Friday, September 11

George W Bush SBS, 7.30pm

With almost 20 years' hindsight and with the world much changed it's fascinating to look back on the presidency of George W. Bush, the events that defined it, and the history that shaped it. This meticulous PBS documentary is long two 120-minute episodes but it's the detail that makes it worth watching.

The Split: Rose (Fiona Button), Hannah (nicola Walker), Nina (Annabel Scholey).

Opening with a blow-by-blow of September 11 (something that still produces chills) we proceed to a primer on the life and career of Bush senior, how that shaped the life, values and decisions of Bush junior, how W came to enter politics and of course how and why he responded the way he did to the al-Qaeda attack.

Without being revisionist it certainly shows us the human being behind the relentless headlines and generates considerable compassion for what was, after all, just a man doing his best in extraordinary circumstances.

24 9Now

The clock is always ticking for Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). The audacious real-time conceit of this addictive espionage thriller requires that someone important is always under threat and that the fate of the United States, if not the whole "free world", is under attack from shadowy malevolent forces. Bauer, stony-faced, fearless and resilient, is an agent for the Counter Terrorist Unit, a maverick who'll break the rules to achieve the desired outcome.

Each episode spans an hour in real time and the suspense, especially in the ripper first season, is perpetually high, even when the plots can take some wild turns to keep the momentum pumping. Sutherland wears a pained expression and a furrowed brow through the eight seasons even though he's the designated survivor. Four seasons are now available, with a new batch dropping every Friday.

The Big Family Cooking Showdown SBS Food, 6.30pm

Terrific casting makes this lightweight but enjoyable cooking comp a winner. The format will be familiar: three members of a family, regular home cooks, compete against a similar team in unsophisticated culinary challenges. Co-host Nadiya Hussain is always delightful; the judges Rosemary Shrager (Ladette to Lady) and Georgio Locatelli (Italy Unpacked) are fun, and in this first ep the granny from one team not only is the spitting image of Anne Reid, she's like every slightly dotty granny you ever knew.

The Split ABC, 8.20pm

This first-rate British drama returns for a second season tonight, still worrying at the conundrums it set up last season. It's fertile ground: a family drama peopled by flawed, empathetic characters who are then layered into a legal drama - both the machinations within the firm and a case of the week. Showrunner Abi Morgan continues to find ways to use those cases (the work of a family law firm thats also a family business) to motivate, illuminate or reflect on the family issues. She also knows perfectly how to modulate light and shade, and make sure everyone in the big ensemble has something to do.

Freeman ABC, 7.40pm

Twenty years ago, on September 25, Cathy Freeman won gold in the 400-metre footrace at the Sydney Olympics. It's a moment so etched in the cultural memory it seems like theres not much else to say about it.

But this elegant, intelligent documentary manages to introduce new material, remind us of all the things we've forgotten, and put the event in a contemporary context that makes us feel the weight of the moment in fresh ways. As moving as it is exhilarating.

Todd Sampson accumulates more frequent dying points in a new season of Body Hack, hitting a demolition derby in Utah in the opening episode.

Peppa Pig ABC Kids, 7.55pm

Before home-grown hit Bluey set the benchmark for animated children's discovery, the porcine power of Peppa Pig was top of the pile of toddlers. The seventh season of the now lucrative British franchise debuted earlier this year, but frankly repeating it in the early evening feels like a positive gambit during a pandemic (especially if you're in lockdown); it's quite the palate cleanser for when you've had enough reality TV.

A family visit to a local castle provides the everyday excursion for the first episode, which allows Peppa to ask questions and make observations with Mummy and Daddy Pig while little brother George continues to stick to chortles and animal noises. The show hits the sweet spot of silly and sensible for the target audience, and it remains impervious to those trying to ideologically critique it. That said, Daddy Pig's disappointment at the medieval banquet being plastic did hit a little close to home.

Drunk History Ten, 9.40pm

It's taken a good part of two years for Ten's local take on the American comedy hit, which was initially commissioned for their pilot week sweepstakes, to be broadcast. That should set off alarm bells, but the Drunk History concept where the past is illuminated by a comedian recently acquainted with alcohol as actors provide the visuals is so pliable that with the right talent talking it's harder to get this irreverent education wrong than right.

Free of her terrifying Helen Bidou character, comic Anne Edmonds provides the lowdown on Dame Nellie Melba's ascent to opera glory, despite having a "head like a busted arse", while Harley Breen provides a mocking, mirthful retelling of the many failings that got Burke and Wills killed. The explorers are played by James Mathison and Osher Gunsberg respectively, which is an unlikely Australian Idol reunion, but nonetheless a daftly enjoyable one. Cheers!

The Trip to Greece (premiere) ABC Comedy, 9.20pm

While cinemas in Australia get first dibs at an edited version of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's improvised fine dining comedy, the complete fourth season of director Michael Winterbottom's European vacation comedy has finally arrived for those who prefer their plating to be like their mockery: intricate and well-seasoned.

As (hopefully) exaggerated versions of themselves, the two actors and pals start their odyssey at the ruins of Troy, although they're soon at the lunch table where Brydon, forever grasping for equality with Coogan, is quoting Aristotle to garnish the worth of his impressions. There's a sombre streak to this edition, which concludes the show, but nonetheless this remains a masterful upending of the culinary travelogue.

Todd Sampson's Body Hack Ten, 7.30pm

How much hacking can Todd Sampson's body take? This is the fourth season of the advertising creative-turned-television presenter's international endurance test and he's previously been caught up in demonstrations in the Gaza Strip, trekked through Siberia, visited the French Foreign legion, and trained with various competitive fighters. By rights he should have accumulated plenty of frequent dying points.

While Sampson's appetite for risk can sometimes suggest a self-improvement streak that's verging on self-obsession, he remains a good observer of others, a trait well deployed in the season's opening episode. Travelling to the American state of Utah to take part in a demolition derby contest, Sampson draws some dismissive glances from the white, working-class devotees of extreme driving when he's introduced. Kudos to him for noting their suspicion.

Bluff City Law Nine, 9.40pm

Jimmy Smits has enjoyed an estimable television career, spanning roles in L.A Law and NYPD Blue to Dexter and Sons of Anarchy, but this pious legal drama where he plays a famous litigator whose personal flaws can't compare to his courtroom oratory is not going to dominate his highlight reel. Cancelled after a sole season, Bluff City Law is set in Memphis, where the firm run by Smits' Elijah Strait focuses on civil rights cases. His newest lawyer is formerly estranged daughter Sydney (Caitlin McGee), who is leaving behind her corporate clients to be closer to her father after a shared family tragedy. What unites the father and daughter? Some lofty legal ideals and grand speeches that in 2020 feel more like a sleek fantasy than the fabric of American life.

Friday Night Dinner ABC Comedy, 8.30pm

Once more it's Friday night in North London and adult sons Adam (Simon Bird, The Inbetweeners) and Jonny (Simon Rosenthal) are attending Shabbat dinner with their parents, Jackie and Martin Goodman (Tamsin Greig and Paul Ritter). The Jewish tradition is the foundation stone for sibling pranks, parents embarrassing their children, oddball diversions, and eccentric guests.

This is the first episode of the show's fifth season and, while there's a daft strain of slapstick still peeking through the plot, the defining element is the familial familiarity that defines these weekly gatherings. While it's far from acerbic, the writing and lead performances truly do capture the matter-of-fact oddness in getting together with people you've spent much of your life with but still don't fully comprehend. It's a mix of blood and bafflement that tie the clan together.

