Press "Enter" to skip to content

Veil of smoke obscures Phildo from mortal view

Sorry, I’m sure Virgil would have said this better. 7:40PM:

 

16 Comments

  1. dtl 09/08/2020

    Ash/dead cinder fall is getting thick on the ground. Flash backs to the warnings of nuclear winter during the Cold War…

    • uomatters Post author | 09/08/2020

      All over the new $12M Jumbotron. How the hell are we going to defeat Oregon State with a dusty Jumbotron?

      • A vision 09/08/2020

        PLEASE let us repurpose Jumbotron to teach intro science classes! Pretty please!!!!!! We’ll wear Nike shirts….

      • Fishwrapper 09/13/2020

        He asks, How the hell are we going to defeat Oregon State with a dusty Jumbotron? Simple: Play the game.

  2. honest Uncle Gangsta 09/09/2020

    An immeasurable tragic loss to culture, sport, humanity. O mighty Phildo, where art thou in our time of need? Diminished for now, or gone forever?

  3. Vergil 09/12/2020

    … hīc, ubi disiectās mōlēs āvulsaque saxīs

    saxa vidēs, mixtōque undantem pulvere fūmum …

    • Homer (Pope) 09/12/2020

      As when the bolt, red-hissing from above,
      Darts on the consecrated plant of Jove,
      The mountain-oak in flaming ruin lies,
      Black from the blow, and smokes of sulphur rise:
      Stiff with amaze the pale beholders stand,
      And own the terrors of the almighty hand!

      • Virgil (Dryden) 09/12/2020

        I look’d, I listen’d; dreadful sounds I hear;
        And the dire forms of hostile gods appear.
        Troy sunk in flames I saw (nor could prevent),
        And Ilium from its old foundations rent;
        Rent like a mountain ash, which dar’d the winds,
        And stood the sturdy strokes of lab’ring hinds.
        About the roots the cruel ax resounds;
        The stumps are pierc’d with oft-repeated wounds:
        The war is felt on high; the nodding crown
        Now threats a fall, and throws the leafy honors down.
        To their united force it yields, tho’ late,
        And mourns with mortal groans th’ approaching fate:
        The roots no more their upper load sustain;
        But down she falls, and spreads a ruin thro’ the plain.
        Descending thence, I scape thro’ foes and fire:
        Before the goddess, foes and flames retire.

  4. Leporillo 09/13/2020

    Great idea, use the JTron for the socially distanced undergrad survey courses, that’ll keep the $$$’s coming in.

      • uomatters Post author | 09/15/2020

        Awesome segue, Heraclitus. I think there’s nothing better than reading and discussing a book (or a multimedia thing) that has lots of problems.
        .
        For example, my 7th grade Virginia history book talked about the “War Between the States” and discussed how happy the slaves had been before Emancipation.
        .
        Our teacher, Mr. Black, demolished it in class, bringing in mimeos from other sources for us to compare it with. He left us all understanding that we should never blindly trust what we read. More about that book, and the process that lead to its selection, with excerpts and a drawing I still remember, is here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-dixies-history-got-whitewashed

        • heraclitus 09/15/2020

          For clarity’s sake (apologies for not giving details earlier): James Bradley’s novel Clade was chosen as the common reading for 20-21, and announced as such in January. It’s a climate change disaster novel which includes in its story a highly contagious respiratory pandemic (because climate change and pandemics are linked). It’s quite good. The real pandemic started almost immediately after the announcement, and there has been a veil of silence (yes, that’s my segue) on the subject of the novel ever since. Now it appears it has been replaced. The original topic page can still be found here: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/common-reading-2020-novel-tackles-climate-change. It’s not that the book has problems so much as that we do. My assumption is that the change has been made not to avoid politics and climate discussion, but to protect the mental health of our students. Of course, I can only assume this, since there has been no public discussion.

          • Dog 09/15/2020

            During discussions last falls about this novel, I brought up the point repeatedly about the mental health implications since I have observed this escalate over the last 3 years in all my climate change courses. Its quite real and palatable for this generation of college students and I strongly discouraged its use. There are better ways
            to deal with this.

            • heraclitus 09/15/2020

              That is interesting Dog. I’m not saying the change is wrong, nor do I wish to pick a fight with the new topic; just that the lack of transparency is disappointing. I was considering ways to integrate the book into a couple of my courses, and wondered about the challenge it would provide in terms of student anxiety in the classroom. If you have not already done so, Dog, I encourage you to detail your perspective in writing (both the challenges and the ‘better ways’) and share it with your fellow teachers: we need more reflection on this.

              • Dog 09/15/2020

                I have already shared, but, as you likely know, no one listen’s to dogs.

                1) most students these days perceive climate change as an apocalyptic event – this is not true at all, not even the small ice ages we have every 20,000 years is such an event; an asteroid impact is such an event

                2) climate change is all about producing adaption to a changing world in a fair and just way – presented this way, students can get behind it

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *