[Englecturers] Books & Coffee

[Jennifer Doyle]

Dear Colleagues,

Seconding Stephanie's recommendation: I can't recommend the  
University Book Exchange enough - I use them whenever I can. They are  
very helpful, eager to please faculty and students.

Students should be warned that lines can be long at the start of the  
term (they are smaller than the textbook store, so less checkout  
counters) - but students will find fair prices for the books they need.

You can e-mail book orders to them at: uberiv at aol.com, and you can  
find a map and couple reviews of the store at:

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711356860

They have been very communicative - they've called me when they've  
spotted a cheaper edition, or when I've made an error in my order,  
and I know I can always call or e-mail them to check on the status of  
my order (and get a personalized, friendly response).  Some on the  
above mentioned website complain about irregular hours, but I've  
never found this to be a problem.

Jennifer Doyle


On Feb 7, 2008, at 7:08 PM, Stephanie Hammer wrote:

> Dear Carole and pals (!);
>
> I read with delight of Carole's pioneering efforts in the
> matters of the coffee "store" and pub.  I support these worthy
> goals and wish you all the best.  I think that many of us are
> pursuing similar efforts in different arenas.  My personal
> project is encouraging faculty to boycott the bookstore after
> several years of memos and meetings failed to produced any
> substantive changes.  I would encourage anyone who is unhappy
> with the bookstores' prices and services to use the Riverside
> Book Exchange, located on Big Springs Road.  It's not a pretty
> store, but they buy the books and have them and are very
> pleasant, at least in my experience.
>
> Thanks and here's to caffeine and alcohol on campus!
>
> Best
> Stephanie Hammer
> Comp Lit
>
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:07:58 -0800
>> From: Carole Fabricant <carole.fabricant at ucr.edu>
>> Subject: Coffee Update (and related matters)
>> To: rise.axelrod at ucr.edu;, Steven.Axelrod at ucr.edu;,
> John.Briggs at ucr.edu;, joseph.childers at ucr.edu;,
> Andrea.Denny-Brown at ucr.edu;, kimberley.devlin at ucr.edu;,
> devlinucr at earthlink.net;, Emory.Elliott at ucr.edu;,
> jennifer.doyle at ucr.edu;, cfabs at mindspring.com;,
> carole.fabricant at ucr.edu;, John.Ganim at ucr.edu;,
> George.Haggerty at ucr.edu;, GEHaggerty at aol.com;,
> keith.harris at ucr.edu;, KATHERINE.KINNEY at UCR.EDU;,
> katherine.kinney at ucr.edu;, Tiffany.Lopez at ucr.edu;,
> Vorris.Nunley at ucr.edu;, Toby.Miller at ucr.edu;,
> michelle.raheja at ucr.edu;, Stanley.Stewart at ucr.edu;,
> James.Tobias at ucr.edu;, jamestobias at mindspring.com;,
> Caroleanne.tyler at ucr.edu;, Deborah.Willis at ucr.edu;,
> Traise.Yamamoto at ucr.edu;, susan.zieger at ucr.edu;,
> susanz at ucr.edu;, lindon.barrett at ucr.edu;,
> heidi.braymanhackel at ucr.edu;, erica.edwards at ucr.edu;,
> setsu.shigematsu at ucr.edu
>> Cc: englecturers at lists.ucr.edu;, susan.brown at ucr.edu;,
> tina.feldmann at ucr.edu;, linda.nellany at ucr.edu;,
> kathleen.carter at ucr.edu;, cynde.sanchez at ucr.edu;,
> kathleen.carter at ucr.edu;, stephen.cullenberg at ucr.edu;,
> georgia.warnke at ucr.edu;, thomas.cogswell at ucr.edu;,
> john.fischer at ucr.edu;, scott.coltrane at ucr.edu;,
> vmill002 at student.ucr.edu;, edna.bonacich at ucr.edu;,
> michael.kearney at ucr.edu;, dale.kent at ucr.edu;,
> ray.kea at ucr.edu;, stephanie.hammer at ucr.edu;,
> elizabeth.lord at ucr.edu;, carl.cranor at ucr.edu;,
> david.glidden at ucr.edu;, christine.gailey at ucr.edu;,
> theda.shapiro at ucr.edu;, linda.tomko at ucr.edu;,
> michelle.bloom at ucr.edu;, francoise.forster at ucr.edu;,
> devra.weber at ucr.edu;, randolph.head at ucr.edu;,
> june.oconnor at ucr.edu;, judy.kronenfeld at ucr.edu;,
> marina.pianca at ucr.edu;, marguerite.waller at ucr.edu;,
> alicia.arrizon at ucr.edu;, pya.chatterjee at ucr.edu
>>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> A couple of things to report since my last communication.  Andy
>> Plumley replied to my email, saying that the coffee "bus"
> (it's a
>> truck!) was only temporary until a planned coffee "store"
> (the word
>> choice didn't inspire confidence) opens in Phase II of the
> Commons
>> construction.  I gather that others of you who also emailed him
>> received a similar reply.
>>
>> I had "cc'd" the email to several UCR administrators and the
> next day
>> discovered that Acting Chancellor Grey had passed my letter
> on to EVC
>> Wartella (whom I'd forgotten to "cc"), who in turn passed it
> along to
>> Al Diaz, the Vice-Chancellor (one of approximately 8,345 by
> my most
>> recent estimate) for Commons Facilities, including Dining,
