Thomas H. Benton gives tough love to prospective graduate students. "I have, however, lost confidence in my profession to organize itself
for the benefit of those it claims to serve beyond the undergraduate
level. I am convinced that graduate students have to look out for
themselves, armed with accurate information, a skeptical mind-set
regarding institutions, and an eye for opportunities outside academe." Just don't go!
Lots of buzz about Clay Shirky's post about the crisis in the media.
Remember why The Commitments was such a fun movie.
Apt. 11d 
Some reasonably conscientious advisers tell students that they should go to graduate school only if they “could not consider doing anything else,” but the students haven’t tried anything else — and neither have most of the professors.
Ha, yes. It’s strange to be one of the few people in our department who took an “off/on” ramp industry break during my academic career (between undergrad and grad school). All the faculty whose advisees have questions about the “real world” are sent to me, but I only worked for three years and it was for the same company!
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The Commitments is as fine a musical as I’ve ever seen. Brilliant, brilliant movie.
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Russell, wouldn’t it be more canonical to say The Commitments was “fookin brilliant”?
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“What good is professional training for a job that you are not likely to get, after a decade of discipline, debt, and deferred opportunity?”
Ouch.
“Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism.”
Extra ouch.
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I could say “fookin,” Doug, but then I would be posing.
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