Here's my 41st grunt

▼ Over at the OC Reg's College Life blog, Marla Jo Fisher reports that the CSU Teaching Assistants’ union has called for a strike—to commence tomorrow morning (CSU teaching assistants to strike, just in time for finals).

Apparently, CSU officials regard the strike as illegal.

One reader, who goes by the handle Grunt41, opined as follows:

When I was at UCLA I found that my TA’s often knew less about the subject matter than I did, causing me to by-pass them and deal directly with the professors. Further, having to attend discussion sessions that they held was a torture that they wouldn’t even use at Gitmo, or Pyongyang [Ooh, nice name-dropping, jarhead].

Reduce the student body, which will reduce class size, have the students deal directly with the professors, and put the TA’s, and others, in check by letting them know that a higher education is a privilege, not a right.

Perhaps "Grunt41" isn't this fellow's name. Perhaps he's trying to tell us that this opinion of his is his 41st grunt in a series of grunts. That makes more sense, seems to me.

Another fellow wrote to say:

Fire them if they go on strike and replace them with someone who would do anything for a job. Stupid, ungrateful people. They think they are entitled to something for nothing? Join the real word. Man do I hate unions.

Pithy, that. But I really don’t think it will work to replace all of these TAs with just one guy. Plus: what's he mean by the "real word"? How do you join that? And who's to say which words are the real ones?

▼ Meanwhile, Matt Coker over in the OC Weekly webpage (UCI SCIENTIST HELPS ADD MORE CULPRITS TO THE GLOBAL WARMING LIST) reports that

…an international study that includes the research of a UC Irvine scientist has found drought and deforestation can also help fuel the pesky phenomenon [aka global warming] and should be included in future climate pacts.
…
The findings show deforestation limits should be part of future climate agreements, according to UCI climate scientist James Randerson, who co-authored the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (love their centerfolds!).
...
He notes that "[l]and managers respond to the drought by using fire to clear more land. In dry years, they burn deeper into the forest, which in turn releases more carbon dioxide." ….

That sucks, man.