AETHERPHON, global theremin family

I'm currently working on my Masters in Library Science, so I know  
about time and money.
Andy
On Feb 3, 2008, at 6:03 PM, David V wrote:

Hello all,

Last summer I was buzzing with activity, with a couple of big plans
simmering that I always wanted to do but never had the nerve to pursue.
I wanted to do two things, (a) start my own record label, and (b)
start my own e-commerce store for theremin music. Fictitious names were
purchased, tax numbers acquired, supplies bought, hardware purchased,
artists solicited, etc.

Suddenly at the end of October, I pulled the plug on all of it. At the
time, I was simply too embarassed to discuss what had happened. I
thought people wouldn't understand, or might try to talk me into
continuing even when it was very inadvisable to do so. I did it as
quietly as I could.

A couple of weeks ago, I got to talking to some folks in the Cygnus
Radio chat room, and I finally decided I should explain myself. I was
almost kinda half hoping that something would change that would permit
me to reactivate my plans.

I teach technology for a living. From 2002 to 2004, I worked on my
graduate degree, a Master of Education in Educational Technology. My
school's administration gave it their blessing. I had selected it
specifically because I thought it would help my job working for them. I
finished it just as my daughter Maggie was turning 1, and I thought
things were going to go swimmingly. My son Eric was turning 5, starting
full-time school, and I thought that the timing couldn't be better.

Then in October, I was told that the rules were changing. My school is
seeking to expand into new markets, states that have punitive laws
against for-profit schools, and so the only way to do that was change
their accreditation to the same organizations that state and private
universities use. To do that, the rule was changed that every faculty
member had to have a Master's Degree in their field of discipline, or
else they would be demoted, and the assumed stance there is that such
instructor's positions would not necessarily be protected if hard times
came. We were given 18 months to do this, but they did not update the
tuition reimbursement policy, which limited us to 6 credit hours per
semester, 12 credit hours total reimbursable per year, and a yearly
limit that had just been increased 25 percent -- to $3500 per year.

Do the math. That doesn't come out.

I love my job, and I love the school I teach at, and the bean counters
at HQ simply don't care about how this affects their staff. So I was
faced with a simple decision. Do nothing, and pretty much write off my
career, or go for it, at considerable personal expense with no guarantee
I would ever recover my expenses, and hope I can do it fast enough that
I stay off their radar screen.

I was angry, and personally embarassed, to be presented with this choice
after I had been making preparations for the project of a lifetime.

So I have my school selected -- Missouri University Science and
Technology (formerly University of Missouri - Rolla), my GRE is
scheduled for Tuesday, and I'm preparing to start on-line courses in
June. If I time it right, for the reimbursements, I should only be in
debt for about $16,000, and it should only add one year to my ability to
get a raise and/or promotion. It's not an ideal situation, but I'll
deal with it.

Along with continuing to teach full time, and take care of my family,
including my son who is not making good progress to being
self-sufficient upon adulthood, and my daughter, who has a speech delay
because of being brought up with two borderline autistic parents and a
fully autistic brother (as far as anyone can tell, she is NOT autistic),
I'm not even sure how I'm going to get done what really must get done.

I refuse to give up my radio show, because it's the one thing I still
have fire in my belly for. And I've given up so much more, I have to
draw the line there. My Sundays are for family and Spellbound, for the
duration. I've had a difficult time keeping my head up these last few
months, but I'm hanging in there.

So perhaps some of you out there will forgive my ungracious and
mysterious exit last year.

-- 
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DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
-----
Spellbound, a brief program of music for theremin
Sunday 10PM-12AM http://spellbound.purplenote.com





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