Nostalgii

O vizita la accuweather.com, prin fotografiile postate acolo, mi-a trezit amintiri si nostalgii din calatoriile mele in USA. Fotografiile pot fi vazute la http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/content/UserProfile.aspx?uid=10885&partner=accuweather

Cinism

February 05
Rareori mi-a fost dat sa citesc ceva de un cinism atat de evident:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_on_he_me/obesity_cost
lucru care se vede inca din titlu: Fat people cheaper to treat, study says

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.
"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more."
In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.
Studiul "lu' Peste" a fost facut pe o mie de persoane (Olanda e o tara mica, desi are una din cele mai mari densitati de populatie din lume) comparativ cu studiile serioase (care, ce-i drept, costa mult mai mult) din USA unde nr persoanelor cercetate e de ordinul cel putin al zecilor de mii.
The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up the most expensive health costs. But because both the smokers and the obese people died sooner than the healthy group, it cost less to treat them in the long run.
On average, healthy people lived 84 years. Smokers lived about 77 years, and obese people lived about 80 years. Smokers and obese people tended to have more heart disease than the healthy people.
Cancer incidence, except for lung cancer, was the same in all three groups. Obese people had the most diabetes, and healthy people had the most strokes. Ultimately, the thin and healthy group cost the most, about $417,000, from age 20 on.
The cost of care for obese people was $371,000, and for smokers, about $326,000.
Abia spre sfarsit se specifica faptul ca in acest calcul nu intra alte date, care ar putea duce la alte concluzii:
The study, paid for by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, did not take into account other potential costs of obesity and smoking, such as lost economic productivity or social costs.>
E drept ca se recunoaste ca s-a studiat rolul economic al prevenirii obezitatii:
The results counter the common perception that preventing obesity will save health systems worldwide millions of dollars.
"This throws a bucket of cold water onto the idea that obesity is going to cost trillions of dollars," said Patrick Basham, a professor of health politics at Johns Hopkins University who was unconnected to the study. He said that government projections about obesity costs are frequently based on guesswork, political agendas, and changing science.
"If we're going to worry about the future of obesity, we should stop worrying about its financial impact," he said.
Obesity experts said that fighting the epidemic is about more than just saving money.
"The benefits of obesity prevention may not be seen immediately in terms of cost savings in tomorrow's budget, but there are long-term gains," said Neville Rigby, spokesman for the International Association for the Study of Obesity. "These are often immeasurable when it comes to people living longer and healthier lives."
Avand in vedere cat de mult se cheltuieste in tarile dezvoltate pt ingrijirea persoanelor in varsta e de inteles urmatorul citat:
Van Baal described the paper as "a book-keeping exercise," and said that governments should recognize that successful smoking and obesity prevention programs mean that people will have a higher chance of dying of something more expensive later in life.
"Lung cancer is a cheap disease to treat because people don't survive very long," van Baal said. "But if they are old enough to get Alzheimer's one day, they may survive longer and cost more."
...."We are not recommending that governments stop trying to prevent obesity," van Baal said. "But they should do it for the right reasons."
Ca sa nu ma las mai prejos in materie de cinism am sa spun ca in tarile cu economie mai precara, unde banii de-abia ajung sa trateze bolile dobandite, speranta de viata e mult mai mica, despre preventie poate se vorbeste, dar de aplicat e mai greu, guvernele nu mai au de ce sa-si bata capul cu probleme ca cele din articolul citat.

Carnaval in New Orleans

February 03
La noi exista un fel de carnaval, cu masti, diverse personaje, etc, in Moldova, dar de anul nou. Dupa toate aparentele traditia carnavalului provine din perioada precrestina, sa ne aducem aminte de Bacanalele romane sau Dionisiacele grecesti, ca si de Saturnaliile care i-au determinat pe ierarhii crestini de prin secolul 4 sa stabileasca data nasterii lui Iisus pe 25 decembrie. Pt o data atat de arbitrar stabilita (ca si mutarea zilei de odihna de la Shabat Duminica = Ziua Domnului dar pastrand denumirea Sambetei de la noi f aproape de cea originala, in spaniola de ex, adica Sabado) e ciudat cata importanta dau persoanele religioase zilei de 2 februarie, ziua cand, cf traditiei ebraice,la 40 de zile de la nastere, Iisus a fost dus la templu de parintii sai, Maria si Iosif.

Iata cum povesteste Editor Bob despre experienta new orlensiana:
Rick and I decided to go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I had never been there and wanted to see how the city has fared since Katrina. Boy was it hot, even in February! It was like walking around in front of air conditioner exhausts all the time. I grunted and complained to Rick and our cab driver said, "Nawlins is hot any time of year!" He also told us that the festivities had already started on Bourbon Street, so we headed directly there to see what all the fuss was about. It was a good thing we only had a backpack each because we barely made it out of the cab! The streets were so crowded and people were everywhere!The sights and sounds were overwhelming. There was music everywhere and a crush of people, and police on foot and horseback. The floats were huge, but my eyes kept getting distracted by the pretty girls. I tossed a couple of coins at a saxophone player playing Miles Davis. Then we passed a half-door in the wall. Rick whistling his tune, grabbed my sleeve and pushed me closer to the door. It was literally a closet, set up as a bar, where you can buy booze in a plastic cup to walk along Bourbon Street during the evening."That's a custom I could get used to," said Rick. We bought lagniappe (Creole, we think, for trinket - actually cheap plastic beads) to throw at the ladies. I have to say, there were plenty of pretty ladies to be seen. We kept walking around and ended up over on Rue Royale heading down towards the Café Du Monde, a place suggested by Donna before we left.We found a table right next to a group of lovely young ladies and ordered ourselves some beignets and chicory coffee. Rick asked me where the hotel was from there, so I went to dig the address out of my wallet. It wasn't in my back pocket. It wasn't in my backpack. It was gone. I had been the victim of a pickpocket. The coffee and beignets arrived and we discussed what to do. Rick had his own cash, but mine was gone, along with my driver's license, credit cards, everything."This is most unfortunate," said a rather distinguished old African-American gentleman seated at the next table. We asked him to join us and next thing you know, he's telling us to scrap the hotel and come along to his house. Now, back in New York (or Pasadena, even), children are told never to go with a stranger, but this guy seemed all right. We decided to trust him and accepted his invitation. He drove us to a part of the city called the Garden District. At this point we couldn't see much, it being late and all, but these were real mansions, with big cast iron fences and gates. We passed through the gateway to his place and entered a carriageway that took us back into a courtyard at the rear of the house. As the car passed through, we saw that the entire courtyard was lit up with hurricane lanterns. Plants and flowers of every description could be found there. A fountain was gushing forth, and get this, the guy had two peacocks strolling across the way!We were greeted as if we were family. They took us in, fed us a huge feast of southern and Creole specialties, and made up beds for us to sleep. These were some mighty kind and generous folk, and I slept soundly and comfortably, even in the heat. Over the next few days, Henry took us on a plantation tour, and even to the bayous to look for gators. We had jambalaya, po-boys and mufalattas. He took us to fancy restaurants on Bourbon Street, showed us the best jazz clubs, and even taught us about the cemeteries. When it was time to leave, I was actually sad to go. Henry and his family had definitely shown us that famous "Southern Hospitality". We swapped contact info, but Henry said it's too cold up there in the "Nawth", but we'll always have a standing invitation to visit him again... maybe this year?