Just Jen SBS Food, 7.30pm

If you've seen American food blogger and kitchen creative Jen Phanomrat on YouTube you'll be well aware of her vibrant personality, feel for accessible dishes, and engaging food culture knowledge. Just Jen adds a broadcast sheen to her studio kitchen appearances, but it wisely keeps her style undiluted some of the puns aren't good, but the pleasure she takes in cooking is infectious. This episode is dedicated to fare that will help you relax, which includes her own take on the lollipop.

Secrets of the Museum ABC, 9.30pm

The items on display at London's Victoria and Albert Museum might number somewhere in the thousands, but the institution has approximately 2million pieces in its collection. This British documentary series captures the conversation with history both practical and philosophical that's involved in keeping those items viable. "Trying to keep the past alive," is how one conservator puts it, and it's a fascinating process even as it starts with a home-made Edwardian stuffed elephant named Pumpy, who is the worse for wear after a century of hands-on play and insect attack.

The staff show deep connections to the pieces they're studying, revealing illuminating details about the works that connect them to today, so that an 18th century portrait miniature is analogous to Instagram. An exhibition of Christian Dior gowns is the glamorous headliner, but it's the niche items that reveal the best techniques and tales. And there's a matching level of care in the direction of Jack Warrender, who visually captures not just the intricacies of individual pieces but the museum itself as a space where wonder is fostered.

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What's on TV: Friday, September 11 to Thursday, September 17 - Brisbane Times

September 09, 2020 00:00 ET | Source: AuthorHouse

photo-release

HERMISTON, Ore., Sept. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Miguel A. Ornelas S. felt the need to share what he learned with those that do not know and/or knew but were not confident enough to profess their knowledge and share it with others. It is for this reason that he writes Being an Independent Thinker by Thinking of Others (published by AuthorHouse).

This book is about leadership and everything that this word embodies. It is not limited to a work title, it is directed and written especially for someone like you and me. It is about finding ones way through life picking up bits and pieces of knowledge and experiences and adding them to ones arsenal as one grows to become ones own leader and boss. It is about discovering who one is and living that person out to the fullest.

The idea behind what I have written is that you expand your belief system to accept things that resonate with your own thoughts because there is only one you in this universe, the author says. My wish is that you become the best you that you can be by being the only person who sets limits to your belief system. May your life be that of continuous growth.

Being an Independent Thinker by Thinking of Others aims to give inspiration to readers for them to make improvements in their lives and see the value in themselves. Overall, an improvement to their self-esteem. For more details about the book, please visit https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/being-an-independent-thinker-by-thinking-of-others-miguel-a-ornelas-s/1137528009?ean=9781728369426

Being an Independent Thinker by Thinking of Others

By Miguel A. Ornelas S.

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 184 pages | ISBN 9781728369402

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 184 pages | ISBN 9781728369426

E-Book | 184 pages | ISBN 9781728369419

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Miguel A. Ornelas S. has been married for 25 years and has three kids. He enjoys reading, and now that his kids are grown, he also enjoy the healthy balance of alone time with family time. If he was to have written about his lifes trials and tribulations. It would not have been worth the paper it was written on. Instead, he chose to write about and share some of what he has learned throughout his life. Hopefully, in a way in which it makes more sense to readers than it made to him as he was learning and discovering things for himself. He hopes that the information he shared holds value and be of merit as readers learn things throughout his life.

AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrates over 23 years of service to authors. For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 833-262-8899.

Bloomington, Indiana, UNITED STATES

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New book discusses about leadership and everything that it embodies - GlobeNewswire

SEPT 2020 Issue 970 x 90 Field Notes

The history of the University of California over the last half-century has been written through protest. Student movements and labor actions alike erupt iteratively in response to changes in the UCs structure. Amid one longer struggle, each generation fights its own particular battles. Last December, when a group of grad students at UC Santa Cruz withheld grades from the winter quarterand were summarily fired, prompting a full labor strike and solidarity actions statewidethey were targeting the material conditions of their labor and their housing. They were also rejecting the dictates of a university system increasingly run as a business, in which they represent nothing so much as a discounted workforce. The university greeted them with open hostility.

Santa Cruz provided the ideal tinder box for the conflagration. Housing costs are among the highest in the nation: the average monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment in the county hovers just under $2,000, with affordability trending down as rent continues to outpace regional income growth. Like most of Californias metropolitan areas, the number of cost-burdened renters exceeds national averages, and the countys per-capita homeless population has reached San Francisco levels. The university is not only far and away the countys largest employer, but a major player in the real estate market, capable of exerting citywide influence on rent prices. On its campus, according to internal polling, most graduate workers are rent-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income toward rent; many pay more than 70 percent.1 The graduate workers contract signed with the UC in 2018, meanwhile, had been voted down by 83 percent of Santa Cruz graduate student workers.

Discontent boiled over into a December grading strike for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to keep pace with the overheated housing market. In the coming months, the grade withholding grew into a full labor strike on UCSCs campus. The grad workers union had signed a contract with the UC the previous year with a boilerplate no-strike clause that precluded the union sanctioning any such action; the UCSC workers, on wildcat strike and thus unprotected, were fired en masse by the university, which in turn spread the strikeand demands for COLAacross the UC system.

University administration set about managing the fallout from the terminations: while claiming that they were unable to bargain with the striking workers based on the current contract, they simultaneously sued the union for tacitly supporting the strike, and attempted to negotiate with an obscure graduate-student governing body unaffiliated with either the striking UCSC students or the union. This chicanery was perhaps to be expected given the UCs history. As labor historian Toby Higbie notes, in response to a climate of campus radicalism, universities turned to labor relations experts to manage labor conflicts and quell unrest. Clark Kerr is the one who presided over the expansion of the UC system, and he was a labor relations expert. He was the director of the Berkeley Institute of Industrial Relations. In the sixties and seventies, a lot of university presidents were industrial relations scholars.2

Kerrs expansion of the UC system also set the stage for later transformations that would precipitate the COLA movement. In 1960, Kerr, then president of the University of California, and California governor Pat Brown spearheaded passage of the California Master Plan for Higher Education. An ambitious agenda committed to continual growth of the states higher education capacity to meet public demand, the Master Plan enshrined in law the public good model of the UCstipulating that it would operate simultaneously as a vehicle of equal opportunity, individual upward mobility, and statewide economic development. In Master Plan California (so the theory went), tuition-free public higher education would propel the state toward an ever-increasing prosperity in which everyone could share, so long as they committed themselves to the form of self-improvement signaled by the attainment of a college diploma. Such an understanding of the personal and social value of the publicly financed university had a degree of plausibility in the postwar era, when rising productivity appeared unproblematically linked to rising wages and a Keynesian sensibility about state expenditure prevailed.

But as an ideological justification for unequal outcomes, the Master Plan was also compatible with an emerging neoliberal alternative, most prominently embodied in the thinking of Gary Becker, a University of Chicago-trained economist and later president of the Mont Pelerin Society, font of neoliberal thought. Seeking a way of accounting for disparities in the labor market, Becker developed the theory of human capital, a gloss on the knowledge and skills possessed by workers that would be attractive to firms and therefore reflected in a higher wage. Beckers theory was a tidy inversion of Marx: no longer the possessor solely of labor power in a coercive market stratified by class, the worker was rather the proprietor of her own human capitalwhich is to say, a capitalist in miniature. Education became, in this view. an avenue for students to invest in themselves.

