A List

Things about Academe that drive me crazy presented in scattershot fashion -

1. Despite the deep learning and years of intellectually justified hazing that constitute doctoral study, few professors can write worth a damn - BUT THINK THEY ARE THE UNDISCOVERED SHAKESPEARE OF THEIR FIELD.

2. Administrative offices - they really do just count beans, can't think on their feet, are not about people, just paper.

3. Extreme narcissim of people who take cell phone calls in the middle of meetings.

4. People who make work for themselves doing a whole lot of nothing except schedule meetings and issue newsletters that give the impression they were somehow instrumental to other peoples' good efforts. The general term for this type of character is associate vice president or associate vice chancellor (depends on the institution).

I believe it was everyone's favorite unindictable war criminal, Henry Kissinger, who said of Academia: "The politics are so thick because the stakes are so small"

Now that's realpolitik.