AETHERPHON, global theremin family

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.


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

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.

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





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The update is most welcome David, I had started buying the National Inquirer
again in hopes of news.  :~)

It's all understandable and there's no loss of face in facing the hard
choices it brought.  Life has a way of throwing several curve balls at once
dosen't it? and our passion and involvement with music ( in any of the many
ways we are here ) usually takes extra effort to keep art in our lives as we
progress through those unexpected twists, but also can keep us sane and not
only helps us re-group internally for "normal life" but sometimes to share
and inspire others as well.

Your real life adventures and hard work to press through them, keeping what
is important to you prominent, are definitely encouraging to me at least,
and your work on the Internet radio for Theremin Music and alternative tunes
has been a rich, varied and sometimes surprising inspiration.

Best wishes for the degree work, job, household, et. al. and my hopes are
with you that Spellbound keeps stoking your inner fire and you can continue
this really important work... and it is work.  I'm eternally grateful for
all you've done and look forward to the resurrection of the bigger plans
very soon!


here's looking at ya new masters-to-be on Atherphone,
John


On 2/3/08, David V <porphyrous@...> 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.
>
> --
> -----
> DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
> -----
> Spellbound, a brief program of music for theremin
> Sunday 10PM-12AM http://spellbound.purplenote.com
> 
>



-- 
----------------------------------------------------
John Hoge, NYC
"Absolutely dedicated to the propagation
and continuation of the Theremin."
www.hoge-theremin.com
and also check out
www.ThereminWorld.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

hey

On 2/3/08, David V <porphyrous@...> wrote:
>  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.

nice! even for a small fish in the ocean of capitalism, the ruthless
"market forces" [i guess this is the accreditation market] serve to
strip everyone of their humanity, their unique combination of
talent/ability/training, and turn them into a commodity. [not stamped
with masters degree? onto the trash heap!]

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

yes, well, it is most unfortunate. i'm sure your project would have
been engaging to you, and enriching to many.

but you're only a commodity, a simple cog that can be replaced with
another that is stamped appropriately ... [at least according to your
school's administration]

sometimes i wonder if there is any hope left for humanity ...

-- 
\js  [ http://or8.net/~johns/ ]

It happens. Everyone understands, and everyone goes through it. I can't
believe there's a person involved in music who hasn't gone through the same
trade off. 

Thanks for the incredible visibility you've given the theremin -- It's just
amazing that there is a regularly scheduled program of theremin music every
week. You did that, and we're all more grateful than I can say.

Vic

Quoting David V <porphyrous@...>:
>
> 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...
>
That is the toughest thing about being part of the workforce today.   
So many people have had the rug pulled out from under them.

David, that you are forced to get another graduate degree just to hold  
on to a job that you are perfectly experienced and qualified for is an  
example of the ridiculous demands that corporations put on working  
people.

I wish you well and feel for you.  Heck, you'd think that your  
experience and credentials would count for something.  To have the  
pressure of graduate study along with your job and parenting duties  
seems like a herculian task.  My hat's off to you... you are handling  
this much better than I would.
>
> 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...
>
Some days its a "career", other days its a "job".   At this point in  
my life, I'm happy to have a decent job.
>
> I refuse to give up my radio show, because it's the one thing I still
> have fire in my belly for.
>
I very much appreciate your radio show.  I think your show,  
"Spellbound" helps thereminists to keep up with the work of others and  
is a great motivator to create theremin music.

With your hectic schedule -- the family and school -- and then with  
grad school on top of it all -- I don't know how you find the energy  
for a weekly radio show.

Wish you all the best, David!

-- Kevin

I know. I only have Grad. School and gigs to worry about, and I have  
no time. Good thing I don't have a family to throw into the mix,
I'd never get anything done.

Andy

On Feb 4, 2008, at 12:23 PM, kkissinger@... wrote:

<< With your hectic schedule -- the family and school -- and then with
grad school on top of it all -- I don't know how you find the energy
for a weekly radio show.>>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]