Thus even as Kerr was pitching the university as something of a public good, he described its functioning, in his The Uses of the University (1966), in the language of business: one at the center of the growing knowledge industry, such that The university and segments of industry are becoming more alike. As the university becomes tied into the world of work, the professortakes on the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

In 1964, the same year that Becker published Human Capital, huge free speech protests at UC Berkeley would interrupt Kerrs smooth managerial triumphalism. Kerr, we assume, was unimpressed: in Industrialism and Industrial Man (1960), he writes:

The intellectuals (including the university students) are a particularly volatile elementcapable of extreme reactions to objective situationsmore extreme than any group in society. They are by nature irresponsible, in the sense that they have no continuing commitment to any single institution or philosophical outlook and they are not fully answerable for consequences. They are, as a result, never fully trusted by anybody, including themselves.3

Protestors appear in Kerrs thinking, then, as a nuisance to be managed and controlled as the knowledge industry rolls along: an easy prospect, he assures his reader, as today men know more about how to control protest, as well as how to suppress it in its more organized forms. It seems he did not know well enough. As soon as Kerr published these thoughts, of course, they were given the lie. Ronald Reagan, who came to political prominence in part through his revanchist opposition to the Free Speech Movement and the way Kerr was managing it, promised California voters he would be the man to clean up the mess at Berkeley. Elected governor in 1967, he moved swiftly to oust Kerr and violently suppress the student movement.

And while the political logic underwriting the Master Plan was entrenched enough during Reagans tenure as governor that he actually implemented the states first progressive income tax to keep Californias public universities tuition-free, his ascendance to the presidency was pivotal in completing the transformation of public higher education into something that conferred a private market benefit. Reagans national initiation of the neoliberal epoch was foreshadowed by Californias taxpayer revolt, which in 1978 led to the ratification of Proposition 13. By strictly capping property tax revenue, Proposition 13 reduced Californias fiscal base, limiting the amount of money available for higher education expenditure and reinforcing a growing common sense: no longer a public good in any meaningful sense, the university instead offers a way for the driven and the motivated to augment their human capital. This would be (and continues to be) expressed monetarily in the education premium, the lifetime of higher earnings that seemed to accrue to the college graduate.

In other words, the ambiguity of the Master Plan, which proposed a public good model of the university but allowed a human capital explanation of its benefit, seemed to resolve in favor of the latter. This has had profound downstream effects on how the university is governed and financed. In Kerrs time, tuition at the UC was free. The business-like character of the UC has only been magnified since, as public funding has dried up through successive crises, leaving the university ever more reliant on tuition for funding and on squeezing its underpaid workforce. The current era was inaugurated in 2004, when the UCs Board of Regents signed a Higher Education Compact with then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, which committed to yearly tuition hikes twice what the state committed in return. This ushered in what UC Santa Barbara professor Christopher Newfield has called a devolutionary cycle of neoliberal privatization and public retrenchment at the university that continues straight up to the present.4 In the 20202021 UC budget, for example, tuition ($3.80 billion) and state funding ($3.94 billion) now account for almost equal proportions of the universitys core funds for teaching and research. Per-student expenditures on education, meanwhile, have declined nearly 20 percent, from $25,220 in fiscal year 20002001 to $20,670 in fiscal year 20202021, and the composition of these expenditures has shifted dramatically. Tuition has more than doubled as a share of per-student expenditure since 2001, while the per-student state contribution has been cut in half in the same period.5

The tuition-based revenue model may seem to have been enacted defensively, in response to declining state funding, but it offers certain advantages to university administrators. As Dan Nemser and Brian Whitener point out, tuition, unlike state funding, is unrestricted revenue, capable of being allocated to all of the universitys operations, including construction, real estate, administration, or anything else privileged by higher educations managerial strata. Whats more, tuition increases, and the phenomenon of mass student indebtedness they have helped to manufacture, can be leveraged as collateral by the university to issue debt of its own.6 Debt financing, consonant with a conception of the lean, entrepreneurial university serving a lean, entrepreneurial student population, has exploded across higher education in the 21st century, and remains central to university operations. In the UCs 20192025 financial plan, for instance, a full 40 percent of the $28 billion in capital with an identified funding source is expected to come from external financing borrowed on capital markets.

The university may be able to secure preferential credit scores and interest rates in these markets by representing itself as a quasi-corporate nexus of assets and revenue streams, but it also subjects itself to the whims of financial governance. Finance, of course, celebrates the privatization of the university already long in progress, and the many ways in which public institutions have adapted themselves to market logics. Little surprise, then, that the UC, like universities everywhere, has striven to diversify revenue streams and cut coststhrough increased tuition and decreased per-student expenditure, yes, but also intellectual property rents, corporate sponsorship of research, outsourcing and contracting of non-core operations, hospital income, contingentization of the academic labor force, and institutional landlordism. It is in this broader context that the most recent cycle of unrest at the UC must be understood.

The neoliberal universityleveraging tuition money to debt-finance real estate acquisition and other potentially profitable ventureshas both opportunistically responded to and helped to produce one of the largest consumer credit bubbles in the United Statess history, now directly underwritten by the federal government, which has $1.5 trillion in student loans on its booksa figure that is equivalent to nearly 7 percent of the national GDP. Even more than retrenchment at the state level, this new role of federal government as permanent lender for the nations student population reflects the breadth of neoliberal retreat: no longer a provider of higher education as a tax-financed public good, the government now operates as the major player in a ballooning debt market. The scale of student indebtedness is enough to [generate] new forms of docility through peonage as students take on debt before ever entering the formal workplace.7

But this financialized landscape also exposes new fissures. In 2009, after the financial crisis decimated Californias state finances and led Schwarzenegger to renege on the Higher Education Compact by drastically cutting state funding for higher education, the UC responded by announcing widespread layoffs, budget cuts, and a 32 percent tuition increase. Undergraduates, led by students at Santa Cruz, erupted in protest, occupying university buildings and staging sit-ins across the UC campuses. A flurry of critical student writing proliferated, distributed in chapbooks and zines at the protests. Here is how one of the essays written at that time describes graduate students:

Meanwhile the graduate students, supposedly the most politically enlightened among us, are also the most obedient. The vocation for which they labor is nothing other than a fantasy of falling off the grid, or out of the labor market. Every grad student is a would be Robinson Crusoe, dreaming of an island economy subtracted from the exigencies of the market. But this fantasy is itself sustained through an unremitting submission to the market. There is no longer the least felt contradiction in teaching a totalizing critique of capitalism by day and polishing ones job talk by nightGraduate school is simply the faded remnant of a feudal system adapted to the logic of capitalismfrom the commanding heights of the star professors to the serried ranks of teaching assistants and adjuncts paid mostly in bad faith.8

While the tone here is clearly polemical, the undergraduates do capture some of the challenges of graduate student organizing. On the one hand, graduate students at the UC are public employees. On the other, academic graduate students are widely perceived as professionals-in-training, whose advanced degrees will propel them into the comfortable ranks of the tenured professoriateepitomizing the logic of human capital. But decades spent cutting labor costs means that contingent faculty slots make up 70 percent of all instructional appointments across the United States. Graduate students are thus overwhelmingly competing for part-time jobs that are renewed on a contract basis with little to no year-to-year security, and often paid on a per-class basis that breaks down to less than minimum wage. And while such a bleak outlook offers a stark corrective to the notion that doctoral education is first and foremost a professionalization process that will pay off in a tenure-track future, it also ironically engenders intensely neoliberal forms of self-governance among a graduate and adjunct population competing for an ever-shrinking share of tenure-eligible positions. Promoting solidarity becomes a challenge when, as the undergraduates in 2009 so pointedly put it, graduate students are routinely encouraged to [polish] ones job talk by night.

