Tidbits on July 15, 2014
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 1 Photographs of New England Lakes --- Lake Winnipesaukee

http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Lakes/Set01/LakesSet01.htm
 

 

Tidbits on July 15,, 2014
Bob Jensen

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.


Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   


Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

 




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Japanese ingenuity and perseverance --- https://www.youtube.com/embed/qGGabrorRS8?rel=0

 

Watch the First Animations of Peanuts: Commercials for the Ford Motor Company (1959-1961) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/watch-the-first-animations-of-peanuts.html


Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Harrison Craig Sings Broken Vow: The Voice Australia Season 2 ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgflbGzlCeY&feature=youtu.be

5 Musical Guests Banned From Saturday Night Live: From Elvis Costello to Frank Zappa ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/5-musical-guests-banned-from-saturday-night-live.html

84-Year Old George Jessel Performs -on America's Got Talent--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHHRpQpa_48

Listen to the Oldest Song in the World: A Sumerian Hymn Written 3,400 Years Ago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-oldest-song-in-the-world.html

Click on a bird and it will sing for you --- http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/nature/birds/bird_songs_interactive.html

Web outfits like Pandora, Foneshow, Stitcher, and Slacker broadcast portable and mobile content that makes Sirius look overpriced and stodgy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090327_877363.htm?link_position=link2

Pandora (my favorite online music station) --- www.pandora.com
TheRadio
(online music site) --- http://www.theradio.com/
Slacker (my second-favorite commercial-free online music site) --- http://www.slacker.com/

Gerald Trites likes this international radio site --- http://www.e-radio.gr/
Songza:  Search for a song or band and play the selection --- http://songza.com/
Also try Jango --- http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581
Sometimes this old guy prefers the jukebox era (just let it play through) --- http://www.tropicalglen.com/
And I listen quite often to Soldiers Radio Live --- http://www.army.mil/fieldband/pages/listening/bandstand.html
Also note
U.S. Army Band recordings --- http://bands.army.mil/music/default.asp

Bob Jensen's threads on nearly all types of free music selections online ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Lectures and Symposia Archive --- http://americanart.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts/

Digital Art Museum --- http://dam.org/home

The Best Illustrations from 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/best-illustrations-alice-in-wonderland/

Discover the Music Vault: A Massive YouTube Archive of 13,000 Live Concert Videos ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/music-vault-a-massive-youtube-archive-of-13000-live-concert-videos.html

Dutch Book From 1692 Documents Every Color Under the Sun: A Pre-Pantone Guide to Colors ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/dutch-book-from-1692-documents-every-color-under-the-sun.html

Stunning Photos Show What Really Happens If You Spend Too Much Time In The Sun ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cara-phillips-ultraviolet-photographs-show-sun-damage-2014-2#ixzz36UnRh8Nu

Unbelievable Pictures Of Wildlife From The BBC's Photographer Of The Year Competition ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/bbc-natural-history-museum-photographer-of-the-year-awards-2014-7?op=1#ixzz374Re6RI9

Sumner Tunnel (Boston), Construction Photographs, 1929-1933 --- http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15774coll13

Serie Project Print Collection (serigraphy) --- http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15125coll11 

Images of Lake Tahoe --- http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/explore/ILTExplore/ILT-home.html

Jack Kerouac’s On the Road Turned Into an Illustrated Scroll: One Drawing for Every Page of the Novel ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/jack-kerouacs-on-the-road-turned-into-an-illustrated-scroll.html

Early 1900s Destruction of the Canadian Frontier ---
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/01/turn-of-the-century-canadians-were-getting-up-to-stuff-you-arent-going-to-read-in-history-textbooks&pubdate=2014-07-01

7 Animal Cams to Drive You Wild ---
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/7-animal-cams-to-drive-you-wild-90474661164.html

Susan Sontag Lectures On Literary Pornography (1964) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/susan-sontag-lectures-on-literary-pornography-1964.html

27 Iconic Photos From The Longest War In American History ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/iconic-photos-afghanistan-2014-7?op=1#ixzz36RUboB00

50 Places In Europe You Need To Visit In Your Lifetime ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/places-in-europe-to-visit-2014-6?op=1#ixzz36RbWLVio

15 Sad Photos Of Egypt's Now-Deserted Tourist Attractions ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/egypts-deserted-tourist-attractions-2014-7

Bucket List:  50 Places In Europe To Visit In Your Lifetime ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/places-in-europe-to-visit-2014-6

Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History


Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

130 Free Microsoft eBooks & Guides ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/130-free-microsoft-ebooks-guides.html

Leo Tolstoy Creates a List of the 50+ Books That Influenced Him Most (1891) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/leo-tolstoy-creates-a-list-of-the-50-books-that-influenced-him-most-1891.html

Jack Kerouac’s On the Road Turned Into an Illustrated Scroll: One Drawing for Every Page of the Novel ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/jack-kerouacs-on-the-road-turned-into-an-illustrated-scroll.html

American Society for Theatre Research --- http://www.astr.org/

13-Year-Old Charlotte Brontë & Her Brother Wrote Teeny Tiny Adventure Books, Measuring 1 x 2 Inches ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/13-year-old-charlotte-bronte-her-brother-wrote-teeny-tiny-adventure-books-measuring-1-x-2-inches.html

Ordeals of discovery that a copy of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius is among the most extraordinary forgeries in history ---
http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/faking-galileo

William Faulkner’s Review of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/faulkners-review-of-ernest-hemingways-the-old-man-and-the-sea.html

The Turin Erotic Papyrus: The Oldest Known Depiction of Sex (Circa 1150 B.C.E.) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-turin-erotic-papyrus-the-oldest-known-depiction-of-sex-circa-1150-b-c-e.html

Flannery O’Connor’s Satirical Cartoons: 1942-1945 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/flannery-oconnors-satirical-college-cartoons-1942-1945.html

The Best Illustrations from 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/best-illustrations-alice-in-wonderland/

Johnny Cash Reads the Entire New Testament (Bible)---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/johnny-cash-reads-the-entire-new-testament.html

Free Electronic Literature --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on July 15, 2014
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2014/TidbitsQuotations071514.htm      

U.S. National Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Also see http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Peter G. Peterson Website on Deficit/Debt Solutions ---
http://www.pgpf.org/

GAO: Fiscal Outlook & The Debt --- http://www.gao.gov/fiscal_outlook/overview 

Bob Jensen's threads on entitlements --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm




"Visualizing Algorithms," by Mike Bostock (The New York Times Graphics Editor) , June 26, 2014 ---
http://bost.ocks.org/mike/algorithms/

"The power of the unaided mind is highly overrated… The real powers come from devising external aids that enhance cognitive abilities. " —Donald Norman

Algorithms are a fascinating use case for visualization. To visualize an algorithm, we don’t merely fit data to a chart; there is no primary dataset. Instead there are logical rules that describe behavior. This may be why algorithm visualizations are so unusual, as designers experiment with novel forms to better communicate. This is reason enough to study them.

But algorithms are also a reminder that visualization is more than a tool for finding patterns in data. Visualization leverages the human visual system to augment human intellect: we can use it to better understand these important abstract processes, and perhaps other things, too.

Continued in the article (You really have to study the visuals to appreciate this article)

Visualization of Multivariate Data (including faces) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm 

MOOC --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOCs

180 MOOCs to Start the 2014 New Year (Is This the Crest of the Wave?) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/01/180-moocs-to-start-the-new-year.html

800 Free MOOCs from Great Universities ---
http://www.openculture.com/free_certificate_courses

MOOC FAQ --- http://www.openculture.com/mooc_faq

"The Quick and Dirty on Data Visualization," by Nancy Duarte, Harvard Business Review Blog, April 16, 2014 ---
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/04/the-quick-and-dirty-on-data-visualization/

"Harvard and MIT Release Visualization Tools for Trove of MOOC Data," Chronicle of Higher Education, February 20, 2014 --- Click Here
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/harvard-and-mit-release-visualization-tools-for-trove-of-mooc-data/50631?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have released a set of open-source visualization tools for working with a rich trove of data from more than a million people registered for 17 of the two institutions’ massive open online courses, which are offered through their edX platform.

The tools let users see and work with “near real-time” information about course registrants—minus personally identifying details—from 193 countries. A Harvard news release says the tools “showcase the potential promise” of data generated by MOOCs. The aggregated data sets that the tools use can be also downloaded.

The suite of tools, named Insights, was created by Sergiy Nesterko, a research fellow in HarvardX, the university’s instructional-technology office, and Daniel Seaton, a postdoctoral research fellow at MIT’s Office of Digital Learning. Mr. Nesterko said the tools “can help to guide instruction while courses are running and deepen our understanding of the impact of courses after they are complete.”

The Harvard tools are here, while those for MIT are here.

Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs and open sharing learning materials in general ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


"Finite-Sample Properties of the 2SLS Estimator," by David Giles, Economics Beat, July 11, 2014

Finite-Sample Properties of the 2SLS Estimator

 
During a recent conversation with Bob Reed (U. Canterbury) I recalled an interesting experience that I had at the American Statistical Association Meeting in Houston, in 1980. I was sitting in a session listening to an author presenting a paper about the bias and MSE of certain simultaneous equations estimators. The results were based on a Monte Carlo experiment. However, something just didn't seem right.

 
I looked at the guy sitting next to me - I didn't know him, but he was also looking puzzled. Then, at the same time, we both said to each other, "But the first two moments of that estimator don't exist!" The next thing out of our mouths was, "Who's going to tell him?"

 
The guy next to me turned out to be Tom Fomby, and I believe he was the one who politely explained to the speaker that his results were nonsensical.

 
If (the sampling distribution of) an estimator doesn't have a well-defined mean then it's nonsensical to talk that estimator's bias. Equally, if it doesn't have a well-defined variance, then it makes no sense to talk about its MSE. In other words, the Monte Carlo simulation results were trying to measure something that didn't exist! 

 
So, what was going on here?
 
 

David Johnstone asked me to write a paper on the following:
"A Scrapbook on What's Wrong with the Past, Present and Future of Accountics Science"
Bob Jensen
February 19, 2014
SSRN Download:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2398296


Jensen Comment
Wharton's Financial Accounting course is in the Top 12
Also note that those that argue you can't teach public speaking online are apparently wrong, although I don't see why they are wrong.

The moving forces behind MOOCs have been MIT, Harvard, and Stanford.
MIT and Harvard have the most MOOC offerings, but none of them made the Top 12. However, the rankings below are considered "professional" courses, and the graduate business schools at MIT, Harvard, and Stanford are not, to my knowledge, serving up MOOC courses. The Wharton School at Penn, however, is serving up the core courses in the first year of Wharton's two-year MBA program. Two of those courses are in the Top 12 below.

Reasons for taking MOOCs are many and varied. I think many students who enroll for the free Wharton core business courses are preparing to do better in their forthcoming MBA programs wherever those are to be taken around the globe.

Most students probably take free MOOCs in general out of curiosity of how popular courses at prestigious universities are taught. Some professors take MOOCs just to see how the content of courses is handled by a well-known teacher.

"The 12 Most Popular Free Online Courses (MOOCs) For Professionals," by Maggie Zhang, Business Insider, July 8, 2014 ---
 http://www.businessinsider.com/free-online-courses-for-professionals-2014-7

01. Wesleyan University's "Social Psychology"

02. University of Maryland's "Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems"

03. Duke University's "Think Again: How to Reason and Argue"

04. Duke University's "A Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior"

05. University of Toronto's "Learn to Program: The Fundamentals"

06. Stanford University's "Startup Engineering"

07. Yale University's "Financial Markets"

08. The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School's "An Introduction to Financial Accounting"

09. University of Washington's "Introduction to Public Speaking"

10. University of Michigan's "Introduction to Finance"

11. The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School's "An Introduction to Marketing"

12. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's "Data Analysis"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/free-online-courses-for-professionals-2014-7#ixzz37LiJgQ57

Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs and open sharing learning materials in general ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

There are for-credit distance education courses available from most major universities these days. These, however, are not free due, in part, to the costs of assigning grades for credit. Bob Jensen's threads on fee-based distance education training and education alternatives ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/CrossBorder.htm

From US News in 2014
Best Online Degree Programs (ranked)
---
http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education

Best Online Undergraduate Bachelors Degrees --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/bachelors/rankings
Central Michigan is the big winner

Best Online Graduate Business MBA Programs --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/mba/rankings
Indiana University is the big winner

Best Online Graduate Education Programs --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/education/rankings
Northern Illinois is the big winner

Best Online Graduate Engineering Programs --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/engineering/rankings
Columbia University is the big winner

Best Online Graduate Information Technology Programs ---
http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/computer-information-technology/rankings
The University of Southern California is the big winner

Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/nursing/rankings
St. Xavier University is the big winner

US News Degree Finder --- http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/features/multistep-oe?s_cid=54089
This beats those self-serving for-profit university biased Degree Finders

US News has tried for years to rank for-profit universities, but they don't seem to want to provide the data.


Recommended articles from Around the Web (Week Ending July 12, 2014)
As compiled by MIT's Technology Review --- Click Here
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/528811/recommended-from-around-the-web-week-ending-july-12-2014/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20140714


"Photoshop 2014: Software Finally Worth Renting," by David A Pogue, Yahoo Tech, July 7, 2014 ---
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/in-the-beginning-there-was-photoshop-the-90598492239.html


From the CPA Newsletter on July 10, 2014

American 15-year-olds rank below average in global financial-literacy survey
The U.S. scored slightly below average, at 492, for financial literacy among 15-year-old students, according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Students in Shanghai, China, scored the highest with 603, followed by Belgium and Estonia. The U.S. came in at No. 9. The average score was 500. The AICPA's 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy program helps Americans understand their personal finances through every stage of life. USA Today (7/9)

Financial literacy should be a required skill for all high school and college graduates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#FinancialLiteracy

Bob Jensen's financial literacy helpers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


Slavoj Žižek Charged With Plagiarizing A White Nationalist Magazine Article ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/slavoj-zizek-charged-with-plagiarizing-a-white-nationalist-magazine-article.html

Bob Jensen's threads on celebrity plagiarism ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities


"College, on Your Own Competency-based education can help motivated students. But critics say it’s no panacea," by Dan Barrett, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 14, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/College-on-Your-Own/147659/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Jensen Comment
Several major universities like the University of Wisconsin and the University of Akron are now providing competency-based testing for college credit. Western Governors University for years is a bit different. It grades on the basis of competency-based testing but also requires that students enroll in courses. Years and years ago the University of Chicago allowed students to take final examinations for credit even though the students were not enrolled in courses. Like it or not we seem to be going full circle.

Bob Jensen's threads on competency-based testing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#ConceptKnowledge

 


"Job Openings Rise to 7-Year High, but Hiring Notches Scant Gains," by Josh Zumbrun, The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2014 ---
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/07/08/job-openings-rise-to-7-year-high-but-hiring-notches-scant-gains/

Slightly more than 2.5 million people voluntarily left their job in May, the most since mid-2008, but still less than during the strongest points of the economic expansion from 2001 to 2007.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
There are many reasons people quit their jobs, but a leading cause is the aging USA population of baby boomers. In the depth of the recession, when the stock markets collapsed and the Federal Reserve declared virtually no interest earnings on safe savings, these boomers carried on in the labor force because they could not afford to retire. The Federal Reserve is still not giving them relief on interest on lifetime savings, but the stock market reached new highs last week giving many of aging boomers enough retirement savings to at last quit their jobs. hit the road in motor homes, and eat lotus leaves.

The loser in all of this is the government that will have to generate more cash flows for Social Security retirement payments, Medicare billings, and less tax revenue to the extent that the retirees were in the 52% of Americans that pay income taxes.

In many cases such as new retirees in the Postal Service the jobs will be lost rather than filled by younger workers. Many of private sector jobs will be filled by cheaper and more effective robots that do demand such employment benefits as medical insurance, maternity leave, paternity leave, paid vacations, and lifetime retirement fund contributions. Aging robots can be recycled in one form or another.


Question
What happens to Thunderbird's record-setting faculty salaries?

"Arizona State U. Nears Deal to Take Over Thunderbird Business School," by Nick DeSantis, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/arizona-state-u-is-in-talks-to-take-over-thunderbird-business-school/81121?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en 

Arizona State University is in talks to take over the Thunderbird School of Global Management, whose regional accreditor this year rejected a deal between the business school and Laureate Education Inc., a for-profit education company, according to The Wall Street Journal and an announcement from the two institutions.

Thunderbird’s would-be partnership with Laureate had been intended to shore up the school’s shaky finances, but Thunderbird alumni and others loudly protested that deal, raising concerns that the alliance would harm the school’s reputation. In March, Thunderbird’s regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, rejected the deal.

Arizona State was one of the potential partners that had been in negotiations with Thunderbird before the school tried to team up with Laureate. And Arizona State is once again in talks to take over the school: On Thursday the two institutions said they had agreed on a letter of intent outlining the general terms of a partnership. The institutions’ announcement said that Thunderbird might join Arizona State as a separate entity.

“Under the terms being discussed, many existing Thunderbird degree and executive-education programs and a number of new educational programs would be offered by the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University as early as the Fall 2015 term,” the announcement stated. “At the same time, students currently enrolled at Thunderbird and those enrolling in Fall 2014 would continue to complete the Thunderbird degrees in which they initially enrolled.”

New and current programs would be offered by Thunderbird’s faculty members, who would become members of Arizona State’s faculty. The reorganized offerings would be subject to review by the Higher Learning Commission, which oversees both institutions.

Continued in article

This was my tidbit on Thunderbird faculty salaries one year ago.

"Ten Business School Professors Who Make $4.3 Million A Year," by John A. Byrne, Linkedin, July 2013 ---
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130711161733-17970806-ten-business-school-professors-who-make-4-3-million-a-year

Thunderbird School of Global Management --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_School_of_Global_Management
A decade or so ago, Thunderbird shed (with negotiated buyouts) some of its expensive tenured faculty, including senior accounting faculty members. But it retained even more expensive faculty on the payroll that are problematic as global MBA enrollments dropped from over 1,500 in the 1990s to 140 in Fall of  in 2012 and an operating deficit of $4 million in fiscal 2013. The placement record in 2013 for MBA graduates is among the worst in the nation according to the Forbes' article quoted below.

"Flailing Thunderbird Business School Was Asking For Trouble With These Exorbitant Professor Salaries," John A. Byrne, Business Insider, July 12, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/highest-paid-professors-make-millions-2013-7

. . .

The highest paid professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management makes more than the dean of the Harvard Business School. Or his boss. Or, for that matter, President Obama.

Yet, he is little known outside his Glendale, Arizona-based school, not widely quoted in the media, nor broadly recognized as an expert in his field. He doesn’t even make the list of the top 50 business thinkers in the world.

Still, global strategy professor Kannan Ramaswarmy (photo above) was paid total compensation, with benefits, of $700,096 in fiscal 2011, according to government records filed by Thunderbird. That’s more than the $662,054 in total compensation made by Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria or then-Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera who pulled down $584,749 in 2011. And it’s more than the estimated $550,000 in pay, benefits and perks that President Obama makes.

How in the world can a struggling school which has been in decline for many years afford to pay Ramaswamy so much? For one thing, he teaches in several of the school’s executive education programs which are among its more lucrative ventures. For another, he has tenure and the school can’t cross him off its employment roster even if it wanted.

Yet, he’s hardly alone in getting big pay at Thunderbird. In fact, the highest paid ten professors alone in fiscal 2011 were paid some $4.3 million, more than the $4 million deficit reported by the school, red ink that forced it into a highly controversial partnership with for-profit educational provider Laureate Education. Not surprisingly, perhaps, all of the most highly paid profs are men.

Andrew Inkpen, another global strategy professor, was paid $565,457 with benefits in the same year. Graeme Rankine, an associate professor of accounting, was paid $492,908. The compensation for three other faculty members—Robert Hisrich, a professor of global entrepreneurship; William Youngdahl, associate professor of operations management, and Mansour Javidan, dean of research—all easily topped $400,000 a year.

Among the other top ten most highly compensated faculty at the school are John Mathis, a professor of global finance, who made $302,191; David Bowen, a human resources professor, who made $307,582; Dale Davison, a professor of accounting, who pulled down $261,789, and Humberto Valencia, a professor of global marketing, who made $260,109.

For just about all of these professors, of course, this is only the compensation paid to them by Thunderbird. Many faculty members also have lucrative consulting contracts with clients that can equal or vastly exceed their income from the school.

Nice work if you can get it.

"Inside Thunderbird B-school's chronic decline," by Taylor Ellis, Forbes, July 11, 2013 ---
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/11/thunderbird-mba/

. . .

Some observers say the deal is evidence of waning interest in the MBA degree. In fact, many of the institution's troubles have been long lasting and self-inflicted, making it a quintessential case study in organizational decline. The new partnership reflects years of deterioration due to increased competition from rivals, lackluster fundraising, insufficient resources devoted to getting jobs for students, and overly generous compensation for some of its faculty.

The school's endowment, which in recent years has been below $20 million, is meager compared to many of its business school competitors. It didn't help that a $60 million naming gift, at the time in 2004 the largest pledge ever made to a business school, never fully materialized.

Yet, even though the school lacks a significant endowment, several of its professors have been paid extraordinarily well. Kannan Ramaswamy, a global strategy professor who teaches in Thunderbird's executive education programs, had a total compensation package with benefits of $700,096 in fiscal 2011. That is munificent pay for an academic who is not known as a superstar outside his school in Glendale, Arizona. It even exceeded the total pay of then-Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera whose compensation totaled $584,749.

While Ramaswany is the highest paid employee at Thunderbird, according to the school's government filings, he is hardly alone. Andrew Inkpen, another global strategy professor, was paid $565,457 with benefits the same year. Graeme Rankine, an associate professor of accounting, was paid $492,908. The compensation for three other faculty members -- Robert Hisrich, a professor of global entrepreneurship; William Youngdahl, associate professor of operations management, and Mansour Javidan, dean of research -- all topped $400,000 a year.

It's not unusual for world class faculty to be paid so generously, but the highest paid business school professors tend to be widely known and publicly visible figures at universities that can afford them, not at a troubled school that has been in a long-term fight for survival.

A B-school in perpetual decline

The school's full-time MBA enrollment has been steadily declining for years, falling to just 380 from more than 1,500 in 1990. Last fall, its entering class totaled only 140 students. The placement stats for last year's graduating class, meantime, were among the worst reported by any business school in the U.S. Some 76% of Thunderbird's class of 2012 were without jobs at commencement.

Indeed, Penley sees the agreement with Laureate as a way to fix the school's lagging placement record. "One of the reasons for the alliance has to do with their very successful employment record for graduates," he said. "Laureate has an employment network that is global. It gives us the opportunity to tap into that employee network and improve our placement record."

Continued in article

 

Also see
http://wag-study-abroad.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2020_vision.pdf

 Jensen Questions
This begs two questions:

First Question
If Thunderbird is experiencing such a rapid decline in both enrollments and placements of graduates, what is going to be the impact on admission standards?

Second Question
If some of those faculty receiving outlier salaries leave Thunderbird what kind of compensation deals can they negotiate from Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Wharton, UCLA, Berkeley, Northwestern, etc.? Would they be hired by a top MBA program at any price? My guess is that they may not get any offers of full professorships from the truly top MBA programs.

 

Associate Professor Graeme  Rankine ---
http://www.thunderbird.edu/faculty/graeme-rankine-phd

There's a short bit about how some students wanted Professor Ranine reinstated after his contract was not renewed at Rice University ---
http://www.rice.edu/projects/thresher/issues/82/950519/News/Story05.html

He's done very well since leaving Rice.

The Economist Magazine Ranks Global Executive MBA Programs ---
http://www.economist.com/whichmba/executive-mba-ranking
What happened to Thunderbird?

Bob Jensen's thread on higher education controversies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm


"Chinese Cities Deploy Useless Water 'Cannons' Against Smog," by Christina Larson, Bloomberg Businessweek, July 09, 2014 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-09/chinese-cities-deploy-useless-water-cannons-against-smog?campaign_id=DN070914


"Charge Is Dropped Against Ex-Official in Chapel Hill Academic Scandal, by Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 7, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/charge-is-dropped-against-ex-official-in-chapel-hill-academic-scandal/81137?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Prosecutors have dropped a felony charge against Julius Nyang’oro, the former department chair at the center of an academic scandal that has rocked the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the News & Observer reports.

