Friday Fragments

Thursday was supposed to be graduation day on campus.

The students are still graduates, whether they attend the ceremony or not. But there’s always something sweet and uplifting about the ceremony.

That’s especially true at community colleges, where many of the students are the first in their family ever to attend college, let alone graduate from one. And it’s hard not to smile when you see little kids rush to the staging area to hug their moms or dads who just finished. Last year, in the middle of the calling of the names, one voice rose above the entire arena: “That’s my mom!” That never gets old.

This year’s graduates will get a ceremony, and they absolutely deserve one. But I’ll admit that I had to pause Thursday morning when I realized where I should have been at that moment.

--

My thanks to the wise and worldly readers who responded, either in the comments or on Twitter, to my question about professors mandating that students show their faces in Zoom classes.

The overwhelming consensus was that no, students shouldn’t be required to show their faces, but the reasons were many and varied. Some pointed out the issues of privacy that arise when seeing into students’ homes. (Depending on the computer you’re using, virtual backgrounds may not be an option.) Some pointed to the obvious exhaustion that we’ve all come to know when staring at faces on a screen for hours on end. Some noted that shaky or unstable internet connections sometimes struggle with video, compelling students to switch to audio. (I’ve personally had to do that a couple of times.) A few pointed out that the panopticon-like structure, in which you don’t know when you’re being watched or by whom, can give open season to those who like to objectify others.

The most striking objection, though, was that victims of trauma often have a terrible time looking at reflected images of themselves. Forcing them to do so puts them in a situation in which they’re devoting so much mental energy to dealing with the feeling of exposure and vulnerability that they can’t focus on the class, which is supposed to be the point in the first place.

I didn’t know that. Now that I do, though, the argument seems settled. Thanks, everyone, for helping me answer a question I had never been asked before.

--

The question about pivoting back to campus midsemester, if we have to start online, also generated a strong consensus around “no.” Several made the point that while they prefer face-to-face teaching in general, the disruption of a midsemester shift does far more damage than the good gained by moving to classrooms. The abrupt need for transportation could be an issue. And at a more basic level, just because a college declares that a campus is safe doesn’t mean that everyone will believe it, As Yogi Berra put it, if people don’t want to go to the ballpark, you can’t stop them.

Thanks again to the wise and worldly readers who answered. The day job sometimes prevents me from engaging with the comments as they happen, but I do read them, and they help.

--

Thursday night, walking the dog with The Girl:

TG: But my favorite Spotify playlist is [names it]. It’s been going for years, and it’s great to listen to when I’m doing homework. I mean, if I’m listening to my own music and it’s a bop, I’ll get distracted. But this is just enough to help me work.

Me: Do you ever listen to the radio?

TG: What do you mean?

Me: Instead of Spotify or YouTube. You know, FM radio.

TG: Why would I do that?

Me: (laughing)

TG: Why would I want to listen through terrible songs and commercials when I have a perfectly good playlist of songs I like right here? (gestures with phone)

Me: Do any of your friends listen to the radio?

TG: (as if explaining to a small child) Noooo.

Me: Well, we used to in high school.

TG: Sure. Well, I mean, what else was there?