* * *

We can confirm the ambivalence expressed among graduate students at the height of the COLA actions. Opinion seemed to oscillate between discontent over the 2018 contract ratification process, reflexive support of the UAW, decrying of paltry paychecks, and deep concern over how participation may affect access to university money and future job prospects. The UCs mass firing of UCSC students did indeed inspire fear in graduate workers, some of whom felt more comfortable committing to slower-moving but legally protected actions through the union than quicker wildcat strikes; other students, whose faith in the apprenticeship model prevailedparticularly in those fields with real promise of stable employment post-graduationshowed little interest in spending their stretched time on questions of labor. In any case, as graduate student workers across the state considered whether and how to expand the strike in early March, the coronavirus pushed university life onlineopening new opportunities for organizing, but ultimately throwing a heavy blanket over the COLA push. For a time, the graduate workers local, UAW 2865, worked toward an unfair labor practices (ULP) strike to reinstate the fired workers; ultimately, though, that campaign ended with a whimper, with the bargaining committee deciding against a vote to authorize the strike, decrying the efforts of a vanguardist minority union of grad workers in the social sciences, arts, and humanities to act without the bulk of the unions membership behind them.

In a retrospective on the heels of the COLA campaigns headiest days, the organizers of the COLA movement considered their successes and pitfalls:

It is possible that the COLA demand uniquely and directly addressed the material conditions of graduate workers, its singularity and universality concentrating political energy in ways that analogous campaigns had not. Moreover, the emergence of the single, focused COLA demand bypassed the pitfalls of recent histories of UC graduate organizing. It was not a Graduate Student Association initiative, did not seek an audience with administration, and was unavoidably antagonistic to the UAW 2865 leadership and the 2018 contract.9

The distaste, then, was mutual, and informed by the history of division between two caucuses within the UAW: Organizing for Student-Worker Power (OSWP) and Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (AWDU). The AWDU had emerged from the post-2009 political landscape on campus and promoted an expansive social justice vision of union activism. OSWP, whose members currently make up the leadership of UAW 2865, took back the local in the wake of declining membership rolls and the shock of the Supreme Courts Janus decision, aiming to reorient the union to the more modest task of building a supermajority membership. It is heavily influenced by labor scholar and UC Berkeley fellow-in-residence Jane McAlevey, who contends that the strikes that work best and win the most are the ones in which at least 90 percent of all the workers walk out, having first forged unity among themselves and with their broader community.10 This benchmark is relatively difficult to hit, particularly in the context of a local as sprawling as UAW 2865, which covers more than 19,000 student workers across 10 campuses and which experiences a nearly complete turnover of the workforce in any given 10-year period. The COLA organizers, adherents of the social justice unionism approach advocated by the AWDU, considered that standard to lend itself to an overly conservative approach to labor action; they argue that,

Without the wildcat strike, we would have none of these concrete possibilities to secure and improve our conditions. Without the continuing pressures and threat of mass action exerted by the wildcat strike, there would never be sufficient pressure on the University to agree to reopen negotiations with the union, nor would there be sufficient power behind the union to successfully negotiate with a behemoth institution like the UC.

The union, in this view, is a tool, a legally protected body to be pushed and prodded into action, absent which it succumbs to inertia.

COLA advocates made the case that their wildcat strike accomplished just that. The COLA movement was itself something of a referendum on the last contract signed by UAW 2865, in summer of 2018. That contract was ratified narrowlywith 52 percent of union members who cast a vote approvingand rejected on UCSCs campus by a more than four-to-one margin. Nonetheless, as March wore onand before the UAW bargaining committee rejected authorization of a ULP strikethe tactics of the two groups converged: as the union worked toward an authorized ULP strike, COLA organizers pushed rolling wildcat strikes toward the same goal. The very day that our home department (UCLA Geography) held a town hall to discuss our options, though, we left the meeting to news that in-person classes had been canceled the following day. We have not returned since.

Coronavirus squashed momentum across the UC system toward a COLA, and thwarted graduate labor agitation against further austerity for the university. So too does it promise further austerity. A one-time infusion of funds from federal aid notwithstanding, the state legislature has reduced the funds allocated to UC by 12 percent for 202021; the $3.47 billion now marked for the UCs is a full 20 percent less than the amount requested by the universitys regents pre-COVID to avoid deep deficits. Campuses have tirelessly tried all sorts of revenue workarounds, mostly involving overenrollment coupled with non-resident student growth, but it hasn't worked, writes Newfield. After years of acquiescence to state cuts, the UC is thus staring down a budget one fifth less than their stipulated pre-COVID needs, with the virus wreaking havoc on its ability to generate revenue. COVID exacerbated what would have already been a shoestring budget; as Newfield writes, the problem isn't just Covid but a flawed business model in which the University has let state funding massively decline.

The universitys pivot toward a privatized and financialized model amid reduced public funding depends on its continued legitimacy as a hub of what Kerr called the knowledge industry, which in turn depends on the matriculation and movement of students through their courses of study. The withholding of gradesand the potential withholding of academic labor generallyby graduate students undermines the ability of the university to publicly certify that core function. As the COLA strikers write:

For a brief moment, it seemed as if the UCSC grade strike, and the follow-up actions on that campus and elsewhere, might force the university to address the concerns of their graduate workersand, in doing so, force further consideration of the condition of the university and its funding more broadly. Not only did the pandemic throttle that momentum, it will at best exacerbate the cycle of defunding and privatization that spurred the graduate worker uprising in the first place, and at worst shatter the entire edifice.11 At a glance, a fragile equilibrium is returning to the university, even as it transitions nearly fully onto Zoom: in February, UCSC announced an annual $2,500 housing stipend for its graduate workers, which the COLA organizers can tout as a victory; the threat of a graduate worker strike has, for now, abated; and the fired graders at Santa Cruz have been reinstated. The circle, however, remains unsquared, and the structural deficits of the neoliberal university remain unaddressed. Another protest looms.

Samuel Feldblum studies geography at UCLA and reports across the southern half of the United States.lives in North Carolina and writes across the South.

John Schmidt is a graduate student of geography at University of California, Los Angeles.

Continued here:
What's the Use of a University? - Brooklyn Rail

Posted on September 3, 2020 at 8:56 am by West Sider

By Yvonne Vvra

It may take a village to raise a kid, but it takes a winery to homeschool one.

Thats just one of the hundreds of memes circling through social media during the height of the pandemic.

Its called quarantine coffee. Its just like normal coffee but it has margarita in it and also no coffee.

Thats another one. Conan OBrien asked: Can we all agree to temporarily raise the bar for whats considered an alcoholic? And while many of President Franklin D. Roosevelts quotes are just as appropriate in our time as they were during the Great Depression, the one he reportedly said on the end of prohibition certainly hit the sweet spot of 2020: What America needs right now is a drink.

Apparently. Sales of alcoholic beverages in the US skyrocketed since we were ordered to stay at home. Wine sales rose 66% over the previous year in the week ending March 21, the market research firm Nielsen reported. Beer sales were up 42%, and harder liquor like tequila or gin even jumped up 75%. Like toilet paper and cleaning supplies, booze was flying off the shelves, and understandably so: The pandemic had everyone on edge, feeling not only their own but also the collective anxiety, prompting many to turn to the bottle for a break: In a study from Alcohol.org, 38% of New Yorkers admitted they were day-drinking during working hours.

Beej Christie Karpen.

The reason many are drinking more during the pandemic has largely to do with uncertainty, says Beej Christie Karpen, a certified coach, mindfulness-based therapist, and long-time Upper West Sider. Most of us dont do well with uncertainty. It scares us, and the pandemic has really brought that to the forefront.

