Notices by Irene Zhang (irene@discuss.systems)

@keira_reckons @JessTheUnstill second the Withings. I just got one for @dan and I think he’s only charged it two or three times since Christmas. I have one of the Fossil hybrid watches. I like watches that have hands and look like watches.

@keira_reckons @JessTheUnstill @dan this is actually a big feature for me as it will set itself automatically as I travel.

@keira_reckons @JessTheUnstill @dan I have a fossil one with a bigger display and you can set it to display images or notifications. Like this notification that my cat used the litter box while I was out running.

There’s a loaf on @sharon’s table. #cats #caturday

I’m really tired of people telling me “things are going to be ok” when things are absolutely going to be ok for them but not me.

Calling all #cat lovers in Seattle. The Alley Cat Project (where we got Miso) is a lovely group of people that trap, neuter and foster outdoor cats into homes. They are desperately in need of foster homes right now for cats awaiting adoption. So if you have some extra space and want to help cats in need find families, sign up! https://alleycatproject.org/volunteer/

#cats #catsofmastodon

@kf I don’t have this problem because Microsoft keeps handing me rain wear like somehow I don’t have it already.

@kf actually that checks out for a certain class of white people. I know so many people with the best equipment for something they never do. Asians would just wing it in house slippers because it’s just a walk. 😂

@elba brought me this perfect concha today, straight from Mexico! Via her freezer.

@steve so one of the conspiracy theories that the Allen School has been pushing is that I have a vendetta against them for not hiring me. And yesterday, @dan realized: they’re saying that you have a vendetta against them for not giving you a faculty position when actually they have a vendetta against you for not taking a faculty position. So yeah DARVO

At some point during the UW situation, I was confused by why the men kept going to various university offices and admin with complaints, and someone said to me: because the system has always worked for them, so they trust that it will work this time too. I couldn’t comprehend it myself but now that we’ve finished this, indeed, the system did work for them. So I’m trying to do a tiny part to right things.

I’ve been asked by university administration to remove identifying information. However, they have no legal basis to censor me, so please share this!

(They seem to have no concerns about personally identifying information about me or the women in the report, including my name .. 🙄)
https://discuss.systems/@irene/114107367744329151

I wrote a postmortem of the University of Washington harassment investigation. I don’t get into details but I do explain my perspective and name the men involved, plus some lessons learned at the end. https://irenezhang.net/blog/2025/03/04/uw-harassment.html

I thought I might start compiling a list of all of the things that UW did wrong and other departments should avoid. But it got so long …

1. One of the men reported the women for creating a hostile work environment because they were talking about women’s health issues. A faculty member suggested that the women start a women’s lunch and limit their discussions there

I wrote a blog post about my job! Since a lot of folks have written about what it is like being faculty (in particular Vijay's excellent book), I thought it would be useful to write something about being an industrial researcher. So if you are wondering what it is like being an MSR researcher, I've tried to give folks a peek into my role.
https://irenezhang.net/blog/2024/03/27/msr.html

It was really meant to be a summary of my experiences from the last 6 years but it turned into an acknowledgement of the lovely people that I have worked with since I graduated!

After 6 months, the #UWAllen School’s HR investigation finds no evidence that rises to the level of harassment and blames me for not gaslighting the women about that. The report, which is presented as neutral and definitive, contains a number of errors, including accidentally publishing my name and mixing up the women. It concludes with the same set of recommendations that the women raised in their original letter 6 months ago.

I wrote a blog post about what it is like being #womenintech within the framework of #moralphilosophy and ethics. #consistencyforthewin https://irenezhang.net/blog/2024/07/24/misogyny.html

Request for feedback: now that it has been a few weeks since the UW HR report and it has become clear that the admin is not going to really change anything or hold anyone accountable, I want to write a postmortem about the situation and my experience. What would you as an academic or member of my research community want to know??

@skinnylatte it’s also near a really nice movie theater with the big recliner seats and the downtown Sheraton and Hyatt so convenient for conferences!