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samuel mehr

@mehr.nz

7.5K followers 1K following 12K posts

i am a cognitive scientist working on auditory perception at the University of Auckland and the Yale Child Study Center 🇳🇿🇺🇸🇫🇷🇨🇦 lab: themusiclab.org personal: mehr.nz intro to my research: youtu.be/-vJ7Jygr1eg

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 12m

this is like the item on auckland uni's all-faculty survey which was, I shit you not, "Does your 'line manager' check in with you on a daily basis"

I put in the comments "mate i am a professor"

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 13m

the businessification of academia knows no bounds

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 21m

and to you 🦃🦃🦃

Reposted by samuel mehr

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Sep 9

one reason it will be hard for academics to take back uk/aus/nz universities from the business-brained folk who are in charge is that it's basically impossible to speak to them without going insane

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 16h

Somebody should submit an OIA request!

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

people applying for faculty jobs at universities they don't already know might do well to inquire, politely, about the views of key leaders on this sort of businessified, consultant-heavy approach to running universities

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

while this topic is certainly an issue across Aus/NZ/UK academia it's not limited to it. @michaelhendricks.bsky.social has mentioned Nous Group trying to move in on Canadian academia as well

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

somebody in Auckland Uni legal replied to my OIA request saying they'd get back by mid November fyi.org.nz/request/3231...

one wonders how many contracts they need to track down to reply.... but it's nice that OIA is a reasonable option here

Dear Samuel,

As consultations necessary to make a decision on your request are such
that a response cannot reasonably be given within the original time limit,
the University has extended the time limit for your request until 11
November 2025 under section 15A(1)(b) of the OIA. We will respond to your
request as soon as reasonably practicable.

You have the right to make a complaint to an Ombudsman if you are
dissatisfied with this extension.

Yours sincerely,

Landon Watt
Legal Advisor
Office of the Vice-Chancellor

Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

—we're often told our unis are broke, but large external contracts contradict that claim
—there is good reason to believe that bad consulting advice is the source of many problems in Aus/NZ/UK academia, so a starting point in fixing it is finding out how deep in it we already are

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

there are a few reasons I think we should find out more about unis hiring big $ consultancies
—consultancies typically work for corporations so may not have great ideas about how to run nonprofit, public institutions
—unis have a ton of internal expertise they could rely on instead, but often don't

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 17h

for VUW that's like $20-65 per student in fees paid to consultants, per year. auckland is nearly double the size of VUW in terms of student numbers so we might expect closer to $1m-3m/yr on consultants if VUW is any guide

let's see what they say though! nice for this info to be public I think

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 18h

still waiting on an OIA response regarding what Auckland Uni spends on Nous Group, Doloitte, PwC and other consultants but I just saw somebody inquired the same re Victoria University (Wellington) in July

looks like between $400K - $1.5m / yr between 2020-2025

i'm guessing it's more for Auckland!

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 19h

I'm not really a gearhead but as a scientist who relies on video-based data collection in cogsci experiments, it's interesting to note how serious the gear is in pro video applications

many babylabs collect data with consumer camcorders that cost about as much as just the cables here ($295)

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 22h

i am sick in bed watching ONE DAY which I hadn't seen and I feel like this little exchange should have been an academic meme

the leads in ONE DAY, three panels
em: Hey. people will always need anthropologists
<dex laughs>
<em laughs>

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

I only learned it because a TV show erroneously had the character hitting Delete (PC) version and the text to the left being deleted. So I wondered if there was some alternate keymapping or something and instead found this

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

a man wearing glasses and a black turtleneck is holding a pair of headphones in his hand .

ALT: a man wearing glasses and a black turtleneck is holding a pair of headphones in his hand .

media.tenor.com

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

TIL that on macOS, fn + delete does forward-delete, as in, deleting text to the right of the cursor

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

Maybe it's a UK English thing too?

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

Which usage?

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

I actually wondered if the north american usage is unusual and the aus/nz one is more direct or something (like a subordinate part of an urban area) but the etymology suggests otherwise www.etymonline.com/word/suburb

Suburb - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

Early 14c. origin: from Latin suburbium, via Old French suburbe, meaning an outlying or residential area just outside a town or city wall.

www.etymonline.com

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

I always love differences in usage across Englishes

like in Aus/NZ English 'suburb' refers to any neighbourhood but in US/Canada English it's specifically ones outside the city

eg in Auckland the Waitematā local board covers "inner city residential suburbs", a phrase that makes no sense stateside

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

It's very silly youtu.be/bSHz5S3yIzg?...

Jimmy Fallon - It Was A… (Masked Christmas) ft. Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion

YouTube video by JimmyFallonVEVO

youtu.be

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

Source of this gif is an underrated jokey music video btw

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

wtf is going on in canada do people not realize it's a different country to the US

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 1d

Loosely these which are always good. I do them on the BBQ though at a much higher temp www.seriouseats.com/the-best-roa...

The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever

These are the most flavorful crispy roast potatoes you'll ever make. And they just happen to be gluten-free and vegan (if you use oil) to boot.