What We’re Reading
Despite working dozens of hours a week and teaching an unconscionable number of classes (often at different schools), many faculty members “lack a living wage, benefits, pension, long-term contract, paths for career advancement, involvement in [university] governance, [and] protection[s] of academic freedom.” At nonunionized universities, which is to say most of them, the median pay for contingent faculty is $2,475 per course. A contingent faculty member would therefore have to teach an impossible 19 courses a year to earn $47,025, the median estimated income for a full-time American worker in 2018. Unsurprisingly, one analysis found that about 25 percent of contingent faculty members receive some form of government assistance.
Recent economic data and surveys have laid bare the growing divide. Americans saved a stunning $3.2 trillion in July, the same month that more than 1 in 7 households with children told the U.S. Census Bureau they sometimes or often didn’t have enough food. More than a quarter of adults surveyed have reported paying down debt faster than usual, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while the same proportion said they have been unable to make rent or mortgage payments or pay a bill.
Has the pandemic altered Mr. Hastings’s perception of the competition?
It’s the “sideways threats” that bite companies, he said. “If you think of Kodak and Fuji, competing in film for 100 years, but then ultimately it turns out to be Instagram.”
Marry Well and Don’t Hassle Your Kids: If you do this, nothing else matters. You’ll be miserable 99% of the time, no matter how much money you have. Divorce is one of the biggest wealth destroyers on the planet. As far as kids go, they hate lectures and nagging. Pick your battles, and your chances of emerging victorious will skyrocket. Constantly pressuring your kids to be something they’re not is a fatal error.
Whistling can reach 120 decibels and travel around a mile, while shouting doesn’t often get above 100 decibels and carries only 200 yards. This is because the energy of a whistle is concentrated in a single high-pitched note, which is easy to distinguish from background noise. Long before cellphones were invented, some communities in mountainous or heavily forested regions around the world have used whistled language to communicate over long distances.
Have a good weekend, stay safe.