LINGUIST List Special Issue: Update from the first LL Crew Member

Mon Mar 24 15:36:50 UTC 2008

LINGUIST List Special Issue: Update from the first LL Crew Member

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Randall Eggert, U of Utah  
         <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

------------------------- Message 1 ----------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:41:13
From:  linguist <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Subject: First Crew Member Ljuba Veselinova on life after LINGUIST List

Dear Linguists,

This year we wanted to show you what some of the former LL crew
members have gone on to do in the field. Below is a letter that Ljuba
Veselinova wrote about what she has achieved since leaving LINGUIST.

*

I came to LINGUIST List in 1994 as the first recipient of its graduate
student fellowship funded by subscribers. Compared to its current
size, the list was small back then (around 4000 subscribers) but the
work was exciting and there was this whole new universe to - I am
talking, of course, about the internet. I was soon engulfed by UNIX,
its shells, its mail and text utilities, especially emacs. It was
scary to have to tell some of the people who figured as authors of my
textbooks that they will need to edit parts of their messages. The
mailing list function was a primary one at that time and the list was
split between Eastern Michigan University and the University of Texas
A & M. Those of us based in Michigan were connecting to a computer in
Texas via a phone modem! I stayed with LINGUIST List thanks to the
subscriber's support until I finished my MA in 1997. By the time I was
leaving, the subscriber numbers had soared to 10000 and counting; the
mailing list had become just one of the functions LINGUIST performed,
and a well organized website was in place. The first NSF funded
infrastructure project was going on and there were several grant
proposals in the making. Working for LINGUIST List had never been more
promising.

In a way, it is actually wrong to ask me what I am doing after
LINGUIST List because I never truly quit for real. While greater part
of my time has been devoted to typology through my dissertation on
suppletion in verb paradigms and my participation in the World Atlas
of Language Structures (WALS), my interest in technology and LINGUIST
is as alive as ever. After 1997, I kept coming back to Michigan for
periods of time of varying length. Thanks to grants from the Swedish
Institute I was able to come back in summer 1998 as well as in fall
1999; in summer 2000 I was partially funded by LINGUIST List NSF
grant. My latest stay was on a Visiting Scientist position during the
academic year 2005-6. I was planning on looking for other academic
jobs in the US when the Swedish Research Council awarded me a four
year long research funding. It is worth noting that one of the
motivations for this reward as well as other grants I received was my
international experience while working for the LINGUIST List.

Here in Stockholm, I am currently focusing on the typology of negation
in non-verbal and existential sentences. I also pursue studies on
geographical information systems (GIS) on my own. Right now I teach
sociolinguistics and also a newly designed class on language and
geography together with my colleague Mikael Parkvall. I run the
department's computer room and will soon be taking over the
web-mastering for the ALT website from its current webmaster Peter
Kahrel. My collaboration with LINGUIST is still going on as
Prof. Östen Dahl and I are involved in the Language and
Location/LL-Map project.

The education received at LINGUIST List, both through direct
instruction and mentoring thanks to Helen and Anthony's incredible
resourcefullness and endless patience, as well as indirectly, by just
having to sit down and actually do the work shows up on many different
levels. What I learned from LINGUIST is reflected daily in my
correspondence and professional contacts, in my organizing skills, in
my knowledge and interest in technology and databases. LINGUIST List
has grown from a mailing list with a linguistic profile to an
organization and a school of its own kind. These days I am happy to
send my students there as the LINGUIST List experience is immensely
beneficial to anyone who is going to pursue a career in linguistics
and/or language technology. It is also my turn to chip in the
supporting pot and once again thank the subscribers for all the
contributions that made my stay with LINGUIST possible. At the same
time, I would like to extend a plea for a continued support for the
LINGUIST List as it is an extremely vigorous and creative environment
where many students have found expression for their talents and
actually become linguists.

- Ljuba Veselinova

*

Visit Ljuba's homepage at: http://www.ling.su.se/staff/ljuba/

Come to the Fund Drive Circus tent and read about other former LL crew
members:
http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2008/former-ll-crew/

Help us raise money to reach our goal in order to be able to produce
more former LL crew members like Ljuba!
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

Thank you! 

The LINGUIST Crew

------------------------- Message 2 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:57:03
From:  linguist <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Subject: Donate Today and Get a Free Book!

Today is the last day to take advantage of Continuum's Special Offer!

When you donate $70 or more to LINGUIST our supporting publisher, Continuum, 
will give you the chance to choose one of their titles above as an extra 
premium. Continuum is offering one copy of the donor's choice from the 
book titles listed below:

>From the Collected Works of M.A.K. Halliday Series:

Computational and Quantitative Studies
M.A.K. Halliday
Edited by Jonathan J. Webster
(2006)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=124527

Language in Early Childhood
M.A.K. Halliday
Edited by Jonathan J. Webster
(2006)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=123496

Language of Science
M.A.K. Halliday
Edited by Jonathan J. Webster
(2006)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=124518

Linguistic Studies on Text and Discourse
M.A.K. Halliday
(2006)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=124529

On Grammar
M.A.K. Halliday
(2005)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=124493

On Language and Linguistics
M.A.K. Halliday
Edited by Jonathan J. Webster
(2006)
http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=123495

Hurry up and donate to get the title that you want. Don't wait, this 
offer will expire at midnight EST Monday March 24th! 
Donate: https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

The LINGUIST Crew 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $60,000. This money will go
to help keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors
for the coming year.

See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out our
Fund Drive 2008 LINGUIST List Circus and join us on our many shows!

http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2008/

There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!

You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so,
go to: https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm

For all information on donating and pledging, including information on
how to donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit:
http://linguistlist.org/donation/

The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University
and as such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is
a registered 501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is
38-6005986. These donations can be offset against your federal and
sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more
information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor.

Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will
match any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this
entails your contacting your human resources department and sending us
a form that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your
employer. This is generally a simple administrative procedure that
doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an
extra penny.  Please take a moment to check if your company operates
such a program.

Note: the donors' names are appended to every fund drive message sent
to the main list.  You can also see the list of all donors by clicking
here:
http://linguistlist.org/donation/contributors2008.html

Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!

---------------------------------------------------------------------