I apologize again for the lack of posts, and will continue to make promises to be more productive in the area of blog content. I had an interesting occurrence the other day involving Morris Library at SIUC and their reserve fine policy. I have decided to write a letter to the Dean of Library Affairs and to the Chancellor of the university. Below is rough draft of that letter. Please read and advise on any changes or thoughts.

I am writing this letter to address the current fee policies regarding reserve books checked out from Morris Library. On September 25, 2007, I checked out a reserve book entitled “The Working Poor,” by David K. Shipler. I was using the reserve service because I was waiting for my own copy of the text to arrive in the mail. I checked the book out around 3:00 PM, and received a receipt for the transaction, which outlined the time when the book was due. I needed to read approximately 80 pages of the text for my next class, so I began reading the book in the library and kept careful track of my time. For some reason I had the time 5:36 PM stuck in my mind for when the book was due. At 5:32 PM, I decided to return the book to the reserve desk so that I would not risk turning the book in late. I glanced at the receipt as I walked to the reserve desk and realized that the actual due time was 5:28 PM, 4 minutes before the current time. I handed the book to the student worker who informed that I had a fine. I asked how much the fine would cost, thinking that it would be $0.50 or perhaps $1.00, which I would have gladly paid. I was startled and quite frankly amused when the worker told me that I owed $50.00 for 4 minutes of overdue time. 

The current fee policy regarding overdue reserve items at Morris Library is outrageous and appalling. To levy a $50.00 fine on hard working students for an hour or less of overdue time is disgraceful to Morris Library and to the entire university. In addition, this policy at SIUC is completely inconsistent with other universities, including the University of Illinois - Champaign, Yale University, University of Florida, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The fines for overdue reserve items at these institutions range from $1.00/hr to $3.00/hr. To support a policy that charges 17 to 50 times as much as similar institutions is reprehensible. I should also mention that the book I was reading, “The Working Poor,” chronicles the lives of many Americans who work 40 to 60 hours a week at low wages in order to support their families. In disgust, I read about the many exorbitant fines and fees that quick-cash lenders, financial institutions, and legal advisors charge to the hard working members of society who happen to fall below “acceptable” levels of economic stratification. As Morris Library fined me $50.00 for 4 minutes, I couldn’t help but think about the working poor, and imagine how you will use my $50.00 fine that provided me no product, no service, and cost you nothing in return. Perhaps you will fund the 29 million dollar renovation project that has confined me to the first floor of Morris Library for the entire duration of my graduate studies at SIUC. I appreciate progress, and I applaud the vision of this university to become a nationally respected top-tier institution, but I do not believe this progress should come at the expense of its students via exorbitant fines. I propose a solution to you, Dean of Library Affairs, and to you, Chancellor. I will gladly donate 5 copies of “The Working Poor,” by David K. Shipler to Morris Library. I purchased the book online for $10.00, so this will settle my debt to Morris Library, and provide my fellow students with greater access to this important text. I appreciate your time and I eagerly await your reply in this matter. 

Again, please please please let me know what you think about this letter and how I can improve it before I mail it to the dean and chancellor. I have thought about including a list of universities and their reserve fines on a second page. It would likely have between 30 to 50 universities and their current policies, to show how absurd this policy really is. Let me know what you think!

Only 3 days of school left before me and a bunch of people from the BCM at SIU will be heading down to New Orleans for the second year. We have an amazing time last year, which I wrote about here. Actually this next week will be the first year anniversary of my blog. The initial idea of creating a blog came to me inside a second hand bookstore in the French Quarter. I was walking around taking photos of my friend Chase, when he mentioned his blog and how I should start a photo blog to document my life. So I completely redesigned my website and created a text and photo blog. I am disappointed to say that I have not been able to keep up with the photo blog on a very regular basis. However, having a place to write and post photos online has been very enjoyable.

I’m excited to go back to New Orleans and see what progress has been made since the past year. I imagine that very little overall progress will be visible from a one week trip. The news stories about the extremely high level of crime and violence within the city has been disturbing. It seems as though the state and local government is still trying to fix problems of corruption and abandonment within the police department. I will hopefully be bringing a Hasselblad down for the trip so I can document the area. I am continually disappointed by the quality and overall aesthetic of digital imagery compared to medium and large format film.

I will be leaving New Orleans on Thursday evening to attend the national Soceity of Photographic Education conference in Miami. I can’t wait to see South Beach again, nice 80 degree weather is exactly what I need right now!

With regard to the issue of content, the aura of the Egyptian motifs brings within the realm of discourse the accessibility of the work.

thanks Tracey!

This is an image that basically sums up the entire grad school experience for me. Thats Alison on the left and Tracey in the middle, and thats me trying to read some crap. This was taken during our qualitative research class. My creative capacities have increased dramatically after taking this class. I can’t begin to express how beneficial this class has been to my photography career. I mean what suits an M.F.A. program better than qualitative research. Qualitative research and Master of Fine Arts just fits together perfectly. Oh, feel free to come out and join us at our first annual Qualitative Research Bonfire. The bonfire will be held at my house on Friday, December 15. Make sure to bring your qualitative research books and all writings for the class. We will build the fire around an assortment of books, writings, and syllabi’s from the class. We will commence the fire at 7:00 PM sharp and begin the tribal dancing around 7:15.

Regardless of what does or does not get accomplished within the next 3 weeks, I will be driving to Georgia on or around December 18th with Christmas and old friends on my mind. This is the only consultation as I constantly remind myself how much work has to be done in the next 11 days. I have to write 45 pages in 11 days. While this may seem impossible at first glance, I am fairly confident that I will be able to pull it off. I have re-arranged my entire office in order to provide the most pleasing writing environment, which of course includes the Mac as the main computer and the 24 inch display projecting my endless ramblings. So if you don’t hear from me for awhile, I am probably writing in my office or hunched over my desk in defeat. Feel free to stop by and give me some brief words of encouragement. I emphasize brevity, as I am planning on writing at least 6 to 7 hours a day. Pray for me….I am going to need it!

I have heard rumors that I would be teaching next semester, but I got the official word yesterday when I signed my GA contract. So its official, I will be teaching a CP 220 class next semester. It is basically an 8 week Photo 1 class for non-majors, teaching students how to develop, print, and introductory photographic critique. I’m not too worried about it, but it will be my first class. It will mainly be freshmen and sophomores, so for some of them I will be part of their first college experience! Kinda scary to think about huh? Can you imagine walking into your first college class and seeing me standing in front of the class? Maybe I should pull the “sit in class” technique. I’ll sit in class and talk to all the students and then I’ll stand up and start leading the class. I definetely look young enough to be able to pull it off. It would probably backfire though…they would be talking about me..saying that I’m only a grad student…push over…etc

Anyways, it should be an interesting experience. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions or great ideas about how I should start the class off.