Author Archives: Fenster

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About Fenster

Gainfully employed for thirty years, including as one of those high paid college administrators faculty complain about. Earned Ph.D. late in life and converted to the faculty side. Those damn administrators are ruining everything.

Letter from China: Google Translate

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: The level of English comprehension among my Chinese students is far above the level of Chinese comprehension among American students of Chinese.  But it is not great, and I have been thinking about how to make my lectures … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Technology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vocabulary Building Word of the Day

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Here’s something I did not know.  The word “gunsel” has two meanings. In its most common slang usage, it refers to a criminal carrying a gun.  But in earlier convict slang, the word had a quite different meaning: … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Should Tea Party Organizations Be Tax-Exempt?

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: I don’t doubt too much that the IRS’s special treatment of Tea Party organizations had political motivations, ideological if not partisan.  And that’s bad, bad bad let’s all agree. And maybe Ross Douthat is right that the story is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Letter from China: Just Big Pants

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: I am back in China again, this time to teach a class about American nonprofit organizations at a Chinese university.  The Chinese experience with nonprofits is of relative recent vintage and the sector is small.  Plus, many of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | 6 Comments

German and Austrian Restaurants

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: America’s love for things ethnic does not typically extend to the Germans. And Germans don’t typically revel in their heritage.  Germans are the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, with 17% of Americans reporting German ancestry. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food and health | 16 Comments

Municipal Design

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Even in buildings that have deteriorated to Kojak quality, you can find some nice reminders.

Posted in Architecture, Art | 3 Comments

“Cool Hand Luke” and “The Paperboy”

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Some movies are so iconic that you have to think twice to remember you never saw them, at least all the way through.  For me, Cool Hand Luke is one of these.  Sure, I knew the failure to … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Pass that sleep aid

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Watching the nightly news has become an almost unendurable marathon of drug ads.  You feel punch drunk at around the 20 minute mark from all the side effects being described. I don’t know which drug has the record … Continue reading →

Posted in Television | 5 Comments

Anthropology Update

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Here is an interesting account of the controversies surrounding the anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon, famous for his studies of the fierce Yanamamo people of the Amazon jungle.  And here’s his page on . . . uh . . . … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 3 Comments

News from the Academy

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: From the Chronicle of Higher Education: The interim dean of Saint Louis University’s law school is stepping down after making a series of controversial comments, saying that he is too politically incorrect for the job, according to the St. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 6 Comments