F U C K

a horrible and embarrassing development, as told through email correspondence:

Date:: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:30:55 -0700 (PDT)
From:: jfisher
Subject:: VERY IMPORTANT for Fall 2007 LIBR 289 e-Portfolio class
To:: erictwelve

Please make sure that you have submitted your Candidacy Form BEFORE the start of the Fall 2007 semester. You must do this to be eligible for graduation.

Also - if you have registered for Fall 2007 LIBR 289 but are not a student in good standing, please DROP LIBR 289 now. Only students who meet the requirements below should be registered for the Fall 2007 LIBR 289 class:
- a 3.0 or better cumulative gpa,
- no Incompletes that will not be cleared before the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester,
- all graduation requirements (42 units, etc., including LIBR 289) completed by December 2007 (end of Fall semester).

If you have questions about any of the above, please email me.

Thanks -
Jane Fisher

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Date:: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:56:21 -0700
From:: Eric Barbus
Subject:: Re: VERY IMPORTANT for Fall 2007 LIBR 289 e-Portfolio class

Dear Professor Fisher,

My name is Eric Barbus [student #********] and I am hoping to graduate this Fall. I'm currently signed up for LIBR289 and am looking forward to graduation in December. Unfortunately, I just saw that no student with a GPA of 3.0 or below can do the E-Portfolio. Currently, I am at a 2.973 GPA because Dr. Bernier refused to let me drop his seminar last semester, so I was forced to take an "F". I have signed up for the same seminar [LIBR 264 - Seminar in Service to Children and YA] with a different professor this Fall and am sure that I will get a MUCH better grade this time. I have worked WAY too hard and too long to not get my MLIS in December! I have big plans for the rest of my life in Children's Services in a public library, and I really can't afford to add another semester to the 2 1/2 years that I've already taken to complete the program.

PLEASE find it in your heart to round up my GPA and KNOW that I will, without a doubt, get it back up above 3.0 by the end of the Fall.

Thanks for your attention and consideration in this important matter,

ERIC

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Date:: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:18:35 -0700
From:: Jane Fisher
Subject:: Re: VERY IMPORTANT for Fall 2007 LIBR 289 e-Portfolio class

Eric - I've looked at your academic records and investigated the
rules. You are not eligible for LIBR 289 in Fall 2007 because of your
academic probation. That rule is in place because in order to
graduate students must remove an academic probation by getting better
than a 3.0 the semester following the probation. LIBR 289 is a CR/NCR
course, and cannot contribute to raising a gpa.

The rule is a sensible one - it allows the student an opportunity to
bring up the gpa to what is needed for graduation before they take
the final culminating course.
I recommend you focus on doing very well in your other two courses
this Fall, and plan on LIBR 289 in Spring.

Jane Fisher

*******************************

Date:: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:35:02 -0700
From:: Eric Barbus
Subject:: Re: VERY IMPORTANT for Fall 2007 LIBR 289 e-Portfolio class

Professor Fisher,

While I appreciate the rules and their necessity in most cases, I can not stand by and let this go without exhausting every avenue possible. I am a good student who only took an "F" in the one class because the professor wouldn't let me drop it. As previously mentioned, I am taking the class again this fall [with a different professor] and know that my GPA will end up well above 3.0 by the end of the semester.

I'm ready to graduate, and have a number of things that I've accomplished recently that attest to my commitment to Children's Services:

I have my Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with an Early Childhood Emphasis allowing me to teach K-8 grades, and to get this I worked for 10+ years with children and young adults of all ages, mostly in a school setting - including being a classroom teacher, literacy tutor, assistant teacher, and substitute teacher.

I am an active member of the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California [ACL] where I attend the monthly meetings and review 3-4 books a month as well as interact with children's services librarians around the Bay Area.

Last Fall I did a practicum in the Children's Services Department of the Berkeley Main Public Library during which I took part in reference services, created a number of successful displays, compiled a Fantasy title booklist, and, among other various tasks, co-conceived and implemented a workshop for students and parents on smart search techniques and using the library databases.

Spring 2006 I ended up being the Librarian at Bryant Elementary School in San Francisco. During this time I ordered, catalogued, and covered new books for the library, taught 4th and 5th graders how to do smarter internet searches and how to write bibliographies, did general upkeep of the library, and reorganized some sections that were out of sorts.

I'm an ALA member, with memberships for YALSA and ALSC as well. I receive [and READ!] School Library Journal, Library Journal, YALSA newsletters, Children and Libraries, and American Libraries.

I've worked for SFPL in the Borrower Services department of the Main Branch for 2 years getting to work with the public and figuring out the intricacies of the SFPL systems, which I intend to work with after receiving my MLS. I frequent the Children's room and have formed relationships with the current staff librarians in that department. Most recently, I volunteered to assist with the Harry Potter and the Knight Bus visit.

In addition, for what it's worth, because I am only working part-time this Summer at SFPL I have taken it upon myself to READ READ READ. I am trying to read as many as 2-4 books a week, 90% of which are children's and YA titles that I've always wanted to read or feel as though I should read because they are popular or classic titles. I'm keeping a blog of my reading progress and am having the BEST time sitting by my front window enjoying children's literature and building up my knowledge of the children's titles that are out there in order to better myself in this career that I have chosen.

Please take all of this in to account and let me know if I need to go through some formal petitioning process [if one exists] that will allow me to take the e-Portfolio class this Fall so that I may graduate in December.

Thank you,

ERIC

*********************************

Date:: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:07:18 -0700
From:: Jane Fisher
Subject:: Your petition to waive eligibility requirement for LIBR 289 this Fall

Hello Eric:
Dr. Haycock, SLIS Graduate Advisor Dr. Schmidt, and I have thoroughly considered your request to enroll in LIBR 289 this Fall despite your academic probation, and we are not able to grant it. The eligibility requirements for LIBR 289 are clearly posted and apply to all SLIS students.

We understand your position, and how important it is for you to be able to graduate this Fall, but the eligibility requirements cannot be waived.

I left you a voice mail yesterday, hoping to reach you by telephone to let you know of this decision. If you would like to talk with me, let me know - I can talk anytime this week. You will need to drop LIBR 289 for Fall 2007 and enroll in it during the Spring 2008 semester, once you have improved your GPA and removed the academic probation. You should also revise your Candidacy form to reflect your new proposed graduation date - see
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/graduation/process.htm.

Sincerely,
Jane Fisher

Separate "reading blog"

I realized the other day, when I just wanted to post some thoughts about what's going on in my life right now and wanted to use CURSE WORDS, that I couldn't really post about life and books on the same blog - there is just a bit of conflict there. People who go to read about my life may not care what I'm reading, and people who want to know what I'm reading [i.e. fellow children's librarians] may not want to read CURSE WORDS and I may not want them to see that I use curse words, etc.

SO, I'm branching out with my THIRD blog:

ERIC CAN READ [title inspired by Dillon Tolle...].

Go there if you care about what I'm reading... and that's pretty much what I'm doing this summer besides working part-time at
SFPL.

STARTED & FINISHED:

Sobol, Donald J. (1963). Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: T. Nelson.


Sobol, Donald J. (1966). Encyclopedia Brown finds the clues. New York: Elsevier/Nelson.

[These little novels are like candy. I was inspired to read a couple books in this classic series because SFPL's Summer Reading program this summer is detective themed. The Encyclopedia Brown books, for those who don't remember, contain a number of short mysteries with the answers to each at the back of the book. Fun stuff - interactive in a way - and sure to keep a kid's attention. Dated, certainly - a couple of the mysteries I couldn't solve because they were SO dated with details that are no longer relevant - but equally timeless.]

{On a side note: I'm kind of anal retentive when it comes to presenting the covers of the books that I've read. I mean, I want to post the EXACT cover. Unfortunately, that meant posting the cover for "Boy Detective" that you see here. Ick - clearly a reprinted edition meant to draw in current youngsters. The one for "Finds the Clues" is the CLOSEST that I could find to the one that I got from the library. It was definitely the same, classic drawing but without the color. Not only until I got to the story in the book that is depicted on the cover did I realize that it's a dog with TWO VERY SHARP KNIVES strapped to its head. YIKES.}

STARTED:

King, Stephen. (1987, 2003). The drawing of the three: The dark tower II. New York: Plume.

[I, for some reason, read Part I a couple of years back - or maybe last summer - and thought that I should read one every now and then so that I don't completely lose my way between each book.]

FINISHED:

Bowe, Julie. (2007). My last best friend. Orlando: Harcourt.

[A sweet little tale about girls in 4th grade. Ida's best friend moved away over the summer and she is now trying to find her way in the social world of 4th Grade by herself. There's a new girl that seems pretty cool, but she's been taken under the wing of the class bitch (who refers to Ida as I-duh). When Ida starts secretly exchanging notes with the new girl, friendship is born again. I'm not sure that this is quite Outstanding, as it has been labeled by others in ACL, but it has a great message and I would highly recommend it to elementary school kids.]

STARTED:

Sobol, Donald J. (1963). Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: T. Nelson.

[Squeezing in a quick classic before other things...]

FINISHED:

Knox, Elizabeth. (2006). Dreamhunter: book one of the dreamhunter duet. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[At our ACL meeting today, I wrestled with this one... and ultimately voted that it ISN'T "Outstanding". It was intriguing, but it never completely pulled me in, and there were many times where I just wanted it to end because I was either bored or confused. It's a world where Dreamhunters travel into a mysterious other land to find and store dreams which they can then share with others at "Dream Operas". See, intriguing. Ultimately not compelling enough for me to deem it fantastic.]

STARTED:

Bowe, Julie. (2007). My last best friend. Orlando : Harcourt.

[This was another book labeled "Outstanding" by someone at ACL, so I'm reading it to see if I concur. I meant to bring along an Encyclopedia Brown book to read on the way home from the ACL meeting that we had this morning... and, naturally, forgot. I got this one at the meeting today, and it's quite short, so I thought I would knock it out right away.]

STARTED & FINISHED:

DuPrau, Jeanne. (2004). The people of Sparks. New York: Random House.

[Sequel to "The City of Ember" - which I ate up. I'm quite impressed with this series so far (still have one more book to go...). This one deals with what happens with the citizens of Ember after they emerge from their underground, failing city and try to assimilate themselves with the citizens of the town of Sparks. It's a number of years after a major world "disaster" and there are VERY FEW people/towns left in the world. The 350 people of Sparks have enough space and food for themselves, but do they have enough for the 400+ citizens of Sparks who have shown up looking for a place to go? An interesting and timely look at just how much any one society can/should do to help others in need.]

FINISHED:

McCarthy, Cormac. (2006). The road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

[If you haven't heard of this one, I don't know what to tell you. It not only won the Pulitzer for fiction this year, it was also an OPRAH Bookclub pick. Seems like that would pretty much cover everyone. Um, I liked it. The language and style were definitely "literary", but it kind of played out as a highbrow Stephen King novel. Blasphemy, I'm sure. Back to the Young Adult fiction for me...]

STARTED reading again:

Knox, Elizabeth. (2006). Dreamhunter: book one of the dreamhunter duet. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[This was labeled "Outstanding" by someone at ACL, so I'm reading it to see if I concur. Our next meeting is next Friday, so I've got to get finishing.]