Internetul, paianjenul care stapaneste lumea

February 01
Ni se pare normal (take for granted) ca sa reusim, cu ajutorul catorva clickuri, sa luam legatura nu numai cu cineva de la antipod, dar chiar si din cealalta emisfera. Cati se gandesc (eu una nu) ce munca enorma, cat efort necesita din partea, poate, a sute de mii de oameni (sa nu-mi spuneti ca totul e automatizat, eu aici vorbesc despre toti cei implicati in ce inseamna internetul, incepand de la profesorul care invata copiii sa scrie, continuand cu cercetatorul care descopera lucruri noi si ne invata cum sa le aplicam, dar si cu armata de truditori care aplica aceste descoperiri) aceste clickuri simple.
Un articol citit recent mi-a mai luminat cate ceva:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080131/ap_on_hi_te/internet_outages_cables
Finger-thin cables tie Internet together
The foundation for a connected world seems quite fragile, an impression reinforced this week when a break in two cables in the Mediterranean Sea disrupted communications across the Middle East and into India and neighboring countries.
Yet the network itself is fairly resilient. In fact, cables are broken all the time, usually by fishing lines and ship anchors, and few of us notice. It takes a confluence of factors for a cable break to cause an outage.
Nu mi-am pus nicodata problema pe unde circula informatia
By an accident of geography and global politics, Egypt is a choke point in the global communications network, just as it is with global shipping. The reasons are the same: The country touches both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, which flows into the India Ocean.
The slim fiber-optic cables that carry the world's communications are much like ships, in that they're the cheapest way for carrying things over long distances. Pulling cable overland is much more expensive and requires negotiation with landowners and governments.
So fiber-optic cables that go from Europe to India take the sea route via Egypt's Suez Canal, just as ships do.
Si pe unde circula ele?
With two of the three cables passing through Suez cut, traffic from the Middle East and India intended for Europe was forced to route eastward, around most of the globe.
The main route goes through Japan and the United States, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
....
The other route from India to Europe goes over China into Russia and along the Trans-Siberian railroad.
Egypt is not the only check point in the global network. The ocean just south of Taiwan proved to be one in December 2006, when an earthquake cut seven of eight cables passing through the area, slowing down communications in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia for months.
Another possible vulnerability is the U.S. island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. It is the spider at the center of a web cables from the United States, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and China.
Both cables that connect the United States to Australia and New Zealand run over Hawaii, creating another choke point.

Filme

29? Ianuarie
Am (re)vazut o parte dintr-un film mai vechi, numit Ashanti. Intr-o f importanta scena doctorita de origine africana (actiunea se petrece in Africa), luata ca sclava de niste mafioti, banditi, in fine,arabi, doctorita asta zic e drogata si apoi oferita spre vanzare de negustorul ARAB unui print ARAB. Filmul fiind american toate personajele, in acest caz interpretate de Peter Ustinov si Omar el Shariff, vorbeau in engleza. La un moment dat intervine si femeia in discutie, bineinteles in engleza si OS se mira: "cum de stie engleza?"
A mai fost cel putin o asemenea situatie in "Planeta Maimutelor", primul film, cel cu Charlton Heston, in care toate maimutele vorbeau engleza. In carte, scrisa mi se pare de Pierre Bouille, maimutele vorbeau, of corse, simiesca, limba pe care au invatat-o si oamenii. Recunosc ca in film era mai greu sa vorbeasca toata lumea simiesca dar in Passions al lui Mel Gibson se vorbeste aramaica, in Lords of the Ring (trilogia de pe ecrane) elfii vorbeau in valara, mi se pare, deci se poate.
Si ca sa continui tot pe tema de filme, e ciudat ca in engleza partea II, III, etc (m-a distrat teribil o scena din serialul pt TV Sisters in care una din surori invata cum sa antreneze boxerul -si nu era vorba de catel- pe care-l mostenise, apeland la colectia de casete cu Rocky, care ajunsese cel putin la partea XV) se cheama sechele (sequels), cand in medicina nimeni nu-si doreste sa ramana cu sechele de pe urma unei operatii sau a unui accident.
Si pt ca vorbeam de filme noi si vechi, un film fara actiune, sau cu o actiune f lenta (cum a fost Insula, filmul nu mai stiu carui japonez) poate plictisi pe doritorii de adrenalina (pe mine Insula nu m-a plictisit, mi-a fost tare mila de acei amarati care, dupa ce le-a murit copilul, au continuat munca sisifica de ingrijire a plantelor de pe insula pt ca viata merge mai departe, nu-i asa?) dar parca prea se toarna (pun intented) multa adrenalina in filme, desi uneori "viata bate filmul", cum s-a intamplat pe 9/11.
Cata dreptate aveau chinezii cand spuneau "nu-ti dori sa traiesti timpuri interesante"

Outsurcing

January 23
Mare scandal mare zilele acestea in UE! "Capitalistii nomazi" de la Nokia parasesc Germania pt Romania. Socialistii germani sunt extrem de indignati. Dar, dupa cate am inteles, acesti socialisti au tacut malc atunci cand WV s-a mutat din Belgia in Germania. De, Belgia e tara mica, are mai putini politicieni.

