Happy Halloween on Campus

Spooky things happen on campus. And I'm not just talking about unkempt undergrads trouncing across campus to make to their 9 o'clock class.

No, your campus may be haunted. At Penn State, legend had it that Old Botany (the oldest standing building at Penn State, built in 1887) is haunted by George Atherton widow's ghost. It only makes sense since that building looks right onto Atherton's grave. Yes, George Atherton is buried on campus. He was a beloved president who revived the flailing college in the late 19th century and also had an enormous impact on American higher education as an advocate for land-grant universities. (Those truly interested in his legacy should read this excellent book.) Mrs. Atherton is said to have been seen looking out from Old Botany onto George's grave.

At my undergraduate alma mater, the University of Utah, the ghost is named "Clem" and roams Fort Douglas (a military installation from the 1860's, which is now mostly part of the University), guarding the military museum.

We have our own ghosts here at the University South Carolina. We also have a beloved president buried on campus. (Does anyone know of another university where a president is buried on campus?) But that's not the spooky part.

The second oldest building on campus (built in 1809), on the historic Horseshoe is DeSaussure College, which like most of the buildings on the Horseshoe is now home to an academic department and student residences. However, during the Civil War it was used as a Union hospital. (This is why the college wasn't burned by General Sherman like the rest of Columbia.)

The ghost that is said to inhabit DeSaussure is a Civil War nurse. A common story is that she was the daughter of Confederates and poisoned Union soldiers with tainted wine. Only Northerners are said to encounter the ghost and she offers them a glass of wine.

So, beware as you pass through the old buildings on your campus this Halloween. You just never know who may be around the corner...

What do they know?

A group of 76 scientists (mostly professors) have endorsed Barack Obama. Who cares! What the heck do a bunch of scientists know anyway?

Oh, did I mention those 76 individuals happen to be recipients of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, physics, or medicine?

Fall Break Revisited

In my last post I sardonically asked, "Why a fall break?" In my class on "comparative and international higher education" I posed the same question. My students looked at my like I was insane. And they weren't just looking for an excuse to take a break. They seemed genuinely tired, ready for a change of pace.

I was being glib, for sure, because I fully recognize that we need to take a break now and then. But I still wonder why we feel we need so many breaks at colleges and universities. I think it might be the intensity of the educational enterprise. To be a student—and professors are merely students that have a license to get paid to study (the Ph.D. or other terminal degree)—is intense. It requires long hours, so long that sometimes you lose track of time and have to stumble out of the library at 2 a.m. But even more so than the hours is that you can't really "turn off" as a professor—you're always thinking about the next project, the next problem, the next class, and, oh yeah, the stack of essays on your desk that need to be graded. And while I'm sure lawyers, business managers, and others who have intense jobs would like these built-in breaks, perhaps the trade-off is the pay. Impecunious professors get long hours, punctuated by the occasional break. The others get better toys to play with on the weekend.

And, in terms of my fall break, it was quite nice. I took my parents on a historical tour of the Horseshoe (oops, I guess that's still kind of work!), Grandma and Grandpa visited Jacob's and Lauren's schools to read to their classes (to rave reviews from their classmates), we took a day trip to Charleston, and generally just relaxed. I took a follow-up quasi-fall break the following weekend, tacking a few days on the front end of my trip to D.C. to drive back to Dear Old State to talk to my Ph.D. advisor (thus the "quasi"), work on a paper with a friend (see, more "quasi"), and hang out with the old gang. We saw "W." (I give it a Gentleman's C+), watched Penn State finally beat Michigan (what a year—both of my alma maters beat Michigan!), and enjoyed the Tina Palin Show.

Oh, and I got to revisit the glory of fall in the North. (See Exhibit A, the photo above that I took in State College.)

Fall Break

I think a common problem for professors is having more ideas than time. I've had good intentions to write more on this blog—and plenty of ideas of things to write about—but just haven't had/made the time. The University of South Carolina's Fall Break starts tomorrow so I'll use that as a valid excuse to again not post something for a bit.

Why a fall break? you ask. Good question. I guess for the symmetry of having spring break. And because having Thanksgiving off is surely not enough. (Not that I'm complaining. Nor are my students, for that matter.)

Fall Break means it's time for mid-terms (my U101 class gets theirs today), mini-vacations (my parents are coming in town to see the grandkids, oh, and us too), and catching up on work for some professors (but not this—see previous item). Tomorrow night we will attend a "Faculty Night" for "early career faculty" (those who are still new to the university), an event designed for new faculty to network and meet others on campus. Should be a nice way to kick off Fall Break...