Monday, December 31, 2007

RSS訂閱我的分享文章

我分享文章的RSS

------------------------
自從使用Google reader以後
開始訂閱一些RSS 好像徹底改變了我的上網閱讀習慣
不像很久很久以前覺得RSS一點都不好用
現在覺得那種 不定期發表的網站
例如網誌 用RSS真是超方便的
不過 新聞網站 則只會淹沒我的RSS
講這麼多
是要在這裡推銷我自己的分享文章的RSS
就是我看到一些覺得不錯的文章 覺得推薦大家看的
就會把他收到我的分享項目
所以 有興趣的可以訂閱囉
要先看我已經分享的文章
可以到
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/06105928527999285371

如果大家也有分享項目的RSS的話
也歡迎留言讓我知道 我也很想訂閱

Saturday, December 29, 2007

年終檢討

又到了年終 來檢討一下成果
簡單講 今年第一作者paper依舊掛零
也一篇都還沒投出去
藉口一大堆 不一一贅述

目前進度
1. costly young and tug-of-war synthesis
完成度99%,已經修改多次
給二老闆、三老闆、還有劍橋的Cant看過和討論
也依他們的建議修改了
只等三老闆最後瀏覽一遍

2.ecological constraints and skew
完成度98%
六月投出去被拒絕
跟柏克萊的walter重新討論過
也經過另一輪的修改
然後 跟大老闆討論 也依他的問題修改了
也是要等三老闆最後瀏覽

3. boarded tug-of-war
完成度 95%?
兩年前 就初稿交給三老闆了
今年野外回來 我們又重新討論
我也修改了一些結果
等三老闆定稿 他跟我說很接近了
但是 不知道什麼時候會完成

4. brave leader game
完成度80%
初稿寫好 三老闆建議 有幾項東西要修改
不過 因為數項東西已經積在三老闆那了
所以 決定先放著
等其他的清倉完 再繼續改

5.reproductive skew review
完成度30%
覺得寫一半了
結果在系上講了以後
發現要先澄清一些別的觀念
所以先放下這一篇 改寫下一篇

6. cooperative breeding review
完成度50%
目前正在寫這一篇
希望兩個禮拜到一個月內會完成初稿
初稿完成應該算完成80%吧

目前最新計畫 是要在二月中回台灣
分析冠羽的資料前
至少可以投出前三篇和完成第六篇的初稿
希望東西是有慢工出細活

壓力大的康乃爾

Wall street journal昨天的新聞
基本上是說我們學校學生壓力大 從前自殺率高
現在採取有效的方式 所以自殺率降低很多
形容我們學校為什麼 學生壓力大自殺率高
主要是因為
「我們學校地理位置孤立 然後在山丘多的地方
因為這樣特殊的地形
所以學生比較容易 跳下峽谷自殺....」
The university was named the most stressful of 15 top schools in a 2000 book that surveyed students. Adding to its reputation was the campus's physical isolation in the rolling hills of central New York state, and its unusual local geography. Over the years, some students and others took their lives by flinging themselves off one of Ithaca's steep gorges. Stressed-out students have sometimes joked about wanting to "gorge out."
--------------------
聯合報的節譯
康乃爾防學生自殺 隱私權放一邊
【聯合報╱本報訊】
2007.12.30 03:23 am
華爾街日報報導,許多大學宣稱隱私法規,使校方即使發現學生有情緒問題,仍無法主動給予協助。美國康乃爾大學卻反其道而行,為所有工作人員提供訓練,教導他們如何察覺有心理問題的學生,以協助防止學生自殺。

學校注意學生的作為,並與家長保持聯繫,似乎是理所當然,可是許多大學拒絕在內部或與外人互通有關學生的資料,宣稱聯邦法使他們必須嚴密保護學生隱私,以免惹上官司。他們也宣稱大學生已經是成年人,必須支持他們獨立自主。

維吉尼亞理工學院一個有心理問題的學生,今年在校園大開殺戒,造成32人喪生,讓人擔心學校是否過度強調學生的隱私,以至於危害他們的健康和安全。

康乃爾素有學業要求嚴格,但卻有學生自殺率很高的惡名。2000年對15所頂尖名學進行的調查,康乃爾更被列為壓力最大的學校。

為了加強保護學生,康乃爾在2002年開始施行新政策,為從圖書館員到維修工等所有工作人員提供訓練,學習辨認危險行為。由行政人員、校警和輔導員組成的「警報小組」,每周開會討論他們發現的學生情緒問題跡象。

如果沒有學生書面同意,許多學校拒絕提供任何資料。大多數學校也很少引用「家庭教育權利和隱私法」的豁免條款。這種條款規定學生如未滿21歲,卻違規使用毒品或喝酒,或出現緊急的健康或安全情況,學校可以通知家長。

這種豁免條款只保護教育紀錄,通常不延伸到觀察學生行為。康乃爾今年卻開始擴大使用這種條款,在發現學生有問題時,不經當事人同意,即通知他們的父母。例如,住宿生如不再註冊上課,校方會主動通知父母。學校表示父母通常很感激接到這種通知,並把孩子帶回家。

2002年之前的六年,康乃爾共有11名學生自殺,2002年開始施行新政策六年來,只有五名學生自殺。
---------------------------
以下為原文

SAFETY SCHOOL
Bucking Privacy Concerns,
Cornell Acts as Watchdog

Staff Trained to Spot
Students in Distress;
Campus Suicides Drop
By ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN
December 28, 2007; Page A1

ITHACA, N.Y. -- For 19 years as a custodian at Cornell University, Sue Welch has been taking out the garbage and mopping the floors of residence halls. Recently, she added a new responsibility: trying to prevent student suicide.

Ms. Welch noticed during a recent semester that she was repeatedly having to clean up after a particular student's apparent bouts of nausea, and told her supervisor she feared the young woman had an eating disorder. The supervisor told the residence-hall director, who encouraged the student to go to the university health center. Counselors there arranged for her to get treatment for bulimia nervosa. Ms. Welch credits the training sessions that she and other custodians attended on how to spot students with mental-health problems.

"These kids are looking to us to provide care," she says. "But they don't see administrators every day, they see me."

[Stress Factor]

Ms. Welch's dual role puts Cornell at the center of a debate over the privacy rights of American college students. After years in which many colleges have said privacy rules prevent them from interceding with troubled students, Cornell is taking the opposite tack.

Its "alert team" of administrators, campus police and counselors meets weekly to compare notes on signs of student emotional problems. People across campus, from librarians to handymen, are trained to recognize potentially dangerous behavior. And starting this year, Cornell is taking advantage of a rarely used legal exception to student-privacy rights: It is assuming students are dependents of their parents, allowing the school to inform parents of concerns without students' permission.

The Virginia Tech massacre earlier this year, in which a student with a known history of troubling behavior shot and killed 32 people, set off alarms about whether schools were overemphasizing the privacy of students at the expense of their health and safety. Watching over students and keeping parents in the loop may seem like obvious approaches, but many schools decline to share information about their students either internally or externally. Schools say they fervently guard students' privacy because a federal law requires them to, and because they are afraid of getting sued. They also say college students are adults who need to be supported in their growing independence.

Many schools refuse to release information without a student's written permission, and most rarely invoke exceptions allowed in the law, known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or Ferpa. Some colleges have paid out settlements when families sued for wrongful death of students and alleged that officials should have raised flags. But other schools have won their cases. A jury last year decided that Allegheny College, in Meadville, Pa., was justified in not alerting the parents of Chuck Mahoney to his distress before his suicide, despite warning signs and discussions among officials worried he might pose a danger to himself or others.

Ferpa allows privacy to be breached if a student is under 21 and has a drug or alcohol violation, or if there is a health or safety emergency. The law only protects educational records, and doesn't generally apply to observations about student behavior. Schools are allowed to share information with parents if students are their financial dependents, as Cornell is now doing. This fall, Cornell used the new policy to inform parents that a student living in a residence hall was no longer enrolled in classes; the university says the parents were grateful for the call and took the student home.

[Timothy Marchell]

"When parents send their sons and daughters off to college, there's an expectation -- and I think it's understandable -- that there will be people looking out for them," says Timothy Marchell, an associate director of health services at Cornell who holds an unusual additional title, director of mental-health initiatives.

In the last six years since Cornell took it first new steps in 2002, the school has had five student suicides, it says. In the previous six years, there were 11.

Dr. Marchell, 47 years old, is a Cornell alumnus who grew up in Ithaca, the son of a guidance counselor and a nurse-teacher in the local school district. He has been at the center of Cornell's recent collaborative mental-health approach. Until a few years ago, Cornell interpreted privacy law as narrowly as other schools. Even counselors and medical doctors in the health center were reluctant to share information.

But Cornell was battling a reputation as an intense school with a high suicide rate. The university was named the most stressful of 15 top schools in a 2000 book that surveyed students. Adding to its reputation was the campus's physical isolation in the rolling hills of central New York state, and its unusual local geography. Over the years, some students and others took their lives by flinging themselves off one of Ithaca's steep gorges. Stressed-out students have sometimes joked about wanting to "gorge out." Cornell administrators say the reputation is unfounded, and that the school averages one to two suicides a year, consistent with the national average for colleges. Still, they believed that some suicides might be preventable.

Dr. Marchell, who volunteered at a local suicide hotline when he was a Cornell senior, had gone on to earn a master's degree in public health and a doctorate in psychology. In 1998, Cornell hired him with a mandate: Tackle the school's problems with student drinking.

The flash point was a campus tradition called Slope Day. On the last day of classes each May, students would converge on a steep lawn in the middle of campus to drink themselves silly. Decades ago, the university itself supplied beer trucks and barbecues. That stopped when the legal drinking age was raised to 21 in the mid-1980s, but thousands of students started toting their own alcohol to the slope. Ambulances lined up at the edge, and students suffering alcohol poisoning or injuries from fights filled the health center and the local emergency room.

Dr. Marchell urged changes such as arranging appearances by well-known bands to make regulating alcohol more palatable. The school eventually enclosed the event with a long fence, inside which it sold beer but denied it to students under 21. Underage drinking dropped sharply and alcohol poisonings began a steady decline.

By 2002, the executive director of Cornell's health center, Janet Corson-Rikert, began making mental health a communitywide responsibility. The 1999 shootings at Columbine High School had shocked educators into recognizing the danger of failing to spot troubled students. Like most colleges, Cornell was starting to see more students enrolled with severe mental-health problems, as reduced stigma and improved medications allowed more of them to reach college. The counseling center was often overwhelmed with demand for appointments.

Dr. Corson-Rikert asked Dr. Marchell and others to build a network to train people to notice problems and give them ways to report them, while still respecting student privacy. An advisory council on mental-health strategies made up of Cornell staff, faculty and student leaders had its first meeting in early 2004, and members had a realization: In school post-mortems after tragedies, "each person knew pieces of the story but no one saw the whole picture," says Dr. Marchell. "If they had shared the information, maybe we could have intervened."

Dr. Marchell spoke with several suicide-prevention organizations, who pointed the school to a surprising model: the Air Force.

In the 1990s, the service decided to try to reduce suicides by airmen and studied each case for warning signs. They learned to look at behavior changes, discipline problems and poor performance ratings as possible indicators of depression. Four-star generals began to talk publicly about mental illness and encourage all service members to watch for warning signs. Each member of the Air Force is now given training in detecting depression and other mental disorders. The Air Force's protocol is one of few suicide-prevention programs proven effective: The average annual suicide rate dropped by a third, from 13.5 per 100,000 people to 9.9.

Cornell adapted parts of the program. Dr. Corson-Rikert enlisted the university's president, David J. Skorton, to use his speeches and articles to encourage everyone on campus to watch out for each other's mental health. Counselors began seminars to teach the signs of emotional problems or addiction. Last spring, Cornell's health center began screening students who come in for any reason for signs of depression, asking them about trouble sleeping, poor appetite, difficulties concentrating or thoughts of self-harm.

In September, Meredith Shepard, a 20-year-old freshman, went to the health center with a sinus infection. On her questionnaire, she scored high for depression and was referred to a counselor, who saw her the same day. Miss Shepard told her counselor she was feeling overwhelmed with stress from roommate problems and some "deeper struggles," she says. When she was 13, she had experienced depression and anorexia, triggered by suffering she had seen on a family trip to Nepal. Now, after volunteering last year with genocide survivors in Rwanda, she was finding the transition to college difficult. She'd begun over-exercising and under-eating. The counselor referred Miss Shepard to another therapist, who also referred her to a nutritionist, a psychiatrist and a medical doctor. "It's easy to feel lost, uncared for and alone," she says, but her "team" makes her feel "constantly aware of having a safety net."

Cornell therapists also make a form of house calls: They hold free, no-appointment consulting hours in 10 locations across campus. About halfway through each semester, professors in some of Cornell's seven undergraduate colleges are asked to report students who have bad grades, seem disconnected or are failing to come to class. "That kind of checking out is a very serious thing," says Alan Mathios, interim dean of the College of Human Ecology. "So, waiting for the end of the semester to come is often too late." Two psychologists work full-time just consulting with professors and staff when they have concerns about students.

Last August, a review panel on the Virginia Tech massacre recommended that colleges do more to share information about troubled students. About half the colleges in the country had teams of administrators aimed at doing so, and as many as a quarter more have quickly added them, according to a risk-management firm that specializes in colleges' insurance.

Dr. Corson-Rikert and Dr. Marchell had started their own multidisciplinary "alert team" in 2005. It includes the director of counseling, an associate dean of students, the campus police captain, the university's judicial administrator, therapists and sometimes other administrators. The team typically has several students on its agenda each week.

Sometimes administrators are worried that a student has stopped going to class or, as happened recently, is attending classes despite having been suspended. Often the police report a student who has been arrested for excessive drinking or drugs. Therapists are legally required to keep their own patients' information confidential, so they say they don't share that. But they can receive information from other team members and follow up, and can give general professional advice.

Recently, campus police responded to 911 calls about an alarmingly disheveled and agitated young man in a campus building. They took him to the local hospital, where doctors diagnosed him as psychotic and admitted him. The next day, members of the Alert Team planned travel arrangements for the student's parents and set up a medical leave so the student wouldn't fail classes.

"We were trying to put a system in place so that when a problem gets to this level, it doesn't get worse," says Gregory Eells, the school's director of counseling and psychological services.

Protests haven't arisen over the university's interventionist approach, but administrators say many of the mental-health initiatives work privately and students know little about them. Some students say, however, that the university may spend so much time caring for the most emotionally vulnerable students that it has fewer resources left for those who are merely stressed out. Dr. Marchell admits that's a potential problem with the school's approach.

Erin Geld was disappointed by Cornell's services last year after a good friend became seriously ill. Miss Geld says she fell behind in classes, suffered mood swings, felt depressed and slept constantly. But when she called the counseling center, after a triage interview she was told she had to wait three weeks to see a school therapist, and was offered referral to a community health resource for faster help if she wished. Miss Geld says she felt the off-campus therapy was ineffective and soon quit.

"Despite stepping to the plate and asking for help, I did not really get the support I needed from Cornell," the 23-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, who graduated in May, wrote in an editorial last March in the Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper. Dr. Corson-Rikert notes Ms. Geld had the choice of waiting for a school counselor appointment; she says the counseling center schedules many appointments within hours or days based on their urgency, and tries to schedule others within two weeks but doesn't always manage.

