I stayed up last night watching the results of the election coming in (with the advantage of the time zone difference between the UK and Mexico). I hadn’t thought I cared enough, but there is something moving about people casting their ballots, especially when one knows something about the circumstances they live in and the positions advocated by the mainstream political parties. Memories from my five years in London were revived.
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Author: fanismis
I was born in Canada, grew up in Greece, where I studied Biology. My Ph.D. was at the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, in conjuction with the University of Guelph; I worked on reactive oxygen species within cells of the little Drosophila fly. I then moved to its handling of iron at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland; added copper, zinc, manganese and molybdenum during my first independent position at Queen Mary University of London; Presently my metal biology lab at the CINVESTAV del IPN in Mexico City is extending to the study of phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, sodium & potasium thanks to the generosity of the Conacyt that enabled us with an inductive coupled plasma optic emmission spectrometer :)
‘La dictadura perfecta’: some thoughts
These days in Mexico, if you say “La dictadura perfecta”, you are likely to be understood as referring to a movie. Its title intrigued me, even if I had not heard before of Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian writer who is credited with describing Mexico as the perfect dictatorship in 1990. Nor did I know of film directors Jose and Luis Estrada. So I watched the film with my wife tonight, without prejudice.
Imperial College management and Professor Stefan Grimm teach us:
What should we learn from the recent suicide at Imperial College? A collation of comments from the discussion in the Times Higher Education pages gives hope. However, one commentator, Jim, has spotted a danger: “If we tar all senior management as the same simply because they are making people redundant, decent compassionate people will opt out and only the real monsters will do these jobs.” I would say reform is urgent, for “The record suggests… such monsters are climbing high on the ladders.”
How to avoid petrification from the real monsters? Reform is required with respect to university governance; I suggest we pay close attention to concerned academics:
a sample of what one writes when one has nothing to write – in three languages
Published today in the Reforma by Armando Fuentes Aguirre.
A certain colour went against the current. Κάποιο χρώμα πήγε κόντρα στο ρεύμα.
Red saw it. Red was intrigued._________Το κόκκινο το είδε κι ενδιαφέρθηκε.
Green also looked at it._______________Το πράσινο επίσης το κοίταξε.
So did blue.________________________Το ίδιο και το γαλάζιο.
and yellow._________________________Και το κίτρινο.
236+100+165+150+… the academic slaughter in the UK continues
Chris Havergal reports today on Queen’s University Belfast plans to axe 236 (note the precision in their count) jobs and reduce student numbers by 1,010. James Field reports that the University of Surrey is to cut 100 jobs and scrap its politics department, partly using the Research Excellence Framework (REF) as a guide. Jack Grove reports that up to 165 jobs may be lost at London Metropolitan University. The University of Aberdeen is to cut about 150 jobs as part of efforts to save millions of pounds in the coming months (this item from BBC but see also my post over one protagonist).
Τώρα, μάλιστα, διπλασιαστήκαμε | Now, indeed, we have duplicated
I read today poems to Danaé (ποιήματα στη Δανάη) by Elizabeth Delgado Nazario and particularly liked this one, which I translate in English and Greek below. (more…)
Sir Christopher Snowden vs University of Surrey
Let us “refocus on current strengths”. Perhaps we were currently somewhat unfocused but nevertheless strong. Or perhaps we can “reduce” our current strengths (“staff”) to gain a more viable “student-to-staff” ratio. After all students pay more now, they need fewer teachers. (more…)
Μανταρίνια | Γιεσένια Γκαρσία
Να γράψω για ποιό σκοπό; Αυτό που έχω, ναι, είναι επιθυμία μεγάλη να πεθάνω. Κάθε μέρα την ώρα που πλένω τα πιάτα σκέφτομαι πώς να τα συμμαζέψω όλα στη θέση τους για όταν θα βρουν το πτώμα μου. Τα μάτια μου δε συναντούν κανενός άλλου πια. Βλέπω τα πάντα απομακρυσμένη σα σε ένα από εκείνα τα όνειρα που θωρείς τον ίδιο σου τον εαυτό. (more…)
Thank you Dame Marina Warner for sharing the lesson
I recommend, if you haven’t done so already, to read Marina’s new article in the London Review of Books – Learning My Lesson (also available as a podcast if you prefer). To someone injured from the rough discovery that Queen Mary was successfully turned from a community of scholars advancing knowledge into a money-making enterprise (its Principal stating in a letter to all staff a few days ago “Given this context, it is encouraging to report that our audited accounts for the last Financial Year (2013/14) show an operating surplus (after removing one-off items) of just under £14.9 million…”) finding out that there are like-minded individuals who expose the crude barbarism of the sector’s appalling clique of bankers (as in most principals, vice-principals and their private aids) sounds like Orphic music, like reaching the peak of the Alps and gazing down the view, an eagle flying beneath reflecting the sun. I write to express a silent feeling of gratitude to you Marina.
Αλέξης Τσίπρας: τα σύμβολα, οι ελπίδες, η πολιτική, η αριστερά
Σύμβολα
Ο νέος πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας
την πρώτη μέρα άφησε ένα λουλούδι
στο σκοπευτήριο της Καισαριανής
τιμή στους εκτελεσμένους Κομμουνιστές.
Ο ραδιοφωνικός σταθμός το Κόκκινο
παίζει κάθε μέρα σιγανοσφύριγμα
τη μελωδία της τρίτης διεθνούς.
“Στο nein των Γερμανών
πρέπει ένα όχι των Ελλήνων.” (more…)
fanismissirlis 