Weight and weight loss has turned out to be more popular than I would’ve expected as a blog topic– I get a remarkable number of search engine hits looking for some sort of diet information. Given that, I would be remiss if I failed to note an ongoing series of posts on “fat acceptance” at… Continue reading I’m Not Fat, I’m Just Big-Boned
Special Bonus Duke Bashing
Via Dave Sez, Chris Chase has all the J.J. Redick DUI jokes you could possibly want: * Redick’s arrest could actually help his draft status, as the Portland Trail Blazers are currently sitting at #4. * To keep up with his pal, Adam Morrison plans on knocking off a Seattle-area liquor store this evening. Special… Continue reading Special Bonus Duke Bashing
The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
Tara wrote a post about pressure to be perfect a few days back. This collided somewhat weirdly with this month’s Rolling Stone piece on Duke (cashing in on the lacrosse scandal), which includes a few serious issues among a bunch of credulous stuff about sex: In 2003, Duke launched a yearlong study, known as the… Continue reading The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
Politics and Academics
The esteemed Dr. Free-Ride has a post about politics responding to Sean Carroll’s recap of Yearly Kos. Both of them say things about the practice of politics that nicely encapsulate why I’m not a political activist– I’m too much of an academic:
Stop Nodding!
Rob Knop talks about a great teaching moment: A student who refused to just smile and nod: I was very grateful for that student. You see, when professors ask, “do you understand that?”, it’s not a test. It’s not the professor trying to catch the students up in admitting to being confused, it’s not the… Continue reading Stop Nodding!
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Time and Money
Weirdly, this week’s Ask a ScienceBlogger question may be the hardest one to answer yet: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why? Most of the responses have taken this as an “If you had it to do… Continue reading Ask a ScienceBlogger: Time and Money
Math Isn’t That Hard
Inside Higher Ed has a story this morning about Smith College moving toward requiring math. Smith, a women’s college in Massacusetts, has had an “open curriculum” (i.e., no requirements at all) for many years, which has allowed lots of students to graduate without ever taking a course requiring math or mathematical reasoning. They haven’t introduced… Continue reading Math Isn’t That Hard
Martian Balloons
There’s a piece in the New York Times this morning about a German project to send a balloon-borne rover to Mars that’s got a little something for everyone. It’s a Mars mission, which never gets old, but it’s also a privately financed project, and thus a nice demonstration of the power of private enterprise, for… Continue reading Martian Balloons
Great Moments in Student Course Evaluations
One of my least favorite end-of-term rituals for faculty is the dreaded student course evaluations. These have two components: the numerical bubble-sheet evaluations, which provide the pseudo-quantitatvie evaluation used to compare courses, and written responses to a half-dozen very general questions. The latter are at least potentially more useful, particularly when the standard questions are… Continue reading Great Moments in Student Course Evaluations
Graduation Thoughts
Miscellaneous thoughts prompted by yesterday’s Commencement: – Like most of the graduations I’ve been to, Union’s academic procession is led by a pipe and drum band. Why is that? What is it about academia and bagpipes? – Also like most of the graduatiions I’ve been to, Union’s graduation is held early on Sunday morning, with… Continue reading Graduation Thoughts