes I make from here on out are just small stylistic choices.  I feel like I have the heart of the piece in my mind, and I am quite sure I’ll be able to deliver the gist of my work with little or …

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Choice Quote: Bousquet #5

This post continues the thread of choice quotes from Marc Bousquet’s How the University Works.

From “Students Are Already Workers” (148-9):

There is a social bargain with the youth-qua-student that goes something like this: “Accept contingency now, in exchange for an escape from it later.” The university’s role in this bargain is crucial: it provides the core promise of escaping into a future, without which their “temporary” employment would otherwise require larger enticements.  The campus brokers the deal: give us, our vendors, and our employing partners what we want (tuition, fees, and a fair chunk of labor time over several years), and you can escape the life you’re living now.

Higher education is an industry, like others in the service economy, that is “structurally and substantially” reliant on youth labor (Tannock).  Campuses of all kinds are critically dependent on a vast undergraduate workforce, who (as in the fast-food industry) are desirable not just because they are poorly paid but because they are disposable and “more easily controlled” (Schlosser).  This is true regardless of whether campus workers are unionized or whether the school is located in a state with a relatively labor-friendly legislative environment.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

I’m Back from WPA

I’m delighted to be back home.  The conference was mind-blowing, and the generosity, intelligence, and ideas of the community were truly inspiring.

I just wanted to post as quickly as possible because I was not able, or willing, to post while I was away at the conference.  I refuse to pay hotels and coffee shops hostage rates for internet access (about $10/day), when cities can offer WiFi for free to entire populations.  The local WiFi I was able to locate was intermittent, and so I focused my attention entirely on attending sessions, interacting with folks, and drafting material for the blog.

I can only hope that my posts over the next couple of days can convey the excitement, gratitude, and joy I experienced!

A huge thank you to Nick Carbone for arranging this trip for me—it has literally altered my professional life.  A massive pair of thanks also to Alex Ilyasova and Bill Williamson for listening to me blather about my vision of technical writing (and writers).  Thanks!