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NEWS
quote of the day
THE UNIVERSITY'S DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008
"It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated."
Alec Bourne
fact of the day
Epistemophobia is a fear of knowledge.
www.factoftheday.com
most e-mailed
Here's a list of the five most e-mailed stories from Kansan. com:
1. Jenkins defeats Boyda for U.S. House seat
3. Lawrence public transit system saved
2. Supporters cheer after Obama is named President
4. How fair and balanced is the news?
5. The influences behind KU students' votes
et cetera
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Hittin' the books
Chance Dibben/KANSAN
Daniel Lee, Portland, Ore., junior tutors Ashley Shedlon, Holcomb freshman, inside the newly completed Satabati Multicultural Resource Center on Wednesday afternoon. Paired through the HawkLink tutoring service, Sheldon said Lee instruction "helps me understand my classes, especially big lecture courses."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
with
Professor Brent Metz professor of anthropology
BY JACOB MUSELMANN editor@kansan.com
Brent Metz is a professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas. He earned his bachelor's degree in Spanish and anthropology, his master's degree in anthropology, and his doctorate in anthropology from the State University of New York. He has been teaching at the University since 2000. He is teaching two courses this semester: Indigenous Traditions of Latin America and Mexamerica.
What do you like about teaching?
I came from a rural, conservative area. My mind was really broadened by the university experience, and so it meant a lot to me, and therefore I want it to mean for students who have never had the chance to know the world. Plus, it's just very satisfying to broaden the horizons of students. That's what I like about it.
writing, researching, publishing and working on committees.
hours a day, but Sunday was a day of rest with only eight and one-half hours of work. That includes prepping for class, writing papers, doing research, writing letters of recommendation, grading theses, endless amounts of stuff. I don't mind doing it — only when it gets overwhelming. The amount of work sometimes can be heavy.
Sometimes I am disappointed by student apathy. But only some students are apathetic. But that is disappointing and goes against the grain of what I like. It's also time-consuming. I once had to calculate how many hours I put in a week at a different university and it was 68 and one-half hours. So it was 10
What do you hate about teaching?
Is it about the same amount of work at KU?
About the same here. The weight of the work is different. Some semesters I taught four courses. I had taught a lot. But then here, I have more graduate students and fewer undergraduates, but that brings on other kinds of duties like thesis defenses, masters theses, doctoral dissertations and doctoral papers they have to defend. That stuff can be endless. The amount of work is the same, but what you're doing changes. Here I only teach two courses. If you're an instructor, you're required to teach four. There is no obligation to be on committees, no "publish or perish."
The weight of an average professor's work is 40-40-20; forty percent research, 40 percent teaching and 20 percent service. Service mainly means being on committees. Only 40 percent of the time I'm supposed to be teaching. The rest of time I'm supposed to be
What are you working on right now?
I've got two papers in need of revision, quickly. One is in Spanish and to be published in Spain. The other is for a journal in the U.S. I've also got a book coming out that I've edited. It has 20 chapters and 19 authors. The theme of the book is the long history of the Chorti Maya area of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, going back 3,000 years to the present. I gather together any whoh did anything on this corner of the world, and ask them if they wanted to do it. Fortunately they said yes.
What is the weight?
if you could do anything besides teaching, what would it be?
Sometimes I have fantasies of going into ethically based business that would help the Chori Maya. I've thought about that before. I don't know exactly what would work because I've seen many things fail. A lot of my leftist students have a reflex when they hear the word business and they think "evil." They think capitalists, they think exploitation, you know the
Why are you so interested in Chorti Maya?
story. But there can be a lot of good business that can help people.
I got interested in Guatemala as an undergraduate when I was in the honors program during college. There was a three-week trip to Guatemala during Christmas break. I saw a poster for it and it really intrigued me, and it looked beautiful. It was $800 for three weeks, and I thought that was not so bad. It was the 1980s. Civil war was going on and it was very politically charged at the time. So I went on the trip and I just fell in love with the country. Years later, when I decided to do my doctoral dissertation, I went back to the country and looked at a place very few people had looked at. I thought, "Well, this is the perfect place." But I did not like being there at all. It was incredibly hot, dry and poor. I get sick just about every time I go. But it's kind of my mission, this area. But it is kind of my mission, this area. I do enjoy talking to people down there. I speak Chorti and Spanish, and it's always exhilarating to talk with them.
- Edited by Brenna Hawley
on campus
The Flu Immunization Clinic will begin at 10 a.m. in The Underground in Wescoe Hall.
The seminar "Searching for patterns of migration and development in North Mato Grosso State, Brazil" will begin at noon in 318 Bailey Hall.
The seminar "Voices of the Prairie: Prairie Fiction Writers from Willa Cather to Kent Haruf" will begin at 2 p.m. in Continuing Education Building.
The public event "Women Running for Office" will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Dole Institute of Politics.
The entertainment event "SUA Singing Bee" will begin at 8 p.m. in the Theatre in Hashinger Hall.
The SUA Feature Film "Wall E" will be shown at 8 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
on the record
On Nov. 5, the Lawrence Police Department reported that:
On Nov. 1, one student reported being the victim of a battery, and another reported the theft of a $1,200 Apple laptop, two cellular telephones valued at $200, and other items totalling more than $360 in value.
On Nov. 2, one student reported $5,000 in criminal damage to a 2004 Ford Mustang and the theft of speakers, an amplifier, and other items totalling $3,000 in value. Another student reported criminal damage to property and the theft of more than $1,000 of automotive stereo equipment.
On Nov. 3, a student reported $100 in criminal damage when someone broke a window to his residence.
On Nov. 5, a student reported being the victim of domestic violence battery.
There are more than 530 registered student organizations at KU. Surely there is one for you! Check out the organizations directory at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center Website.
contact us
Tell us your news
Contact Matt Erickson, Mark Dawl, Dami Hurst, Branna Hawley
or editor @kansan.com/
or editor @kanan.com/
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Register early! Save $100! Test preparation classes now enrolling.
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu (keyword: testprep) - 785-864-5823
"The Role and Responsibility of the Multi-National Corporation" Cynthia Carroll
CEO of Anglo American
3-4 p.m., Friday, November 14 Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium Reception to follow
Cynthia Carroll is the first woman to become chief executive at Anglo American, one of the world's largest independent mining companies. She received her master's degree in geology from KU before going on to earn an MBA at Harvard University. In 2008, Forbes Magazine ranked her 5th in their list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. They described Carroll as "a powerhouse in the world of commodities, a sector crucial to the world's economy. And within the corridors of world governments, she is a force to be reckoned with."
Co-sponsored by KU's Office of the Chancellor, the School of Business, the Department of Geology, and the Alumni Association
No tickets are required
This event is free and open to the public
hallcenterku.edu • 785-964-4798
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