A: 4
B: 11
C: 4
F: 5
U: 4
W: 4
early drops: 4

The “U” is a non-punitive grade assigned in composition courses, basically “failed while trying”; no credit but it doesn’t count in GPA. W grades are drops after the add/drop date.

Anybody got “four” puns to spare?

In calculating the APR, each student-athlete who receives athletic aid receives one point for continuing as a full-time student or graduating, and one point for remaining eligible to compete each semester. The maximum number of points a student-athlete can earn in an academic year is four. A team’s APR is the total number of points earned divided by the maximum number of points possible. This APR number is then multiplied by 1,000. (For example, a team which receives 94 percent of all possible points would have a team APR of 940.)

So eligibility and retention are the keys here, the rate is NOT a direct graduation measurement, and it’s a weighted percentage. But I wonder about “who receives athletic aid”: are students not on scholarship excluded from APR numbers? What about those on partial scholarships: are those scores prorated?

I’d like to see a clear, complete discussion of this methodology on the NCAA website. The Bootleg got their annual numbers out a few weeks ago, and they are very up front about their calculations. You’d think the NCAA could match the statistical moxie of a bunch of Stanford sports geeks. Maybe not.

A colleague and I are putting together a panel on readymades, and we’re looking for a third presenter. Broadly speaking, we’re looking at the re-emergence of the readymade in a variety of forms: web-based templates and assemblages, even textbooks like the recently discussed TS/IS.

If you’re interested, drop me a line. I’ve pasted our opening statement and abstracts below; obviously we’d be willing to revise to accommodate the focus of a third contributor.

Revisiting the readymade
Area cluster 103 (Theory)

The readymade has re-emerged. Contemporary culture is awash in readymade commodities through which people express their identities and sensibilities: an eclectic mix of clothes, cars, home furnishings, and music drawn from many spheres of culture. Scholars like Jean Baudrillard and Lev Manovich have shown this represents a dramatic shift from traditional modes of practice and consumption that defined earlier eras in which one was either born into a fixed social place or “made” a self in the tradition of Cervantes or Alger. Readymades appear in writing, too, such as the templates of Myspace or of Graff & Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say. Given the realities of a digital, commodity-oriented culture, concepts like originality, plagiarism, or even use are changing more quickly than institutions of education, art, and design. This panel presentation investigates the renewed relevance of readymades, arguing that contemporary reliance on readymades is both historically unprecedented and distinct from their role in twentieth-century culture.

Speaker One: The readymade web (which is beyond the web)
Bradley Dilger, Western Illinois University, Macomb IL

Web tools like del.icio.us, Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter encourage the creation of complex web presences: collection, combination, and juxtaposition. This process is driven individually, as the low commitment required to participate in these sites encourages quick adoption, adaptation, and experimentation; culturally, as the use of these tools widely; and technologically, through the widespread use of aggregation and engagement via text . However, the question of use of these readymades is massively complex. On the one hand, web tools are shaped by usability experts and often oriented toward a practical purpose. On the other hand, tweeting or writing on a Facebook wall often has no apparent practical use, and aggregation often remixes the output of web tools in very unpredictable ways. This presentation engages the questions of use and usability, important for both readymades and the web, and demonstrates the complexity of “use” in the creation of these web presences and the contemporary readymade in general.

Speaker Two: From the Work to the Readymade
David Banash, Western Illinois University

Focusing on the late work of Jean Baudrillard, I will argue that the contemporary practices of consumption have profoundly altered our notion of the “work,” be that a work of art, or the work of writing. Indeed, even seminal texts like Barthes’ “The Death of the Author” or Foucault’s “The Author Function” seem rooted in a vastly different, pre-digital era. These larger trends towards endless consumption in the culture demand that we reckon with the readymade again, and that we adapt critically to this new terrain. I will outline what seems liberatory and striking in this new aesthetic of consumption, but also emphasize its most perilous possibilities. For if readymade frees us to make us of anything in striking new arrangements that permutations that hold the possibility of making a revolutionary style, the very force of the style maybe undermined by its very ease and ubiquity. Moving through a series of texts including contemporary novels by Steve Tomasula and Brett Easton Ellis, forms like MySpace and Google, I will provide examples that illustrate the possibilities and the potential horror of our moment. Writing about this Moment in 1996, Baudrillard observes that with the readymade, “all the banality of the world passes into aesthetics, and inversely, all aesthetics become banal,” both a dizzying and frightening observation.

Yuck. But not as yucky as the malfeasance at West Virginia. I understand completely why alumni are angry. Heck, I’m angry. Higher education doesn’t need more bad news, no matter what the source.

I noticed you write about ———— and we have an opportunity for you to get paid for an advertiser sponsored blog post that looks like it would be a good fit for your blog. If you are interested please let me know and I can forward the campaign details.

I checked out the domain and was satisfied it wasn’t just a spammer fishing for an email address. So I responded, asking for whom I’d be writing, and how much I’d be paid. No response yet. I have dreams of finally being able to use the word monetize in a post… and getting that boat I always wanted…

Whether it was sloppy research or deliberately obscured borrowing (and it looks like the latter), I can’t understand why a tenured full professor with a billion books to his credit would do this. My first-year composition students were quick to observe that carefully tracing an argument to others makes the process of writing go quickly. All have realized it’s easier to cite than rip off. And several have said they are having fun as they try to pack in the connections to other work. Why not? As Clay and Virginia both write, the missed opportunity for extending the conversation is the biggest loss here.

Here’s a quick and dirty composite graph, courtesy of Garmin+Photoshop, showing my heart rate, speed, and elevation.

(This goes in the running category ’cause I’m not yet ready to admit defeat there…)

If as a commenter suggests suggests there’s a Google SoC project for this, good.

Soon to be released models offer a larger screen and more RAM and disk space. But that might move the Eee out of the light and cheap range that makes it appeal to me. Erin was sent a Dell Latitude D430 this week as part of her new gig, and I think I’d be happy with something similar, if not for the $2,000 price tag. Same goes for the MacBook Air. (Though please, let’s not whine about the lack of an optical drive; it’s 2008, okay?)

Anyway, I can wait a month or so to see these new offerings from Asus and others eager to jump in the ultraportable fray. I welcome feedback from anyone currently using an Eee.

Update 04/22: Hrm, why buy in May when it looks like Asus is releasing a better version of the Eee in June?

Update 04/25: Here’s a roundup of about 15 ultraportables.

Why St Louis? Attending a beer festival with Thomas and Jeff. Great brews, though it was cold and there weren’t nearly enough portajohns (two for at least 200 drinkers). My favorites were the New Albanian Hoptimus and the Brugge Brassiere Tripel de Ripple. We followed the festival with a trip to Square One Brewery (disappointing), dinner at Eleven Eleven (outstanding), and nightcaps at Bailey’s Chocolate Bar (very good) and 33 Wine Bar (even better). Later this week I’ll tell the whole story, unless Jeff beats me to it.

I ran last night, 3.2 miles at 9:30/mi or so. A little pain in the ankle, and a little soreness today. So laying off is making things better but I’m not back to 100% yet. I’m officially ready to get an MRI and see what the heck is going on. Meanwhile, I swim and bike.

What else? Grading, grading, grading, where I return now.