Karpen had become curious about why people overdrink during her studies at NYU where she designed a mindful drinking program. Later she became a meditation instructor and eventually implemented her idea for mindful and self-compassionate drinking practices in free meetings for women as part of Moderation Management, a support network for people learning to reduce their drinking to healthier levels.

When the pandemic hit, I moved our in-person meeting to Zoom, and all of a sudden we started getting people from all over the country, says Karpen. As it seemed, a lot of women were taking stock of their alcohol consumption and had started worrying that they were drinking too much. People were really addressing their drinking and taking the time to do some self-examination. So I started to also offer my Conscious Drinking Workshop on Zoom.

Karpen follows the Harm Reduction approach that empowers the individual to set their own goals. Its not about encouraging people to stop drinking, but rather to figure out individually how much alcohol use feels ok to them. Im offering tools that can help participants access their inner wisdom around drinking; a mindfulness approach that can help them reduce stress in all areas of their lives.

But how do we even know if we may have been drinking a little too much to cope with the quarantine stress?

I found that most people are not in denial, but have a sense that they may be drinking too much, because it doesnt feel good. Maybe they are not waking up as clear-headed as they used to, or they dont like the feeling of depending on something, and theyre having a hard time reining in the habits on their own.

The workshops are all about bringing the unconscious to the conscious and becoming aware: of how much we are actually drinking, of what the craving feels like, what triggers the stress and the habit-loop, and what kind of reward we are truly after. Participants get to know the inner critic, the inner negotiator, and the inner rebel: How are these parts talking to us, what are their tactics? Are they bullies or are they nice? Trying to be our friends or shame us?

Karpen herself has experienced the pandemic in the Upper West Side as mindfully and curiously as her long-standing meditation practice has taught her. I have a lot of disaster preparedness tools and know that life is always in flux, she says. The root cause of most suffering and stress is wanting things to be different than they are. But if you just accept what is happening and start to view it with a sense of curiosity, you might find that gentle curiosity is the antidote to stress!

The next Conscious Drinking 101: A Group Coaching Workshop for Women starts Thursday, September 15th. You can learn more here.Beej also offers free meditation classes via Zoom on Tuesday Mornings. Click here for information.

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Started Drinking a Little Too Much During Quarantine? This Upper West Sider Teaches You How to Moderate - westsiderag.com

With state and federal regulations constantly changing and often difficult to understand, small businesses are at a disadvantage when it comes to compliance. Thats a dangerous position to be in, particularly in the self-storage industry, where many facility operators wear too many hats. If youre the owner, your main job is to set the vision for the company and empower those who work for and around you to achieve it. Instead, owning self-storage is more complicated than ever.

Outsourcing your weaknesses is sometimes the best way to move your company forward. It allows you to work with experts in other fields, so you can focus on your strengths. When it comes to accountingauditing, billpay, financial statements, payroll, etc.you dont want to fall short. Lets see how a third-party service provider can help you navigate this side of the business so you can concentrate on your core competencies.

Outsourcing your day-to-day accounting can save you time and reduce the risk of employee theft. It should also mean the following tasks get done correctly.

Auditing. While you can and should regularly conduct your own operational audits, its helpful to engage an outside auditor once per year to do an in-depth review of your systems and processes. We all become blind to what we see every day, and its hard to look at your own company with fresh eyes. I cant tell you how many times Ive discovered self-storage units during an audit that werent listed in the property-management system, much to the owners surprise.

Having an independent third party check your operation annually can provide many benefits. Itll help you discover new opportunities for revenue growth, feel confident that you have the right systems in place and know procedures are followed. In other words, itll help you run your asset in the best way possible.

Billpay. An accounting professional will use a billpay system that allows you to approve or deny all expenses as they come in. The system will have a built-in audit trail, so you can easily see all approvals and pay bills electronically. Your supplier should provide a timeline for when accounting is reconciled and be able to read reports from your self-storage management software.

Financial statements. All income should be derived from the self-storage management system and reconciled through bank statements. This ensures all revenue collected clears the bank. Accurately recording revenue in categories will allow you to see where your money comes from and make it easier to sell your property should you ever wish to exit the business. Income should be divided into rent, late fees, admin fees, merchandise, insurance commission, etc. Sales tax should be appropriately recorded and filed each month.

Payroll. Outsourcing this task ensures your business is following all state guidelines and labor laws. Payroll rules can change, and companies should be proactive in updating clients about new regulations. This can be a lifesaver for a self-storage operator who simply doesnt have time to stay up to date with every new law. Its a full-time job.

As you begin your search for accounting support, youll need to answer these key questions:

Local or national? Do you prefer to work with a local provider or a national one? Local companies tend to know your market better, are able to meet in person, and can have insight a national supplier wont have. However, youre also limited in your options. There may not be a self-storage accounting expert in your area, so youll have to pick the best fit from whats available.

National providers usually have more varied experience since they have a broader view, including self-storage knowledge. They can bring insight and ideas from various areas that may work in your market. Youll have more choices. Outsourcing your accounting to a national company is a simple process if the supplier has technology in place.

Small or large? Smaller companies tend to be more hands-on, relationship-based and focused on personal service. Theyll treat you like a person, not a number. They live and breathe by their customer base, so theyll typically work harder to make you happy.

Larger companies have more resources and are able to move your account if necessary. They may also save you money, since they can offer discounts and incentives a smaller provider cant. Of course, that may come as a trade for a less personal customer-service experience.

Person or process? Think about whether you want to work with a person or a process. When outsourcing payroll, for example, its easy to pick process. Payroll should be the same each month, and you dont need anyones expertise to do it. It doesnt need interpretation. Once its set up correctly, its basically on autopilot.

Other accounting tasks, however, are more hands-on. Recording and reconciling the numbers is the first step. Having an accountant whos an expert in self-storage adds value, since he should be able to interpret the numbers and tie them to operational strategies for business improvement. You can hire a company that automates accounting and still get reconciled financial statements; however, youll have to do the interpretive work to know how to move your business forward.

Cost or benefit? Many owners simply want the lowest cost for the task and overlook the benefit theyll receive by paying the right person. If a task requires no interpretation, is easily repeatable and can be set in a system, then paying the lowest price makes sense. If you need to talk to someone, get help or have the information explained to you, then you want the benefit of the work, not necessarily the work itself.

For example, preparing a financial statement is relatively systematic. Reading a financial statement and understanding what tasks need to be accomplished during the next quarter to move the numbers in the right direction is the benefit.

As you interview accounting experts, consider the best fit for your business. The cost can vary significantly throughout the industry. You have a couple of options:

A local certified public accountant (CPA) or bookkeeper. Most CPAs can do self-storage bookkeeping, but they may not know the nuances of the management software and business. They likely wont be able to read your software reports and, thus, wont know how to interpret the numbers to record everything correctly.

An accounting firm that specializes in self-storage. The right company will have experience in facility operation. Some providers are really software companies that have added bookkeeping to their list of services. Without an operational background, some can only offer you a financial statement; they cant necessarily help with strategies that will positively affect it. Working with a self-storage expert who also happens to provide accounting and compliance services is a benefit to most owners, since they speak the same operational language.

Anyone handling your bookkeeping shouldnt just code and reconcile the numbers. They should gather the information from the management software, confirm that your manager is depositing all money received, accurately record sales tax as a liability separate from income, and alert you to problems before they snowball.

Missing deposits, fraudulent credit-card charges, units that disappear from the management system and missing payments from the tenant-insurance company are just some of the issues an outsourced provider can help unearth, not to mention strategic opportunities that could make the business much more money. Your accountant should be well-versed in self-storage, watch your financial back and help make sure everything is correct and accounted for.

Outsourcing your accounting is a personal decision. Think about whether you want to go with a large company that has more resources or a smaller provider thats more likely to offer a personal touch. It should be the beginning of a long relationship in which you receive more benefits from the service than if you had kept the tasks in-house.

Magen Smith is a co-founder of Atomic Storage Group, a boutique self-storage management company, and owner of Magen Smith CPA, an outsourced accounting firm specializing in self-storage. Shes also a partner in Safe Space Development, which builds self-storage properties. Magen started in the industry as a facility manager and has held nearly every operational role. She has a passion for the industry, helping owners improve their businesses, teaching asset management and conducting self-storage audits. To reach her, e-mail magen@selfstoragecpa.com.

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Outsourcing the Accounting Aspects of Your Self-Storage Operation - Inside Self-Storage

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Earlier this week Nova Entertainment revealed it had appointed Rachel Corbett as new head of podcasts and digital entertainment.

See also: After split with Acast, Nova Entertainment signs new podcast A team

In addition to what Corbett told Mediaweekabout her new role on Tuesday, we also asked her about what will happen to her PodSchool training business.

Corbett said she has spent many hours working on PodSchool since its 2016 launch and shes not about to let it die. One of the reasons she left Mamamia was to devote some more time to PodSchool. Its such an important thing for me. I am looking to hire some people to help with PodSchool while I look after Nova, she told Mediaweek.

With PodSchool its always a cool feeling when I hear from someone that they have actually launched a podcast.

Corbett has also been consulting, and hosting, a Google podcast series called Rethink. Now three episodes in since its July launch, Corbett will wind up the series before she starts with Nova. Guests on the series so far have included Ashley Chang, head of culture and trends at YouTube, APAC, Simon Joyce, CEO and founder at Emotive, and YouTube creator Marion Grasby.

Listen to Rethinkhere.

While Corbett has co-hosted a range of different podcasts during her audio journey, her deal with Nova Entertainment doesnt call for her to be part of the talent. I would never say I will not host another show in case the right opportunity presents itself.If we created a show and it made sense for me to host it then the opportunity is there. It will be more likely though I will be behind the scenes getting other people to host shows.

Corbett doesnt have a weekly schedule of podcasts she listens to. I have a very eclectic mix of shows that I love, she explained to Mediaweek. I am always listening to new and different things. I dont have one genre I am obsessed with as I move from one to another. I also like things that dont fit in a particular genre. I am just a sucker for a good idea. Ill listen to anything, she admitted.

When asked about tips for squeezing in as many podcasts as possible each week, Corbett said: Podcasting has become such a big thing in part because it is all about the multitask.I always listen when I am walking, when I go to the shops, when I drive in the car. Whenever there is a moment that could be filled with some noise, I do podcasts. There is also nothing wrong with consuming the content in bits and finishing it whenever you can. They are my secrets. I listen to a lot of shows and I feel like I dont have a lot of time.

Prolific PodcastOne host Sarah Grynbergthought she would be wrapping up season four of her Life of Greatnessseries about now. However the recent episodes have generated her most downloads ever. With the help of some extra guests, including a new recording this week with author Mark Manson, she is extending the season.

But thats not her only news she has a spin-off series of short episodes launching on PodcastOne where she shares learnings across four seasons of interviews. And major publisher alert if you are reading this Grynberg has also published an e-book called Finding Greatness: Your Life Guide.

Mark Manson has an amazing way of seeing the world and it was awesome speaking with him, Grynberg told Mediaweek. He was very frank about his upbringing, talking about his childhood in Texas and his parents. Hearing his life story gives us a better understanding of who Mark is. He talked about how he thought at the age of 32 he had achieved everything he wanted to in life and that led him to be really depressed.

Grynberg told Mediaweekhow critical it is for her to be fully prepared for every interview. No surprise that many of her guests stress she is one of the best interviews they have ever done, after a talk full of insightful questions. (Something Manson comments on during his interview too.) I will never interview anybody where I dont know their work. I have also learnt much from my years as a radio and podcast producer listening to other people do interviews.

The Life of Greatnessseason started with Hughesyand the diverse guest list has also included Rabbi Laibl Wolfand now Manson.

Three weeks ago Grynberg released Finding Greatnessas an e-book. The idea is to allow people to achieve their own greatness via very easy tips and advice I have learnt during my own journey.

Sounds like something that deserves a major publisher to jump on board to share to a bigger audience. Also coinciding with the book is a new series of short-form podcasts from Grynberg called Unlock the Greatness Within. Every Friday we will publish five-minute episodes with me talking about self-improvement and wellness topics. Subjects include choosing love over fear, kindness and I also share my daily routine and habits you can adopt to lead a great life.

Listen to a Life of Greatnesshere.

Fear and Greedis an imaginatively titled daily business podcast that aims to set the listener up for a successful day and is building a following after its launch in May this year. Every weekday morning, business news is summarised in less than 20 minutes from economist and former Fairfax Media executive and editor Sean Aylmer. After editing The Sydney Morning Heraldin 2012, Aylmer moved on to be Fairfax editorial director across its metro dailies for over four years.

The new podcast promises to deliver its business content in less than 20 minutes and new episodes are published before 6.30am daily and there is a special weekend episode too.

In addition to host Aylmer, the podcast is produced by former head of content for Macquarie Media Michael Thompson. Head of operations for the podcast business is former Macquarie Media CEO Adam Lang.

The podcast industry in Australia is ripe with talented former Macquarie Media executives. One of the pioneers in the space here is former Macquarie Media chief Rob Loewenthalwho founded Whooshkaa.

See also our separate item this week on changes at Talent Corp too.

Tomorrow in Mediaweek: Adam Lang on his new audio adventure.

Listen to Fear and Greedhere.

SpokenLayer has announced its expansion into Australia with the launch of SpokenLayer Australia in partnership with SCA.

SpokenLayer is the leading US provider of short form audio content for voice assistants, smart speakers and podcast platforms. The company specialises in the creation, distribution and monetisation of short form audio content in partnership with publishers and brands.

The end-to-end solution turns text into human voiced audio which is then distributed to Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and a number of other platforms.

SCA CEO Grant Blackleysaid: Were excited to partner with SpokenLayer as it enters the Australian market and SCA has a depth of professional voices across Australia. Audio is an incredibly innovative medium, and with smart speaker ownership growing and Australians spending more time at home, were seeing demand for text to voice grow dramatically. We see these text-to-voice briefings as complementary to our existing assets in podcasting and radio streaming giving advertisers access to a highly engaged and growing digital audience.

SpokenLayer recently launched daily news briefings for five publications as part of a new partnership with Australian Community Media (ACM). Led by The Canberra Times, the ACM partnership will also see SpokenLayer producing and distributing daily briefings for The Ballart Courier, The Launceston Examiner, The Border Mailand The Illawarra Mercury.

SpokenLayer already partners with leading US publishers such as Hearst, Time and Cond Nast, producing content for more than 200 titles including Techcrunch, Times The Brief, The Economistand The Los Angeles Times. The ACM titles will add to its growing Australian roster which includes a daily gaming news update from leading gaming publisher Press Start and the Coronavirus Australia Daily Update.

SpokenLayer country manager ANZ Michael Richardson(pictured) said: Theres a real appetite from our smart speaker partners for human voiced short from audio content. With consumption exploding in recent months now is the right time for companies to build their audience in audio. Our partnership with SCA will help drive this growth.

Podcast Weekwrote about the new Steve Pricepodcast On the Recordlate last month. The series is one of the offerings from the new audio business Talent Corp launched by former 2GB sales boss Mark Noakesin partnership with former 2GB colleagues Ruth Thompson, Ross Greenwoodand Mike ORegan. Greenwood also hosts a Talent Corp podcast The Money Minutesand the series is being hosted on the Whooshkaa platform.

See also: Steve Price On the Record

Since we published that story we have an update on the team running Talent Corp. Noakes and his colleagues have found room for one more Macquarie Media colleague. Former Macquarie Media executive chairman Russell Tate(pictured) has come on board as chairman of Talent Corp.

The second season of Podshapes This is Mepodcast features former radio announcer Craig Evans(pictured with his family) talking about the horror of being told he had testicular cancer.

Evans co-hosted the Craig & Mandybreakfast show on the NSW Central Coast for over three years back in 2012. He also worked as a weekend announcer more recently for a number of years at Nova 100 in Melbourne.

Evans is working as a paralegal and is studying to be a lawyer. Just five weeks ago he learnt about his medical diagnosis that saw doctors tell him they would have to remove one of his testicles to save his life.

I was doing burpees at the gym when I noticed one of my plums was bigger than it should be, I thought it was weird but I didnt worry about it, said Evans. I told my girlfriend and she said go and get it checked out. Within days I was booked in to have it removed.

Evans is a new father and this news shocked him, but at the same time he is positive that it was caught in time. In the first episode of the new season of This is Me, Evans gives a first-hand account of his life changing moment.

Podshape founder, and former Nova colleague of Evans, Jay Walkerdensaid: Ive known Craig for a number of years and he was always a positive and funny bloke with the world at his feet. When we heard of his story we wanted to make sure we could help share it and encourage other young blokes to give themselves a check.

Listen to This is Mehere.

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Podcast Week: New Sarah Grynberg series and book, SpokenLayer arrives - Mediaweek

BAY CITY, MI An Essexville woman who suffered fatal injuries while attempting to help another woman wounded in a crash on U.S. 10 is being remembered for her selflessness and generosity to others.

Likewise, the Unionville woman she was trying help, who also died of her injuries, is being remembered for her loving and free-spirited nature.

Kimberly P. Abela, 50, died of injuries she sustained while trying to help Lisa E. Archibald, 52, on Sept. 2. About 4:35 p.m. that day, Archibald was driving a Chevrolet Equinox east on U.S. 10 through Williams Township when an altercation ensued between her and her passenger daughter, Ashley N. Katshor, police have said. Archibald ended up stopping the Equinox, exiting it, and walking along the highway. Katshor then struck her mom with the vehicle, police have said.

Abela was also driving on U.S. 10 and stopped her vehicle to get out and help Archibald. While doing so, both she and Archibald were struck by a Chevrolet Impala driven by a 43-year-old Bay City man.

Responding personnel pronounced Archibald deceased at the scene. Abela was taken to an area hospital, where she died shortly thereafter, troopers report.

Abela was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and earned a masters degree from Northwood University, her obituary states.

Kim was known for her kind nature and devoted ways, her obituary reads. She loved helping others, life coaching, boating, fishing, bike riding, gardening, playing cards, playing games, and absolutely loved animals. Above all, Kim loved her children and her husband, Anthony, and all of her family and friends with all her heart.

Abela worked as the director of marketing and business development for SYM Financial Advisors in Midland. She enjoyed her work volunteering her time with the homeless and the poor. Always concerned for others, Kim helped others improve their life and job skills out of the goodness of her heart. Her selfless ways, generous heart, warm personality, and love for all those she encountered will live on for generations to come.

Archibald, affectionately nicknamed Auntie, was known for being genuine, her obituary states. She loved just as hard as she worked. She would live life for the thrill, always basking in the moment she was in. Her fun, loving, and free-spirited personality meant a prank wasnt far behind.

Archibald had passions for cooking, camping, and helping others.

Her want to help her family never went unnoticed, her obituary continues. She always said her happiness was the children in her life. She always had her door open for them and anyone else that was in need. Her personality was a diamond in the rough, and she will forever be in our hearts. Family meant the world to Lisa; memories made with her will be cherished forever.

Katshor, 34, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter, a 15-year felony, stemming from her moms and Abelas deaths.

As of Sept. 8, Katshor remains in the Bay County Jail on a $150,000 cash-surety bond. She is due in court for a preliminary examination on Sept. 24.

Read more:

Woman charged in traffic-related deaths of her mother and a good Samaritan on U.S. 10

Argument leads to 2 crashes on U.S. 10, two women killed, police say

Central Michigan University drops professor who used racial slur from website, report says hes gone

Man charged after police say he tried robbing 2 Bay County gas stations within minutes

State police release report on fired Saginaw police officer, but you cant read most of it

Read the original post:
2 women killed in U.S. 10 crash remembered for their loving ways - mlive.com

Amazon will hold a virtual Career Day 2020 on Wednesday, Sept. 16 with the goal of filling 33,000 openings along with thousands of additional hourly roles in Amazons Operations network to be announced soon.

In a news release, Amazon said it is seeking to fill corporate and tech jobs available across the country. The company also will mobilize 1,000 of its recruiters to provide 20,000 career coaching sessions to attendees in a single day.

"With many people left unemployed by the economic impact of COVID-19 and searching for new jobs, Career Day is designed to support all job seekers, regardless of their level of experience, professional field, or background or whether they are looking for a job at Amazon or another company.

On top of the 20,000 one-on-one coaching sessions, Career Day also includes three hours of mainstage programming that will feature fireside chats, panel discussions, and interviews with leading career-advice experts and Amazon executives."

Beth Galetti, Amazon senior vice president human resources said, Weve created more jobs in the U.S. over the past decade than any other company and we are continuing to hire people from all backgrounds and at all skill levels. We are glad to be able to mobilize more than 1,000 experienced recruiters and HR professionals to help job seekers across the country learn about opportunities at Amazon and elsewhere.

During career day, participants can:

According to Amazon, it has more than 875,000 employees in 40 states and 250 countries with 18 Tech Hubs, more than 150 fulfillment centers, sortation centers, delivery stations and at the retail stores, Amazon Go, 4 Star and Amazon books.

For more information about Career Day 2020 including how to register for the event, book your one-on-one session with an Amazon recruiter, and apply for open roles to toamazon.jobs/careerday.

READ MORE

Amazon wins FAA approval to deliver packages by drone.

Yes, there will be a Prime Day in 2020, Amazon says, without specifying date.

Originally posted here:
Need a job? Amazon seeks to fill 33,000 openings on Career Day 2020 - pennlive.com

Its safe to say that Brock Roders heart has always belonged in McFarland.

He was raised there, played sports in all four years at McFarland High School including football, basketball, golf, and track and field, continued as an athlete at Madison College and eventually became general manager of Spartan Bowl. He has three children and still coaches sports. His accomplishments as a father and husband match the successes he had in athletics. Hes had a good life filled with fond memories.

I love being in McFarland and raising kids here, said Roder, who graduated from McFarland in 1999. Theres plenty you wish you could change, but its not always an option.

Football hero

McFarland High School is different compared to how it looked when Roder first walked through the doors in the mid-1990s. In his senior year, the school went through a major remodeling including construction of a new gym.

A lot has changed even from then with the new pool, auditorium and turf football field, said Roder, who displayed some exceptional talents on the football team when it was still grass in 1998.

That year, the Spartans finished with a 6-3 regular season record and advanced to the WIAA playoffs under head coach Scott Rice. Roder was dominant as a wide receiver on offense and a defensive back on defense.

