Blogs

One man leaves New York going West at 100 mph. Another leaves Chicago going East at 120 mph. Where do they meet? The answer is, of course, jail, since they are both driving much too fast. This joke occasionally shows up as a “free” problem on my math exams, and typically draws groans when the students learn the answer. However, it also reminds me of some very fond memories of times spent with my mother working either algebra or geometry problems during the years I was in school.

One of the oft-unspoken norms around here is that economies of scale exist, so bigger is more efficient than smaller. Another, of course, is that efficiency is a good thing. But a temporarily overlooked (at least, by sustainability wonks) report out of the Edison Electric Institute seems to say that neither scale nor efficiency is necessarily advantageous.

We all know the old joke about the drunk who’s looking for his keys outside the bar at night. He’s looking near the streetlamp, even though he dropped them half a block away, because the light is better there. If we look where it’s easy, instead of where it’s likely, it’s easy to predict the results.

Did anyone think of urine?

A department store is a familiar sort of thing for higher ed folks. What are we but a department store of academic disciplines? Bloomingdales and Macy's have housewares, men's and bedding departments - we have economics, biology and women's studies.

The film world was busy this week mourning the loss of two “mountains”—documentary filmmaker Les Blank and film critic Roger Ebert. They will both be remembered for highlighting work about women, blacks, Cajuns, “crackers,” Mexicans, Yugoslavs—subjects and filmmakers who are too often ignored and forgotten by mainstream media. Both men have inspired me in my own filmmaking and teaching.

I have some thoughts on automated grading of student writing. Most of them are unkind.

An examination of France's wild and crazy chief rabbi....