Caring… Dead Grandmothers 9 Jun 20119 Jun 2011 We've been known to joke about it in faculty meetings: how many grandparents some students can lose in a single year. (And yes, we do name names.) Here's one professor's concerns…
Change the World… Copyright Honor 7 Jun 20117 Jun 2011 One of my alma maters is known for the strictest of honor ©odes. To matriculate, we signed our allegiance to academic integrity and high standards of personal ©onduct. From time…
Books… How Do I Know? 6 Jun 2011 A friend asked today, "How do I know if anyone wants to read what I'm going to write?" Great question! Here are my first three thoughts about that: 1) You…
Caring… Record of Settlement 4 Jun 20113 Jun 2011 Icelander Baldur Hedinsson can trace his lineage to 1075; that's how complete the Icelandic records are. It's a culture based on reading through the dark winters and they wrote, too. (Oh,…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Virtual Choir 3 Jun 2011 We're so glad Eric Whitacre did not make it as a pop star. Here's a TED talk on his composing and creating influences: Mozart and a fan on YouTube. It's…
Books… Rhyme Time 2 Jun 20112 Jun 2011 Children's book editors conventionally whine about rhyme. It's so hard to write tight in rhythm and rhyme, they'd rather not brave it. Then they have children of their own, and…
College… College Endeavor 1 Jun 20111 Jun 2011 With the final landing of Endeavor, this shuttle chapter of space exploration will be closing soon. At the moment, I'm closing a college quarter and identifying with NASA. I have…
Academic Writing… My Favorite Kind of Payday 31 May 2011 In my introductory college skills class this quarter, a student told me about repeatedly sabotaging his final Naval promotion because at that level, he'd be required to write reports galore. Writing…
Creativity… Friday Flick: Marriage Proposal 27 May 201127 May 2011 Usually, I cringe over public marriage proposals. Somehow this one seems different, maybe because the theme of Matt and Ginny's courtship has been "Making the Movies Jealous," it has high…
Academic Writing… Cultured Men Healthier and Happier 25 May 201124 May 2011 A Norwegian study has suggested that people who attend cultural events are healthier and happier, and that men may benefit most. Norwegian support for the arts already stands on the assumption…
Blogging… Time Out 29 Apr 20115 May 2011 My computer has requested a break. It did break. Bad news: my three years of Apple Care have recently expired, and it's a defective logic board. "Sounds expensive," I say. "Very," says…
Baby Boomers… Have you seen this woman? 26 Apr 201126 Apr 2011 Photographer Bruce Davidson took this photo of a teenaged girl holding a kitten 50 years ago. Now as he receives the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award, he would like to…