I'm an Air Force Major, former Army Sergeant, and currently on an Air Force Institute of Technology graduate sponsorship at The University of Iowa, where I'm studying for a PhD in Political Science (International Relations and Comparative Politics). You can find the lurid career details here.
My main research interest is on the interaction of information communication technology and international relations, which is the main focus of this site. My goal is to create a reasonably well-stocked selection of abstracts, academic links and ICT/IR news commentary, with occasional digressions into buffoonery (100% academics would be awfully dry).
I'm always open to leads, praises and critiques! In addition, I'm also looking for guest authors with information technology and/or social science backgrounds. Please feel free to contact me at james at jdfielder dot com or james-fielder at uiowa dot edu.
------------------------------------------About the picture: USAFA cadets are not allowed to eat in the classroom, or drink unless using a specific spill-proof mug. Has something to do with the cleaning contract, not extra spite on the faculty's part.
That said, if I caught someone eating or drinking from an open container in class, rather than chew them out or report them to superiors I simply took their food/drink and consumed it as fast as possible right in front of them, crumbs and spittle flying. Then I'd crumple up the container and throw it back at the shocked cadet.
The cadets finally wised up. One day while writing at the board I heard quiet laughter behind me. When I turned around I saw one of my students leaning back in his chair, his hands behind his head. His look was smug. On the desk in front of him was a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew and a family-sized package of barbecue potato chips.
My eyes slowly rose from the food to the cadet's face. Our eyes met. I said, "hold that thought, son..."
I quickly went the the classroom next door and interrupted my colleague's class. I explained the situation, and my colleague asked what I was going to do about it."Why, drink the Dew, of course," I replied. He closed his books, gathered his students, and we all piled back into my classroom.
I threw off my camouflage top, grabbed the Dew, and started chugging.I drank the whole bottle in 2 minutes and 20 seconds, finishing with a colossal belch (a student took the picture). I then crumpled the bottle, threw it back at the student, got almost nose to nose with him and extolled, "who's your daddy, home slice!?"
The class went wild, a USAFA legend was born, and I solidified my author-e-tay in the classroom!
I didn't eat the chips, though... ;-)