> Design,
>> and Construction.  She apparently urged Diaz to contact me
> (which he
>> did) in order to respond to my concerns.  I accordingly
> arranged a
>> meeting with Diaz, who suggested that Plumley be included.
>>
>> Last Wednesday afternoon I met both Diaz and Plumley near the
>> entrance to the Bookstore.  The location was my idea, as I
> not only
>> had a few things to say to them (!) but also wanted them to
> give me a
>> tour of the Commons and show me exactly where the new coffee
> place
>> would be located, as well as point out any additional spaces
> under
>> construction that might be serviceable as faculty lounges,
> hang-out
>> joints, etc.
>>
>> I was immediately taken to the Printing and Reproduction
> 'Shop' (the
>> place where you go to have readers made up for your classes).
>  The
>> people behind the desk glared at us in a none-too-friendly
> manner --
>> the reason for which I understood better after I was told
> that they
>> were being ejected from the premises to make way for the coffee
>> "store".  I would like to think that the apparent imminence
> of this
>> removal was in some way related to the flood of angry emails
> Plumley
>> received about the absence of a coffee venue on campus.  P
> assured me
>> (several times) that the remodeling of the space would begin
> very
>> soon and that the coffee "store" would be up and running
> sometime
>> during the spring quarter -- though he also kept mumbling to
> himself
>> that they first had to find an architect (which didn't inspire
>> confidence that it would be ready anytime soon).  I think
> we'll have
>> to maintain a close surveillance of the premises (pardon my
> Homeland
>> Security lingo) to make sure that satisfactory progress is
> being made
>> and that the projected date of opening doesn't keep
> disappearing into
>> the distant future.
>>
>> The space itself isn't bad (though perhaps not as spacious as
> one
>> would like).  It has definite potential and could (in the
> right hands
>> and under the right direction) be turned into a satisfactory
> coffee
>> venue to drink, mingle, and relax in.  P suggested the model of
>> Starbuck's (which I guess is a step up from a shopping mall food
>> court) but I countered with a less sterile and plastic model.  I
>> emphasized the importance of comfortable seating, the right
> kind of
>> lighting (preferably not the kind of florescent overheads
> used in
>> U.S. torture chambers abroad), and the need to extend the
> hours well
>> into the evening.  I also suggested that it be designated a
>> laptop-free zone so that the venue doesn't turn into a
> study-hall for
>> undergrads or a place where they set up their computers and play
>> video-games or go on MySpace for hours on end.  The undergrads
>> actually have several quite decent lounges in the Commons
> which are
>> already furnished and open; it's the grown-ups (yes, there
> are a few
>> of us around) who don't have anywhere to hang out or interact.
>>
>> I then explained to P & D the difference between a coffee
> "store" and
>> a coffee-house, making it clear it's the latter we want.  P in
>> particular seemed very taken with this distinction and
> declared that
>> from now on what they would be building is a coffee-house.
> I'd like
>> to think more than semantics are involved here.  P suggested
> that one
>> of the walls of the Printing Shop could be broken down in
> order to
>> link the coffee-house to the bookstore, along the model of a
> Barnes
>> and Noble.  Given the kind of bookstore we have I'm not sure
> that's
>> such a good idea, especially if it will absorb the
> coffee-house into
>> what is an essentially commercial (not to mention
> ugly-as-sin) venue;
>> but some modification of that idea might be the best we can hope
>> for.  Let's face it, a Cafe Trieste (SF) or a Caffe Reggio
> (NYC) it's
>> not going to be; this is Riverside, after all.  But maybe we can
>> maintain enough pressure to make it as close to one of those
> venues
>> as reasonably possible.  Nothing is yet set in stone re the
>> coffee-house (other than its location) so now is the time to
> push
>> ahead for what we want.  If you have any suggestions in this
> regard
>> please send them along to me.
>>
>> I won't bother describing the rest of my tour of the Commons
> except
>> to say that there are actually a few spaces in it with a bit of
>> (human/communal/aesthetic) potential.  (Maybe we can get
> together a
>> band of raiders to try to "liberate" a couple of these -- I
> don't
>> think they'd necessarily be missed.)  D waxed enthusiastic
> over what
>> he kept calling the "Piazza" -- the area below the
> second-floor patio
>> with (rather ugly and uncomfortable) chairs and tables along the
