However, it is just a continuation of this vitriol to attack the right using the argument that their political rhetoric directly (or even indirectly) led to this terrible tragedy. How is doing this anything different than where we were before?

Russ Douthat wrote an op-ed I firmly resonate with:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10douthat.html

After 9/11, the entire nation united for about a week, it was a tremendous moment in the wake of a tragic event. For the first time in my life, I could taste at least in some way what my grandparents felt in the months after Pearl Harbor. However, in the weeks and month after 9/11 what followed was not continued unification, but a drastic increase in partisanship and strife. Now, with the current tragedy, we didn’t even get a week before the fires of partisanship fired right back up. I wonder when this might stop, and where, ultimately this adversarial virus in our country will take us in the coming years.

I’ll be teaching an Intro level course in Physical Geography this semester. I’m not reinventing the wheel by any means, this is a standard course taught in every Geography department across the country. However, it will be a challenge, because I have to also keep up with my dissertation research.

Actually, although I expect it to be a whole lot of work, I am very excited about it. This is essentially, exactly what I’ll be doing once I finish the doctorate- teaching, and managing my research projects simultaneously.

Speaking of, how is the research going, you may ask? All in all, pretty okay. It was a dry summer, so I didn’t get the amount of field data I was hoping for, and although we had a snowy December, the melt came on New Years Eve and Day- pretty much the only time during the winter which guarantees I can’t get a proper field crew together to go out and actually measure. So, I missed the melt. There is still a lot of winter ahead of us though, so maybe it will still work out. I need to measure/capture at least three separate flood events before I’ll feel like I’m doing alright for my dissertation research. So this Spring and Summer are pretty vital if I want to finish by Summer 2012.

Most of the winter break so far I have been sieving massive amounts of sediment, and though I’ve made tremendous progress, I’ve still got about half of the work to go. It’s monotonous, brain-numbing work that leaves me dusty inside and out, but at least it’s easy to do. Once I’ve got that step done, I’ll be set to do some cool flow modeling, so I’m looking forward to getting that out of the way.

On the life front, I’m going to be a DAD!! Jordan is pregnant, and is currently about 12.5 weeks. Look at this little guy/girl:

How can I not be in love with that?! Jordan is due in July, so this will add another layer of goodness to the mix to manage, but I am excited beyond belief anyway. I guess I will not have the luxury of laziness at all this year huh?

With a baby (planned!) on the way, the future is looming large in my mind. I’m soon to be facing a job decision. Jordan and I love our church, and there is more than a little heart-tug which wants us to stay, at least for a few years here. Then again, there is also a large desire to move back to Texas to be closer to the bulk of our family and grandparents. All of this though begs the question of what kind of job will I be able to find? Am I going to even have the opportunity at a job where I want it? Most of you know Jordan and I are devout Christians- this will be a year of a lot of prayer on this matter. We’re praying for discernment on what and where I’ll do/go, and also just to let go and remember that God is in control. I’m sure I’ll write more about such things this year.

Wednesday: We left around 4pm from Champaign. The strange thing is that, despite the forecast calling for perhaps a ‘wee’ chance of rain, we started the day out with freezing rain, and as I type this, from a hotel in St. Louis, MO, it’s lightly snowing back home. Go figure. Actually, I can top that- we are currently in a tornado warning here in St. Louis. Global warming, and an increase in extremes? Sure, I’ll buy that. We had a foggy, misty, but thankfully uneventful drive into town. Jordan was craving some STL style pizza (which means gas oven, thin crust w/ provel cheese), so we found a little hole in the wall (literally) near the hotel. It was quite good, but no where near Peroni’s in my opinion. Good news is that it sated Jordan, so  guess that’s what matters. That’s about all I’ve got for today. Really looking forward to tomorrow- just not the get up at 4:45a part. Assuming a tornado doesn’t blow us away, I should have lots more to say tomorrow after dancing with raw turkey…

