Ric Crossman
@riccrossman.bsky.social
Statistician. Educator. Union man. Occasional pop culture critic for ATB Publishing (and himself). Just wants everyone to be happy, a fact that has made a number of people EXTREMELY angry. He/him/Comrade.
Pinned
Ric Crossman
@riccrossman.bsky.social
· Apr 1
Infinite Diversity, Finite Combinations Volume 1.1 (paperback+1st class postage) | Infinite Diversity,
The first volume of IDFC in weighty paperback form! Contains essays on every episode of Season 1 of The Original Series (including "The Cage"), along with pieces on The Motion Picture, James Blish's S...
www.idfc.co.uk
Plus, the first Infinite Diversity, Finite Combinations book is out in paperback, if that's the sort of thing you think you might be into (and you live in the UK).
www.idfc.co.uk/product-page...
www.idfc.co.uk/product-page...
Without seeing the mark scheme I'm not going to comment on whether giving zero marks to the essay was the right call, but the idea "free speech" protects a student from being marked down for the contents of their essay is, to use a high-falutin' academic term, absolutely batshit.
OU student says essay grade was a violation of her rights. Read the essay
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OU student says essay grade was a violation of her rights. Read the essay
In the essay, she wrote traditional gender roles should not be considered stereotypes. What do you think? Read the full essay and professor responses here.
www.yahoo.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Without seeing the mark scheme I'm not going to comment on whether giving zero marks to the essay was the right call, but the idea "free speech" protects a student from being marked down for the contents of their essay is, to use a high-falutin' academic term, absolutely batshit.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Are you a transgender uni student currently studying in the UK? Take part in this survey forming part of the research looking at how the Supreme Court ruling might influence the experiences of transgender people studying in Higher Education. Email Samantha directly: S23006415@mail.glyndwr.ac.uk
November 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Are you a transgender uni student currently studying in the UK? Take part in this survey forming part of the research looking at how the Supreme Court ruling might influence the experiences of transgender people studying in Higher Education. Email Samantha directly: S23006415@mail.glyndwr.ac.uk
Reposted by Ric Crossman
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
so this is like, one of the biggest free speech infringements by a western democracy in our lifetimes right?
November 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
Does feel like someone should ask why Labour suspended seven of its own MPs for wanting almost half a million children to be lifted out of poverty a year earlier, doesn't it?
Rachel Reeves on #C4News saying Labour are now lifting 450,000 children out of poverty by removing the two child benefit cap
So an admission that Labour kept 450,000 children in poverty for the past year because they didn't care enough about child poverty to lift them out of it last year
So an admission that Labour kept 450,000 children in poverty for the past year because they didn't care enough about child poverty to lift them out of it last year
November 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Does feel like someone should ask why Labour suspended seven of its own MPs for wanting almost half a million children to be lifted out of poverty a year earlier, doesn't it?
Reposted by Ric Crossman
I'm old enough to remember (I'm over one year old) when we were all told to shut up about labour's left wing credentials because the renters rights and employment rights bills were on the way. how are those going lxds? how are my rights looking?
NEW: The UK Government have abandoned plans to give workers day-one protection against unfair dismissal in a bid to ensure it’s Employment Rights Bill makes it through Parliament 👇
Labour scrap day-one protection from unfair dismissal manifesto pledge in U-turn
www.thenational.scot
November 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I'm old enough to remember (I'm over one year old) when we were all told to shut up about labour's left wing credentials because the renters rights and employment rights bills were on the way. how are those going lxds? how are my rights looking?
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Waited until today to say this, to ensure we got in as many ballots as we could, but DUCU can confirm we passed the Tory anti-trade union 50% voting threshold for the current national ballot. Our team did a huge amount of amazing GTVO work, benefitting not just Durham but other branches. Respect.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Amusing conversation with a lawyer advising civil society organizations about how to deal with the chaos created by For Some Women, Scotland: "I tell them 'either you can be sued by JK Rowling or you can be sued by Jolyon Maugham.'"
November 18, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Amusing conversation with a lawyer advising civil society organizations about how to deal with the chaos created by For Some Women, Scotland: "I tell them 'either you can be sued by JK Rowling or you can be sued by Jolyon Maugham.'"
Reposted by Ric Crossman
👉👉👉Hey! Please sign and share! Let's get to 500+ today! www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
Northumbria Pay and Pension Petition: Stop the Steal!
If Northumbria does this, other universities will too.
These cuts will harm thousands of people, their students, families, and their local communities now and into the future.
www.megaphone.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 8:34 AM
👉👉👉Hey! Please sign and share! Let's get to 500+ today! www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
Question from today's Departmental Board Games Afternoon: is it possible to win a four-player round of Red Seven after playing just one card. Turns out (I think): Yes!
November 26, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Question from today's Departmental Board Games Afternoon: is it possible to win a four-player round of Red Seven after playing just one card. Turns out (I think): Yes!
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Incredible ❤️
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Incredible ❤️
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Posters have appeared around the building. They suggest that geography, geology, & environment staff might be a bit angry at proposed redundancies, reorganisations & closures. Rightly so.
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Posters have appeared around the building. They suggest that geography, geology, & environment staff might be a bit angry at proposed redundancies, reorganisations & closures. Rightly so.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Please sign and share: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
November 24, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Please sign and share: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Australia: Victoria Becomes First State To Offer Free Birth Certificate Updates For Trans People
www.starobserver.com...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.starobserver.com...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
Victoria Becomes First State To Offer Free Birth Certificate Updates For Trans People - Star Observer
Victoria is the first state in Australia to make it free for the trans community to update their gender on their birth certificate.
www.starobserver.com.au
November 23, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Australia: Victoria Becomes First State To Offer Free Birth Certificate Updates For Trans People
www.starobserver.com...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.starobserver.com...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
I realise it's almost always foolish for a non-lawyer to start pontificating about legal matters, but if the EHRCs own leaked guidance says there is no form of documentation that can be used to "prove" someone's sex, then *how is anyone to "prove" they are or are not a woman*?