>> perimeter.  For a moment I got carried away and asked where the
>> fountain would be situated.  D looked at me as though I were
>> crazy.  Oops, I guess he didn't have the Piazza Navona in
> mind.  Oh well.
>>
>> I did though forge ahead and stress the need for landscaping
> -- for 
>> trees and greenery all around that side of the Commons -- and D
>> assured me those were part of the plans.  For those of you who
>> haven't been keeping abreast of things, huge swaths of the
> natural
>> environment on campus (e.g., the lower playing fields) have been
>> destroyed and are being covered over by ugly slabs of
> concrete --
>> mainly to accommodate the needs of Engineering, Business &
>> Management, etc.  (And wait until the plans for the Medical
> School
>> progress a little further -- that will bring a whole new
> chapter in
>> the horror story of what's occurring on campus.)  I told D the
>> faculty would be very upset at any further destruction of the
> natural
>> surroundings to make space for more ugly concrete structures,
>> especially (but not only) around the Commons area.  He seemed
> to be listening.
>>
>> I don't think D (nor the EVC, nor anyone else up the food chain)
>> wants the faculty to be upset -- or at least they don't want
> them to
>> express their upset in public, attention-getting ways that
> would tap
>> into (and roil the waters of) what is obviously a deep well of
>> discontent at UCR.  I have no illusions about why P & D asked
> to meet
>> with me -- it certainly wasn't because they're seriously
> interested
>> in hearing my ideas about what a real university campus
> should look
>> like and offer its members.  Their aim was damage control,
> pure and
>> simple.  Still, I think we can make use of that motivation
> for our
>> own purposes, to try to exert at least some modicum of
> control over
>> our surroundings and ensure that D's "piazza" doesn't
> insidiously
>> turn into something that looks like a WalMart Plaza.
>>
>> I want to conclude by mentioning one other (very necessary!)
> project
>> that goes hand-in-hand with the coffee-house: a campus pub.
> I raised
>> this issue with Plumley -- specifically, about turning the Barn
>> (back) into a pub (a real, British- or Irish-style pub) --
> and he
>> expressed interest in pursuing the possibility.  It's absolutely
>> scandalous that there's no place on this campus where grown-ups
>> (faculty and grad students) can get together and relax and
> converse
>> over some good ale or stout (or whatever your favorite liquid
>> indulgence is), especially in the evenings after many of us
> get out
>> of class and have to traverse a dark, largely abandoned
> campus that
>> might as well have a "Closed" sign hung up on it.
>>
>> There are many places in the world where such a campus would
> prompt
>> students (and faculty!) to march in protest, man the
> barricades and
>> nail 95 Theses on the door of every Administration Building in
>> sight.  That's not because there are more alcoholics or coffee
>> addicts on foreign campuses but because they have an
> understanding
>> that a real education encompasses a range of experiences that
> can't
>> be reduced to formal classroom or lecture-hall activity.  We
>> dutifully trudge from one overly formal and over-orchestrated
>> academic event to another, which invariably take place in ugly
>> sterile-looking boxes housed in ugly sterile-looking
> structures that
>> have the effect of numbing the mind and soul.  Does anyone
> really
>> believe that this is what genuine intellectual engagement is all
>> about?  Where are the spaces on this campus where spontaneous,
>> creative (and, I might add, "critical" in every sense of the
> word)
>> ideas can flourish and be expressed?  But I guess that's just
> the
>> point -- what use do such ideas have for the kind of highly
>> bureaucratized and corporatized institution that UCR has become?
>>
>> I'd estimate that a good 60% of the learning that goes on at
> Trinity
>> College, Dublin (for students and faculty alike) takes place
> in pubs
>> in and around campus.  Ditto (only moreso) the learning in
> French
>> universities that takes place in cafes on and around
> campuses.  I
>> daresay a substantial chunk of the greatest literature and
> philosophy
>> of the 20th century would never have been produced if venues
> like
>> taverns, coffee-houses, piazzas, and cafes didn't exist.  I
> realize
>> that U.S. academic culture is very different from the
> European one;
>> but even in this country, truly outstanding colleges and
> universities
>> tend to have campuses that encourage maximum interaction
> among campus
>> members in comfortable and sociable venues where ideas as
> well as
>> liquor (or java) can flow freely.  I'd be willing to give
> 10-to-1
>> odds that the very institutions UCR is desperately trying to
> emulate
>> and always wants to be compared with have campuses of this
> congenial
>> nature.  So how come we don't try to imitate them in this
> regard as
>> well as in others (that are often far less achievable)?
>>
>> Needless to say I didn't put the matter in quite these terms to
>> Plumley.  He (like the other 8,345 V-C's running the campus
> these
>> days) is a 'for-profit' kind of guy and couldn't care less about
>> genuine intellectual engagement or the spontaneous flow of
> ideas.  He
>> is however interested in the spontaneous (or maybe more
> organized)
>> flow of cash and accumulation of capital, so my observation
> that a
>> pub on campus would attract a clientele with disposable
> income that
>> at the moment spends its money elsewhere, in bars and
> restaurants
>> around town, did make an impression.  He told me that the campus
>> liquor license is held by the University Club (which of
> course at the
>> moment has no home since it was thrown out of its old digs by
> the
>> School of Management) and that it would presumably have to
> approve
>> the selling of alcohol anywhere on campus.  (This is a new
> one to me;
>> in the old days liquor was available in various different venues
>> around campus, at receptions, lectures, etc., and no one
> needed to
>> give [or get] 'permission' from anyone.)  P is on the University
>> Club's Board of Directors and said he would present this idea
> to them
>> at their next meeting.  I told him I'd draw up a design for the
>> inside of the new Barn pub.  There is of course the little
> matter of
>> where the money for the renovation will come from -- but I
> think we
>> need to deal with one thing at a time here.
>>
>> In closing, my thanks to the many of you who heeded my
> request to
>> send Plumley an email and /or who let me know that you
> support my
>> efforts to improve the quality of life on campus.  Since I'm not
>> necessarily going to continue circulating lengthy emails to the
>> entire department, I would appreciate hearing from others of you
>> (either by email or a note left in my mailbox; my office
> phone still
>> doesn't work) who agree with what I'm doing and I'll make
> sure to
>> include you on an ever-growing list of people who have
> seconded my
>> complaints and want to be kept in the loop about developments
> on the
>> coffee/Commons/pub front.
>>
>> Even a quick note of general interest and agreement is fine
> at this
>> point and something I'd be happy to receive.  But I'd also
> like to
>> hear from those of you who would be willing to help out in
> various
>> ways.  Toward the end of this quarter I'd like to start paying
>> regular visits to the site of the new coffee-house (i.e., the
> present
>> Print Shop) to monitor the progress of the construction and
> (if need
>> be) to contact Plumley with concerns about delays or the
> slowness of
>> the process; but because of my own hectic schedule when I'm in
>> Riverside I won't be able to do this alone.  If you're
> willing to
>> help out in this regard please let me know.  I also intend to
> offer
>> my services to help pick out furniture for the coffee-house
> -- anyone 
>> interested in doing this with me?  I could also use some
> assistance
>> in drawing up plans for the interior of the Barn pub.  I've
> certainly
>> spent enough time in pubs to know what a good one should look
> like
>> (no smirks or snide remarks, please) but my draughtsman's
> skills are,
>> alas, limited.  (Down the road I might also need your help in
> trying
>> to convince the relevant boards of directors and administrative
>> bodies that they should get behind the idea of a campus
>> pub.)  Finally (for now), let me know if there are any of you
> willing
>> to walk around the campus and note down areas of greenery
> that we
>> should insist upon retaining in the face of the mindless
> expansion
>> currently taking place here.  If we don't identify these
> places now
>> and make it clear to the Powers That Be that we're willing to
> fight
>> for their continued existence, they will surely go the way of
> the
>> lower playing fields and there will come a time when we'll
> have to go
>> to a natural history or photography museum to remind
> ourselves what
>> native trees and plants, orange groves, etc. used to look
> like in the
>> 'old days', before their total disappearance (think "Soylent
> Green").
>>
>> Thank you for hearing me out and giving serious consideration
> to my proposals.
>>
>> Best,
>> Carole
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>
> "I don't like geniuses... they're dangerous."
>
> THE FOUNTAINHEAD, Alisa Rosenbaum, aka Ayn Rand

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