[Catherine Savage]

Catherine Savage had a better counseling experience. The 24-year-old, whose father committed suicide when she was seven, has seen a therapist and taken antidepressants since she was in middle school. At Cornell, Miss Savage struggled with depression. She saw a therapist at the counseling center on and off. One night during her junior year, Miss Savage called the health center crying, and said she didn't want to live. The nurse on the line told Miss Savage to go to the hospital. She was admitted for 11 days.

Some schools have been sued for requiring suicidal students to leave dorms or campuses. Miss Savage got a call from her Cornell counselor, and one of her teachers visited her. At Miss Savage's request, the counselor arranged extensions in her classes and a voluntary medical leave, and found her a treatment program in her hometown. Miss Savage went home to Madison, Wis., and attended the University of Wisconsin. Her Cornell adviser helped her pick classes that would earn Cornell credit. A year and a half later, in the fall of 2005, she came back to Cornell.

She enjoyed her classes, rejoined the Cornell University Chorus and continued to see her therapist at the health center. "All parts of the school made it clear that my mental health had to be among my priorities if I wanted to have a happy life and do all the things I came to Cornell to do," says Miss Savage, who graduated in May 2006 and works as a hospital dietician in Salt Lake City. "And they gave me the support."

Friday, December 28, 2007

大環境扭曲 學術風骨何處尋 (重點在評論)

湘帆/北市(大學教師) 中國時報 2007.12.26

最近貴報在呼籲、國內知識分子聲音為何不見?其實這是值得學界深自反省的機會。

台 灣解嚴之後,由學界高舉歐美新自由主義的旗幟,大力推動教育的鬆綁、放權,以至造成台灣廣設高中、大學後,今日大學十八分的後遺症,還有十萬流浪教師的投 資浪費問題。另外,在不諳先進國家重質不重量、鮮少人看重商業資料庫的學術傳統的情況下,急於建立量化指標,硬是將鮮為人知的美國商業集團:SSCI、 SCI等資料庫當成國科會研究補助與大學升等、評鑑的指標,對台灣學界所造成的扭曲現象,迄今難以收拾!

學術界文不文、理不理,每位大學 教師,尤其是年輕的助理教授與副教授們為了生存、升等,只好拚命寫期刊論文、題目超短線、拚數量業績,拉關係,根本忘了學術的本質為何?難怪學術界不敢、 也不願對社會亂象發聲,以免拿不到研究經費、得罪期刊審查者、影響學校評鑑、甚至危及五年五百億的經費申請。

一位受邀來台進行大學評鑑的 香港大學主管感嘆:過去一向講究學術風骨與道德勇氣的台灣學界,現在卻變得目光如豆,連一些剛從國外名校返國的博士,在上述種種的壓力下,只能每天關起門 來斤斤計較於SSCI的發表與國科會的申請,不但目光變得短淺,連社會關懷的熱情也逐漸消失,遑論針砭時事。

因此,在探討國內知識分子的噤聲不語之餘,學者若能以身作則的進行反思,才能重新樹立知識分子的風骨,也給社會一個交代!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
最近這種文章充斥報章
好像重視SCI 重視發表是一種罪一樣
(不談 SSCI 因為我不研究社會科學 對社會科學不瞭解)
好像 因為重視發表 重視SCI
是造成學界短視近利等問題的根源
我只能說
這些人要嘛學術水準不足 所以困難發表是這種SCI制度的受害者
所以出來捍衛自己的既有利益
不然 就是 一點都不瞭解台灣的學術界

其實SCI一點都不是鮮為人知
許多國外評鑑 也有引用這項數據
是個很重要的參考
很多知名期刊也都把點數放在網頁上做宣傳(見圖 impact factor)
貶低這資料庫的意義 真是阿Q式精神勝利法

所謂期刊的點數 簡單的解釋
就是該期刊 一篇文章平均被引用的次數
換句話說 通常重要的文章 才會有人引用
所以可以從點數看出期刊的品質
但是 當然這樣比較會有一個缺點 就是越多人研究的領域
期刊點數越高 所以跨領域的比較點數 可能要非常小心
不見得公平

其實 前文之類的批評 不是完全沒有道理
之前有統計 台灣文章SCI發表的數量很多
但是文章被引用的次數相對偏低 是有點重量不重質
但是 但是
其實 解決得辦法很簡單
就是 不要只比期刊點數而已
可以直接比 發表文章 扣掉自我引用後 被引用的次數
這樣就可以做為文章品質的指標
你說....台灣科學主管人員不知道嗎
據二手管道說 他們當然知道 只是 這是下一步
怕一下推太急 反彈更重

說國外重質不重量 沒錯啦
美國名校很少要求博士班畢業要有兩篇SCI的
申請美國國科會(NSF)計畫 也不像台灣
直接有百分之多少 是用發表算分數的
要說選院士 學術界的地位 世界權威
也不是比發表點數的
但是
台灣有這樣的條件了嗎
台灣很多領域就像生態一樣 也就那麼幾十個教授
你審我的國科會計畫 不給我過
下次換我審你的 就要你好看
這些事情 層出不窮
不然就是靠關係 認識什麼處長 或是什麼官
計畫就可以過 升等就沒人敢擋
現在至少 有很大一部份是算分數
要跳過分數高的給分數低的
至少要給人家原因

說實話 個人認為
真的有能力做世界頂尖研究的人或團隊
一點也不會 因為這個制度而影響
因為 基本上現在審查
國科會是算五年發表
台大教授升等審查 也是五年內發表
換句話說
只要五年內 有一些好的發表
應該就沒有問題
不要跟我說 很多大作要累積十幾二十年
因為以理工科來說
沒有說什麼 十幾二十年沒有什麼發表
然後突然發表一本改變世界的物種原始(曠世巨作)
寫書通常是發表的累積 因為發表SCI文章有同儕審查
寫書 則是有出版社出就是書
(當然 要在國際出名的大出版社出書也是相當難)

再換句話說
如果達爾文來玩這發表遊戲
他的物種原始
不知道可以拆成幾篇 nature Science發表
然後再統合成書
這兩者是不互相衝突的
(顯然這些抱怨的人可能沒有寫過書)
換句話說 這些規則
對前端的人根本沒有影響
有關係的是那些要掙扎才能發表的人

大家不知道記不記得台灣在還沒開始改革 要求發表
學術界是怎麼樣的?
以我的經驗來說
幾個我認識的名校畢業洋博士
都是回台灣十年沒有重要發表
但是關係好 計畫經費一樣拿
也有整天在外面演講 教學研究一塌糊塗的

結果 開始完這一套發表遊戲後
大家不得不開始
想辦法發表 各種辦法
結果好幾個 兩三年內就發表了好幾篇文章 然後生教授
也有玩不下去的
就從台大退休 轉到私立學校去教
也有聽說中研院大老級研究員
沒有發表 在所上會議被檢討
所以也在想辦法 要發表
以我來看 至少現在大家都要多多少少做一些研究
不能像以前一樣 進了大學當教授 就高枕無憂

以我來看 種種矯枉過正的SCI現象
還是遠比不上 有評鑑以後對台灣學術界的正面影響
那些矯枉過正的現象 (你要問我 我是親身經歷了一堆)
是不管有沒有SCI發表問題
台灣也都有的
說穿了 還不就是投機取巧 考關係 走後門 等
訂什麼遊戲規則 台灣人也都會試著這樣做的
這不是三年五年可以改的

我覺得台灣學術界的問題
絕對還不是太注重發表而影響教學
離那一步還很遠很
我覺得 還是教授們外務太多
不重視研究 教學
一直看到 這種發表扭曲論的文章
真是覺得想吐血

如果台灣學術界不重視發表的話
那我就真的不太敢回去了
因為那樣 又回到之前搞關係哈腰的時代
慘呀!

跑馬拉松的村上春樹

自從用了Google reader很多原本想轉貼的文章
都放在網頁右邊的分享處了
不過 這篇沒有RSS 所以就還是轉貼一下
----------------------------------------
賴明珠  (20071227) 中時人間

 「第一本小說得新人獎可能是偶然,每一本小說都受歡迎卻絕對不是偶然。」最近村上春樹出一本有關他跑馬拉松的書「說到跑步時我要說的是」,提到他如何開始跑步,以及跑步對他寫小說的影響。二十幾年來如果村上春樹沒有持續跑馬拉松,今天我們可能讀不到他一本又一本充滿想像力的動人小說,或者即使可以讀到,也會是完全不同風格的小說。

 與眾不同的小說家
 所謂「文如其人」一點也沒錯,村上春樹的小說無論文體或故事或主角的個性,都讓人感覺非常不同,可以想像作者的與眾不同。讀者之間逐漸形成「非常村上」這樣的流行語,不僅指文體的特色,更成為對一個人品味好壞的判別指標。形容一個朋友「非常村上」,等於一面說他「很有品味」,一面數落他「有點臭脾氣」。無論言行舉止、個性偏好,到莫名其妙不屈服的堅持執拗都很像村上春樹小說中的主角。

 要說村上春樹是一位與眾不同的小說家。可以從很多方面來說,例如他這一生中從來沒有當過上班族,他開過爵士音樂咖啡廳,他不和文壇其他作者交往,極少接受媒體採訪等不勝枚舉,但其中一個最大的不同,是他跑馬拉松。不但在日本各地跑,也到過希臘、波士頓、紐約、夏威夷各地跑。

 將近三十年前,二十九歲寫下處女作「聽風的歌」榮獲「群像新人獎」時,他還在開一家放爵士音樂的咖啡廳,接著第二本「1973年的彈珠玩具」,都是打烊後半夜在廚房桌上寫的,因此段落都很短。

 為了能專心寫長一點的小說,他毅然把店轉讓給別人,把家搬到千葉去,專心閉門寫稿,幾乎斷絕和外界的一切聯繫,半年後完成「尋羊冒險記」,這三本小說,文體獨特風格清新,立刻受到年輕讀者喜愛,早期「三部曲」確立了他在文壇的地位,使他被譽為「八十年代文學旗手」。

 完成「尋羊」後,他下定決定要當一個專業小說家,並開始認真地天天跑步。跑步的優點是不需要同伴,也不像打網球或游泳那樣需要球場或游泳池的設施,只要有一雙跑步鞋,有馬路或操場就可以跑。每天跑步之後,戒煙也成了自然的趨勢。當然戒煙並不簡單,但總不能一面抽煙一面天天跑步,在想「跑更長」之下,戒煙也成為和過去的生活訣別的一種象徵。

