The New York Times

One thing I haven't figured out about living in Alfred is how to get the daily New York Times. The Unimart gets the Sunday paper and is good about reserving a copy so you don't have to rush down at the crack of dawn to be sure they've come but not disappeared into the hands of willing co-conspirators. When the Alfred University students are around, the campus store (alas, a Barnes & Noble operation) has the daily paper on Monday to Friday. And then there's Saturday. Off to Wegman's in Hornell where you might find it? Yes, I know there's the online version but the joy of reading the paper version is finding the big and small articles, the serendipity. Yes, I know that the web can also provide serendipity. Different, more and less.

On the front page of today's paper, there's an article about Afghan President Karzai's brother allegedly being involved in the drug trade. The Karzai brothers deny it but the whole idea of governmental corruption in the face of so much chaos is very disheartening. I did sign a petition against the Rockefeller drug laws yesterday; it's not like I necessarily want heroin sold freely at the grocery store but decriminalization of certain drugs seems like a viable option (to put it mildly perhaps).

Further into the front section, there was an article about Dubai and how even it is feeling the effects of the financial crisis. But folks are paying up the $25,000 a night for those fancy hotel rooms. They're working on a development that will have the world's biggest mall. Yesterday, Elizabeth and I were looking at a picture of the palm-tree island/peninsula and thinking how we had NO desire to go there. Meanwhile, my university is working on a new campus in Abu Dhabi, part of our "Global University" development. The dean of the Libraries is distracted by development of the new library and its state of the (future) art connections while there's much to be done at home. True, the NYC campus will benefit as will the international programs from the magnificent electronic infrastructure ... but there's much that needs to be done on the home front. I don't mean to be isolationist but the distraction of NYU Abu Dhabi is not helping improve the collaboration and cooperation at home.

This morning's front section wasn't all depressing or frustrating. There was a wonderful article about South Korean bathhouses. "The first thing we Koreans think of when we're feeling stiff and sore is lying on a hot floor." Sounds pretty nice.

A little note on the front page made me realize that like the nationwide chains that are filling the streets of Manhattan, tomorrow's paper will be different. The Metro Section will be absorbed into a "New York" section in the front section. Gosh, just like the National Edition. I'll miss the Metro Section but I guess they're just trying to get me accustomed to the National Edition.