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    • Posts Tagged ‘special treatment’

    The Experience Curse, or The Lie of Meritorcricy


    2010 - 04.28

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Industry, Personal, Rant | Comments Off

    I have a lot of experience. I have a lot of experience in different areas. And, because of my incessant perfectionism, I work really fucking hard to excel at these different tasks.

    Meritocracy claims that everyone earns their place. Technology fields like to spout about how they are so meritocratic. And this is complete bull shit.

    The team above the group that demanded the bullshit “prove you’re a programmer” to me posted an internship. An internship that was a combination of marketing, intellectual property law, and open source software knowledge. I haven’t heard back from them. My male roommate (who has no marketing or law background and I wouldn’t trust to program his way out of a paper bag) has gotten a request for an interview. The person who got the previous position effectively saying that my roommate would be getting a job offer.

    … Apparently, being talented isn’t good enough. Knowing the right person outweighs it substantially.

    And, I know I sound bitter. But, I think it’s understandable. I work my ass off to be the best. It’s really special to see someone that has proved that they’re unreliable, incompetent, and arrogant regularly to be seen as so much better than me. I wouldn’t be angry if they were on equal par to me. Subpar though?

    … Yeah, I’m not buying this company’s products. Why would I want to pursue the creations of a company that doesn’t want the best for a position. Only the one that has a good bud.

    Seperate but Equal


    2009 - 12.02

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in Disability, Rant, Society | 1 Comment »

    (I’ve been lying on the couch unable to do much for nearly 2 weeks. Some way to spend the holiday. :-/)

    So, I’m writing this in part because I was inspired by  urocyon’s post “[L]ook who they are and how many of them are saying it” (routed by today’s “Recommended Reading” by FWD/Forward, a disability and feminism blog). This post relates the negative reactions and internalized messages that occur with people when they request help/accommodation.

    Accommodation does not mean separate but equal.

    I think this may be where some of the issues people have with accommodating people with disabilities. Accommodations are mentally construed as being treated separate from the mainstream. And everyone knows that “separate but equal” treatment is inherently unequal.

    Accommodations are not the norm and are thereby viewed as .

    This thought process is flawed. First, treating people the same isn’t necessarily treating them equally and fairly. Second, accommodations, for the most part, wouldn’t be very useful for an able-bodied person. That’s why these accommodations aren’t inherently in place; if most people don’t need something, no one must need it. Must be more of a perk, right?

    A ramp isn’t necessary for people that are able to walk without assistive technologies, pain, or other difficulties. Extra time on exam has been shown to not affect scores of non-disabled test takers. A drop-down counter doesn’t help people of average height. Having subtitles on films doesn’t change the interpretation for someone who can hear clearly. Braille and audio transcriptions do not stop a sighted person from reading.

    Having these accommodations in place doesn’t negatively affect  able-bodied persons. But, not having them does negatively affect the lives of people with disabilities. It isn’t separate but equal to have accommodations available; it’s bringing persons with disability into mainstream settings.

    Special Treatment


    2009 - 11.10

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Rant, Society, Teaching assistant | Comments Off

    Professors are always biased when it comes to students they know. Depending on the professor, this may be a bias in your favor or one that makes you work 10 times harder than everyone else. Both aren’t okay.

    Today, I missed class because there was more grading for me to do. This extra work was because the prof I am TAing for accepted homework assignments via email from a handful of students and didn’t bother to tell me. 2 of these students emailed after the due date.

    None of these students has a learning disability, let alone one that affects their ability to turn work in. And, even if they did, university policy states that disability status cannot force a professor to have a flexible due date for students with disabilities.

    I’m pissed for several reasons:

    1. The students know damn well they need to use the checkin program and how to use it. Department machines can be accessed remotely.
    2. Turning in work late isn’t okay. Unless there’s a medical emergency, then tough shit.
    3. These students were out of town the weekend that the assignment was due. They had 1 and a half weeks to do and turn in an assignment that should take at most 2-3 hours at their level.
    4. I wasn’t informed until today about these students, 10 days later. I’m expected to finish grading within 5 days of the due date. (I ended up missing a class to do this new grading.)
    5. The professor didn’t consider the graduate TAs saying “no” to the students requests. This is rather disrespectful.

    Special treatment is very different from accommodation. I have never turned in an assignment late or partially completed; no one has ever told me that these are acceptable things to do. No one has said that misinterpreting directions, or choosing to view them as “not including me,” as being an acceptable thing to do.

    I have begun the process to file a complaint about this. And it’s not just about me. It’s about the graduate TAs that are expected to tell me what the professor is doing. And it’s about the 65 other students that did follow directions.

    Damn, I wish my job wasn’t so stressful.