Sa nu se creada ca ma bucur ca a murit capra germana. Am inteles ca UE, care a fost alimentata in special cu fonduri germane, va ajuta pe cei din Bokum. Desigur, aceste ajutoare nu le vor mai permite nemtilor standardul ridicat de viata pe care il aveau. Probabil ca si multi emigranti care au trait acolo vor avea inca mai mult de suferit. Dar de ce au emigrat acei oameni (nu ma gandesc aici la emigrantii politici, care au cautat libertatea)? Pentru ca tara lor, mai putin dezvoltata, nu le asigura, de multe ori, nici macar cele necesare traiului (desi am dubii in aceasta privinta pt ca totusi, plecarea spre o tara straina presupune cheltuieli, macar de transport, iar pt clandestini platirea de bani, si nu putini, catre cei care organizeaza contrabanda). Din pacate, multi dintre emigranti constata ca realitatea e departe de implinirea visurilor lor. Iar pt unii din ei integrarea sociala pune mari probleme din cauza diferentelor culturale sau religioase. Si astfel apar frustrari care duc la revolte, ca cele din Franta, asasinate, ca in Olanda, sau terorism, ca in Anglia. Ma refer numai la Anglia pt ca acolo teroristii erau chiar cetateni englezi.

Si atunci, ca sa gandim pozitiv, nu e cumva outsurcingul o solutie mai buna? India, China, Irlanda sunt tari care s-au dezvoltat uimitor in ultima perioada tocmai prin acest fenomen, nu neaparat prin mutarea de fabrici, ci prin investitii de capital. S-ar zice ca in acest mod se produce o egalizare, o rerepartizare a resurselor si astfel o reducere a tensiunilor dintre tarile bogate si cele sarace. Tarile supradezvoltate pierd din confort dar castiga in siguranta. Corect? GRESIT!

Iata ce spun Lydia Polgreen and Howard W. French in New York despre investitiile chineze in Africa:
"We are back where we started," said Wilfred Collins Wonani, who leads the Chamber of Commerce here, sighing at the loss of one of the city’s biggest employers. "Sending raw materials out, bringing cheap manufactured goods in. This isn’t progress. It is colonialism."
Chinese officials and their African allies like to call their growing relationship a win-win proposition, a rising tide that lifts all boats in China’s ever-widening sea of influence.
From South Africa’s manganese mines to Niger’s uranium pits, from Sudan’s oil fields to Congo’s cobalt mines, China’s hunger for resources has been a shot in the arm, increasing revenues and helping push some of the world’s poorest countries further up the ladder of development.
But China is also exporting huge volumes of finished, manufactured goods — T-shirts, flashlights, radios and socks, just to name a few — to those same countries, hampering Africa’s ability to make its own products and develop healthy, diverse economies.
"Most of our countries have been independent for 35 to 50 years," said Moeletsi Mbeki, a South African entrepreneur and a political analyst. "Yet they have failed to develop manufacturing for a variety of reasons, and for the Chinese that’s a huge opportunity. We are a very important market for China."
On the one hand, Chinese imports give Africans access to goods and amenities that developed countries take for granted but that most people here could not have dreamed of affording just a few years ago — cellular telephones, televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, computers. And cheaper prices on more basic items, like clothing, light bulbs and shoes, mean people have more money in their pockets
Si totusi, africanii nu sunt multumiti. Sa vedem de ce.
But across Africa, and especially in the relatively robust economies of southern Africa, there are clear winners and losers. Textile mills and other factories here in Zambia have suffered and even closed as cheap Chinese goods flood the world market, eliminating jobs in a country that sorely needs them.
The Chinese investment in copper mining here has left a trail of heartbreak and recrimination after one of the worst industrial accidents in Zambian history, a blast at a Chinese-owned explosives factory in Chambishi in 2005 that killed 46 people, most of them in their 20s.
Si astfel, in ciuda investitiilor si a locurilor de munca ce s-au creat, ca si a dezvoltarii economice a Zambiei, de ex, situatia pe ansamblu e destul de critica.
China’s growing presence in global trade is wiping out thousands of jobs in countries with fledgling manufacturing sectors like Zambia and South Africa.
Despite relatively low wages in many countries, African manufacturers find it very hard to compete, arguing that China’s currency policies undervalue the yuan and give Chinese exporters a huge advantage.
Many industries in China also benefited at various points from subsidies and free or low-cost government financing, making their costs lower. Beyond that, there are major infrastructure problems in Africa, where industry struggles with inadequate roads and railways, and unreliable electricity and water supplies.
Suna cunoscut? Ne aminteste cumva de Rosia Montana, de Sidex? Dar sa ne intoarcem la Africa.
The textile and clothing industry, one of the engines China used to fuel its own economic expansion in the 1980s, has been particularly hard hit in Africa. For decades, African countries exported large quantities of clothes and textiles to developed countries under a trade agreement intended to protect European and American markets from competition from China and others, while encouraging exports from the world’s poorest nations. But the trade provision, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, expired in January 2005, putting these countries in direct export competition with China.
Africa found itself once again on the losing end of globalization
In South Africa, dozens of clothing and textile companies closed, according to trade organizations representing manufacturers. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost because of Chinese imports, and in response the government negotiated temporary voluntary restraints on some items.
Ramane sa speram ca Romania, mai aproape de Vest decat Africa, va avea alta soarta dar, avand in vedere ca economia globala pare a fi in criza (lucru ce-mi reaminteste de situatia descrisa de Arthur C. Clarke la inceputul Return of Rama) iar leul scade mereu, nu stiu cat de intemeiate sunt sperantele.

Nefericitii perfectionisti

January 22
Intelepciunea Zilei de pe data de 18 ian din calendarul religios: "Cu cat cineva e mai neatent cu sine insusi, cu atat se socoteste pe sine mai placut lui Dumnezeu. Dar acela ce se sileste sa se curete de patimi, acela se rusineaza sa-si ridice ochii sai la Dumnezeu, caci se vede pe sine ca pe unul ce sta foarte departe de El" (Sfantul Isaia Pustnicul)
Dupa parerea mea cei mai nefericiti oameni de pe pamant sunt perfectionistii, pt ca ei cauta mereu ceva ce nu exista poate nici la Dumnezeu (pt ca altfel ce rost ar mai avea Satana?). Si ce altceva erau pustnicii, indiferent de religie, daca nu niste perfectionisti?
Ca o paranteza, Florin povestea ca in 75', cand a fost in Canada, pe un perete era scris "Nobody is purfect". Cineva a atras atentia ca e scris gresit si i s-a raspuns: "See, nobody is perfect".
Interesant in textul din CR e faptul ca prin scrierea pronumelui personal cu majuscula s-a ajuns la unul din numele ebraice ale divinitatii, EL.
De mult mi-am format impresia ca pustnicii, prin stradania lor de a-si afla salvarea, erau de fapt niste egoisti (sa nu mi se spuna ca insusi Mantuitorul s-a retras in pustie pt 40 de zile, pt ca El s-a reintors intre oameni pt a-si continua lucrarea, lucru pe care sfintii nostri nu-l mai fac, a se vedea monahii de la Athos) si ca dovada iata un fragment din biografia sfantului Antonie cel Mare, din acelasi calendar:
"Isi face numerosi discipoli, care, insa, il vor obliga sa se retraga in pustiu, intr-o ruina de cazemata, pentru a-si regasi linistea si singuratatea necesare Contemplatiei"
Case closed!
Ca sa respect adevarul istoric, in timpul persecutiilor s-a dus in Alexandria, dar "i s-a refuzat martiriul", si "s-a instalat apoi pe Muntele Interior, langa Marea Rosie,...... inconjurat de grija filiala a doi discipoli".Ca sa fiu cinica, atunci cand nu s-a mai descurcat in pustie singur cu Dumnezeu au fost buni si discipolii.

Oh, fericirea

22 Ianuarie
Se pare ca problema asta a fericirii ma cam bantuie. Azi (adica ieri) mi se trage de la un articol al dragului de Melvin Durai, care se pare ca e nostalgic dupa anii petrecuti in Zambia (aflata pe locul 163 in lista de tari, mult sub Romania, aflata pe locul 120), altfel de ce si-ar fi intitulat blogul Nshima? Dintr-un link in altul mi-am calculat si indicii personali de fericire care arata asa:
http://www.itint.co.uk/hpisurvey/feedback.php
Happy Planet Index
Your personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 44.1, which is similar to that of countries such as Belgium, Spain or Pakistan. This is above the UK average, about the same as the world average of 46, but well below the reasonable ideal we have set, of 83. Your score is above that of your country, 37.7.Below is a breakdown of the various components that make up your HPI score.
You: 44.1 Average: 43.6 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Life Expectancy
Your life expectancy is lower than the average for your gender and country. You might have noticed some of the questions we've asked related to your life expectancy are related to factors beyond your control, such as family history. However, others, particularly your lifestyle choices - whether and how much you smoke and exercise, and what you eat - can be changed for the better. Everyone knows these habits can be hard to change, but you wouldn't be the first to do so!
You: 68 Average: 80.8 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Ecological Footprint
Your ecological footprint is 4.23 global hectares, or 2.35 planets. This is equivalent to the average in Japan or Bahamas.
(UUUU, that hurts. I'm cofounder of Romanian Ecological Mouvement). Daca nici eu nu reciclez.... Ulterior Anca mi-a spus ca a facut si ea testul cand se afla in USA si indiferent ce raspuns dadea reiesea un consum de ~ 5 planete.
Your ecological footprint is greater than the average for the country you live in. If you live in a country with large economic inequalities, do note that this might be the case even if you are environmentally aware and trying to reduce your footprint, as others in your country might be living in very different circumstances. For example, Brazil's mean footprint of 2.2 g ha does not distinguish between the very low consumption lives of tribes in the Amazon, and those of people living Western-style lives in the big cities, whose personal footprints will inevitably be much higher. You are using between and one and a half and three times your share of the planet's resources (assuming no resources are put aside for other species). This is an amount typical of people in many industrialised countries, though just below the average for the UK. As such, if you are living in an industrialised country, you are probably doing some things well and some things not so well in terms of reducing your ecological impact. Seven ways that everyone can reduce their footprint include:
It's obvious, but we have to say it. Conserve energy. Turn off the lights when you leave a room, buy energy-efficient bulbs and appliances, turn off your TV completely, rather than leave it on standby.
*Reduce your waste. If there are ways to recycle where you live, try and do so. If you have a garden, start a compost heap. Re-use plastic bags. Give away clothes you don't use, rather than throwing them away. There are hundreds of little things you can do.
*Live with someone! Whether it be your partner, family, children or friends, sharing your living space means sharing your ecological impact. It will probably also increase your well-being!
Leave your car in the garage. Car use has a huge impact on ecological footprint. Obviously it's easier for some people than others, but where possible, try to use public transport more. Or, even better, get on a bike, or simply walk!
*Go local. Why buy tomatoes from another country, if you can get home grown ones? For those living in Europe - think about all those miles travelled by wine from South Africa and Australia, when Europe produces some of the best wines in the world.
You don't have to become vegetarian, but cutting down on meat, particularly beef, and particularly from animals fed by imported soya feed, is an effective step to reducing your footprint.
It has to be said that air travel is one of the biggest contributors to many people's footprints. For example, flying direct from London to Sydney and back would add 5.44 g ha to your footprint - that's the average Briton's footprint for an entire year. Flights with a connection add even more polluting air miles.
You: 4.23 Average: 5.35 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Carbon Footprint
Your carbon footprint is 0.7 global hectares, or 0.39 planets. This is about the same as the average for your country (1.06 gHa).
You: 0.7 Average: 2.97 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Life Satisfaction
You reported a life satisfaction of 8. This is the most common response across UK and indeed all of Europe. However, it is above average, so we are happy that you are so happy. Only in two countries is the mean life satisfaction higher - Switzerland and Denmark.
You: 8 Average: 6.77 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Well-being
The new economics foundation (nef) recognises that there's more to life than feeling good, which is why our model for well-being is based on four domains – personal feelings, personal functionings, social feelings and social functionings. 'Feelings' refers to your attitude to the way you, your future and society are. 'Functionings' looks at whether you have the opportunities to do the things that bring you well-being. Like with life satisfaction, a score of 5 is theoretically the middle score, but, given the way most people respond to surveys, is below average.
Personal Feelings
In this online questionnaire, personal feelings are assessed with two questions – one testing your optimism and one testing your self-esteem.
You are optimistic about the future and probably also about yourself.
You: 6.55 Average: 6.05 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Personal Functionings
In this online questionnaire personal functionings are assessed with five questions – two evaluating your subjective opinion on your health and how activity you are, the other three testing you for feelings of autonomy, purpose and worth.
In some ways you are unable to function in the way you would like. Perhaps you have had problems with your health, are feeling unable to make your own decisions, or do not have the opportunity to get involved in activities that give you a sense of purpose and ability. Some slight changes in lifestyle would help.
You: 5.27 Average: 6.16 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Social Feelings
In this online questionnaire social feelings are assessed with four questions – three assessing your opinion of your community, whilst the last looks at personal relationships.
You have a strong sense of trust and belonging in your community and a happy personal life.
You: 5.59 Average: 5.69 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Social Functionings
In this online questionnaire social functionings are assessed with four questions – two assessing your job / studies, one your free time, and one your community participation. If you did not respond to the work / study questions, your score is judged purely on the other two aspects.
You are very satisfied with your job / course - it is very interesting, rarely stressful, and leaves you plenty of time to do the things you want to do, such as participating in community activities.
You: 7.05 Average: 5.6 [Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Am copiat un articol, citat de MD, care contine recenzia unei carti care pare f interesanta:
http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/01/15/the-geography-of-bliss/People love to think, talk and argue about happiness. I have a hard time counting the number of times I’ve been approached at development conferences by someone who wants to tell me the story of Bhutan’s decision to focus on Gross National Happiness, not Gross National Product. Or the times I’ve been forwarded an article asserting that Nigeria tops a world happiness survey. We’ve all been happy and unhappy, and we’ve all got opinions - well- or ill-informed - on what makes people happy, which means we’ve all got something to say on the topic.
I was interested in correlating happiness to health, and threw some simple statistical techniques at a data set I’d found online. In a development that made me, well, pretty unhappy, I discovered that the data I was using - also Adrian White’s Global Projection of Subjective Well-Being - was apparently “borrowed” from the New Economics Foundation’s “Happy Planet Index”. That data, in turn, is apparently extrapolated from Dr. Ruut Veenhoven’s World Database of Happiness, which is a concordance of happiness research from around the world. The database includes results from 95 countries, many of which have been surveyed several times over the course of decades, asking people a fixed series of questions about their subjective satisfaction with their own lives.