 肉體與精神

 他認為當一個傑出小說家需要的兩大條件,一個是高度的「集中力」,一個是長久的「持續力」。村上藉著跑馬拉松,自我鍛鍊這兩方面的力量,他相信只有不斷鍛鍊肉體的持續力,才能維持長期寫作所需要的精神高度集中。

 村上無法勉強自己做不喜歡的事情,但喜歡的事情卻會徹底做好。他覺得自己不擅長短跑,無法跑很快,卻適合很有耐心和毅力地持續跑長距離。

 剛開始跑時,還沒辦法跑很遠,一天頂多跑二十分到三十分的程度,就喘不過氣了。不過繼續跑之間,身體積極地適應,距離漸漸拉長,呼吸的節奏也漸漸穩定下來。每天把跑步當成最重要的事情,和三餐吃飯、睡覺、家事、工作一樣,放進日常生活的循環中,成為一種自然的習慣。

 1983年開春第一次參加5公里的路跑。5月參加山中湖15公里的路跑。6月開始想試試看自己能跑多遠,於是一個人在皇居周圍一圈一圈地試跑。跑了7 圈,相當於35公里,以普通的速度跑,並不覺得太痛苦,腳也完全不痛。這樣的話說不定可以跑馬拉松。因為聽說馬拉松最難過的部分是在跑過35公里的時候來臨的。

 這時候感覺過了三十歲的自己,現在還潛藏著很多可能性,這未知的部分,是因為跑步而逐漸發現的。飲食方面也漸漸改成以蔬菜為中心,米飯、肉類和酒量都減少,蛋白質以魚類為主。33歲正式展開跑者的生活,也可以說是專業小說家生涯的真正起點。

 1983年7月村上春樹來到希臘,決定一個人從雅典跑到馬拉松的村子。採取和原始路線從馬拉松跑到雅典相反的方向跑。為什麼採取逆方向呢?因為清晨從雅典中心出發,可以避開道路尖峰時間的壓倒性交通量。為什麼要特地跑到希臘去一個人跑42公里呢?因為正好有一家男性雜誌社問他「要不要到希臘幫我們寫一篇旅行遊記?」由希臘政府提供機票。他想正好試試自己的腳力。

 「何不跑跑看全程馬拉松?」

 在希臘跑

 盛夏的希臘天氣熱得不得了。連狗都躲起來睡午覺在時候,跑馬拉松簡直瘋了。名副其實在和太陽賽跑。

 攝影師景山正夫和編輯一起坐在車上同行伴跑。景山看到村上認真地準備跑的樣子驚訝地問。

 「你真的要跑全程嗎?」

 「當然,就是為了這個來的啊。」

 「是嗎?可是我以為這種企劃,很少人會跑全程,大多只是拍個照片,中途省略呢,沒想到你真的要跑。」

 清晨五點半從雅典奧林匹克會場的體育館出發,一路跑到馬拉松村時,太陽才剛剛升起。沿路上坡下坡的路交互出現,從內陸跑向海岸,離開都心,經過鄉間,老人們坐在咖啡館前一面喝著小杯咖啡,一面無言地睜眼目送他跑過去。

 越過27公里處的坡道時,開始隱約可以看到馬拉松的山。算算已經跑過三分之二路程了,心想3小時30分說不定可以跑完。然而越過30公里之後海面開始吹起風來,風勢越來越強,一不小心就被風吹得往後退。而且開始緩緩上坡。道路像用尺畫出來的般筆直。這時真正的疲勞開始襲來。不管補充多少水分,立刻又感到口渴難當,非常想喝冰啤酒。

 不,別想啤酒,別想太陽,把風忘掉,把報導忘掉!集中注意力一心只想著把雙腳輪流往前踏出。現在,沒有比這更重要的了。

 過了35公里,這對自己來說,是未踏之大地。有生以來第一次跑超過35公里以上的距離。海風繼續強勁地吹著。口渴難耐,路邊好多羊正在吃草。

 過了40公里。

 「還剩下2公里,加油啊!」編輯從車上為他加油。

 上午九點過後,太陽已經熱得受不了,汗水流入眼睛,手上臉上都是汗蒸發乾掉的鹽,整個人變成人間鹽田。眼睛更痛。

 終於到達終點。跑了3小時51分鐘。

 當地的人聽說他剛剛跑完馬拉松,從盆栽摘下花來作成一個小花束獻給他。希臘人的親切讓村上好感動。

 他覺得馬拉松是個親切的村子,和平的村子。

 在夏威夷跑

 那年12月,他參加美國夏威夷火奴魯魯馬拉松,第一次正式參加大賽,從此經過了二十幾年,每年參加馬拉松比賽已經成為他的習慣。

 平常他一天平均跑十公里左右。在東京的時候,多半在神宮外苑跑。除了在日本跑之外,旅居歐洲和美國時,也經常跑步。

 身為一個小說家,他平常一天在早晨集中精神工作三小時到四小時。全神貫注在自己所寫的東西上。其他什麼都不想、什麼都不看。

 除了集中精神之外,其次必要的是持續力。一天雖然能集中精神三、四小時,但如果一星期下來就累得吃不消的話,也沒辦法寫長篇作品。對於有志寫長篇小說的作家,有必要維持半年、一年、兩年的持續力。如果說集中力就像深深屏住呼吸的話,持續力就是同時還要學會安靜而緩慢地呼氣、吸氣的秘訣。這兩種呼吸的平衡如果沒有學會的話,很難長久繼續寫下去。

 他說「我寫小說這件事,很多都是從每天早晨在路跑中學來的。」

 他很慶幸自己繼續跑步。

 「我自己很喜歡自己現在所寫的小說,也很期待接下來,自己會寫出什麼樣的小說來。以一個不完美的人,一個擁有限度的作家,一面走過充滿矛盾的平凡人生道路,依然能夠懷有這種心情,我覺得也算是一種達成,甚至可以說是一種『奇蹟』。如果每天的跑步對這達成多少有幫助的話,我對跑步這件事情不得不深深感謝。」

 跑完後不只是肉體的痛苦,連自己是誰,現在正在做什麼,大多都從念頭中消失掉。那種心情應該很奇怪,但連那種感覺都消失了。跑步的行為幾乎到達形而上的領域。首先行為在那裡,然後隨著才有我的存在。

 「我跑,故我在」

 除了多次參加火奴魯魯馬拉松、波士頓馬拉松、紐約馬拉松之外,更挑戰鐵人三項,甚至北海道薩羅馬湖100公里的超級馬拉松。

 在日常生活中或工作上,他並不喜歡和人競爭勝敗。人家有人家的價值觀,自己有自己的價值觀。誤解和受傷在所難免,不過,正因為和別人不同,人才能保有自立的東西。以他來說,就是選擇和別人不同的語言,繼續寫小說。

 「我一面跑,只是跑著。原則上是在空白中跑著。反過來也可以說,為了得到空白而跑。在那樣的空白中,各種想法常常自然湧現……跑的時候腦子裡會浮現想法,像天空的雲。各種形狀,各種大小的雲。那些浮現又消失。但天空還是天空。雲只不過是過客。」

 「我跑,故我在。」馬拉松的體驗帶給他最重要的意義不是肉體上的,而是精神上的東西。

Thursday, December 20, 2007

南韓新總統李明博:全力挽救南韓經濟

(深有同感的是下面網友對這新聞的評論)
南韓新總統李明博:全力挽救南韓經濟
【2007/12/19 22:39 報導 】中廣新聞
今天當選南韓第十七屆總統的李明博表示,他感謝國民對他的支持,他絕不辜負國民的意願,一定會挽救處在危機中的南韓經濟。(王長偉 首爾報導)
南韓總統選舉,從下午六時開始的計票,到台北時間晚上九時三十分,共完成百分之七十的情況下,李明博以百分之四十七點四的得票率,以壓到性的支持、率領先民主新黨候選人鄭東泳的百分之二十七點二的得票率。大國家黨候選人李明博,被確定為總統當選人。
李明博當天在第一大在野黨「大國家黨」汝矣島黨部舉行的記者會上說:非常感謝國民們對他的支持。他得到了國民們一如既往的支持,他將以十分謙虛的心態回報國民。
李明博並說:他將致力於使分裂的南韓社會實現和解與國民團結,在此向與他一同競選的鄭東泳、李會昌、文國現、李仁濟和權永吉等候選人表示慰問,並接受他們的忠告努力工作。李明博最後還表示:他將為祖國的發展盡自己最大的努力。
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網友評論
近來媒體不擴大解釋大南韓總統大選的結果,有意無意的企圖以南韓總統大選的結果連結台灣明年的總統大選,這個邏輯是這樣的,『1、李明博等於拼經濟,馬英九也等拼經濟,2、李明博炒股案等於馬英九特別費案,都是執政黨的奧步啦!,3、拼經濟的李明博當選等於拼經濟的馬英九將要當選』,媒體的意圖及邏輯簡單且清晰到腦殘的地步。

但看了這篇報導,內心充滿了疑惑:不到幾天前,『南韓大學生起薪是國內大學生的2倍,國民生產毛超越台灣,競爭力調查首次超過台灣...... 等』總總的言論盛霄在各媒體間,這些新聞標題像是念咒般每天在你腦海中迴盪,對比現在台灣經濟的鎖國狀態,還是亞洲四小龍之末,民不聊生,人民苦不堪;而就在這兩天呢?南韓民眾『突然』希望新的領導人挽救經濟,奇了?!南韓經濟不是一直都很好嗎?還是南韓經濟好還要更好呢?!非也,『南韓大學生近五成的失業率,物價高漲,人民生活痛苦,富差距擴大,南韓經濟其實處在危險邊緣』,這樣看起來實在沒有說好要更好的理由,一切都變調了.....。

素小弟無知,不關心國際事件,原來韓國總統大選早就開打這麼久,而且就在這幾天投票,南韓的選舉早已如火如荼的進行中,先不說過去媒體如何吹捧南韓經濟,若以李明博訴求『拼經濟』的議題來看,韓國經濟確實是有問題的,而這些議題應該在選戰的過程就已經充分表達了,也就是說這一年多來就已經如此,無奈這幾年國內媒體從不關心這些本質問題,盡用一些韓國片面數據唱衰台灣,現在又以李明博來影射為馬英九,南韓不斷的被我們媒體消費,從經濟一直到政治,台語有一句話『理由百百種,要用選一種』,南韓經濟一下好,一下又不好,確是明確且堅定的,今天要唱衰台灣就說南韓經濟好,明天要凸顯『拼經濟的李明博』,又可以說南韓經濟不好,好與不好之間都由媒體決定,唯一可以確定的只有台灣經濟不好,人民苦不堪言;可憐的台灣人民一直以來受到有色媒體的操控,但終有一天也會看清楚。

此評論轉錄自
http://www.hemidemi.com/bookmark/info/783427

Monday, December 10, 2007

絕對的權力: 學術中的師徒關係

這幾天像突然被雷打到一樣倒楣
起因是大老闆跟二老闆討論要幫我找明年的錢
結果二老闆 問了幾個管道都似乎行不通
所以就寫了封e-mail跟我說 可能明年要準備當TA
我聽了晴天霹靂 衝動之下簡短寫了封e-mail說
如果要當TA的話 我寧願早點畢業

結果衝動型的二老闆 馬上就回說
他明年要辦研討會 所以如果我堅持要push明年畢業的話
他考慮離開我的committee (就是不當我的指導老師的意思)
還說 我對於教書很懶惰云云

我看了暗自叫苦......
總之e-mail不是討論複雜事情的好工具
就像BBS筆戰永遠不會有結論一樣

趕快打電話給我的大老闆求救
這應該是第一次這樣無預警的打電話給他
結果 大老闆的老婆說 大老闆正在閉關寫作中
之後再回電話給我 這時是星期五中午

結果 整個星期五、星期六、星期天
大老闆都無消無息 也沒有寄e-mail給我
跟大老闆情同父子 我非常相信他
所以 星期六還玩得很開心
星期天 就開始小小擔心起來
想說 「不會吧 之前還在長考是不是應該去申請教職 結果現在連畢業都有問題
難道我就因為二老闆這樣 就要浪費一年的青春?」
想到就覺得心情雜亂 開始一點戰鬥力也沒有
不過 想到只要還有大老闆 事情應該就還有有救
只是 難免又想 他會不會跟二老闆想一樣
那我就只好去搬 一直是好朋友的三老闆當救兵了

在我們這當doudle TA是全職的工作 幾乎沒有辦法做什麼研究
過去幾年 我總是有幾個月這樣 雖然學了很多教書的技巧
但是 相對的幾乎也沒有什麼時間寫作
所以如果我的最後一年還要當TA 那我的論文寫作一定會受很大的影響
大概也很難去找很好的postdoc

這幾天 等電話的過程中
應該是在康乃爾這麼多年來
第一次 感到有點無力
命運掌握在別人心情的感覺 真是
非 常 的 糟 !!!
這大概 也是在PHD版 永遠都是一堆幹譙老闆(指導老師)的原因吧
因為老師絕對的權力 學生絕對的弱勢
學生會不舒服在所難免吧

幸好 今天大老闆打電話來
跟我保證 「當TA絕對不是選項」
鬆了一大口氣...... 談了各種可能
深深覺得 有一個可以這樣幫我設身處地著想的老闆
真是非常非常的幸運

想起來在康乃爾這幾年
由於我有三個老闆
大老闆 像是父親一般 深深影響我待人處事 研究生涯的規劃 從大師問學 更是種享受
二老闆 則是 非常注重細節的人 也幫我爭取了很多錢
三老闆則是我最常討論學術問題的對象 從他那學了很多看問題的方法
他的學術素養 大概是至今 我少數仍覺得莫測高深的人吧
這種多老闆的制度 讓我整個求學過程 一直非常的舒服
不會因為一個人的判斷 就影響我的學術生涯
我的老闆們也多是很好的人 非常的尊重我

這次的烏龍事件 就當是體會學術中權力不平等的課程吧

p.s.(對這方面有興趣的建議可以找天才的學徒這本書來看看)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

大中至正


最近扁政府已經無聊到去拆中正廟的大中至正
活脫是紅衛兵破四舊舉動
可以不認同蔣介石的統治
但是 這是台灣歷史的一部份
也是一些人重要的記憶 也是古蹟的意義
為了破壞而指定古蹟 還真的應該是世界創舉吧

照陳水扁的邏輯
下一個是不是要改故宮博物館的名字?因為包含過去帝制的名字
否定中國文化 其實是在破壞台灣團結的基礎
台灣文化是以中國文化為基礎 這是不可否認的事實
除了原住民 我們的祖先也都是從中國過來的
所謂的台語不也就是閩南語
讀史記不代表我們在崇拜敵國的歷史
因為那也是我們的歷史
這跟本土化並不衝突

只是 文化中國 並不代表政治上也要跟中國統一
美國人不也多是從英國來
也沒聽說 美國人因為這樣要跟英國統一
或著叫自己是英國人一樣

選舉到了
政治人物通常都會變成重度腦殘
真是浪費大家的資源跟時間
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註:今天(12/7)已拆(圖片出自中央社)

陳金鋒 真英雄