Thursday (Turkey Dance Day): Well, the travel really went great overall. Jordan and I “sprang” to life at 4:45a (just a hint of sarcasm…) and headed to long-term parking. With the national media hullabaloo about the X-ray backscatter machines, we were more than a little stressed that things wouldn’t be so nice to get from the parking lot to the gate. Jordan was planning on requesting a pat down, rather than go through the imagers- and I would have joined her. I guess here, I should add a little context. Jordan is pregnant again!!! She’s been struggling with morning sickness, and we didn’t want to have her exposed to more radiation than is absolutely necessary. Actually though, we were worried all for no reason. It only took us 20 minutes to get through security. They did have the body scanners, but actually they were not using them. We went through normal security procedure (shoes off, metal detector, etc.). Our flights went on schedule, and we arrived safely in San Antonio. Edgar picked us up, which was nice. Once home, we pretty much settled in, then headed over to Linda and Dave’s for the famous turkey dance. I guess I can’t make you wait any longer:

Friday: The day after is always for total relaxation Jordan, Pat and I took a nice walk through the new Salado Creek greenbelt, and the rest of the day was pretty much spent on our butts. I guess that’s not all that true. We went with the Johnson clan to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. Very cool movie, and so well done! I loved it. The best part though was the kid behind us saying “Aw man!” at the end scene. Classic. For dinner we had the traditional leftover re-Thanksgiving feast at Max’s house.

Saturday: Another pretty simple day. Just filled with relaxation and visiting. I did enjoy watching the OU v OSU game, and thinking about my friends Amy and Katie who had a lot of shame riding on whether their team won or lost. I figure since the Horns imploded this season, I can pay attention to other teams, even if that includes OU. We had Bill Miller, and just made it a wonderfully simple day.

Sunday: Sunday, bloody Sunday…well for the bird that hit our plane that is. Our flight was cancelled because the plane hit a large bird on the approach to landing. Everybody was safe, but it put a large, quite visible dent in the tail of the aircraft. What was most unfortunate was that we actually began to board. We were in line to board- a ritzy couple cut us in line very intentionally, because they were first class. Then they scanned my boarding pass. I walked down the gate, as they shut the door on Jordan! I got very lucky, because the co-pilot came up and was discussing that the bird had struck the plane right in front of me in the gate with another worker. I asked if I could go back and join my wife, who was looking all doe-eye at us through the gate door, and they caved. The rest of the people had to board- including the first-classers who cut us in line. Justice. Very soon after, the gate attendant offcially said the flight was cancelled, and told everybody to go to the ticket counter to re-book. They didn’t let people off the plane for 30-40 mins. Luckily, since I had avoided that fate, and we hadn’t checked bags, we got to the front of the line to re-book!

It being the Sunday after Thanksgiving, of course there were no seats left on pretty much any flights, so we got rebooked to leave Monday, catching the last couple of seats on those flights as well. I can’t imagine when the other 100+ people behind us got home. Even the drive home was interesting, because there was a major mid-latitude cyclonic storm ravaging the entire mid-section of the country. We had pouring rain and gusty wind all the way home.

So it was a wonderful time with family, and friends. It was also full of adventure, so what can you say! Peace Out.

Me on the picket line at the UIUC GEO Strike over tuition waivers 11/16/2009

What an amazing time the strike was. I came from a right to work state, and I had never thought I would be affected, no less that participating in a strike. I was so moved by the fact that the University was so obviously threatening our tuition waivers. I remember going to one of the bargaining sessions, and just seeing how the UI side seemed not to respect the students sitting across the table from them.

I remember thinking, “Wow, these people just don’t care, surely this isn’t the way it is.” I thought that at some point they would stop all this nonsense and actually negotiate. Then, there was the last bargaining session. The University moved it to the airport at the last minute because it was Dad’s Weekend (I guess), and they didn’t want to draw any real crowd. Well that certainly backfired. So many of us showed up, the UI negotiators wouldn’t come in and face us. After a marathon session, where all other issues were resolved, they still wouldn’t budge on tuition waivers. What foreshadowing for today, and the change in FAA waivers! Appalling.