Veenhoven’s database is the starting point fror Eric Weiner’s excellent “The Geography of Bliss“, a witty, funny and insightful book, which follows the wanderings of a self-described “grump” through his travel to happy and unhappy nations.
A foreign correspondent for NPR, Weiner sees a lot of nations at their worst. And he claims not to be a happy man, an addict of self-help books designed to help him enjoy his life more. Explicit in his journey is the question, “If I lived here, would I be happy?” There are some interesting geographic patterns to happiness. Impoverished and wartorn nations are generally not happy places. Scandinavian and Alpine nations are, for the most part. You might conclude that cold, rich nations are the places to be if you’d like to be happy.
But making generalizations in this field is difficult.Many of the former Soviet states are cold, and most rank very low in happiness. Money’s not guaranteed to help either. There’s an “East-Asian Happiness Gap“, where wealth East Asian nations are a lot less happy than you’d expect given their wealth. (Possible explanations for the gap include, “environmental disruption, excessive competitiveness, repressive education, excessive conformity, negative attitudes towards enjoyment, and the emphasis on outward appearance.” Sounds like a drag.)
Weiner travels to nine nations in writing the book, some unusually happy (Switzerland, Bhutan, Iceland), some surprisingly unhappy (Qatar, Moldova). He’s better at writing about the unhappy ones than the happy, which may reveal a fundamental truth of travel writing - it’s just not much fun to read about someone having a great time. (One of my favorite travel writers is Redmond O’Hanlon, whose jungle journeys generally sound like misery, interspersed with danger, failure and sheer terror, gently seasoned with British wit. My guess is that he wouldn’t be nearly as good at writing about beach vacations in the Bahamas.)
It’s hard to draw firm conclusions from Weiner’s travel about what makes some nations happy and others miserable. Weiner gives us intriguing hints at the state of the art of happiness research, writing at some length about “the hedonic treadmill“ (Georgetown University psychiatry professor Norman Rosenthal describes the hedonic treadmill by comparing the pursuit of happiness to a person on a treadmill, who has to keep working just to stay in the same place."As we acquire new things, we shift our expectations so that what seemed like a fortune to us before now seems not quite enough. As one famous millionaire put it, 'How much money is enough? Just a little bit more.' Observing how greater wealth generates higher expectations, researchers refer to the 'hedonic treadmill' theory, which compares the pursuit of happiness to a person on a treadmill, who has to keepworking just to stay in the same place."), a concept coined by Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell, who were studying the happiness of lottery winners and accident victims. Unsurprisingly, the lottery winners were quite happy, and the paralyzed accident victims unhappy. But over time, both returned to levels quite close to their happiness before these surprising developments.
Most people believe that acquiring a bit more money would make them happy; they tend to find that acquiring wealth is a trap, as they always want a bit more (hence, the treadmill.) There’s an exception - people who are truly impoverished will see their happiness increase with increased income. But this effect maxes out at a surprisingly low level, around $15,000 in annual income. In a rich country, there are only a few things likely to have an unambigious effect on your happiness over a long period of time, Weiner tells us: “Noise and big breasts. Studies have found that we really never get used to loud noises, despite prolonged exposure. Another study found that women who get breast implants never tire of the enjoyment it brings them, and presumably their companions as well.” And now you know.
Weiner adds his own layer of theory to his travels, introducing a couple of useful concepts to people interested in happiness. He discovers that throughout his travels, he meets people who are much happier in the places they’ve migrated to than in the lands of their birth. “They are hedonic refugees, moving to a new land, a new culture, because they are happier there. Usually, hedonic refugees have an epiphany, a moment of great clarity when they realize, beyond a doubt, they were born in the wrong country.” My guess is that a lot of people born in Burkina Faso, for instance, have this moment of clarity but aren’t able to relocate to Denmark - this is, perhaps, a more useful concept for explaining the migratory patterns of the rich and privleged than the world as a whole. But it’s an intriguing clue about “cultural fit”, the idea that someone who doesn’t fit well with the dominant culture of a place may be unhappy even if most of her fellow citizens are blissful.
Weiner also suggests that culture goes a long way towards explaining unhappiness in Moldova, the unhappiest nation he visits. Moldova is legendary in the happiness studies community, a nation that ranks extremely low in happiness despite beating out many nations in terms of life expectancy and wealth. Weiner believes this is because Moldova is:
Moldova este pe locul 147. Pana la 178, cu voia HPI, ultimul loc de pe lista, mai e....
…a fabricated nation. It doesn’t exist. Oh yes, you can go there, as I did, and walk its streets, eat its mamaliga, drink its bad wine, talk to its miserable people. Later, safely home, you can flip open your passport and admine, if that’s the word, the stamp that says “The Republic of Moldova”. None of this matters. Moldova does not exist, and existence is, in my book, a prerequisite for happiness. We need a solid identity - ethnic, national, linguistic, culinary, whatever - in order to feel good about ourselves.
This theory helps explain Weiner’s reaction to Qatar, which he finds surprisingly unhappy. His visit to Qatar’s historical museum, an unairconditioned concrete bunker in a nation where summer temperatures routinely break 50C, convinces him that Qataris have outsourced their history and heritage, not just all menial - and much technical - labor. Unless it’s the claustrophobia that comes from a society bound by tribal rules, but freed of the constraints of traditional financial rules by incredible wealth through national resources. Turns out it’s almost as difficult to pin down the causes of unhappiness as it is to explain happiness.
“The Geography of Bliss” makes a lousy self-help book - it won’t help you relocate to your happy spot on the earth, if such a thing exists. But it’s a really fun way to get a handle on what we do and don’t know about happiness, and you’ll likely be (marginally, slightly, temporarily) happier if you read it.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=165813
On page 56 of the book At What Price: Conceptualizing and Measuring Cost-of-Living and Price Indexes the hedonic treadmill theory is addressed as follows:- Nothing can keep people happy or unhappy for long. - Expectations quickly adapt to new circumstances.“If these circumstances are characterized by continuous improvement, ever increasing amounts of goods are required to maintain the same level of satisfaction. Conversely deteriorating circumstances wouldmake people unhappy for some time, but only until expectations are back in line with reality, as long as basic needs are met.”The National Academies Press: At What Price http://books.nap.edu/books/0309074428/html/56.html
The Hedonic Treadmill:“Those who rush to experience intensively pleasurable activities find that, amusing as they are, they soon become accustomed to them - the pleasure from them isn't sustainable. In order to maintain the intensepleasure they try more extreme and expensive things, but they'll adapt to them too. Abstinence from pleasures can make smaller pleasures seem more intense.”http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/4111/psych3.html
In an article by Martin Morse Wooster:“.. relying on money as the measure of happiness might cause you to step onto what psychologists call the "hedonic treadmill," where you feel you would be happier if your income increased by 25 percent.Apartment renters would like to be able to get a house, homeowners want a larger house and a second car. (..) Once you're on the hedonic treadmill, it's very hard to get off, since it never ensures happiness; whatever you earn, you'll always want 25 percent more money.Reason: February 1994 http://reason.com/9402/col.wooster.shtml

