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| Lines in the Sky, 2020. HP5+ on Foma 133 paper, untoned. |
Interesting paper this Foma stuff - although it looks like it's been dunked in sepia toner, or similar, this is entirely untoned.
The Wind Tubine in the shot belongs to our noisy neighbour, the University of Ulster (Coleraine Campus) where I spent the last few years of my career. There are two turbines - huge great things they are, dominating the sky to the South of us. We have enough trees so as not get not too much noise from them, unless it's a very windy day. The worst aspect is the shadow flicker in the winter months when the sun is low in the sky and there are no leaves on the trees. On bright winter days in December and January it can be extremely visually disturbing. We've complained, but there are only 3 houses affected by it along our road and the University has enough clout to simply ignore us.
The shadow flicker sounds awful. I guess the neighbours of my university are annoyed by the sounds of drunk students in the two 'villages' up against the campus grounds. But most of the neighbours are renting rooms to students so maybe they put up with it.
ReplyDeleteMy university has two untouchable neighbours. One is the transmission line that runs alongside the campus. It doesn't look nice, but it doesn't interfere with classes or anything. The university once asked the electric company if they could move the towers, but the company said they couldn't. The other neighbour is the Air Force base, which sends jets directly over the university all the time. Frequency seems to increase during listening classes and exam periods, but maybe I'm more sensitive at those times. The university once went to the Air Force base and asked if flights could be sent in another direction (there's a whole sea with no houses or universities on it right next to the base), especially during exam periods when students needed to concentrate. The Air Force's reply? "Move your university".
Yes the shadow flicker is awful but thankfully short-lived as the sun moves on. Well, I guess it's us that are moving but you know what I mean.
DeleteThe SK Air Force have to be pretty tough I guess, given the state of play a few miles to the North of you. But still, you'd think a little diversion for a few weeks of the year wouldn't impact them too much.
Is Higher Education 'free' in SK? Free to students, I mean. When I went to Uni in the early 1980s there were no tuition fees and depending on your parents' income there was even a grant. The full grant which I got was actually pretty generous. Nowadays in the UK the tuition fees alone are nearly £10k a year. Students take a loan out and once they start earning over £25k a year they start to repay it, over a maximum of 30 years. The interest rates used to be fixed, or at least capped at a fairly low level but that's no longer the case and the interest rates are pretty high. But student loan repayments themselves are at a fairly low level. And...only about 18% of students will actually repay everything owed all of which makes one wonder about the sense of the whole thing.
The government universities have reasonable tuition fees, but they are more difficult to get into than most private universities. Which are expensive. Middle school became free just some years ago and I think high schools became free last year. Or will be soon. Can't remember. They weren't expensive and I don't think anyone missed a chance to go to school because they couldn't afford to. These days all school dinners are free for all students and many schools use organic ingredients. Imagine.
DeleteThe grant system was ending around the time I went to university and it was a very small amount anyway. I had to get student loans from the government (later moved to the banks and guaranteed by the government) it took me about ten years to pay it back. And I didn't have a large one. These days the loans are massive in Canada and you might be in debt for most of your life. If I was starting over I'd go to trade school or something. There aren't enough carpenters and electricians these days but there's a glut of unemployable people with arts and business degrees. I don't know what percent of people don't pay back their loans. I knew a Canadian woman here in Korea who said, "I'll just declare bankruptcy when I get back to Canada and have it written off." Pissed me off. She was making good money here but not sending any back. And people like her make it more difficult for others to get loans.
In the UK you aren't absolved of your student debt by bankruptcy...the only way out is to pay it all off, or just pay whatever they take from you over 30 years, or die. Well, or not earn very much.
DeleteI used to say that about 30% of my students shouldn't have been near a University. There was (still is) a massive conveyor belt push for 'everyone' to go to Uni. It does little for their self-esteem when after 3 or 4 years at Uni, saddled with massive debt they end up stacking shelves at the supermarket (which a few of my ex-students have been doing for the last 10 years). We need more apprenticeships and yes, more tradespeople - that's where the real money is. I remember my late Uncle telling a joke about a Professor needing a plumber...plumber comes, does the work and charges the going rate (=call-out charge + some). The Professor exclaims, 'Heck, 100 quid for an hour's work? I'm a University Professor and even I don't earn money like that!', to which the plumber replied, 'Neither did I when I was a Professor'...
I like the free school dinners, especially organic ones. That's really good. In the UK we argue constantly about providing school meals for 'the disadvantaged' and even then, most school canteens offer up pretty unhealthy fare. Lots of pizza days, burger days, chips (fries) etc. In my day they actually cooked proper meals and looking back it wasn't that bad, even though we all liked to make fun of it.
Declaring bankruptcy probably doesn't work in Canada, either. She (and others) seemed to think that declaring bankruptcy is a Get-Out-Of-Debt-Free card.
DeleteLots of my students shouldn't be at university either. Some of them say they have other interests, but their parents tell them they have to go to university because otherwise they'll be a LOSER. And if you can't get into one of the country's top universities you're a LOSER. Pretty sad.
I like the story about the professor and the plumber. Is it too late to go to trade school at 50?