Well, once I knew we were going to strike, I contacted my advisor, telling him I couldn’t in good conscience cross a picket, and I’d be on the line. I had signed up for a couple of shifts. It was cold. It was rainy. And I was somber that night. I showed up, to picket my own building. Strangely, it was a little more than traumatic at first. I had to come to grips with the fact that my university had let me down- I now I was fighting a fight that never should have come to pass. I worked my shifts on the lines, but couldn’t leave. The Drum Corp had the entire Quad screaming in the rain. I remember a guy on an extra-cycle who kept us supplied with hot coffee. I was soaked. I had four people curse in my face, one pushed me out of his way, and one started to spit (thankfully he didn’t). I will always remember those people who were infuriated by our actions, but I think I’ll remember more the many people who turned away, and did not cross.

I stayed all day the first day- I was completely soaked. On the second day, I knew we were really in the fight. It wasn’t new anymore, and the realization came that we could be out here for days, maybe weeks if it didn’t go well. I worked my morning shifts, plus another hour or so, then I had to go. If only I had stayed one more hour! I got a call from a fellow friend on the line saying they had won! Go figure I wasn’t there for the march across the quad! I made it back for the spontaneous party at Murphy’s. We had won! The University agreed to include protection (based on the language of the Mass-mail) for our tuition waivers!

It was an amazing experience. It was so cool to see so many students, teachers, and service workers come together for our cause, and ultimately it lead to action. At the same time, I was honestly heartbroken at the vicious blow the University had dealt us. I had an unrealistic image of the University, all which came crashing down in that two weeks leading up to the strike. From then on out, I knew that the University only gave lip service to the concerns of the graduate employees, and anybody else that is less able to defend themselves.

Today, as I write this and look back, I am again disheartened. The University has blatantly violated our contract by changing the School of Fine and Applied Arts tuition waiver structure. It is blindingly clear confirmation that when we struck, we were totally right to fight for waivers, and indeed they were in the University’s sights. It’s still going to be a fight- the University has the advantage of permanence. Institutional knowledge among the graduate students fades fast, as we are only here temporarily. We MUST remember why we struck, and be prepared to face that monster again. The University is calculating- they think they can wait us out, and catch us as we slumber. Awake! Look at the historical precedent of abuse and feigned concern the UI Admins have show us graduate employees. Be ready, because we will be moved to action again.

Please check out our video here:
http://www.daveramsey.com/specials/great-giving-challenge-entry/entryId/153/

And VOTE everyday this week!!

I teach the first section today, and I am stoked! It’s been awhile, and I do actually enjoy teaching young impressionable minds (if there is still such a thing). Easy-peasy material today, but I’ll still enjoy it- it’s also a full class (there are several on the waiting list).

Well, I’ll report with how it goes!

As the title implies, I had a fantastic workout today. I guess it was just far enough along in getting back into a rhythm that I felt strong, vs. worn-out and weak. What’s better is that though I’m sore, the total body approach leaves me feeling ok, even energetic.

Here’s the first workout of the week (8/20):
5 min warm-up (elliptical), 3×10 each on Leg-press (150 lbs), Leg-curl (110), Chest-press (70), Pull-down (90). 2×12 sit-ups, then a 5 min cool-down.

Today’s workout:
10 min warm-up (stationary bike), 3×10 each on Leg-press (180 lbs), Leg-curl (120), Chest-press (85), Pull-down (110). 3×10 sit-ups, 20 mins moderate intensity cardio (stationary bike), then a 5 min cool-down (again on the bike).

Yeah, I know, the big gains are going to happen b/c I haven’t been working out all summer- but it’s still very nice to have such a change, so quick, and not feel as if I got hit by a truck. In the past, I’ve done focused workouts (eg, pects, arms, etc.) rather than emphasizing compound motion total body exercises. Those workout left me in pain for the week, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I dreaded each time I headed to the gym. Now, I’m stoked- I actually wish it was Friday already, so I could go workout some more!

Ok, I guess enough of that. Tonight is Edgar’s last night with us- he came up on Saturday. More on that soon.

Classes start Monday here at UIUC. Though I am still TAing, plans have changed. Instead of teaching Geography of Developing Countries, I’ll be leading Intro. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) labs. This is essentially the same labs I taught when I was a Masters student at TxState. It should be pretty easy, and I guess realy the workload will be slightly lighter than I would have originally had with the other class.

I’m really looking forward to the structured schedule. It’s been awhile. I’m also heading back to the gym starting today- I should clarify, that though I ‘left’ the gym, it was a fee based absence. They charge an inordinate fee in the summer to continue using the campus rec centers. I expect to barely be able to walk the next week .

I’ll be doing total body workouts that are admittedly a little more intense than my usual routines. Over the last couple of years, I’ve maintained a weight, and a base fitness, but I think ‘m ready to actually improve my shape (literally). I’ll be working on a better diet, and focusing gym work to actually build a little muscle rather than just fitness. My end goal for the semester is to be close to the 200 lb mark, which would for my frame be pretty svelt. That would be about 2lbs loss a week, something I think is perfectly attainable.

Good luck everybody with the new semester!

Academic Happenings

I happened to do lots of fieldwork. I am very fortunate to be fully funded in my studies for the entire year. Typically this has entailed being a Research Assistant (RA) for Bruce during the long semesters. For summer, Bruce continues the RA funding at 2.5 month pay. This means I get paid a little less during summer, but I still get all the benefits, insurance and the like. During the long semesters the RA usually translates to processing data for Bruce, as well as the occasional field outing to one of the research groups field sites (not always my dissertation site). During the summer the emphasis, mainly due to field crew availability and weather conditions, shifts to fieldwork. We do some regular survey type stuff at a couple of sites that Bruce has maintained for 10+ years, and then we work on each others’ projects as called for. Well, generally this summer has been light on the number of sites we work at, but nevertheless the work is hard. Our biggest project as of late has been the meander cutoff on the Wabash River immediately upstream of the confluence with the Ohio River. I’ve written about this before. The dynamics at this site are amazing and fascinating, but it has its drawbacks also. It’s in the middle of nowhere, 3 hours south of Champaign-Urbana, so getting there and back to do fieldwork typically takes about as long as the fieldwork itself. Also the site can be dangerous- flying carp, swift currents, and other excitement lead to interesting stories.

For instance, catching your boat motor on fire and getting stranded for several hours on an island with no access other than by boat. That’s right; I’ve officially done the real version of Lost now. We went down three weeks ago to do some resurveying/mapping, as there was a big flood which significantly changed the landscape from the last time we were there. We took a little jon boat with a 9.9 hp motor down there, and launched from the bank (a feat within itself!). Bruce and I had planned go do a little recon on the other side of the channel, then pick up the other field help and proceed to do the mapping. We loaded up and crossed the channel, which was swift flowing due to the shallow bathymetry. We got all the way across (about 200 yards), and we hear this ‘clunk’ and the motor dies. Next thing we know there is smoke. It didn’t take long to figure what happened- the battery cable was hanging over the transom of the boat as Bruce drove, and it got wrapped around the prop. This cut the wire sheathing, causing a short. We beached and got out of the boat, but first we tried to disconnect the battery, unfortunately we couldn’t because the leads had fused to the battery. I tried to break them free, and in the process created a better connection which made the battery fizzle, for a better lack of words. I got out of the way fearing it would explode, ruining my picture perfect face. Luckily it didn’t, but it did catch the wire on fire, and I had to scramble to put it out- luckily we were in a river, and water was nearby . Once it was out, we couldn’t get the motor started again, so we were stuck. We had the mapping equipment so we trudged on, figuring we could at least do our work and wait for help.

Eventually help did come, and the funny part was that we were able to pull start the motor sans battery and cross unassisted to the other side (the help escorted us just in case). All in all we were over on the island for about 4-5 hours- enough time to do our work for that side, get badly sun burnt (we had left the sunblock on the other side), and run out of water (luckily I had brought my gallon jug with us). Once we got back to the other side, we still had work to do there which took another couple of hours. I can honestly say that it was one of the worst fieldwork days I’ve ever had. Perhaps the only thing close was during my masters when we encountered a 300 foot long logjam in the middle of the San Antonio River and had to portage 800 lbs of equipment around it- but time fades pain and suffering, so for now the Wabash Fiasco takes the cake.