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/list.htm
About the Happy Planet Index
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.
The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness). The resulting Index of the 178 nations for which data is available, reveals that the world as a whole has a long way to go. In terms of delivering long and meaningful lives within the Earth’s environmental limits - all nations could do better. No country achieves an overall ‘high’ score on the Index, and no country does well on all three indicators.
No single country listed in the Happy Planet Index has everything right. We have to acknowledge from the start that while some countries are more efficient than others at delivering long, happy lives for their people, every country has its problems and no country performs as well as it could. Yet, fascinatingly, it is possible to see patterns emerging that point to how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means.
Cifrele ingrosate reprezinta locul pe lista iar cele simple: Life Satisfaction, Life Expectancy, Ecological Footprint, Happy Planet Index
1 Vanuatu 7.4 68.6 1.1 68.2 2 Colombia 7.2 72.4 1.3 67.2 3 Costa Rica 7.5 78.2 2.1 66.0 4 Dominica 7.3 75.6 1.8 64.6 5 Panama 7.2 74.8 1.8 63.5 6 Cuba 6.3 77.3 1.4 61.9 7 Honduras 7.2 67.8 1.4 61.8 8 Guatemala 7.0 67.3 1.2 61.7 9 El Salvador 6.6 70.9 1.2 61.7 10 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7.2 71.1 1.7 61.4 11 Saint Lucia 7.0 72.4 1.6 61.3 12 Vietnam 6.1 70.5 0.8 61.2 13 Bhutan 7.6 62.9 1.3 61.1 14 Samoa (Western) 6.9 70.2 1.4 61.0 15 Sri Lanka 6.1 74.0 1.1 60.3 16 Antigua and Barbuda 7.4 73.9 2.3 59.2 17 Philippines 6.4 70.4 1.2 59.2 18 Nicaragua 6.3 69.7 1.1 59.1 19 Kyrgyzstan 6.6 66.8 1.1 59.0 20 Solomon Islands 6.9 62.3 1.0 58.9 21 Tunisia 6.4 73.3 1.4 58.9 22 São Tomé and Principe 6.7 63.0 1.0 57.9 23 Indonesia 6.6 66.8 1.2 57.9 24 Tonga 6.6 72.2 1.6 57.9 25 Tajikistan 6.1 63.6 0.6 57.7 26 Venezuela 7.4 72.9 2.4 57.5 27 Dominican Republic 7.0 67.2 1.6 57.1 28 Guyana 7.2 63.1 1.5 56.6 29 Saint Kitts and Nevis 7.4 70.0 2.3 56.1 30 Seychelles 7.4 72.7 2.6 56.1 31 China 6.3 71.6 1.5 56.0 32 Thailand 6.5 70.0 1.6 55.4 33 Peru 5.6 70.0 0.9 55.1 34 Suriname 7.3 69.1 2.3 55.0 35 Yemen 6.2 60.6 0.7 55.0 36 Fiji 6.7 67.8 1.7 54.5 37 Morocco 5.6 69.7 0.9 54.4 38 Mexico 6.9 75.1 2.5 54.4 39 Maldives 6.6 66.6 1.6 53.5 40 Malta 7.5 78.4 3.5 53.3 41 Bangladesh 5.7 62.8 0.6 53.2 42 Comoros 5.9 63.2 0.8 52.9 43 Barbados 7.3 75.0 3.1 52.7 44 Malaysia 7.4 73.2 3.0 52.7 45 Palestine 5.4 72.5 1.1 52.6 46 Cape Verde 5.8 70.4 1.3 52.4 47 Argentina 6.8 74.5 2.6 52.2 48 Timor-Leste 6.6 55.5 0.8 52.0 49 Belize 6.9 71.9 2.6 52.050 Trinidad and Tobago 6.9 69.9 2.3 51.9 51 Chile 6.5 77.9 2.6 51.3 52 Paraguay 6.5 71.0 2.2 51.1 53 Jamaica 7.0 70.8 2.6 51.0 54 Nepal 5.5 61.6 0.6 50.0 55 Mauritius 6.5 72.2 2.4 49.6 56 Mongolia 6.7 64.0 1.9 49.6 57 Uruguay 6.3 75.4 2.6 49.3 58 Ecuador 5.6 74.3 1.8 49.3 59 Uzbekistan 6.4 66.5 1.9 49.2 60 Grenada 6.5 65.3 1.9 49.0 61 Austria 7.8 79.0 4.6 48.8 62 India 5.4 63.3 0.8 48.7 63 Brazil 6.3 70.5 2.2 48.6 64 Iceland 7.8 80.7 4.9 48.4 65 Switzerland 8.2 80.5 5.3 48.3 66 Italy 6.9 80.1 3.8 48.3 67 Iran 6.0 70.4 2.1 47.2 68 Ghana 6.2 56.8 1.1 47.0 69 Bolivia 5.5 64.1 1.2 46.2 70 Netherlands 7.5 78.4 4.7 46.0 71 Madagascar 5.8 55.4 0.8 46.0 72 Cyprus 6.9 78.6 4.0 46.0 73 Algeria 5.2 71.1 1.5 45.9 74 Luxembourg 7.6 78.5 4.9 45.6 75 Bahamas 7.7 69.7 4.1 44.9 76 Papua New Guinea 6.3 55.3 1.3 44.8 77 Burma 5.3 60.2 0.9 44.6 78 Belgium 7.3 78.9 4.9 44.0 79 Slovenia 6.6 76.4 3.8 44.0 80 Oman 7.3 74.1 4.4 43.9 81 Germany 7.2 78.7 4.8 43.8 82 Croatia 5.9 75.0 2.9 43.7 83 Lebanon 5.6 72.0 2.3 43.6 84 Taiwan 6.6 76.1 3.9 43.4 85 Haiti 5.5 51.6 0.5 43.3 86 Syria 5.1 73.3 1.9 43.2 87 Spain 7.0 79.5 4.8 43.0 88 Hong Kong 6.6 81.6 4.6 42.9 89 Saudi Arabia 7.3 71.8 4.4 42.7 90 Gambia 5.7 55.7 1.1 42.5 