The Orange County district attorney, Jim Woodall, said the charge had been dismissed because of Mr. Nyang’oro’s cooperation with both a criminal investigation and an independent inquiry set to be completed in the fall.

Mr. Nyang’oro had been charged with obtaining property on false pretenses, for accepting $12,000 for a class he did not teach. The allegation was part of large-scale fraud in the department, which featured fake classes populated by disproportionate numbers of athletes. The independent investigation, led by a former U.S. Justice Department official, seeks to find the origin and extent of the fraud.

Prompted by the willingness of individuals “who were previously uncooperative” to talk to its staff, the NCAA announced on Monday that it would resume its 2011 investigation into academic irregularities at the university.

Continued in article

Question
How extensive was the University of North Carolina athletics phony course and grade change cheating scandal?

Answer
Even though I made tidbits about this scandal early on, including that about 10% of the athletes could not read at a third-grade level. I guess it never sunk in how many years UNC officials were aware of the cheating and how many athletes were part of this scandal.

. . . since the 1990s Nang' Oris' department offered hundreds of fake "paper classes" that never actually met.  Some 500 grades had been changed without authorization . . .

"UNC officials apologize for a huge sports scandal, while attacking the woman who brought it to light," Bloomberg Businessweek, February 3-9, 2014 ---
 

After trying for years to minimize an academic corruption scandal on its prestigious Chapel Hill campus, the University of North Carolina has abruptly switched strategies---form obfuscation to mea culpa. The apologia comes with a bitter footnote, though in the form of vilification of a campus whistle-blower.

. . .

UNC called the police after an internal university inquiry concluded that that since the 1990s Nang' Oris' department offered hundreds of fake "paper classes" that never actually met.  Some 500 grades had been changed without authorization, . . .

 

Also see
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-27/university-of-north-carolina-apologizes-for-fake-classes-promises-real-change 

Athletics controversies in higher education ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#Athletics


"GAO: IRS misleads audited taxpayers," by Bernie Becker, The Hill, July 7, 2014 ---
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/211481-gao-irs-misleads-audited-taxpayers

The IRS tells taxpayers facing an audit that it’ll get back to them quickly and then often falls short of that goal,

GAO said that the IRS has “misled taxpayers by providing unrealistic time frames” — saying it would get back to audited taxpayers within 30 to 45 days.

In fact, the watchdog says the IRS consistently takes several months to respond to correspondence audits, which are done through the mail and account for about three-quarters of the audits conducted by the tax agency.

In all, GAO says that the IRS is behind on more than 50 percent of the correspondence that taxpayers send in to deal with audits.

That misleading time frame that the IRS circulates for audits hurts both taxpayers and agency staffers, according to the report.

Taxpayers, for instance, often can’t get their refunds until an audit is finished.

IRS staffers, meanwhile, have to deal with extra phone calls because taxpayers are told to expect a response before the agency can reasonably offer one. Those staffers say they often have few answers for taxpayers wondering when the IRS will respond.

The IRS agreed to implement the GAO’s recommendations, which push the agency to better document how quickly it can get back to audited taxpayers and to give those taxpayers a more accurate timeline.

But a top IRS official also suggested that the budget cuts the agency has absorbed in recent years played a role in the unrealistic timeline for audited taxpayers.

Continued in article

 


From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on July 8, 2014

Tesla shares down after fiery crash
A violent crash Friday of a Tesla Motors Inc. Model S contributed to a 2.4% decline in the automaker’s shares Monday,
 the Journal’s Mike Ramsey reportsThere were seven injuries but no deaths reported after a man stole a vehicle from a Tesla store in Los Angeles and led police on a wild chase, ending when the Model S burst into flames after hitting a pole. Following the crash, the lithium-ion batteries from the car—spread around in clumps on the street—began to burn, some popping like fireworks and shooting into the air.

Jensen Comment
As if gasoline-guzzlers do not sometimes have spectacular crash fires.

Tesla electric cars have many more problems than fire risk. Number one is high cost both initially and when the batteries need replacing. Number 2  is the limited range between required battery charges  even though Tesla has a better range than it's battery-operated competitors. Number three is the really lousy range between battery charges in cold weather. Number four, in my viewpoint, is the way Tesla and most electric cars are built to hug the road. I could not get one up my driveway even when there's no snow depth.

Whereas some competitors like Toyota have a nation-wide network of convenient dealers, Tesla also has almost no dealers between states bordered by oceans.

Tesla debt is now rated as junk. This means that owning Tesla common shares is really, really high risk.


4 Reasons Why Americans Aren't Buying Volkswagens Anymore ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-americans-arent-buying-volkswagens-2014-7#ixzz374QRKA55


Question
What do bankrupt cities in California have in common with Argentina?

Hint
It has more to do with the future than the past.

"Franklin, Calpers Clash on Stockton Pension Issue Investment Titans Disagree on Whether Stockton, Calif.'s Pension Payments Should Be Cut to Pay Back a Loan," by Dan Fitzpatrick, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/franklin-calpers-clash-on-stockton-pension-issue-1404772370?tesla=y&mod=djemCFO_h&mg=reno64-wsj

Two U.S. investment titans are clashing over whether public pensions should be protected in municipal bankruptcy, a major test that has implications for workers, investors and distressed cities across the country.

Payments into pension funds are usually considered sacrosanct, but fights are breaking out around the U.S. over who gets priority when a municipality seeks protection from creditors. The latest battle involves the bankruptcy of Stockton, Calif., and pits mutual-fund giant Franklin Templeton Investments against California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest public pension fund in the U.S.

The firms disagree on whether Stockton's retirement contributions should be reduced to free up money for a loan repayment. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Klein in Sacramento could rule on the dispute as early as Tuesday.

Many troubled municipalities are grappling with how to bring down pension costs while municipal-bond holders are trying to figure out how to protect their interests before or during a municipal insolvency. Franklin Templeton is separately challenging a new law in Puerto Rico allowing some troubled public agencies to restructure their debt, saying it violates the U.S. Constitution.

A ruling that Stockton's pensions can be curtailed could embolden more cities to use bankruptcy as a way to seek retirement concessions. In December the judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case ruled that pensions aren't entitled to "extraordinary protection" despite state constitutional safeguards against benefit cuts. Calpers has argued in court that the ruling on Detroit's city-run retirement systems doesn't apply to California's state-run plan.

The outcome in Stockton "is being watched by everyone," said Suzanne Kelly, co-founder of Scottsdale, Ariz., pension strategy and restructuring firm Kelly Garfinkle Strategic Restructuring LLC. If the judge rules that pensions can be curtailed, Ms. Kelly added, it could push cities "on the brink" to see bankruptcy as a "feasible option."

Franklin Templeton, which manages assets of more than $908 billion, is the lone creditor challenging Stockton's plan to end a two-year run through bankruptcy, arguing the northern California port city wants to unfairly slice a debt repayment while leaving public pension contributions intact. The city is offering the San Mateo, Calif., firm about $350,000, or less than 1%, back on a $35 million loan that paid for fire stations, a police station, bridges, street improvements and parks.

"The meager recovery that the city is attempting to cram down," said a Franklin Templeton spokeswoman, "has left us with no choice but to object so that we can deliver a fair recovery for our investors."

The state's retirement system, known by the acronym Calpers, has responded by arguing pension payments are guaranteed by California law and can't be cut. Stockton contributes roughly $30 million a year to Calpers, which controls retirement money for municipal workers across California and has assets of roughly $300 billion.

A Calpers actuary testified in May that Stockton would be faced with a hefty fee if it chose to terminate its relationship with the retirement system. The amount would be $1.6 billion, according to Calpers. "How will that get Franklin more money?" said John Knox, an attorney representing the city of Stockton. "It boggles the mind."

The bankruptcy judge is expected to rule on the value of the collateral supporting Franklin Templeton's $35 million loan: two golf courses and a park. It isn't known if he also will rule on the larger question of whether pensions can be reduced.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Political leaders in Argentina stuck their middle fingers upwards toward hedge funds that invested billions in Argentina bonds. But the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision makes it harder for Argentina to borrow badly needed money from USA investors  without repaying former investors in failed Argentine bonds.

Similarly, bankrupt cities like Stockton that ignore obligations to municipal bond holders in favor of giving priorities to labor unions may find themselves having to pay soaring interest rates on bonds the city needs to borrow in the future. The problem of borrowing by California towns and cities is exacerbated by the gloomy forecast of long-term drought. Screwing former municipal bond investors may be the height of stupidity in drought-ridden California. Borrowing costs may soar into the clouds even when California towns and cities can find investors dumb enough to invest in the Golden State's municipal bonds. This does not bode well for a troubled state hoping to rebuild its school district, town, county, and state infrastructure.

Stockton is already becoming a high crime city due in to large measure by having to lay off so many police officers.


"A Foreigner Teaching in America:  In his first year on the job, a faculty member grapples with culture clash," by Jamie Miller, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 30, 2014 ---
http://m.chronicle.com/article/A-Foreigner-Teaching-in/147413/#sthash.sGzocJml.eKE8WRbG.dpuf

. . .

The biggest challenges I faced came from the students themselves. American students were not at all like those I had encountered in Australia and Britain. For a start, they had entirely different understandings of the relationship between student and professor. On the one hand, they were delightfully polite. "Professor Miller" struck me as both quaint and, surely, premature (I’m 28). They were also enthusiasm personified, with a voracious appetite for the unfamiliar ideas that I was presenting them with every day. It was never difficult to kick-start conversation in seminars; they all just had so many opinions.

Yet for all their independent personalities, the students were often quite dependent as learners. Their first instinct upon encountering a problem was usually to lean on me. I lost count of the number of times students contacted me, often late at night, to ask questions to which the answers were clearly stated in the syllabus. One student emailed me at 3:12 a.m. to ask how many readings needed to be assessed in an essay question that began, "Compare two of the following." All of this stood in stark contrast to my (hazy) memories of my undergraduate days. If I didn’t quite worship my professors, I definitely engaged in some light-to-medium veneration and was certainly keen to do anything to avoid their concluding that I wasn’t up to scratch.

My solution was largely a change in tone: Try to get the students to take more ownership of their learning and invest in themselves. I didn’t take attendance, and I gave them substantial leeway in choosing their essay and exam questions.

I also realized that I needed to connect better with the students and get them to trust their strange-talking, weird-spelling professor. To that end, I conducted informal surveys early in the semester, which proved invaluable. The message from the students was consistent: I needed to talk more slowly, stop trying to put so much into each lecture. Less was more. I duly made the desired adjustments, which in turn earned a bit of good will that I could trade to get the students to do the things I really cared about (like explicitly anchor their seminar opinions in identifiable historical facts). Additionally, I encouraged them to actually come and see me during office hours—in practice rather than just in theory. After all, I was quickly realizing that those students whom I knew best, and on a more equal footing, were less likely to see me as a crutch and instead work harder to impress me. If that was a detour to their learning more, fine by me.

Other surprises were more vexing. The students’ writing skills fell far short of my expectations. Some had difficulty consistently writing coherent sentences, which in turn had a major impact on their ability to understand and express nuanced historical concepts. On the basis of my often tortuous grading experiences alone, there can be no obscuring the fact that the U.S. high-school system is passing the buck on the development of basic grammar, punctuation, and writing skills to higher education. One essay that I marked had more non-sentences in it than valid sentences. (I counted).

I couldn’t help feeling that these shortcomings were just too deep-seated for me to make a serious dent in, but I tried anyhow. I cleared a week in the syllabus for a pair of classes: "How to Read Like a Historian" and "How to Write Like a Historian." I then assigned a small writing task (worth 10 percent of their grade) early in the semester, so I could give students extensive feedback on exactly what was expected in the major essay (30 percent of their grade).

That early exercise also had one major side benefit: It made students feel more comfortable about what was expected of them for the final grade. American students care about grades. A lot. In my first semester, for instance, I conducted three quizzes on the lecture material, cumulatively worth only 10 percent. I thought the quizzes would help identify knowledge gaps as well as provide a concrete incentive to keep up with note taking for the final exam and, in Australian lingo, give a quick kick up the bum for slackers.

The students, however, found it all overwhelming. Getting 4 out of 10 on a quiz made students very anxious indeed, which impaired learning. One student, close to tears, told—no, implored—me that if she didn’t get an A in this course, she wouldn’t get into law school. When I pointed out that this test carried limited weight and showed her exactly where she was falling short, thus helping her in the final exam, it made no difference to her.