Work at my own site unfortunately wasn’t very productive. The weather just didn’t go my way. I did manage to get one good set of flow measurements, but I was hoping for 2-3, maybe even 4 sets this summer. I guess that’s life. That is perhaps the most trying part of being a field scientist. I must go through life hanging on a thread waiting for the perfect conditions to gather my data. In small rivers, which flood often, but are flashy, this can be very difficult to do. I take a crew of 5-6 people out to do my work, and the river responds very quickly. Organizing that kind of labor pool on short notice can be difficult to put it mildly. I’m seriously considering lab work for my future projects- don’t worry Bruce, I’ll do field work with the best of them still, I just want to expand my horizons once I’m in a career.

We’ve still got a couple of weeks until the semester gets underway, and we have one more summer fieldwork outing to do- mapping of the West Branch of the North Fork of the Chicago river in Northbrook, IL (Northern Chicago Suburb). That’s an okay day, the work isn’t hard, but it’s a long day’s work once you’ve included the rush hour drive to Chicago. Hopefully we can get that knocked out ASAP and I can forget about this summer, because Lord knows I’m ready to.

I happened to submit my first research article. News on the academic front isn’t all dour. I submitted my first research article to Geomorphology- which is basically the top, most cited journal in my field. Better yet, I submitted to a special issue coming out on Meandering Rivers, which will include papers by most of the world’s leader meandering rivers research. This is especially cool for me to have my paper in this issue alongside these other ‘heavy hitters’. I’m proud of the article, and the science context and story we provide. It truly is new insight, and I am pretty sure we are telling a story that has never been effectively told with field research. I’m excited and anxious to get the reviewer comments back- I’m honestly expecting the worst, as it’s my first article, so we shall see. Also, yesterday I was asked to review an article in the issue- another new experience for me. I’m looking forward to it immensely, as it’s sort of a rite of passage. Overall I’m really excited to have my work put out there for the scientific community, and hopeful that because it’s good work, and it’s nestled in a heavy hitting special issue, that my article will become moderately well cited. Even if it doesn’t, I’ll still be really stoked to have done it.

I happened to sieve a lot of sediment. Other than fieldwork, and data processing, I’ve also been sieving sediment up to my eyeballs. It’s too bad most of you guys don’t know the true joy of this experience. In March I collected almost 2 metric tons of rock from the creek where I’m doing my dissertation work. Sieving is an analysis method where I spend inordinate amounts of time studying this rock 1 kilogram at a time, by shaking and banging said rock in brass buckets with holes in it. Imagine if you can the cacophony that would ensue, and you have an idea of what I wake up in the middle of the night hearing. Really, it’s not that bad, but it is tedious, mostly mind numbing stuff all just to get a couple of cool looking graphs (and for you in the know, don’t give me hell about the histogram- excel doesn’t know what a real histogram is, and this is the best I can do. Publication figures will be done in MATLAB):

I happen to be excited about teaching. Thus far in my tenure at UIUC, I’ve been supported by a RA or Fellowship. This has been really wonderful, especially when I was blowing my brains out in graduate level engineering coursework. It let me focus directly on my work, classes, and research. This upcoming year however, I’m supported as a Teaching Assistant (TA). You might think I’m disappointed, but you’d be wrong. I love to teach, and I’m really looking forward to it. This first semester I’m TAing “Geography of Developing Countries” which is a huge class because it is fulfills a gen. ed. requirement. I think I’ll end up with 3 discussion sections- I’ve already been warned to not get saddled with the Friday sections (sage advice from a fellow grad student- I owe you a beer Matt). This is a course I’ve never taken, and I’m also looking forward to learning something myself. Should be fun. It’s a 100 level course, so I’m not sure I’ll get lovely essay tidbits for entertaining the masses, but I’m sure I’ll have more than one good story to tell.

The Spring semester holds even more fun. I’ll be the instructor for “Intro to Physical Geography.” This is good, as I can guarantee that this will be a course I’ll be teaching in my first job- it’s a given to teach this, and typically a GIS course. I’m also stoked about this course, but admittedly a little nervous about it. I’ll be in the heat of trying to pound out dissertation chapters, whilst also trying to do course prep and the like. I guess I shouldn’t complain, I’m going to enjoy it I already know, and I’m certainly not the first to be in this boat. Overall I’m looking forward to this year more than usual.

Stay tuned for other Summer Happenings very soon.