91 Cambodia 5.6 56.2 1.1 42.2 92 Albania 4.6 73.8 1.5 42.1 93 Jordan 5.1 71.3 1.9 42.0 94 New Zealand 7.4 79.1 5.5 41.9 95 Japan 6.2 82.0 4.3 41.7 96 Congo 5.7 52.0 0.9 41.6 97 Egypt 4.8 69.8 1.5 41.6 98 Turkey 5.3 68.7 2.0 41.4 99 Denmark 8.2 77.2 6.4 41.4 100 Brunei Darussalam 7.6 76.4 5.6 41.2 101 Georgia 4.1 70.5 0.8 41.2 102 Korea 5.8 77.0 3.4 41.1 103 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.1 74.2 2.3 41.0 104 Senegal 5.6 55.7 1.2 40.8 105 Azerbaijan 4.9 66.9 1.5 40.7 106 Gabon 6.2 54.5 1.7 40.5 107 Libya 5.7 73.6 3.1 40.3 108 United Kingdom 7.1 78.4 5.4 40.3 109 Laos 5.4 54.7 1.0 40.3 110 Benin 5.4 54.0 1.0 40.1 111 Canada 7.6 80.0 6.4 39.8 112 Pakistan 4.3 63.0 0.7 39.4 113 Ireland 7.6 77.7 6.2 39.4 114 Poland 5.9 74.3 3.6 39.3 115 Norway 7.4 79.4 6.2 39.2 116 Macedonia 4.9 73.8 2.3 39.1 117 Israel 6.7 79.7 5.3 39.1 118 Namibia 6.5 48.3 1.6 38.4 119 Sweden 7.7 80.2 7.0 38.2 120 Romania 5.2 71.3 2.7 37.7 121 Hungary 5.7 72.7 3.5 37.6 122 Guinea 5.1 53.7 1.0 37.4 123 Finland 7.7 78.5 7.0 37.4 124 Mauritania 5.3 52.7 1.1 37.3 125 Kazakhstan 5.8 63.2 2.8 36.9 126 Togo 4.9 54.3 0.9 36.9 127 Kenya 5.6 47.2 0.9 36.7 128 Czech Republic 6.4 75.6 5.0 36.6 129 France 6.6 79.5 5.8 36.4 130 Armenia 3.7 71.5 1.0 36.1 131 Singapore 6.9 78.7 6.2 36.1 132 Slovakia 5.4 74.0 3.6 35.8 133 Greece 6.3 78.3 5.4 35.7 134 Tanzania 5.5 46.0 0.9 35.1 135 Guinea-Bissau 5.4 44.7 0.7 35.1 136 Portugal 6.1 77.2 5.2 34.8 137 Eritrea 4.4 53.8 0.7 34.5 138 Bahrain 7.2 74.3 6.6 34.4 139 Australia 7.3 80.3 7.7 34.1 140 Mali 5.3 47.9 1.1 33.7 141 Mozambique 5.4 41.9 0.7 33.0 142 Cameroon 5.1 45.8 0.9 32.8 143 Djibouti 4.8 52.8 1.3 32.7 144 Ethiopia 4.7 47.6 0.7 32.5 145 Bulgaria 4.3 72.2 2.7 31.6 146 Nigeria 5.5 43.4 1.2 31.1 147 Moldova 3.5 67.7 1.2 31.1 148 Burkina Faso 4.7 47.5 1.1 30.1 149 Lithuania 4.7 72.3 3.9 29.3 150 United States of America 7.4 77.4 9.5 28.8 151 Cote d'Ivoire 4.5 45.9 0.9 28.8 152 Rwanda 4.4 43.9 0.7 28.3 153 Sierra Leone 5.0 40.8 0.9 28.2 154 United Arab Emirates 7.4 78.0 9.9 28.2 155 Angola 4.8 40.8 0.8 27.9 156 South Africa 5.7 48.4 2.8 27.8 157 Sudan 3.6 56.4 1.0 27.7 158 Uganda 4.7 47.3 1.5 27.7 159 Kuwait 7.2 76.9 9.5 27.7 160 Latvia 4.7 71.6 4.4 27.3 161 Niger 4.5 44.4 1.1 26.8 162 Malawi 4.6 39.7 0.7 26.7 163 Zambia 4.9 37.5 0.8 25.9 164 Central African Republic 4.9 39.3 1.1 25.9 165 Belarus 4.0 68.1 3.2 25.8 166 Qatar 7.0 72.8 9.5 25.5 167 Botswana 5.4 36.3 1.3 25.4 168 Chad 4.5 43.6 1.3 25.4 169 Turkmenistan 4.0 62.4 3.1 24.0 170 Equatorial Guinea 5.2 43.3 2.5 23.8 171 Lesotho 4.3 36.3 0.6 23.1 172 Russia 4.3 65.3 4.4 22.8 173 Estonia 5.1 71.3 6.9 22.7 173 Ukraine 3.6 66.1 3.3 22.2 175 Congo, Dem. Rep. of the 3.3 43.1 0.7 20.7 176 Burundi 3.0 43.6 0.7 19.0 177 Swaziland 4.2 32.5 1.1 18.4 178 Zimbabwe 3.3 36.9 1.0 16.6
Nu e ciudat ca pe locul 6 se afla Cuba, mult deasupra Romaniei (locul 120) ?Dar macar suntem deasupra Ungariei, locul 121.
Cel mai bun comentariu despre aceasta situatie il ofera dragul de Melvin Durai, cu nelipsitul sau umor (oare de ce umoristii mei preferati sunt indieni care acum s-au stabilit in Canada? Si de ce m-am simtit atat de atrasa de Sonali? Anca zice ca pt ca semanam. Trebuie sa amintesc si despre Man from Matunga, deasemenea umorist indian):http://www.nshima.com/
I'd rather be poor in a country that gives me freedom than rich in a country that's restrictive. I'd hate to live in a country that controls the media or chops off the hands of thieves. I'd hate to live in a country where women don't have much freedom, not just the freedom to work and move around freely, but also the freedom to wear bikinis.
Despre treadmill MD scrie:
Yeah, we humans quickly adjust to our circumstances. That 52-inch high-definition TV might make you happy for a few days, but you'll soon get used to it and it won't seem so big anymore, especially when your friend Abdul buys an 80-inch model, the bastard.

PhD in America

January 21
Am aflat ca in USA e inflatie de PhD (doctori). Poate e mai bine ca A&A nu au ramas in USA.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080120/ap_on_re_us/part_time_profs;_ylt=AhAZWRIxyTCta2uJ1UOzpiBzwcF
Analysis: Universities overproduce Ph.Ds
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer Sun Jan 20, 2:02 PM ET
College students are getting a raw deal, a recent New York report asserted. The problem is they're taking too many classes from part-time, or adjunct, professors.
But that same report unwittingly revealed something about how higher education is more culpable than it likes to admit when it comes to creating the problem.
The issue is a huge one in higher education far beyond New York, with about half of the nation's college faculty now on part-time contracts. Adjuncts are cheaper for colleges, but they often lack the time and resources for focused teaching, and research shows students' performance suffers if they are taught by part-timers too often.
In its report last month, a 30-member commission called for New York's state (SUNY) and city (CUNY) systems to alleviate the over reliance on adjuncts by hiring 2,000 more full-time faculty for their 87 campuses.
But just one page away, the report also called for adding at least 4,000 new doctoral students.
There's a connection between those numbers that deserves more attention.
In many fields, there are already too many Ph.Ds awarded for the full-time academic posts available, creating a surplus of likely jobseekers. That pool becomes adjuncts, who command wages and benefits so low that universities find them irresistible hires.
"It's not uncommon to have a disconnect like this in higher education, in which people are both concerned about the difficult career prospects being faced by recent Ph.D. graduates and concerned there aren't enough Ph.D. students," said Michael Teitelbaum, of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The ideas, he said, "often don't get connected. It's puzzling."
Adds Jeff Crane, an adjunct who teaches two art courses at SUNY-New Paltz: "There's this tendency to turn a blind eye to things like that and not make those kinds of equations."
Of course, some adjuncts have other jobs and like working part-time. But many are adjuncts by necessity. Crane, an artist, says he likes working part-time so he can paint, but thinks he should be paid equitably. He earns about $5,200 per semester for teaching two courses.
The national average for full-time assistant professors is about $60,000, and $100,000 once they get tenure. Crane says many of his colleagues work mostly for the health insurance, which, unlike many places, New Paltz offers to adjuncts.
Teitelbaum is quick to point out New York may have good reasons to add doctoral students. They will help improve the state's standing in the research sector, and of course, many may find work in the private sector.
But if they come seeking full-time professorial jobs, some will be disappointed.
It's well known that jobs in, say, philosophy, are rare. Even at the very top doctoral programs, only one in 10 who start will end up teaching at an elite research university, according to Brian Leiter, whose blog "Philosophical Gourmet" tracks the field. In fields like history, recent numbers show the market improving, and there will be more jobs as baby boomers retire. But some fields like American and European history still have such a surplus that even community colleges now commonly look only at candidates with a doctoral degree.
It's not just humanities. Groups such as the Business Roundtable have grabbed headlines with urgent warnings about the need to ramp up production of American scientists. In fact, Teitelbaum testified to Congress last year, there is no evidence of a shortage of scientists and engineers — particularly on the Ph.D. track.
In the life sciences, the U.S. is awarding twice as many doctorates as two decades ago, but has no more faculty jobs, according to one recent study that prompted the journal Nature to editorialize that "too many graduate schools may be preparing too many students." A 1998 National Research Council made much the same warning.
Nonetheless, universities keep flooding the academic pipeline.
The latest federal data show about 45,600 Ph.Ds were awarded in 2005-2006, 5.1 percent higher than the year before. It was the fourth straight increase and tied for the highest percentage gain since 1971.
Faculty like having graduate students around. They're good intellectual companions, and they bolster a professor's research efforts.
Particularly in the sciences, they also often come with funding from sources such as the National Institutes of Health, which doubled its budget between 1998 and 2003.
But funding usually leads to more slots for graduate students, not for professors. That's why the percentage of science Ph.D.s moving on to "post-docs" (temporary university posts where they do research while continuing to apply for faculty jobs) is surging — from 43 percent to 70 percent in physics, for instance, in just a few years.
Of course, universities could cut back on using adjuncts and pony up for better wages and more full-time jobs. Some, like Rutgers in New Jersey, have agreed to add tenure-track positions, and the American Federation of Teachers is pushing for legislation in 11 states to require more teaching come from full-timers.
But with universities already under fire for skyrocketing prices, it's probably unrealistic to expect most will pay more than the going rate for a captive labor pool.
Saying "no" to students definitely isn't easy. If education is good, it seems to follow more is better. And when qualified students come to a university — particularly a public one — it can be hard to justify refusing them the education they say they want.
But if public universities (and really that means legislatures and taxpayers) won't pony up for more full-time faculty, higher education will have to take more responsibility for its role in creating the oversupply problem.
"We have flooded the labor market with Ph.Ds who can't get jobs doing what they've been trained to do," said Cat Warren, a North Carolina State English professor and state American Association of University Professors leader, who recently gave a talk to graduate students at nearby Duke warning them to be realistic. "I think we have to think very hard about that."

About Love

January 18

Din Editor Bob
This week's Zen quote comes from Martin Luther King, Jr. he said, "Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." Spread the love brother, ya know what I'm saying? I've decided to not hate or be bitter about stuff. I think no matter what the future holds, I’m going to have a positive outlook on things.