That reflected a fundamental difference in our experiences of education. Going to a big state university in Australia and paying around $5,000 a year in fees, I saw going to college as an extraordinary opportunity. In my mind, effort plus opportunity equaled a good education. I knew that this student was paying well over $50,000 a year, but in her eyes the equation was quite different: Money buys opportunity. To her, she’d already contributed the input, and now she expected the output. Warped as that was, I could see where she was coming from. If I’d committed to that much student debt, I’d be anxious that it translated directly into career prospects, too.

In the second semester, I scrapped the quizzes entirely. They were just more trouble than they were worth.

The final major difference from my experiences abroad was simply the way in which my students developed their worldviews. Growing up in Sydney, we did not rationally believe that Australia was the center of the world, but rather that it composed one small, quirky part of it.

My students, however, tended to see things in a relentlessly America-centric fashion. It was a constant challenge in my "Modern World History" class to get students to stop referring to the United States as "we" and "us" and historical government policy as "ours." (Once I observed this surprising tendency among my students, I noticed that American historians often did likewise in the books I read, especially when commenting on contemporary or recent history.) Students simply had no experience of taking themselves outside the shoes of Americans and viewing historical issues in which the nation was involved from a detached, third-party perspective.

Continued in article


Stalin Becomes the Hero of the European Union:  White Washing History in the Public Record

"Google Is Being Forced To Censor The History Of Merrill Lynch — And That Should Terrify You," by Jim Edwards, Business Insider, July 3, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-merrill-lynch-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten-2014-7

The European Union's new law giving people a "right to be forgotten," which requires Google to remove links to information about them, is having exactly the effect its critics predicted: It is censoring the internet, giving new tools that help the rich and powerful (and ordinary folk) hide negative information about them, and letting criminals make their histories disappear.

 

Exhibit A: Google was required to delete a link to this BBC article about Stan O'Neal, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch. O'Neal led the bank in the mid-2000s, a period when it became dangerously over-exposed to the looming mortgage crisis. When the crisis hit, Merrill's losses were so great the bank had to be sold to Bank of America. O'Neal lost his job, but he exited with a $161.5 million golden parachute.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-merrill-lynch-and-the-right-to-be-forgotten-2014-7#ixzz36PCsbM4P
 

Jensen Comment
For the record if you really want to document the criminal and unethical behavior of Merrill Lynch over many decades and the fraudulent Stan O'Neal do a word search on "Merrill Lynch" at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
For example, Merrill Lynch was behind the $1 billion in derivatives trading frauds in Orange County --- one of the many Merrill Lynch frauds.


"8 Ways YouTube Will Be Changing How You Create Videos," Stephanie Chan, Yahoo Tech, June 30, 2014 ---
http://readwrite.com/2014/06/30/youtube-video-features

Bob Jensen's video helpers (a neglected site) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm


"Ask Pogue: (video) Finding Phone Numbers Online," by David Pogue, Yahoo Tech, June 27, 2014 ---
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/in-this-short-and-sweet-ask-pogue-a-reader-wants-90089373179.html
David's answer is not what we want to hear.


USA Schools:  1776 versus 1876 versus 1976 and beyond

Back when schools were just not about four-hour days, long bus rides, breakfast, and lunch
"
Here's What School Was Like In America Back In 1776," by Dan Abendschein, Business Insider, July 3, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/school-america-1776-2014-7

On-the-job training ruled. Learning was all about apprenticeships back then, according to Paula Fass, a history professor at UC- Berkeley. Blacksmiths, brewers, printers and other tradesmen learned their crafts on the job.  Women learned most of  their skills--spinning, cooking, sewing, at home.  "In our school-centered obsession we forget that learning used to take place in a much more broad-based way,"says Fass.

 

Only white men were formally educated. While some white men never received much formal education, almost nobody else received any.  Girls were sometimes educated, but they didn’t go to college. Blacks were mostly forbidden to learn to read and write, and Native Americans were not part of the colonial education system.  They relied mainly on oral histories to pass down lessons and traditions.

Classroom, what classroom? Actual schools were found mainly in cities and large towns. For most other people, education meant a tutor teaching a small group of people in someone's home or a common building.  And the school year was more like a school season: usually about 13 weeks, says USC historian Carole Shammas.  That meant that there was almost no such thing as a professional teacher.  

Books were few and far between. There were no public libraries in the country in 1776.  The biggest book collections were at colleges.  Books were so expensive that getting a large enough collection to provide a serious education was one of the biggest barriers to founding a college.  When Harvard was founded in 1636, it had a collection of about 1,000 books, which was considered an enormous amount at the time, according to Paula Fass.

Writing joined the other R’s. Teaching students to read was a lot easier than teaching writing, and writing was not necessary in a lot of professions.  So many students learned just to read and do math.  By 1776, teaching writing was becoming much more common.

No papers, pens, or pencils.  Most students worked on slates--mini-chalkboards that allowed students to erase their work and keep at it until they got it right.  Paper was expensive, so it was not commonly used, which also meant pens were not often used.  Pencils had not yet been invented.


Read more: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/education/learningcurve/what-education-was-1776#ixzz36Usktmoj
 

Jensen Comment
Dan did not write about the enormous progress made in USA schools between 1776 and 1876. I did not attend a one-room country school in northern Iowa, but my grandparents attended such schools. My Grandma Jensen even taught in what was known as "normal school" before she got married ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school

A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name. Most such schools are now called teachers' colleges.

In 1685, John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, founded what is generally considered the first normal school, the École Normale, in Reims. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, normal schools in the United States and Canada trained primary school teachers, while in Europe normal schools educated primary, secondary and tertiary-level teachers.[1]

In 1834, the first teacher training college was established in Jamaica by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton under terms set out by Lady Mico's Charity "to afford the benefit of education and training to the black and coloured population." Mico Training College (now Mico University College) is considered the oldest teacher training institute in the Western Hemisphere and the English-speaking world.

The first public normal school in the United States was founded in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1839. It operates today as Framingham State University. In the United States teacher colleges or normal schools began to call themselves universities beginning in the 1960s. For instance, Southern Illinois University was formerly known as Southern Illinois Normal College. The university, now a system with two campuses that enroll more than 34,000 students, has its own university press but still issues most of its bachelor degrees in education.[2] Similarly, the town of Normal, Illinois, takes its name from the former name of Illinois State University.

Many famous state universities—such as the University of California, Los Angeles—were founded as normal schools. In Canada, such institutions were typically assimilated by a university as their Faculty of Education, offering a one- or two-year Bachelor of Education program. It requires at least three (usually four) years of prior undergraduate studies.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Dan may be correct about 1776 but he's certainly wrong about 1876 when "on-the=job" training did not rule, at least not if farm country where children learned how to farm at home. School was deep into learning Latin, grammar, music, writing, history, geography, literature, and mathematics. Many of America's famous writers were educated in country schools of the 1800s. Students brought their own lunches from home after eating hearty breakfasts after early morning chores such as picking eggs and helping with the milking. .

The children had books, including the famous and tough McGuffy Readers for different grade levels ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffy_Reader

The school described by Dan Abendschein above probably did not give examinations like the supposed 1895 eighth-grade final examination in Salina Kansas.
1895 Examination in Salina, Kansas (That it was an eighth-grade examination has not been proven)
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/1895exam.htm#.U7aS-7EzNQ4
Also see http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.

5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

7. - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

 

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts.bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per are, the distance around which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

 

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607 1620 1800 1849 1865.

 

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound:Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences, cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

 

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America.

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

 

In one century we went from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to offering remedial English in college.
Joseph Sobran as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-11-27-07.htm

Jensen Comment
The point is not that we should still be teaching the same material in the 21st Century that was taught in the 19th Century. Knowledge exploded exponentially since the 1800s, and there are many newer and more important things to learn today. But there are certain skills that are still needed, especially skills in reading and arithmetic. In modern times we should not overlook the need for studying history and geography. Things like economics and science are more important today than they were in the 1800s.

But it's a crying shame that high schools are graduating students who can barely read and do simple arithmetic.

Most Students in Remedial Classes in College Had Solid Grades in High School Nearly four out of five students who undergo remediation in college graduated from high school with grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, according to a report issued today by Strong American Schools, a group that advocates making public-school education more rigorous.
Peter Schmidt, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2008 ---
http://chronicle.com/news/article/5145/most-students-in-remedial-classes-in-college-had-solid-grades-in-high-school-survey-finds

Too Much Need for Remedial Learning in 21st Century College, Too Little Success ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#RemedialNeeds

"American High Schools Are A Complete Disaster," by Laurence Steinberg, Slate via Business Insider, February 13, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/american-high-schools-are-a-disaster-2014-2

"U.S. 15 and 16-year olds rank 36th of 65 countries in PISA Educational Achievement Tests :  Education Efforts in the U.S. are a Resounding Failure," by Steven Mintz, Ethics Sage, December 4, 2013 ---
http://www.ethicssage.com/2013/12/us-15-and-16-year-olds-rank-36th-of-65-countries-in-pisa-educational-achievement-tests-.html


"These Test Questions Show How Math Has Totally Changed Since You Were In School," by Pamela Engel, Business Insider, July 8, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/common-core-math-test-questions-2014-7

Jensen Comment
I vote No!

Long Before We Were in School:  1895 Arithmetic Questions in Salina, Kansas (That it was an eighth-grade examination has not been proven)
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/1895exam.htm#.U7aS-7EzNQ4
Also see http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

1895 Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts.bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per are, the distance around which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

 


Steven Pinker Uses Theories from Evolutionary Biology to Explain Why Academic Writing is So Bad.---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/steven-pinker-uses-theories-from-evolutionary-biology-to-explain-why-academic-writing-is-so-bad.html

Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


Commenced Over 12 Years Ago Before It Became Such a Negotiating Issue
"Why Ernst & Young Believes So Strongly In Paid Paternity Leave, by Richard Feloni, Business Insider, July 1, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/ernst-and-young-paid-paternity-leave-policy-2014-7

. . .

Research shows that the majority of fathers believe all companies should offer some form of paid leave for them to spend time with their newborns, but only a small percentage of American companies — 14% according to the Families and Work Institute — currently offer paid paternity leave.

That might change. With more Gen Xers and millennials starting their families and expecting more flexibility from employers, Twaronite says she's seen a cultural shift in the past decade or so.

Ernst & Young introduced its paternity leave policy 12 years ago. The accounting giant offers two weeks of paid leave to all new fathers, and up to six weeks for fathers acting as the primary caregiver. While tech companies like Facebook and Yahoo have attracted attention in the past few years for offering extremely generous paid paternity leaves — four months and two months, respectively EY started offering the benefit long before there was a public demand for it.

"There were some who thought it was silly and that there would be no participation," Twaronite says. It started as a perk that many men were happy to take, but today it is seen as an essential benefit, she says.

EY doesn't offer paternity leave simply for the sake of being progressive. It firmly believes that it helps with employee retention, saving money on rehires and increasing engagement, Twaronite explains. Between 500 and 600 EY employees take advantage of paternity leave each year.

A recent report called "The New Dad," which is the fifth annual study of working fathers by Boston College's Center for Work & Family (CWF) and is sponsored by EY, shows an increasing trend in professional men wanting paid paternity leave.

The CWF surveyed 1,029 fathers at 286 companies. While it's important to note that 58% of respondents came from the CWF's network of companies, meaning most were highly educated professionals at companies with progressive benefits, the report shows that most men will take paid paternity leave if it is offered and will take the maximum amount of time offered.

Continued in article


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ernst-and-young-paid-paternity-leave-policy-2014-7#ixzz36PV9cfmm
 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ernst-and-young-paid-paternity-leave-policy-2014-7#ixzz36PU9RgWp


THE HOW-TO GEEK GUIDE TO WINDOWS 8.1 ---
http://www.howtogeek.com/school/windows-8-guide/lesson1/

Luddite Comment
I still prefer Windows 7
Bob Jensen


"Americans Think We Have the World’s Best Colleges. We Don’t," The New York Times, June 28, 2014 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/upshot/americans-think-we-have-the-worlds-best-colleges-we-dont.html?_r=1 

Jensen Comment
One problem is that the article does not define "best." A college is a "many splendored thing."

First college is a collection of students who more than anything else define the quality of a university.. In Germany and elsewhere around the world colleges only admit the top 25% of the high school graduates. In the USA almost any human being (even those who cannot read or write) can get into a nearby college. Because of the obsession in the USA to provide an opportunity for college virtually anywhere in the USA we have more colleges than any other nation in the world. There's an onsite community college a relatively short distance away from most any resident of the USA. But when the lowest 75% of the high school graduates can get into college, we can't expect most of our colleges to have the "best" students relative to Germany and elsewhere where college admission is restricted to the top 25% of the high school graduates.

Secondly, college is a collection of professors who teach and do research. With so many colleges across the USA we cannot expect most of those colleges to have scholars who are the best in the world. We do, however, have some colleges and universities that have the best scholars in the world. These are typically our top research colleges and universities.

One way to judge the best colleges and universities of the world is to examine which nation has the most Nobel Prize winners on campus. Here it's no contest.
List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation
 

The USA also has the most Ig Nobel Prize winners ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobel_Prize
I won't take the time and trouble to list their affiliations.


T-Mobile's Hundreds of Millions in Bogus Charges
From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on July 2, 2014

FTC Sues T-Mobile Over Unauthorized Wireless Charges.
The Federal Trade Commission sued
T-Mobile US Inc. on Tuesday, accusing the wireless carrier of adding hundreds of millions of dollars in bogus charges to subscribers’ bills as recently as December. In a civil complaint filed in federal court in Seattle, the FTC alleged that T-Mobile charged consumers monthly fees for third-party services that in many cases the subscribers hadn’t ordered. These included ringtones, wallpaper and text messages the agency said. The complaint alleges that T-Mobile continued to charge for the services even after mass complaints. The FTC said the company typically retained 35% to 40% of the fees.

Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


The American Dream
"15 Billionaires Who Were Once Dirt Poor," by Vivian Giang, Business Insider, July 1, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-who-came-from-nothing-2013-12?op=1#ixzz36JysNgcM

Jensen Comment
Note that they are not all white and not all males.

The Humble First Jobs Of 15 Highly Successful People ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/humble-first-jobs-of-successful-people-2014-7

 

Bob Jensen's threads on The American Dream ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/SunsetHillHouse/SunsetHillHouse.htm

The China Dream
The Rise of China's Billionaire Tiger Women
---
http://www.thedailybeast.com/videos/2012/03/05/behind-the-rise-of-china-s-billionaire-women.html


Diploma mills are almost as old as the university itself. Scott McLemee wonders why there isn't more scholarship on the real problem of fake degrees.

"A Degree of Fraud," by Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, July 2, 2014 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/07/02/essay-diploma-mills#sthash.8YfosLC9.dpbs 

It’s surprising how many house pets hold advanced degrees. Last year, a dog received his M.B.A. from the American University of London, a non-accredited distance-learning institution. It feels as if I should add “not to be confused with the American University in London,” but getting people to confuse them seems like a pretty basic feature of the whole AUOL marketing strategy.

The dog, identified as “Peter Smith” on his diploma, goes by Pete. He was granted his degree on the basis of “previous experiential learning,” along with payment of £4500. The funds were provided by a BBC news program, which also helped Pete fill out the paperwork. The American University of London required that Pete submit evidence of his qualifications as well as a photograph. The applicant submitted neither, as the BBC website explains, “since the qualifications did not exist and the applicant was a dog.”

The program found hundreds of people listing AUOL degrees in their profiles on social networking sites, including “a senior nuclear industry executive who was in charge of selling a new generation of reactors in the UK.” (For more examples of suspiciously credentialed dogs and cats, see this list.)

Inside Higher Ed reports on diploma mills and fake degrees from time to time but can’t possibly cover every revelation that some professor or state official has a bogus degree, or that a “university” turns out to be run by a convicted felon from his prison cell. Even a blog dedicated to the topic, Diploma Mill News, links to just a fraction of the stories out there. Keeping up with every case is just too much; nobody has that much Schaudenfreude in them.

By contrast, scholarly work on the topic of counterfeit credentials has appeared at a glacial pace. Allen Ezell and John Bear’s expose Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollar Industry -- first published by Prometheus Books in 2005 and updated in 2012 – points out that academic research on the phenomenon amounts is conspicuously lacking, despite the scale of the problem. (Ezell headed up the Federal Bureau of Investigation's “DipScam” investigation of diploma mills that ran from 1980 through 1991.)

The one notable exception to that blind spot is the history of medical quackery, which enjoyed its golden age in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thousands of dubious practitioners throughout the United States got their degrees from correspondence course or fly-by-night medical schools. The fight to put both the quacks and the quack academies out of business reached its peak during the 1920s and ‘30s, under the tireless leadership of Morris Fishbein, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

H.L. Mencken was not persuaded that getting rid of medical charlatans was such a good idea. “As the old-time family doctor dies out in the country towns,” he wrote in a newspaper column from 1924, “with no competent successor willing to take over his dismal business, he is followed by some hearty blacksmith or ice-wagon driver, turned into a chiropractor in six months, often by correspondence.... It eases and soothes me to see [the quacks] so prosperous, for they counteract the evil work of the so-called science of public hygiene, which now seeks to make imbeciles immortal.” (On the other hand, he did point out quacks worth pursuing to Fishbein.)

The pioneering scholar of American medical shadiness was James Harvey Young, an emeritus professor of history at Emory University when he died in 2006, who first published on the subject in the early 1950s. Princeton University Press is reissuing American Health Quackery: Collected Essays of James Harvey Young in paperback this month. But while patent medicines and dubious treatments are now routinely discussed in books and papers on medical history, very little research has appeared on the institutions -- or businesses, if you prefer -- that sold credentials to the snake-oil merchants of yesteryear.

There are plenty still around, incidentally. In Degree Mills, Ezell and Bear cite a Congressional committee’s estimate from 1986 that there were more than 5,000 fake doctors practicing in the United States. The figure must be several times that by now.

The demand for fraudulent diplomas comes from a much wider range of aspiring professionals now than in the patent-medicine era – as the example of Pete, the canine MBA, may suggest. The most general social-scientific study of the problem seems to be “An Introduction to the Economics of Fake Degrees,” published in the Journal of Economic Issues in 2008.

The authors -- Gilles Grolleau, Tarik Lakhal, and Naoufel Mzoughi – are French economists who do what they can with the available pool of data, which is neither wide nor deep. “While the problem of diploma mills and fake degrees is acknowledged to be serious,” they write, “it is difficult to estimate their full impact because it is an illegal activity and there is an obvious lack of data and rigorous studies. Several official investigations point to the magnitude and implications of this dubious activity. These investigations appear to underestimate the expanding scale and dimensions of this multimillion-dollar industry.”

Continued in artilce
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/07/02/essay-diploma-mills#ixzz36KBEe825
Inside Higher Ed
 

Bob Jensen's threads on diploma mills ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#DiplomaMill

The biggest scandal in higher education is still grade inflation in legitimate universities ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#GradeInflation


"In Japan, Research Scandal Prompts Questions," by David McNeill, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 30, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/In-Japan-Research-Scandal/147417/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

. . .

Ms. Obokata’s actions "lead us to the conclusion that she sorely lacks, not only a sense of research ethics, but also integrity and humility as a scientific researcher," a damning report concluded. The release of the report sent Ms. Obokata, who admits mistakes but not ill intent, to the hospital in shock for a week. Riken has dismissed all her appeals, clearing the way for disciplinary action, which she has pledged to fight.

In June the embattled researcher agreed to retract both Nature papers—under duress, said her lawyer. On July 2, Nature released a statement from her and the other authors officially retracting the papers.

The seismic waves from Ms. Obokata’s rise and vertiginous fall continue to reverberate. Japan’s top universities are rushing to install antiplagiarism software and are combing through old doctoral theses amid accusations that they are honeycombed with similar problems.

The affair has sucked in some of Japan’s most revered professors, including Riken’s president, Ryoji Noyori, a Nobel laureate, and Shinya Yamanaka, credited with creating induced pluripotent stem cells. Mr. Yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University who is also a Nobel laureate, in April denied claims that he too had manipulated images in a 2000 research paper on embryonic mouse stem cells, but he was forced to admit that, like Ms. Obokata, he could not find lab notes to support his denial.

The scandal has triggered questions about the quality of science in a country that still punches below its international weight in cutting-edge research. Critics say Japan’s best universities have churned out hundreds of poor-quality Ph.D.’s. Young researchers are not taught how to keep detailed lab notes, properly cite data, or question assumptions, said Sukeyasu Yamamoto, a former physicist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and now an adviser to Riken. "The problems we see in this episode are all too common," he said.

Hung Out to Dry?

Ironically, Riken was known as a positive discriminator in a country where just one in seven university researchers are women—the lowest share in the developed world. The organization was striving to push young women into positions of responsibility, say other professors there. "The flip side is that they overreacted and maybe went a little too fast," said Kathleen S. Rockland, a neurobiologist who once worked at Riken’s Brain Science Institute. "That’s a pity because they were doing a very good job."

Many professors, however, accuse the institute of hanging Ms. Obokata out to dry since the problems in her papers were exposed. Riken was under intense pressure to justify its budget with high-profile results. Japan’s news media have focused on the role of Yoshiki Sasai, deputy director of the Riken Center and Ms. Obokata’s supervisor, who initially promoted her, then insisted he had no knowledge of the details of her research once the problems were exposed.

Critics noted that even the head of the inquiry into Ms. Obokata’s alleged misconduct was forced to admit in April that he had posted "problematic" images in a 2007 paper published in Oncogene. Shunsuke Ishii, a molecular geneticist, quit the investigative committee.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on the need for independent replication and other validity studies in research (except in accountancy were accountics researchers are not encouraged by journals to do validity checks) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on professors who cheat ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#ProfessorsWhoPlagiarize


Scandal Brewing on for Software Company That Launders Admission Fees for Leading Colleges and Universities

"Troubles at Embark," by Rivard, Inside Higher Ed, July 3, 2014 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/03/dispute-over-company-works-colleges-graduate-and-professional-school-applications#sthash.z9TwIj67.dpbs 

 


July 1, 2014 message from Scott Bonacker

Scott Bonacker 

“Mueller and Oppenheimer included a study in which participants were asked to take notes by hand or by laptop, and were told they would be tested on the material in a week. When participants were given an opportunity to study with their notes before the final assessment, once again those who took longhand notes outperformed laptop participants. Because longhand notes contain students’ own words and handwriting, they may serve as more effective memory cues by recreating the context (e.g., thought processes, emotions, conclusions) as well as content (e.g., individual facts) from the original learning session.”

More in the article:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/ 

I used to outline and/or re-write portions of my textbooks as an aid to learning and remembering.

Scott,

July 1, 2014 reply from Bob Jensen

I also used to write passages copied from my textbooks even when facing closed-book and closed =-notes examinations.

Bob

"Why Writing by Hand Could Make You Smarter In surprising studies, researchers find benefits to setting keyboards aside," by William Klemm, Psychology Today, May 14, 2013 ---
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201303/why-writing-hand-could-make-you-smarter .

Have you ever tried to read your physician’s prescriptions? Children increasingly print their writing because they don’t know cursive or theirs is simply unreadable. I have a middle-school grandson who has trouble reading his own cursive. Grandparents may find that their grandchildren can’t even read the notes they send. Our new U.S. Secretary of the Treasury can’t (or won’t) write his own name on the new money being printed.

When we adults went to school, one of the first things we learned was how to write the alphabet, in caps and lower case, and then to hand-write words, sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Some of us were lucky enough to have penmanship class where we learned how to make our writing pretty and readable. Today, keyboarding is in. The Common Core Standards no longer require elementary students to learn cursive, and some schools are dropping the teaching of cursive entirely, dismissing it as an “ancient skill.”[1]

The primary schools that teach handwriting spend only just over an hour a week, according to Zaner-Bloser Inc., one of the nation's largest handwriting-curriculum publishers. Cursive is not generally taught after the third grade (my penmanship class was in the 7th grade; maybe its just coincidence, but the 7th grade was when I was magically transformed from a poor student into an exceptional student).

Yet scientists are discovering that learning cursive is an important tool for cognitive development, particularly in training the brain to learn “functional specialization”[2]—that is, the capacity for optimal efficiency. In the case of learning cursive writing, the brain develops functional specialization that integrates both sensation, movement control, and thinking. Brain imaging studies reveal that multiple areas of brain become co-activated during the learning of cursive writing of pseudo-letters, as opposed to typing or just visual practice.