Roder got the season off to a good start by returning a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown in the Spartans 34-7 win over Mount Horeb. The Spartans would go on to win their next three games including a 27-0 victory over Lodi, led by Roders five receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown. Roder returned an interception 57 yards for a touchdown as McFarland moved to 4-0 with a 34-0 over Lakeside Lutheran. But the winning streak ended with two straight defeats to Wisconsin Heights and Poynette to drop the Spartans to 4-2.

McFarland recovered for a 46-6 triumph over Sugar River as Roder caught four passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns. The Spartans lost the following week to Columbus 21-14 but routed Evansville/Albany 27-6 in the regular season finale. McFarlands first round opponent in the playoffs was Jefferson. Roder did his part with a 43-yard touchdown pass, but the Spartans season ended in 31-14 loss to the Eagles.

Roder attained All-Capitol Conference first team honors on offense and defense. He finished out his high school athletic career on the boys basketball and boys golf teams.

Roder said he was fortunate to have great coaches at McFarland that helped him develop as an athlete.

Chuck Kubicek was my basketball coach. Gary Oftedahl was my golf coach and Bruce Fischer for track. I was very lucky to have the coaches I had, but Brad Minter will forever be the best coach I ever had, said Roder, referring to McFarlands long-time athletic director and assistant football coach. He held me to a higher standard and pushed me to be great. He was just an amazing guy.

Playing college roundball

After graduating from high school, Roder enrolled at Madison Area Technical College and joined the mens basketball team.

I ran into (former basketball teammate) Jon Severson in the hallway one day, and he told me he was getting ready for tryouts, Roder said. I didnt know they even had a team. We ended up going to tryouts and we both made the team. It was a great experience and I still have records on the Madison College all-time list.

Roder is the mens basketball teams second all-time career leader in assists, second all-time for steals in a season, ninth in free-throw percentage in a season, and 13th in career assists.

Roder transferred to UW-Whitewater in 2001 and made the football team, but he was sidelined by an injury.

I separated my shoulder before the season opener and never made it back, he said. I left the team halfway through the season.

A life in bowling

Yet, Roder continued at Whitewater and earned a degree in physical education in 2004. Then, came an opportunity he couldnt turn down: to be general manager of Spartan Bowl in McFarland. He remained in that position until 2016.

There werent many teaching jobs at the time so a steady income was good, Roder said.

Running Spartan Bowl was great. The best part of the job was getting to know the customers, and I have carried on those friendships with me still to this day. It was great getting to know strangers and regulars.

Managing a bowling alley requires working nights and weekends, and eventually, Roder longed for a job with normal hours. He now works in sales for Legacy Exteriors in McFarland.

Roder lives a good life with his wife Nikki and their three children: 14-year-old Braylan, 11-year-old Ava and 7-year-old Kashton.

His kids have been active in sports, and Roder, who has 15 years of coaching experience, has been supporting their different athletic interests.

I coached Braylan in baseball, basketball and football, Roder said. He is now a freshman so we have one U14 baseball tournament left that I will coach him in and then that may be it for my coaching career with him.

In July 2019, Braylan competed in the MLB Pitch, Hit and Run contest during the All-Star Game in Cleveland.

Roder also coached his daughter in softball and will soon spend his first year coaching her in basketball. He also helped Kashton with flag football and baseball.

During his college years, Roder coached McFarland High School freshman and junior varsity boys basketball and also served as a coach for the schools freshman football squad.

In several years, Roder may have another child to coach as his wife Nikki is expecting another baby in February,

I love coaching and trying to get the most out of each kid, Roder said. I am hard on the kids and want to see them succeed and when they do I am their No. 1 fan. Thats the best part.

The rest is here:
Living a life of contentment | McFarland Thistle - The Cambridge News

Lola Vanderstrand spent years working in audio for major media companies like CBS and Oprah Winfrey Company, but like so many women who are born entrepreneurs she desired more meaning from her day to day life. When Vanderstand began examining some of her past relationships, she also started studying affirmations, neuro-linguistic programming, brainwave entrainment and the law of attraction. Using her background in audio production she started to produce her own pieces and thus Then Comes Love was born. Today the Great Malvern, England-based entrepreneur is a certified professional life coach, relationship expert and hypnotherapist who uses personalized audio to help facilitate change in her clients lives.

Vanderstands story, as told to The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project:

Sometime ago, I seemed to have what I wanted. I worked for major media companies including CBS and the Oprah Winfrey company. But I desired a more fulfilling life and a relationship with meaning and I didnt understand what was taking so long. I got serious about myself, believing that I wouldnt have this strong yearning or desire, if it was not meant to manifest. I took responsibility for my past relationships and mistakes, forgave myself and those involved. I started to focus on my future and what I wanted. I read books about how we all function differently in relationship depending on how we were brought up, our experiences in past relationships, what we have learned and what we hold on to, the stories we tell ourselves about what happens to us and our limiting beliefs and barriers. I marvelled at the different mindsets, love languages and styles of communication. I learned and practiced letting go and forgiveness. I took responsibility, decided to stop lamenting and just get on with it. I studied affirmations, neuro-linguistic programming and work with brainwave entrainment and the law of attraction. Incorporating theses to produce my own audio featuring what I had learned, I listened to the audio every day and night and it changes my mindset and helps me to manifest my goals. Through this time of study and self-reflection, I discovered part of my purpose. I wanted to use my background in media production to help people manifest their desires. To break through the barriers that hold us back from leading the life we all want. I became certified as a Hypnotherapist and trained to be a coach. Now I produce audio to facilitate change and use coaching hypnotherapy to help others.

My definition of success entails having financial security for that is needed to fulfil my purpose. My purpose of helping my clients achieve their goals comes from a mindset of what is possible and not living from a place of lack. It is having the confidence to be visible and not worry about the fear of judgement from others. Its in realizing that people are already judging me no matter what I do. My definition of success entails working to have financial security for that is what is needed to fulfil my purpose to help my clients. It also entails being of service to my clients, even if that means sharing my stories of failure because thats how we grow. It is important to me that I help my clients become aware and acknowledge the barriers that hold them back from achieving what they are meant for. So many times we become stuck in what is comfortable and safe because we dont think we deserve anything more or because we notice the way our counterparts earn more. This is because weve lowered our standards to becoming unworthy. It is so rewarding to help a client navigate through the stages of lack to success

One of my biggest success so far is being a recipient of the Gracie Award from The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. But perhaps my biggest success is having the courage to follow in the direction I feel I am being led by the Divine.

There is something powerful about asking for help and Im so glad I did. I hired a virtual assistant and got professional help when building my website. My top challenge at the moment is coming out of the shell of an introvert and becoming more visible in helping clients using coaching hypnotherapy in business. I pride myself on being a quiet bird, and nothing makes me happier than reverting to my quiet moments as a Quaker. The world is becoming a place where people do not feel safe and are triggered by what is a continuing pattern. In the face of violence and injustice, people need to feel safe and have a space to share and grow and contemplate on what is possible for us as a global community. If I need to come out of my quiet introvert self to help then I get to make a small impact on that possibility. To address that possibility means remembering to have faith as a human and being able to direct my mindset to positivity, to be able to look for and find what it good about the world and choosing to help others find that too.

I can be quite independent and so I am my own role model. Though I do also admire, Jen Sincero, Maxine Nwaneri, Jennifer Grace and perhaps Oprah.

Website http://www.thencomeslove.co.uk Facebook http://www.facebook.com/thencomeslove

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