Blogs

For obvious reasons, it is not possible to rehearse an improv show. However, my class had the equivalent of the dress rehearsal for our 4-show musical improv run last night, racing through three back-to-back 25-minute improvised musical comedies.

For a brief spell in the 80’s and 90’s, higher education was consumed by the canon wars. For those too young to remember, the canon wars were some earnest and intense battles among people who couldn’t agree on which authors needed to be taught for students to be considered properly educated. Allan Bloom usually gets credit (or blame) for picking the fight, but the battle was joined quickly on many sides.

There were less than 60 kids in my graduating class in high school. At Columbus Community High School in Columbus Junction, Iowa - involvement in everything - was the norm. Athletes acted in plays. Musicians took photos for the yearbook. Everyone did everything. We didn't specialize. During my senior year of high school, I participated in marching band, concert band, jazz band, pep band, business club, science & math club, yearbook staff, newspaper staff, theater, and small/large group competitive speech.

The Ithaka faculty survey for 2012 is out. Just like in 2009, the faculty don’t think much of the library - except for the news that humanities faculty are a little more inclined than in the previous faculty survey to start their research using a library catalog. As in 2009, the library’s most valued function is to pay the bills for content, and even that function is less important than it was when the survey was last conducted. I can't help wondering - could it be because libraries have less money and the bills are higher?

I'm really bad at chess. My little brother was always amazing at the game, and was somehow always a few steps in front of me. I'd snag one of his knights, and this would cause him to capture my queen and put me in check. I had always thought that the reason he was so good was because he cheated or knew some trick to the game that I didn't. It was the same way with Risk. While I focused on conquering countries with funny names, he conquered everything else... and eventually me.

Did any of you catch Thursday's EDUCAUSE Live webinar Changing the Culture of an IT Organization, Whirlwind Style? The discussion was hosted by Yale's Jane Livingston, Associate CIO and Karen Polhemus, Director, ITS Organizational Change Management - and was (beautifully) moderated by NC State's CIO Marc Hoit.

There was a time when university presses, defined not as enterprises but as simple printing facilities, had as primary function the publication/diffusion of research texts produced at the university with which they were affiliated. One of the primary text forms to be published was the doctoral or magisterial dissertation.

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.