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Week in Review: In a Pickle

Cristal Steuer

Ali’s my name, and pickling’s my game. I love pickles, and I’ve been on a five-year quest to find the perfect (or should I say, i-dill) recipe for homemade dill pickles. I’ve tried hot and cold packing, dill seed and dill weed, quick fridge pickles and long brine fermented pickles, chips, spears, whole—bet you didn’t know there were so many pickling options. My cucumbers are overtaking the garden, and I’m picking as fast as I can pickle them. I’ve got a few promising leads to try out for long-term processing, but I am pleased to announce that I think I’ve got a winner for the quick pickle, chip category. Very slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s easiest fridge dill pickle recipe, I use my homegrown cucumbers, definitely add the garlic, a dash of pickling spice, and have had the best results with fresh dill from the garden. And since I use different jars, I adjust the salt and vinegar accordingly to fit my one and half cukes per jar. Next up, I’m testing out the recipe with quick spears.

If you’re in a pickle trying to find the latest in higher ed news, fear not! Scroll down for more.

What’s new this week:

College of the Holy Cross Professor Cynthia Hooper wrote about what Russia stands to gain, and what the U.S. could lose, from President Trump’s meeting with Putin at the G-20 Summit for Salon.

Professor June Johnson of Drake University spoke with U.S. News & World Report about why diabetes is more prevalent in rural areas.

The Boston Globe featured the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) and its goals to restructure and improve the high school transcript.

More colleges, including the Farmer School of Business at Miami University, now offer special courses and programs to help students develop communication skills, which will help their business-minded ambitions according to this Entrepreneur article.

Professor Donald Brand of Holy Cross explained why Bernie Sanders isn’t actually a socialist in a piece for Fortune.

In a piece for The Conversation, Holy Cross Professor Mathew Schmalz wrote about how the hierarchy of the Catholic Church makes it difficult to punish sex abusers.

This week on Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action blog, don’t miss posts on the future of higher ed PR and how and why to strengthen relationships with constituents.

What we’ve been talking about:

Cristal highlighted hot higher ed podcasts to check out this summer in a Quick Hit.

Too hot to work anywhere else today. #pool #office

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What’s next on our calendars:

Teresa will present a preconference media training at the CASE Annual Conference for Media Relations Professionals on Monday, September 18 in Philadelphia, PA.

Teresa will be co-leading the “Developing Presidential Voice: Toolkit for Marketing and Communications” webinar for Academic Impressions on September 22.

Teresa will be leading a crisis communications session and case study review for the Dean’s Section of the American Association of Law Schools in San Diego, CA on January 6, 2018.

What we’re recommending:

Erin Hennessy

I think I’ve written here before about how much I love and admire the work of Buzzfeed writer Anne Helen Petersen, who believes you can’t understand culture without understanding pop culture. (Some of my favorite of her pieces are this one on why we don’t take Nicole Kidman seriously, this one on the waning of Tom Hanks and what he represents, and this one on how Kerry Washington maintains her privacy while feeding content to her fans.) Petersen is the author of the new book, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman, which examines the lives and impact of a range of celebrity women, from Serena Williams to Hillary Clinton, from Kim Kardashian to Caitlyn Jenner. I preordered the book and am planning to dive into the book this weekend. In preparation, I’m listening to her recent interviews with NPR’s It’s Been a Minute podcast and Slate’s The Gist podcast. You can read an excerpt from the book’s chapter on Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy here.

Teresa Valerio Parrot

Okay, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole. I’m captivated by the Pakistan #calibrigate story and am binging the different takes on the scandal that are popping up in my feed. Last year the Panama Papers were released and the leaked documents showed how the rich are hiding their money in offshore accounts. The prime minister of Pakistan’s family has been wrapped up in the scandal and their claims of innocence are being called into question by the existence of a font. Yes! I know! A font! Good old Calibri is at the center of the scandal. The gist: “A report stated that [Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif] had disclosed her ties to the British Virgin Island’s firm in 2006 in a statement written in Calibri font. But Microsoft only made the font publicly available in 2007, leading to speculation that the documents could have been forged.” Those covering the story run the gamut from investigative journalists to finance outlets to tech reporters, with each taking a different angle on the story. It is definitely an interesting story to watch unfold.

Ali Lincoln

I am, unapologetically, a lover of bread. Fresh, warm bakery (or homemade) bread is just sublime. And so reading this New York Times article about the decline of bakeries in France, home of the baguette, was quite alarming—right up there with potential wine and chocolate shortages (those are related to climate change, not a drop-off in consumption, but still, big problems all around). I’m trying to convince my husband that we need to plan an emergency trip to France to support these new bakeries and ensure their economic viability for the sake of humanity. I will gladly take up the cause to save (eat) the bread!
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