November 22, 2025 at 1:02 PM
I realise it's almost always foolish for a non-lawyer to start pontificating about legal matters, but if the EHRCs own leaked guidance says there is no form of documentation that can be used to "prove" someone's sex, then *how is anyone to "prove" they are or are not a woman*?
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Would be great to spread this far and wide so we make as much money as possible in COLCHESTER tomorrow
This SUNDAY - COLCHESTER!!
A solo show for @samaritans.bsky.social
Tickets here
www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...
Tell your friends
A solo show for @samaritans.bsky.social
Tickets here
www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...
Tell your friends
November 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Would be great to spread this far and wide so we make as much money as possible in COLCHESTER tomorrow
Reposted by Ric Crossman
We know how (more) bleak things have been since the EHRC interim guidance (now taken down). One uni building even went so far to write a statement assuring colleagues they could continue to use the toilets matching their gender identity. They were told they couldn't publish it.
November 20, 2025 at 9:39 AM
We know how (more) bleak things have been since the EHRC interim guidance (now taken down). One uni building even went so far to write a statement assuring colleagues they could continue to use the toilets matching their gender identity. They were told they couldn't publish it.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Trans Day of Remembrance feels like a good day to post this picture, taken by St Aiden's college last week. There are so many of us in Durham who stand in solidarity with the trans, non-binary, and intersex communities, even if we don't always feel able to say so.
November 20, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Trans Day of Remembrance feels like a good day to post this picture, taken by St Aiden's college last week. There are so many of us in Durham who stand in solidarity with the trans, non-binary, and intersex communities, even if we don't always feel able to say so.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Today is Trans Day Of Remembrance
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
November 20, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Today is Trans Day Of Remembrance
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
#TransLivesMatter #TDoR #TDoR2025 #TransDayOfRemembrance #TransAwarenessWeek #SayTheirNames
*** Trigger warning for the following thread: Violence against trans people (especially TWOC) * * *
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Sexual harassment is a scourge to academia and should have no place in our field. That it still does is, in part, because institutions still value academic prestige over the untold harms done to often early career scholars.
November 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Sexual harassment is a scourge to academia and should have no place in our field. That it still does is, in part, because institutions still value academic prestige over the untold harms done to often early career scholars.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Pleased to see @ucu.org.uk continue to oppose the horrendous anti-immigration rhetoric and policy of the UK government.
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
UCU statement on Prime Minister's anti-immigration turn
UCU statement following Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer's anti-immigration turn.
www.ucu.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Pleased to see @ucu.org.uk continue to oppose the horrendous anti-immigration rhetoric and policy of the UK government.
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1379...
Reposted by Ric Crossman
FURTHER EDUCATION COMRADES!!!! This is such an amazing achievement. We're excited about supporting you all the way.
90% voted YES.
32 colleges over the line.
17 colleges already won pay awards.
This is a huge organising win for our FE members.
College bosses must work with us, staff deserve a fair deal, especially when many are paid £7k–£9k less than in sixth forms.
Next steps announced next week.
32 colleges over the line.
17 colleges already won pay awards.
This is a huge organising win for our FE members.
College bosses must work with us, staff deserve a fair deal, especially when many are paid £7k–£9k less than in sixth forms.
Next steps announced next week.
November 18, 2025 at 7:28 PM
FURTHER EDUCATION COMRADES!!!! This is such an amazing achievement. We're excited about supporting you all the way.
This is exactly and obviously correct, and it's absolutely maddening how many academics deliberately misinterpret it as wanting to relax (or abandon!) academic standards.
Universities should contain both difficulty and ease.
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
Learning should be difficult. The process of learning is, by its very nature, difficult, and that is no bad thing.
For everything else, for every other element of the student experience, there should be ease. Applying should be easy. 1/
November 18, 2025 at 8:39 AM
This is exactly and obviously correct, and it's absolutely maddening how many academics deliberately misinterpret it as wanting to relax (or abandon!) academic standards.
Reposted by Ric Crossman
Sexual harassment is a productivity tax on women in STEM
Imagine the things we could do with our time if we didn’t have to do this bsky.app/profile/chan...
I did my job. And then I did a job that never should have been my responsibility afterwards, sending emails and having meetings about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. Other women scholars had to spend their time explaining to Aspen leadership why this was not ok.
November 16, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Sexual harassment is a productivity tax on women in STEM
I'm old enough to remember David Duke agreeing with Corbyn that billionaires are bad, and it being immediately seized upon as proof that Corbyn was a Grand Wizard with a jam fetish.
November 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I'm old enough to remember David Duke agreeing with Corbyn that billionaires are bad, and it being immediately seized upon as proof that Corbyn was a Grand Wizard with a jam fetish.
Gonna need a moratorium on professors telling me them going on strike won't achieve anything, for the next, ooh, let's say infinity years?
There is power in a union.
Especially for ‘invisible’ workers like this.
Especially for ‘invisible’ workers like this.
Hundreds of low-paid NHS hospital staff win improved terms after strike threat
November 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Gonna need a moratorium on professors telling me them going on strike won't achieve anything, for the next, ooh, let's say infinity years?