Well, the LHC turned on and I essentially disappeared into a hole of data analysis. It was everything a girl dreamed it would be, but I was only able to emerge a couple of times to participate in quotidian activities. On one of those brief occasions this soup was born. It's simple, healthy and tasty. I don't like split peas too much because I think they taste chalky but we had a bag in the pantry and I felt obligated to use them. Some vegetables, some yogurt and a food processor later I had a pretty good soup on my hands. By blending the peas with yogurt the chalkiness largely disappeared and it was replaced with a creamy tang. It also freezes well so you can make a big pot and save some for later.
Split Pea Soup
makes about 6 servings
1 large onion
2 carrots
3 celery ribs
1.5 cups of dried split peas (i used yellow)
6 cups of vegetable broth (approximately, you might need more)
2 Tbsp dried cumin
1-2 tsp smoked hot paprika, chili powder or spice of your choice
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 to 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup of flavorful plain yogurt, like Brown Cow.
Dice the onions, carrots and celery into small pieces. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot and add the onions. Saute for a few minutes and then add the carrots and celery. Continue to saute until the onions are translucent and the carrots and celery are soft. Add the cumin and stir a bit, then add the split peas and the broth. Simmer, partially covered, until peas are soft, about 45 min. You might need to add some more broth or water at some point. Stir in the chili powder and salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze in a half a lemon or maybe a full lemon if you are using Meyer lemons. Puree until smooth in batches then blend in the yogurt. If you are going to freeze some of it, divide the yogurt and don't add it to the to be frozen part until you reheat it. You can serve with a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh pepper!
The above graph plots the number of senior administrators and the number of faculty members in the UC from 1997 to the present. From 1993 (not shown on the graph) until now the ratio of faculty members to senior managers had dropped from 2.5:1 to nearly 1:1. Over that same period of time student fees have increased by nearly 300%. Those data are from the UCOP, compiled in this article on the Keep California's Promise website. More detailed studies are available on Charles Schwartz's website: Financing the University 12, 13, and 14. There was an interesting comment posted in response to the KCP article:
I’m sure that either new hires or reclassification is justified (using the word loosely) on growth of units. Cyril Northcote Parkinson, in his 1955 Economist article entitled Parkinson’s Law, stated two axioms:
1. An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals.
2. Officials make work for each other.
Parkinson also said “[I]n any public administrative department not actually at war a staff increase may be expected to follow the formula x = (2k^m + p)/n, and that this would invariably yield an annual growth rate between 5.17% and 6.56%.” That fits pretty well with UC management growth, and is in accordance with those two axioms.
I think the UCOP has some explaining to do. Luckily, the UC Commission on the Future is coming to Berkeley on Thursday and soliciting comments from the public. If no one else brings it up, I will. The commission website asks for public input so I sent them the following:
As the working group on the size and shape of the UC system considers what UC will look like in the future, I would like them to pay special attention to the explosion of senior management positions in the past 20 years. In the same time period that the educational fees have gone up by 300% the faculty to senior administrator ratio has decreased from 2.5 to 1 to nearly 1 to 1. This is well documented, see most recently: http://keepcaliforniaspromise.org/?p=469
It is impossible to believe that UC needs one senior administrator per faculty member, especially considering the fact that the average senior administrator pay is higher than that of the average faculty member. The Commission must account for all of these administrators and justify their necessity to the well being of the university if they are to have a place in the future of UC.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that ATLAS recorded its first collisions ever Monday (or was it Sunday?). It's super awesome, and it has been blogged about on many sites, for example US LHC Blogs and Cosmic Variance. I'm running over the data right now as I'm waiting for my 2am meeting. Cool.
I was out of town starting Friday morning for a beautiful wedding and visit with friends and family. While I was gone a building on campus was occupied by some students (they sneaked in at night and chained the doors shut), a common tactic in student protests. A crowd of students gathered around the building to support the occupiers, UC administration decided to call in outside police help, and things got crazy. Below is a video of unprovoked police violence against students. It's crazy and scary and not what I thought my university is about. I have been upset with how the administration handled it. Birgeneau is not showing the support for the students that I believed he had in him. At first they said that the police handled themselves admirably but once the first person accounts and videos hit the internet they recanted and said they would call for an investigation. It's appalling.
Here is a list of videos and links, I haven't watched/read them all:
Best compilation website: http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/
Faculty letter to Birgeneau: http://www.paulnadal.com/doc/open_letter_to_birgeneau.html
Yaman Salahi, "Chancellor Birgeneau must be held accountable for violence against students" [letter]
KTVU 11/20, "Police Arrest Occupiers Of Wheeler Hall; 41 Arrested" with footage of police brutality [article + video]
YouTube Videos:-Student knocked/pulled over by cops, guns pointed at students [video]
The Daily Cal has a nice slide show of photos from yesterday's events. It was pretty tame but the rally featured some really good speakers and all were 'on message' which was not the case on the Sept. 24th protest. I'll write more about my personal experience with it soon.
The Daily Bruin, UCLA's paper, has been providing awesome coverage, including a live stream from the regents meeting. They have a disturbing slide show of the police presence at the campus.