There is a spill-over benefit for thinking skills used in reading and writing. To write legible cursive, fine motor control is needed over the fingers. You have to pay attention and think about what and how you are doing it. You have to practice. Brain imaging studies show that cursive activates areas of the brain that do not participate in keyboarding.

Much of the benefit of handwriting in general comes simply from the self-generated mechanics of drawing letters. In one Indiana University study,[3] researchers conducted brain scans on pre-literate 5-year olds before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced self-generated printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and "adult-like" than in those who had simply looked at letters. The brain’s “reading circuit” of linked regions that are activated during reading was activated during hand writing, but not during typing. This lab has also demonstrated that writing letters in meaningful context, as opposed to just writing them as drawing objects, produced much more robust activation of many areas in both hemispheres.

In learning to write by hand, even if it is just printing, the brain must:

Cursive writing, compared to printing, is even more beneficial because the movement tasks are more demanding, the letters are less stereotypical, and the visual recognition requirements create a broader repertoire of letter representation. Cursive is also faster and more likely to engage students by providing a better sense of personal style and ownership.

Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. Virginia Berninger, a professor at the University of Washington, reported her study of children in grades two, four and six that revealed they wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard.[4]

There is a whole field of research known as “haptics,” which includes the interactions of touch, hand movements, and brain function.[5] Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual, and tactile information, and fine motor dexterity. School systems, driven by ill-informed ideologues and federal mandate, are becoming obsessed with testing knowledge at the expense of training kids to develop better capacity for acquiring knowledge.

Continued in article

 


"The U.S.’s Odds of Beating Belgium And Every Other World Cup Opponent," by Bayesian Hero Nate Silver, Nate Silver's 5:38, June 26, 2014 ---
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-u-s-s-odds-of-beating-belgium-and-every-other-world-cup-opponent/

Jensen Comment
Nate is best known for baseball predictions where there's a vast amount of data due to the many games played and fewer injuries. In the realm of Wolrd Cup soccer he sticks his neck out farther. In the realm of NFL football his head is likely to get chopped off.

Nate has mixed results in predicting political voting outcomes, but he's usually on the mark. There's a lot of repeated-survey data, but the data is often biased and unreliable. Nate relies on polls that he himself does not conduct. More of a problem in political forecasting is the shift in voter sentiments just before voting actually takes place. One of Nate's worst prediction failures came when predicting Scott Brown would lose the Massachusetts Senate race after Ted Kennedy passed on. Nate attributes this prediction failure to last-minute shifts in voter sentiments.

Nate also did not due so well predicting the recent loss of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.Once again he relied upon incompetent voting polls.

This proves once again that the physical scientists stole all of the easy problems.


Lousy Internal Controls at Ball State University
"How One Investment Manager Gambled Away $13.1-Million of Her University’s Money," by Vimal Patel, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 30, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/How-One-Investment-Manager/147403/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

After He is Accused of Similar Fraud at Oklahoma State University (more than $1 million)
"Official at U. of Maryland at Baltimore Resigns After Accusation of Past Fraud," by Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 301, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/official-at-u-of-maryland-at-baltimore-resigns-after-accusation-of-past-fraud?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en


RateMyProfessors.com --- http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/

"Professors Read Mean Student Evaluations," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, June 28, 2014 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/06/professors-read-.html

Bob Jensen's threads on teaching evaluations, grade inflation, and RateMyProfessors ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#RateMyProfessor


"Education Dept. Unveils New Lists of Most and Least Expensive Colleges," by Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 30, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/education-dept-unveils-new-lists-of-most-and-least-affordable-colleges/80831?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Jensen Comment
The replies to this article stress that in expensive schools students seldom pay sticker price. In the case of least expensive colleges students may be getting what they paid for. For example, students wanting to enter the popular professions of accounting, finance, nursing, pharmacy, and engineering probably will not make much progress toward those professions. There are cheap lunches, but usually the cuisine is not so hot.

Sometimes students wanting to enter the popular professions of accounting, finance, nursing, pharmacy, and engineering probably will not make much progress toward those professions in the nation's most expensive colleges like Sarah Lawrence College and other mostly liberal arts colleges with high sticker prices. Those colleges depend in large measure for having graduates go on to law schools.

Such expensive undergraduate colleges must be hurting in recent years when over have the graduates of USA law schools cannot find careers in the law profession. Only a small percentage of graduates in these expensive liberal arts colleges are admitted to medical schools. Prestigious MBA programs are looking more and more attractive.


The author must've never heard the phrase "eating your seed corn."

"Profitless' Amazon Myth Lives On Thanks To Lazy Financial Media," Peridot Capital Management, June 30, 2014 ---
http://www.peridotcapital.com/2014/06/profitless-amazon-myth-lives-on-thanks-to-lazy-financial-media.html

Last night CNBC premiered their newest documentary entitled Amazon Rising. I tuned in, as I have thoroughly enjoyed most of their previous productions. I found this one to have a noticeably anti-Amazon vibe, but none of the revelations about the company’s business practices should have surprised many people, or struck them as having “crossed the line.” For me, by far the most annoying aspect of the one-hour show was the continued insistence that Amazon “barely makes any money” and “trades profits for success.” It’s a shame that the media continues to run with this theme (or at least not correct it), even when the numbers don’t support it.

Most savvy business reporters understand the difference between accounting earnings and cash flow, the latter being the more relevent metric for profitability, as it measures the amount of actual cash you have made running your business. There are numerous accounting rules that can increase or decrease the income you report on your tax return, but have no impact on the cash you have collected from your customers. A good example would be your own personal tax return. Did the taxable income you reported on your 2013 tax return exactly match the dollar amount of compensation that was deposited into your bank account during the year? Almost by definition the answer is “no” given that various tax deductions impact the income you report and therefore the taxes you pay. But for you personally, the cash you received (either on a net or gross basis) is really all that matters. One can try to minimize their tax bill (legally, of course) by learning about every single deduction that may apply to them, but it doesn’t change the amount of pre-tax cash they actually collected.

As a result, the relevent metric for Amazon (or any other company) when measuring profitability should be operating cash flow. It’s fancy term that simply means the amount of actual net cash generated (in this case “generated” means inflows less outflows, not simply inflows) by your business operations. In the chart below I have calculated operating cash flow margins (actual net cash profit divided by revenue) for five large retailing companies — Costco, Walgreen, Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon — during the past 12 months. The media would have you belive that Amazon would lag on this metric, despite the cognitive dissonance that would result if you stopped to think about how Amazon has been able to grow as fast as they have and enter new product areas so aggressively. After all, if they don’t make any money, where have the billions of dollars required for these ventures come from? The answer, of course, is that Amazon is actually quite profitable.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
It is important to when analyzing financial statements to carefully study cash flows, especially when otherwise profitable companies are having worrisome cash flow problems such as when customers are slow paying what is owed to a vendor.

But to imply that accrual profits are mostly irrelevant is irresponsible --- something we should never teach our students.

Airline companies would look amazingly profitable if by some magic they never had to replace their aircraft. Think of how profitable a railroad could be if its rolling stock and road beds remained as good as new for 100 years of heavy use.

Companies could pay employees in long-term stock options and look amazingly profitable because the cash compensation is deferred for a very long time --- sort of like cash payments for pensions that are way off in the distant future for companies like Google and Amazon --- amounts owing when current managements are long gone and eating on the lotus leaves.

Executives would do cartwheels if you paid their bonuses on operating cash flow at Amazon.

Operating cash flow "profits" are the ultimate in profit myopia.

The author must've never heard the phrase "eating your seed corn."

The author perhaps does not understand the moral hazards of basing investments and management performance rewards on operating cash flows.
Bob Jensen's threads on cash flow profits versus accrual profits are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory02.htm#CashVsAccrualAcctg


Update:  Bill Powers was granted until June 2015 to retire and will not be fired immediately.

"Texas Admissions Brawl:  Charges of political favoritism depose the UT president," The Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/texas-admissions-brawl-1404947400?tesla=y&mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj

You can't beat Texas for beef barbecue, job growth and political vendettas—and not necessarily in that order. The attempt to impeach University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall for daring to question admissions policy has now effloresced into a spectacle that has taken down University of Texas President Bill Powers.

Last week UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa asked Mr. Powers to resign or face a vote to oust him when the University regents meet Thursday. Mr. Powers submitted his resignation at the 11th hour on Wednesday, effective next June, but his departure will only increase the scrutiny of the growing evidence of political favoritism in UT admissions.

Mr. Cigarroa released an analysis in May of a sample of 86 letters from lawmakers to Mr. Powers seeking special consideration for friends and family. It showed that the most frequent favor seekers were Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and state Reps. Dan Branch and Jim Pitts, Republicans who have led the effort to oust Mr. Hall after he began digging into political favoritism on campus. (See our May 12, 2014 editorial.)

According to the review, Messrs. Straus, Pitts and Branch each wrote seven letters to Mr. Powers seeking special consideration for applicants. Undergrad applicants with recommendation letters from lawmakers had a 58.7% admission rate at UT between 2009 and 2013 compared to a 15.8% overall admission rate. Half of the law school applicants with special letters were admitted, compared to 22.5% overall, and some of the favored had scores well below average.

Mr. Straus told us in an email that he has been happy to write letters for "constituents" but "never asked or expected any school to alter its admissions policies." Mr. Branch said in a statement that it was his "duty" to send letters when requested by constituents, but that he later limited the practice to "avoid potential misperceptions." Mr. Pitts didn't return calls but he announced last year he would not seek re-election shortly after National Review reported he had lobbied UT law school on behalf of his son.

The May review said it found no evidence of "overt" pressure on admissions by Mr. Powers. But last month Mr. Cigarroa called for further investigation based on what he called "ongoing questions and additional input." We're told that a source of that new input is a whistleblower with first-hand knowledge of the UT Austin admissions process.

All of this relates to Mr. Hall, a Dallas businessman whose attempts at oversight as a regent inspired the attempt to impeach him for supposedly mishandling confidential documents and making burdensome document requests. Those charges have been debunked, but the impeachment effort has kept moving and has included attempts to protect Mr. Powers as UT president. In a July 2013 letter to Regents Vice Chairman Eugene Powell, a pair of state lawmakers investigating Mr. Hall wrote that to protect the "integrity" of their investigation, they ask "that no adverse employment action be taken against any proposed witness for the duration of the investigation." Top of the list: Mr. Powers.

Texas voters understandably don't like what they see. In late May they defeated Lt. Governor David Dewhurst's DWHT.LN +0.35% attempt for re-election after he made impeaching Mr. Hall central to his campaign. Mr. Branch, who led the charge to impeach Mr. Hall, lost his campaign to be state Attorney General and will leave the legislature. The voters seem to understand, even if some legislators don't, that college admissions are supposed to be based on merit, not political connections.

 

"Texas Celebrates Fourth of July By Ousting Corrupt UT Austin President," by Robby Soave, Reason Magazine, July 4, 2014 ---
http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/04/texas-celebrates-fourth-of-july-by-ousti

A major shakeup is coming to the University of Texas at Austin. President Bill Powers, who is believed to be involved in an admissions scandal, was given an ultimatum: resign by the next regents' meeting or be fired.

According to The Houston Chronicle, Powers has not yet accepted the offer:

UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa asked Powers to resign before the regents meet again July 10, or be fired at the meeting, the source said. Powers told Cigarroa he will not resign, at least not under the terms that the chancellor laid out Friday. Powers told Cigarroa he would be open to discussing a timeline for his exit, the source said.

Powers' ouster follows the opening of an investigation into UT Law School. Numerous media outlets have reported that the law school was admitting vast numbers of unqualified students who had political connections. Powers was formerly dean of the law school.

The scandal may have remained unknown to the public if not for a personal investigation undertaken by UT Regent Wallace Hall, who filed numerous public records requests after coming across some suspicious documents. Powers' allies in the legislature retaliated by attempting to impeach Hall, though the motion was tabled by a legislative subcommittee.

The sudden downfall of Powers is a stunning vindication of the efforts of Hall and Texas Watchdog.org's Jon Cassidy, who provided an analysis of UT admissions that corroborated Hall's findings.

Thankfully, it looks like corrupt college administrators will no longer be able to keep the extent of their wrongdoing a secret from the public.

 

"Cronyism Blamed for Half of Univ. of Texas Law School Grads’ Inability to Pass the Bar," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, May 23, 2014 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/05/cronyism-blamed.html
Raw Story ---
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/21/cronyism-blamed-for-half-of-univ-of-texas-law-school-grads-inability-to-pass-the-bar/ 

A mushrooming scandal at the University of Texas has exposed rampant favoritism in the admissions process of its nationally-respected School of Law.

According to Watchdog.org, Democratic and Republican elected officials stand accused of calling in favors and using their clout to obtain admission to the law school for less-than-qualified but well-connected applicants.

The prestigious program boasts a meager 59 percent of recent graduates who were able to pass the Texas bar exam. Those numbers rank UT “dead last among Texas’ nine law schools despite it being by far the most highly regarded school of the nine,” wrote Erik Telford at FoxNews.com.

“Every law school — even Harvard and Yale — turns out the occasional disappointing alum who cannot pass the bar,” said Telford. “In Texas, however, a disturbing number of these failed graduates are directly connected to the politicians who oversee the university’s source of funding.”

Telford singled out State Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D) and State House Speaker Joe Straus (R) as particularly egregious offenders. A series of Zaffirini emails showed that the state Senator was more than willing to pull strings in applicants’ favor. Another six recent graduates who failed the bar exam twice each have connections to Straus’ office.

“None of the emails published so far explicitly mention any sort of quid pro quo, but none need do so,” wrote Watchdog.org’s Jon Cassidy, “as the recipients all know Zaffirini is the most powerful voice on higher education funding in the Texas Legislature. Even so, in one of the emails, Zaffirini mentions how much funding she’s secured for the university before switching topics to the applicant.”

Furthermore, the children of three Texas lawmakers, including Zaffirini’s son, have graduated from UT Law School and failed the bar exam eight times between them. In addition to Zaffirini, State Sen. John Carona (R) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts (R) each sent their sons to the program, neither of whom has passed the bar to this day.

Continued in article

 

Feb. 2014 Texas Bar (1st Time Takers)

Rank

School

Number

Pass Rate

1

Texas Tech

24

91.7%

2

Baylor

37

89.2%

3

Texas A&M

48

87.5%

4

Houston

32

84.4%

5

South Texas

111

83.8%

6

SMU

25

72.0%

7

St. Mary’s

42

66.7%

8

Texas Southern

24

66.7%

9

Texas

17

58.8%

 

Jensen Comment
Bill Powers became famous (some might argue infamous) while Dean at the UT Law School when he was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Enron when Enron imploded. However, in my opinion Enron's top executives were adept at hiding their illegal and unethical behavior from the Board and the Audit Committee. Bill Powers commissioned the very long and informative Powers Report about the underhanded dealings of Enron executives, most of whom eventually served short prison terms ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm

Enron:  Bankruptcy Court Link http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/ 

The 208 Page February 2, 2002 Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors (Powers) Report--- http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/enron/sicreport/ 
Alternative 2:  http://nytimes.com/images/2002/02/03/business/03powers.pdf 
Alternative 3:  http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2002/LAW/02/02/enron.report/powers.report.pdf 
Alternative 4:  Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

 

Bob Jensen's threads on the decline of jobs in the law profession and the decline of law school enrollments are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#OverstuffedLawSchools

 




From the Scout Report on July 4, 2014

Wuda Time --- http://wudatime.com/ 

The Wuda Time project management tool is designed to help individuals keep track of their dedication to various tasks and operations. Visitors can sign up right on the site to have instant access to this powerful tool. It's easy to use and users can prioritize certain tasks with a color-coded system or designate certain task completion times. This version is compatible with all operating systems.  


Overswipe --- http://getoverswipe.com/ 

Let's say you'd like to share some photos with friends, but just certain ones. With Overswipe you can select the images from your camera roll you'd like to share and that's it. This simple app makes sure there's no over-sharing. Users can even save settings for future sharing sessions. This version is compatible with Apple devices running i0S 7.0 and newer.


50 Years Later: A Look Back at the 1964 Civil Rights Act
At 50, The Civil Rights Acts Creates 'Opportunities For All Americans'
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/02/327686138/at-50-the-civil-rights-act-creates-opportunities-for-all-americans

Students join civil rights veterans on symbolic bus ride
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/02/students-symbolic-civil-rights-bus-ride/12107803/

5 Things to Know About the 1964 Civil Rights Act
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/things-1964-civil-rights-act-24403686

NPR: Behind the Civil Rights Act
http://apps.npr.org/behind-the-civil-rights-act/#/annotations

Medgar Evers & Civil Rights Act of 1964 Linked
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/journeytojustice/2014/07/01/medgar-evers-civil-rights-act-1964/11949425/

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/


From the Scout Report on July 11, 2014

Revunote ---  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.revunote.client&hl=en 

Revunote works with Evernote to boost your memory using "spaced repetition.” Users just need to add their own notes from Evernote to get started, then indicate the desired repetition for reviewing each note, e.g. 1, 3, 7, 14, 30, or 60 days. Revunote even has overdue indicators and a widget to help keep users more on track with their studying. This version is compatible with Android devices.


Penflip --- https://www.penflip.com/ 

At its essence, Penflip helps writers focus on writing. The markdown editor interface allows users to edit works themselves or share them with others, which is a nice touch. The Publish feature is also worth noting. This neat feature allows folks to download completed manuscripts into beautifully formatted ebooks. Users can even edit using their own browser, create footnotes, or complete new chapters for books. This version is compatible with all operating systems.


As the Cupcake Empire Crumbles, Some Ask, "What's Next?"
Crumbs' Downfall Shows Limits of Cupcake Addiction
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-08/crumbs-downfall-shows-limits-of-american-cupcake-addiction-1-.html

The rise and fall of Crumbs, America's first public cupcake company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-americas-first-public-cupcake-company-in-five-charts/

Crumbs Bake Shop closing all stores. Is the cupcake craze crumbling?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2014/0708/Crumbs-Bake-Shop-closing-all-stores.-Is-the-cupcake-craze-crumbling-video

Top 10 Trends at the Fancy Food Show
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/top-10-trends-fancy-food-show/293952/

Using Google Trend Reports to Predict Future Food Trends
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2014/06/using_google_trends_to_predict_future_food_trends.php

AllRecipes: Cupcake Recipes
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/desserts/cakes/cupcakes/

 




Free online textbooks, cases, and tutorials in accounting, finance, economics, and statistics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks


Education Tutorials

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Principles to Actions --- http://www.nctm.org/PrinciplestoActions/

Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch

Teaching in the Field (geology) --- http://nagt.org/nagt/teaching_resources/field/index.html

American Society for Theatre Research --- http://www.astr.org/

Demos: Publications: Scouting for Skills --- http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/scoutingforskills

Bob Jensen's bookmarks for multiple disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm


Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

National Academies of Science: Literacy for Science
http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/BOSE/Literacy_for_Science/index.htm

PLOS Blogs Network (Public Library of Schience) --- http://blogs.plos.org/

Teaching in the Field (geology) --- http://nagt.org/nagt/teaching_resources/field/index.html

Nature.com Blogs --- http://blogs.nature.com/

Whales: From Bone to Book --- http://library.si.edu/digital-library/exhibition/bone-to-book

National Geographic: Blue Whales --- http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/blue-whales/brower-text 

Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization of US Children: A Systematic Review ---
http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP51857.html z

The Incredible Depth Of The Earth's Oceans ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/infographic-shows-incredible-depth-of-earths-oceans-2014-7#ixzz36JxbE0Z4

The Quantum Exchange (quantum physics resources) --- http://www.compadre.org/quantum/

Study of Greek Revival Architecture in the Finger Lakes Region --- http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/r/ruffner/

ArchDaily (popular architecture site) --- http://www.archdaily.com/

Sumner Tunnel (Boston), Construction Photographs, 1929-1933 --- http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15774coll13

Wildfire Risk Explorer --- http://oregonexplorer.info/wildfire/

U.S. Drought Portal --- http://www.drought.gov

Click on a bird and it will sing for you --- http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/nature/birds/bird_songs_interactive.html

Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine tutorials are at ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Social Science and Economics Tutorials

Nature.com Blogs --- http://blogs.nature.com/

Sumner Tunnel (Boston), Construction Photographs, 1929-1933 --- http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15774coll13

UCLA Online Campaign Literature Archive --- http://digital.library.ucla.edu/campaign/

Buddhist Economics: How to Stop Prioritizing Goods Over People and Consumption Over Creative Activity ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/buddhist-economics-schumacher/

Freedom Summer: Wisconsin Historical Society (civil rights) --- https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:1474

Locked up in America --- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/locked-up-in-america/

Women in Prison --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Hahn_Rafter

Demos: Publications: Scouting for Skills --- http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/scoutingforskills

Lucullus V. McWhorter Collection (war. native American) --- http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/mcwhorter/

Papers of Governor C. Farris Bryant --- http://ufdc.ufl.edu/cfbry

French Canadians in the Midwest --- http://publications.newberry.org/digitalexhibitions/exhibits/show/canadians/earlychicago

West Virginia Department of Commerce --- http://www.wvcommerce.org/default.aspx

From the Scout Report on November 21, 2007

Call for prison reform draws attention from policy makers and members of the law enforcement community U.S. Prison system a costly and harmful failure http://www.maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=19050  

California a leader in number of youths in prison for life --- Click Here

Crack cocaine sentence cut is stalled by retroactivity http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07323/835088-85.stm 

NPR: Should Sentencing Reform Be Retroactive? [Real Player] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16327095 

Unlocking America [pdf] http://www.jfa-associates.com/publications/srs/UnlockingAmerica.pdf 

Bureau of Justice Statistics [pdf] http://ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/welcome.html 

 

Prison University Project --- http://www.prisonuniversityproject.org

Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and Philosophy tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Law and Legal Studies

Student Press Law Center --- http://www.splc.org/

George Washington's Acts of Congress (1789 Laws) --- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/acts-of-congress/

Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Math Tutorials

Elements of Calculus I --- http://ocw.nd.edu/mathematics/elements-of-calculus-i

Digital Learning Day: Math Toolkit --- http://www.digitallearningday.org/learn-and-explore/digital-learning-tools/math/

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Principles to Actions --- http://www.nctm.org/PrinciplestoActions/

Wolfram Alpha Computational Database ---
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Some Things You Might Want to Know About the Wolfram Alpha (WA) Search Engine:  The Good and The Evil
as Applied to Learning Curves (Cumulative Average vs. Incremental Unit)
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theorylearningcurves.htm

Mathematics: MIT OpenCourseWare ---  http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/

Mathematics:  Khan Academy --- http://ww2.kahnacademy.org/

Wolfram Alpha (absolutely unbelievable) --- https://www.wolframalpha.com/

Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


History Tutorials

The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem --- http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/

Listen to the Oldest Song in the World: A Sumerian Hymn Written 3,400 Years Ago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-oldest-song-in-the-world.html

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Lectures and Symposia Archive --- http://americanart.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts/

Digital Art Museum --- http://dam.org/home

The Best Illustrations from 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/best-illustrations-alice-in-wonderland/

Discover the Music Vault: A Massive YouTube Archive of 13,000 Live Concert Videos ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/music-vault-a-massive-youtube-archive-of-13000-live-concert-videos.html

Leo Tolstoy Creates a List of the 50+ Books That Influenced Him Most (1891) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/leo-tolstoy-creates-a-list-of-the-50-books-that-influenced-him-most-1891.html

Jack Kerouac’s On the Road Turned Into an Illustrated Scroll: One Drawing for Every Page of the Novel ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/jack-kerouacs-on-the-road-turned-into-an-illustrated-scroll.html

Watch the First Animations of Peanuts: Commercials for the Ford Motor Company (1959-1961) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/watch-the-first-animations-of-peanuts.html

Freedom Summer: Wisconsin Historical Society (civil rights) --- https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:1474

The Turin Erotic Papyrus: The Oldest Known Depiction of Sex (Circa 1150 B.C.E.) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-turin-erotic-papyrus-the-oldest-known-depiction-of-sex-circa-1150-b-c-e.html

Dutch Book From 1692 Documents Every Color Under the Sun: A Pre-Pantone Guide to Colors ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/dutch-book-from-1692-documents-every-color-under-the-sun.html

Buddhist Economics: How to Stop Prioritizing Goods Over People and Consumption Over Creative Activity ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/buddhist-economics-schumacher/

Early 1900s Destruction of the Canadian Frontier ---
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/01/turn-of-the-century-canadians-were-getting-up-to-stuff-you-arent-going-to-read-in-history-textbooks&pubdate=2014-07-01

Susan Sontag Lectures On Literary Pornography (1964) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/susan-sontag-lectures-on-literary-pornography-1964.html

Serie Project Print Collection (serigraphy) --- http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15125coll11

American Society for Theatre Research --- http://www.astr.org/

George Washington's Acts of Congress (1789 Laws) --- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/acts-of-congress/

Becoming Minnesota --- http://gallery.lib.umn.edu/exhibits/show/becoming-minnesota

Study of Greek Revival Architecture in the Finger Lakes Region --- http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/r/ruffner/

French Canadians in the Midwest --- http://publications.newberry.org/digitalexhibitions/exhibits/show/canadians/earlychicago

Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore --- http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/ACC

Kentucky Arts Council --- http://artscouncil.ky.gov/

Images of Lake Tahoe --- http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/explore/ILTExplore/ILT-home.html

Sumner Tunnel (Boston), Construction Photographs, 1929-1933 --- http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15774coll13

Flannery O’Connor’s Satirical Cartoons: 1942-1945 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/flannery-oconnors-satirical-college-cartoons-1942-1945.html

Johnny Cash Reads the Entire New Testament (Bible)---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/johnny-cash-reads-the-entire-new-testament.html

Lucullus V. McWhorter Collection (war. native American) --- http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/mcwhorter/

Papers of Governor C. Farris Bryant --- http://ufdc.ufl.edu/cfbry

Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm  


Language Tutorials

Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Music Tutorials

The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem --- http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/

Click on a bird and it will sing for you --- http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/nature/birds/bird_songs_interactive.html

Listen to the Oldest Song in the World: A Sumerian Hymn Written 3,400 Years Ago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-oldest-song-in-the-world.html

Discover the Music Vault: A Massive YouTube Archive of 13,000 Live Concert Videos ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/music-vault-a-massive-youtube-archive-of-13000-live-concert-videos.html

Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on music performances ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm


Writing Tutorials

The CIA’s Style Manual & Writer’s Guide: 185 Pages of Tips for Writing Like a Spy ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/the-cia-style-manual-writers-guide.html

Steven Pinker Uses Theories from Evolutionary Biology to Explain Why Academic Writing is So Bad.---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/steven-pinker-uses-theories-from-evolutionary-biology-to-explain-why-academic-writing-is-so-bad.html

Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries



Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/

June 29, 2014

July 1, 2014

July 2, 2014

July 3, 2014

July 8, 2014

July 9, 2014

July 10, 2014

July 11, 2014

July 12, 2014

July 14, 2014

 


Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization of US Children: A Systematic Review ---
http://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP51857.html


Alzheimer's disease could be prevented after new blood test breakthrough ---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10951689/Alzheimers-disease-could-be-prevented-after-new-blood-test-breakthrough.html

Scientists at Oxford University and Kings College London develop blood test which can predict the onset of Alzheimer's so that drugs could target the disease before symptoms appear

A blood test has been developed to predict if someone will develop Alzheimer’s within a year, raising hopes that the disease could become preventable.

After a decade of research, scientists at Oxford University and King’s College London are confident they have found 10 proteins which show the disease is imminent.

Clinical trials will start on people who have not yet developed Alzheimer’s to find out which drugs halt its onset.

The blood test, which could be available in as little as two years, was described as a “major step forward” by Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, and by charities which said it could revolutionise research into a cure.

“Although we are making drugs they are all failing. But if we could treat people earlier it may be that the drugs are effective,” said Simon Lovestone, professor of translational neuroscience at Oxford. “Alzheimer’s begins to affect the brain many years before patients are diagnosed with the disease. If we could treat the disease in that phase we would in effect have a preventative strategy.”

Clinical trials into so-called “wonder drugs” such as BACE inhibitors and anti-amyloid agents, have shown little improvement for sufferers. Scientists believe that by the time Alzheimer’s is diagnosed, an irreversible “cascade” of symptoms has already occurred.

About 600,000 people in Britain suffer from Alzheimer’s and hundreds of thousands have mild cognitive impairment. Last month, David Cameron pledged to fast-track dementia research.

The new test, which examines 10 proteins in the blood, can predict with 87 per cent ccuracy whether someone suffering memory problems will develop Alzheimer’s within a year.

Continued in article

Related Articles


Hypocritical Whores Will Be Whores and Hypocrites
"Celebrities Pitching E-Cigarettes Make a Nightmare for Public Health Officials,
by John Tozz, Bloomberg Businessweek, June 30, 2014 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-30/lady-gagas-deal-to-promote-blu-ecigs-is-a-public-health-nightmare?campaign_id=DN063014


Here Are The Leading Causes Of Death In 1900 Compared To 2010 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/leading-causes-of-death-in-1900-and-today-2014-6#ixzz363AaXOo7

Jensen Comment
Science did much to conquer infections diseases. But the environment changed for cancer and heart disease. My theory is that increased pollution and chemical agrigusiness (read that leeching into water tables and blowing in the wind) did much to increase cancer risks. Heart disease in great measure is due to sedentary living (think television, computers, and office work in general).

Those blaming diet in recent years often fail to think of how we ate on the farm.
|My father and Uncle Millen would come in from milking cows each morning and thought nothing of downing six or more eggs with pancakes and nearly a pound of bacon, ham, or sausage. The noon meal was often a huge helping of fresh-killed chicken, multiple pork chops, or whatever was available for the day. There was no refrigeration on our farm such that meat was either freshly killed or home canned (with huge globs of whitish  fat at the top of the jar). In three large meals per day these men each ate over a big loaf of freshly baked bread every morning. And the dessert portions of pie or cake were enormous.

Norwegians loved to soak thick-cut fresh bread in heavy cream carried up from the barn. Each man drank over two gallons of heavily-sugared Kool Aid each day that the women and children carried to the fields along with thick sandwiches. The Kool Aid powder and sugar were added to the cold water drawn up from the well by the barn. My guess is that each man ate over a pound of butter that my Grandma Jensen churned.

But these tall men had no belly budges because they did hard physical labor on average 12-14 hours per day except on Sundays when they cut back to maybe 8-10 hours. Cows had to be milked and barns cleaned out twice each and every day, and the other livestock could not be neglected on Sundays.

My father died at age 89. His older brother Millen lived to be well into his eighties. Both men became light eaters in retirement.

My point is that heavy eating is not necessarily life-threatening if it is accompanied by equally heavy and long hard physical work. My lifestyle on the computer does not justify such heavy eating. I would feel guilty eating one pancake per week from Polly's Pancake Parlor down the road in Sugar Hill.

Polly's Pancake Parlor --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090105.htm


Should You Worry About That Mole? Here's How To Tell ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-check-a-mole-on-your-skin-for-skin-cancer-2014-6#ixzz36DYhYnqo


Stunning Photos Show What Really Happens If You Spend Too Much Time In The Sun ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cara-phillips-ultraviolet-photographs-show-sun-damage-2014-2#ixzz36UnRh8Nu

 




A Bit of Humor

Ronald Reagan poked as much fun at himself as he did others, and never got butt-hurt when someone criticized or made fun of him.---
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/reagan1.html

84-Year Old George Jessel Performs -on America's Got Talent--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHHRpQpa_48


Forwarded by Gene and Joan

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Kahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Kahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my children, friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older. One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

 

 




 




Tidbits Archives --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Update in 2014
20-Year Sugar Hill Master Plan --- http://www.nccouncil.org/images/NCC/file/wrkgdraftfeb142014.pdf

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/

Online Distance Education Training and Education --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray Zone of Fraud  (College, Inc.) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud

Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
"Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So

Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

 

World Clock --- http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/

Interesting Online Clock and Calendar --- http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Time by Time Zones --- http://timeticker.com/
Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) --- http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
         Also see http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
        
Facts about population growth (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
Projected U.S. Population Growth --- http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq --- http://www.costofwar.com/ 
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons --- http://zipskinny.com/
Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.

Free (updated) Basic Accounting Textbook --- search for Hoyle at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks

CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
Free CPA Examination Review Course Courtesy of Joe Hoyle --- http://cpareviewforfree.com/

Rick Lillie's education, learning, and technology blog is at http://iaed.wordpress.com/

Accounting News, Blogs, Listservs, and Social Networking ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm 
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials

Accounting program news items for colleges are posted at http://www.accountingweb.com/news/college_news.html
Sometimes the news items provide links to teaching resources for accounting educators.
Any college may post a news item.

Accounting  and Taxation News Sites ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

 

For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
AECM (Educators) http://listserv.aaahq.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?HOME
AECM is an email Listserv list which provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets, multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc.

Over the years the AECM has become the worldwide forum for accounting educators on all issues of accountancy and accounting education, including debates on accounting standards, managerial accounting, careers, fraud, forensic accounting, auditing, doctoral programs, and critical debates on academic (accountics) research, publication, replication, and validity testing.

 

CPAS-L (Practitioners) http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/  (Closed Down)
CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments, ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed. Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or education. Others will be denied access.
Yahoo (Practitioners)  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk
This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA. This can be anything  from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA.
AccountantsWorld  http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1 
This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and taxation.
Business Valuation Group BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com 
This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag [RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM
FEI's Financial Reporting Blog
Smart Stops on the Web, Journal of Accountancy, March 2008 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2008/smart_stops.htm
FINANCIAL REPORTING PORTAL
www.financialexecutives.org/blog

Find news highlights from the SEC, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board on this financial reporting blog from Financial Executives International. The site, updated daily, compiles regulatory news, rulings and statements, comment letters on standards, and hot topics from the Web’s largest business and accounting publications and organizations. Look for continuing coverage of SOX requirements, fair value reporting and the Alternative Minimum Tax, plus emerging issues such as the subprime mortgage crisis, international convergence, and rules for tax return preparers.
The CAlCPA Tax Listserv

September 4, 2008 message from Scott Bonacker [lister@bonackers.com]
Scott has been a long-time contributor to the AECM listserv (he's a techie as well as a practicing CPA)

I found another listserve that is exceptional -

CalCPA maintains http://groups.yahoo.com/taxtalk/  and they let almost anyone join it.
Jim Counts, CPA is moderator.

There are several highly capable people that make frequent answers to tax questions posted there, and the answers are often in depth.

Scott

Scott forwarded the following message from Jim Counts

Yes you may mention info on your listserve about TaxTalk. As part of what you say please say [... any CPA or attorney or a member of the Calif Society of CPAs may join. It is possible to join without having a free Yahoo account but then they will not have access to the files and other items posted.

Once signed in on their Yahoo account go to http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TaxTalk/ and I believe in top right corner is Join Group. Click on it and answer the few questions and in the comment box say you are a CPA or attorney, whichever you are and I will get the request to join.

Be aware that we run on the average 30 or move emails per day. I encourage people to set up a folder for just the emails from this listserve and then via a rule or filter send them to that folder instead of having them be in your inbox. Thus you can read them when you want and it will not fill up the inbox when you are looking for client emails etc.

We currently have about 830 CPAs and attorneys nationwide but mainly in California.... ]

Please encourage your members to join our listserve.

If any questions let me know.

Jim Counts CPA.CITP CTFA
Hemet, CA
Moderator TaxTalk

 

 

 

 

Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm

 

Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Some Accounting History Sites

Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory
 

Accounting History Libraries at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) --- http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy/libraries.html
The above libraries include international accounting history.
The above libraries include film and video historical collections.

MAAW Knowledge Portal for Management and Accounting --- http://maaw.info/

Academy of Accounting Historians and the Accounting Historians Journal ---
http://www.accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aah/

Sage Accounting History --- http://ach.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/11/3/269

A nice timeline on the development of U.S. standards and the evolution of thinking about the income statement versus the balance sheet is provided at:
"The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional Standards (1930-1973)," by Stephen A. Zeff, CPA Journal, January 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm
Part II covering years 1974-2003 published in February 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/205/index.htm 

A nice timeline of accounting history --- http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2187711/A-HISTORY-OF-ACCOUNTING

From Texas A&M University
Accounting History Outline --- http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/history.html

Bob Jensen's timeline of derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

History of Fraud in America --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm

Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

All my online pictures --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

 

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone:  603-823-8482 
Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu