Tidbits on September 29, 2015
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 4 of My Favorite Cloud Photographs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CloudFavorites/Set04/Clouds04.htm 

The Invention of Clouds: Goethe’s Poems for the Skies and His Heartfelt Homage to the Young Scientist Who Classified Clouds ---
Scroll down at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CloudFavorites/Set04/CloudFavoritesSet04.htm 

If I should ever cease to be amazed and enraptured by the magic of clouds, I should wish myself dead. And I am hardly alone — since the dawn of our species, the water cycle’s most visible expression in the skies has bewitched artists, poets, and scientists like as a beautiful natural metaphor for the philosophy that there in an inherent balance to life, that what we give will soon be replenished. More than two millennia before poet Mark Strand and painter Wendy Mark joined forces on their breathtaking love letter to clouds, before Georgia O’Keeffe extolled the beauty of the Southwest skies, before scientists figured out why cloudy days help us think more clearly, the great ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote: “They are the celestial Clouds, the patron goddesses of the layabout. From them come our intelligence, our dialectic and our reason.” Indeed, there is a singular quality of prayerfulness to clouds — a certain secular reverence undergirding their allure to both art and science.

Continued in article

Tidbits on September 29, 2015
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

Updates from WebMD --- Click Here

Autumn and Foliage Links
See when it actually feels like autumn where you live ---
http://time.com/4043133/is-it-fall-yet/?xid=newsletter-brief
The chart does not accept zip codes or small towns. It's best to enter the name of a country or a USA State to see what cities are linked.
Where I live in northern New Hampshire our furnace usually kicks back in in mid-September, but the foliage season usually does not make traveling up here worthwhile until October.

Bob Jensen's Foliage Pictures (Scroll down to the Foliage section) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
 

A Wealth of Free Documentaries on All Things Japanese: From Bento Boxes to Tea Gardens, Ramen & Bullet Trains ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/a-wealth-of-free-documentaries-on-all-things-japanese.html

John Heeley's Masterclass (mathematics in seven short videos)---
http://archive.teachfind.com/ttv/www.teachers.tv/series/jonny-heeleys-masterclass.html

IUCN: Multimedia (environment and energy) --- http://www.iucn.org/knowledge/multimedia/

Spectacular Wildlife Video --- https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdSVp9GFeS4

A giant ocean observatory has captured thousands of hours of video revealing some crazy natural phenomena ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/about-the-oceanic-neptune-project-2015-9

Battle of Britain: Historic flypast for 75th anniversary ---
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34250794

Thomas Edison’s Recordings of Leo Tolstoy: Hear the Voice of Russia’s Greatest Novelist ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/hear-thomas-edisons-recordings-of-leo-tolstoy.html

47 Animated Videos Explain the History of Ideas: From Aristotle to Sartre ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/47-animated-videos-explain-the-history-of-ideas-from-aristotle-to-sartre.html

Watch 1915 Video of Monet, Renoir & Rodin Creating Art, and Edgar Degas Taking a Stroll ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/watch-1915-video-of-monet-renoir-rodin-creating-art-and-edgar-degas-taking-a-stroll.html

Robots Serving Healthy, Cheap Fast Food At This New San Francisco Restaurant ---
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/08/31/robots-serving-healthy-cheap-fast-food-at-new-san-francisco-restaurant/

Columbia U. Launches a Free Multimedia Glossary for Studying Cinema & Filmmaking ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/columbia-u-launches-a-free-multimedia-glossary-for-studying-cinema-filmmaking.html

Steve Martin & Robin Williams Riff on Math, Physics, Einstein & Picasso in a Heady Comedy Routine (2002)  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/steve-martin-robin-williams-do-intellectual-comedy.html

Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersby
Not free, but available cheap on NetFlix
Thank you Richard Campbell for the heads up

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

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

"Below Ground Zero," by John Ward, by John Ward, The Rivard Report, September 9, 2015 ---
http://www.therivardreport.com/below-ground-zero/

The Drawings & Paintings of Richard Feynman: Art Expresses a Dramatic “Feeling of Awe” ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/the-drawings-paintings-of-richard-feynman.html

2 coders used old photographs to make a mesmerizing Google Street View map of San Francisco in the 1800s ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/old-san-francisco-photos-turned-into-google-street-view-map-2015-9

A former National Geographic photographer shows what America was like in the 1970s and 1980s ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-america-in-70s-and-80s-nathan-benn-2015-8

The multimillionaire founder of MySpace now travels the world taking jaw-dropping photographs ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/myspace-tom-instagram-photos-2015-9

Spectacular Wildlife Video --- https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdSVp9GFeS4

The new Pluto photos reveal complex features that 'rival anything we've seen in the solar system' ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-pluto-photos-2015-9

Gorgeous photos of stealth F-35 jets flying alongside F-16s ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/gorgeous-photos-of-stealth-f-35-jets-flying-alongside-f-16s-2015-9

The 9 fastest piloted planes in the world (the dates may surprise you) ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-9-fastest-piloted-planes-in-the-world-2015-9

All of the beautiful locations in Matt Damon's new thriller about Mars are real — here are the epic photos that prove it ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/real-places-the-main-character-in-the-martian-went-on-mars-2015-7

A long-lost GoPro that fell from the edge of space was recovered, and its footage is incredible ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/gopro-footage-from-the-edge-of-space-2015-9

21 pictures that will make you want to visit Thailand ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-that-will-make-you-want-to-visit-thailand-2015-9

A couple has been road tripping across the US for 3 years and took these incredible pictures ----
http://www.businessinsider.com/idletheory-bus-instagram-pictures-2015-8

Beauties of America: Staffordshire Pottery --- http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Ridgway/enter.htm

A British farmer is auctioning off his £2 million collection of 230 vintage tractors ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/british-farmer-auctioning-collection-of-230-tractors-2015-9

Bob Jensen's threads on art history ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#ArtHistory

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

18-Year-Old James Joyce Writes a Fan Letter to His Hero Henrik Ibsen (1901) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/18-year-old-james-joyce-writes-a-fan-letter-to-his-hero-henrik-ibsen-1901.html

Bob Jensen's threads on libraries --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---Libraries

History As Big Data: 500 Years Of Book Images And Mapping Millions Of Books ---
http://lisnews.org/history_as_big_data_500_years_of_book_images_and_mapping_millions_of_books

Behold the Largest Atlas in the World: The Six-Foot Tall Klencke Atlas from 1660 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/behold-the-largest-atlas-in-the-world-the-six-foot-tall-klencke-atlas-from-1660.html

James Baldwin’s One & Only, Delightfully-Illustrated Children’s Book, Little Man Little Man: A Story of Childhood (1976) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/james-baldwins-one-only-delightfully-illustrated-childrens-book.html

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Read by Sir John Gielgud: A Great Way to Celebrate the Novel’s 150th Anniversary ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-read-by-sir-john-gielgud.html

"A Romantic Notion: One Scholar’s Lifetime of Devotion to the Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning," by Nicholas A. Basbanes |, HUMANITIES,September/October 2015 | Volume 36, Number 5 ---
http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/septemberoctober/feature/romantic-notion-one-scholars-lifetime-devotion-the-letters-

Revel in The William Faulkner Audio Archive on the Author’s 118th Birthday ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/revel-in-the-william-faulkner-audio-archive-on-the-authors-118th-birthday.html

F. Scott Fitzgerald Reads Shakespeare’s Othello and Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” (1940) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/f-scott-fitzgerald-reads-shakespeares-othello-and-keats-ode-to-a-nightingale-1940.html

Sylvia Plath, Girl Detective Offers a Hilariously Cheery Take on the Poet’s College Years ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/sylvia-plath-girl-detective-offers-a-hilariously-cheery-take-on-the-poets-college-years.html

Sylvia Plath Reads Her Poetry: 23 Poems from the Last 6 Years of Her Life ---
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OpenCulture/~3/9_umsFYHqzY/sylvia-plath-reads-her-poetry-23-poems.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

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 September 29, 2015
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2015/TidbitsQuotations092915.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/

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

For 24 years in a row, US News ranked Trinity University as the Number 1 Regional School of the West ---
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/trinity-university-texas-3647

Trinity University is a private institution that was founded in 1869. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,297, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 117 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Trinity University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities (West), 1. Its tuition and fees are $37,856 (2015-16).

Trinity University overlooks downtown San Antonio, home to the Alamo, four professional sports teams including the NBA Spurs, and more than 175 city parks and recreation areas. Not to be ignored: San Antonio has on average 300 days of sunshine per year. Students can get involved in any of the more than 115 campus organizations ranging from the Loon-E Hip-Hop Dance Crew to the Entrepreneurship Club. A thriving Greek community at Trinity represents about a quarter of the undergraduate student body and consists of mainly local chapters. Nearly 80 percent of students live on campus in one of the residence halls, and there are designated areas on campus for freshmen and sophomore housing. The Trinity Tigers compete in Division III and are known for their strong tennis program.

In addition to the undergraduate bachelor of music, bachelor of science, and bachelor of arts degrees, Trinity grants master’s degrees in teaching, school administration, and school psychology, and master of science degrees in accounting and health care administration. Undergraduates can choose from nearly 40 majors and must complete the Common Curriculum, a distribution requirement intended to provide a well-rounded liberal arts education. More than 40 percent of students take advantage of study abroad programs around the world. Trinity’s Laurie Auditorium has hosted performances and lectures by Bill Cosby, B.B. King, and Jay Leno.

My New Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptop and Venue 8 Pro 3000 tablet computer

I received my new Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptop with Windows 10 pre-installed. Thus far I like it as well or more than my more expensive and older Dell Studio that runs on Windows 7. I'm glad I bought the home-visit extended warranty on the Dell Studio since between 2010 and now a Dell technician has had to come to my mountain cottage four times to install new motherboards. However, the in-home service has been great. The technician arrives with parts in hand within three working days, and up in these mountains the technician travels at least 100 miles each way. Dell lost money selling me the Studio laptop and extended in-home warranty back in 2010.

 

Windows 10 is easy to start up he first time as long as you think ahead to have your wireless passcode and your Microsoft login name and password.

 

Of course you have to expect to spend time installing your favorite software for any new computer. I keep a lot of my old favorite software disks in my studio such as my old 2003 version of FrontPage that I like better than my newer version of Expression Web.

 

I spent over an hour with two online Dell technicians trying to connect my new laptop to a new U2414H monitor. The first problem was that dell lied when it claimed the monitor shipped with all the necessary cables. Dell did not include the crucial HDMI cable. So I bought a new HDMI cable.

 

Next I had trouble getting the new monitor work through my new HDMI cable. The Dell technician on the phone and I spent about an hour trying to figure out what was wrong with my new computer. Nothing was wrong. We finally discovered how to get a connection working by using the buttons on the monitor. Dah!. If you hit the right buttons the monitor is plug and play.

 

My new laptop came with a Venue 8 Pro 3000 tablet computer on the side. There was no problem with the slow and free upgrade to Windows 10. But the USB 2.0 port is weird. It's both the power plug and the USB plug. So I run mostly on battery using the USB port to connect to a hub that gives me an external mouse and keyboard and external hard drives. I don't plan to use this tablet for anything other than as a VPN connection. If I don't surf or install anything other than VPN it should remain free of malware.

 

I prefer my MS Surface tablet, although I don't use it enough to upgrade to Windows 10. The Surface screen is slightly larger and it has a HDMI port for monitor and television connections.

 

Mostly I operate out of my Windows 10 and Windows 7 laptops. I have a cheap Google Chromebook permanently attached to a television set for my daily movie date with Erika. Mostly BBC mysteries like Touch of Frost and Foyle's War that we enjoy. Of course there are others such as Prime Suspect and The Last Detective. Since Netflix does not stream a lot of its archives we still have to watch many of these movies on disks shipped via pony express up here.

 

Tablet computers suck in part because mini ports and mini adapters suck.

 

 Laptops with larger ports are terrific.

Bob Jensen

In Norway, she said, "universities exchange papers for grading." Objectivity is compromised by mere humanity. Educators who engage personally with their students are psychologically vulnerable to bias in grading.
Kathleen Tarr --- http://chronicle.com/article/A-Little-More-Every-Day-/233303/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

USA Department of Education:  Guidance on Competency-Based Education
Inside Higher Ed, September 23, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/23/guidance-competency-based-education?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3d26811214-DNU20150923&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3d26811214-197565045

The U.S. Department Education said Tuesday it is poised to release an extensive reference guide for institutions that are participating in an experiment on competency-based education. Since that project was begun last year, the department said it became clear that more guidance was needed -- for both colleges and accrediting agencies.

The department has yet to release the document publicly, but plans to post it at this link --- https://experimentalsites.ed.gov/exp/guidance.html

“We believe that this guide will offer tremendous support for both experienced and new competency-based education providers as they implement this experiment,” Ted Mitchell, the under secretary of education, said in a written statement. “We recognize that many of you were anticipating that the guide would be released earlier this summer, but it was very important for us to have a high level of confidence that the guidance it contains is on very firm ground.”

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

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

Ignoble Prize Winners of 2015:  These academic studies won this year’s most absurd awards --- 
http://www.improbable.com/

Jensen Comments
I really miss Senator Proxmire's infamous Golden Fleece Awards ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Fleece_Award

Two MIT students lay out the facts about why the Mars One mission is bogus ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-one-mit-students-mission-not-feasible-debate-2015-8

If Senator Proxmire were alive the Mars One absurdity would probably get a Golden Fleece Award ---
Golden Fleece Awards ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Fleece_Award

One has to admire deeply intense historical scholarship that's essentially analogous discovering the thousands angels on the head of a pin. One has to admire the unwavering mission of Phillip Kelly to devote his entire life to the task of unearthing, analyzing, publishing, and sharing one set of letters. My discipline of accountancy has never had such a narrowly focused historical scholar. How Kelly could remain so devoted and energetic day-to-day on this lifelong mission  is almost beyond belief. How did he love the Brownings . . .  let Nicholas Basbanes count the ways.

"A Romantic Notion: One Scholar’s Lifetime of Devotion to the Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning," by Nicholas A. Basbanes |, HUMANITIES,September/October 2015 | Volume 36, Number 5 ---
http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/septemberoctober/feature/romantic-notion-one-scholars-lifetime-devotion-the-letters-

. . .

Whatever misgivings the “academic world” may have had, they were set aside as later volumes appeared, each one as “brilliantly conceived” and “executed” as the last. Reviewing Volumes 9 and 10 in the Times Literary Supplement in 1993, Ian Jack, an esteemed professor of English at the University of Cambridge and editor of five volumes of The Poetical Works of Robert Browning, pronounced that Kelley and Scott Lewis, who had come aboard as coeditor following the death of Ronald Hudson, “are assembling material to which all future students of the life and work of the two poets will be indebted.”

 

Daniel Karlin, a professor of English at the University of Bristol in England who has written and edited several books on the Brownings, told me by e-mail that he judges The Brownings’ Correspondence to be “one of the greatest achievements of modern editorial scholarship,” and that he “can’t imagine my own work, or that of any other Browning scholar or student for pretty much half a century, without the fruits” of Kelley’s “ambition and energy.” Others have echoed Karlin’s admiration. Rita S. Patteson, director of the Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor, works closely with Kelley and says that she has “never known such a singularly focused individual.” Marjorie Stone, a professor of English and women’s studies at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, who edited three of the five volumes of The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Sandra Donaldson, general editor of that project, were similarly enthusiastic. Stone opined that Kelley’s “indefatigable work on this project will benefit scholars, students, and members of the wider public for years to come.” Donaldson stressed that she and her colleagues “could not have—indeed would not have” undertaken their massive project without the material Kelley had made available.

 

Kelley’s uncommon set of skills has inspired several descriptions, but “literary detective” seems best. “Provenance,” he tells me more than once during the two days we discuss his relentless quest of all things Browning, “is the means to finding everything.”

 

One of his most dramatic finds along these lines began with a gnawing hunch that important material might be found in the ancestral home of Joseph Milsand (1817–1886), a French philosopher, critic, and avid Anglophile who was one of Robert Browning’s closest friends and confidants. Twenty-six years would elapse from the time Kelley knocked on the front door of the old homestead in the Burgundy city of Dijon to the day in 1997 when he was finally granted access to a gloomy garret in the attic where scores of family artifacts had remained untouched for more than a century.

Continued in article

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on September 24, 2015

Buyers of VW cars are left wondering how the company’s emissions scandal will affect their vehicles’ performance, resale value and compliance with clean-air standards. But the scandal’s costs are already trickling back into the supply chain as well. The price of platinum, widely used in diesel car engines, could fall below $900 a troy ounce for the first time since the financial crisis amid the scandal at VW, according to some metals investors and analysts.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/vws-customers-feel-confusion-remorse-1443051169?mod=djemCFO_h

Jensen Comment
This left me wondering if there are air quality controls for diesel lawn tractors, farm tractors, and on up to heavy equipment (caterpillars, excavators, cranes, etc.). I don't know enough about my diesel lawn tractor to write about its equipment to clean the air. I do know that gasoline lawnmowers in general are heavy air and noise polluters because there are hundreds of millions of these and other small-engine machines. I have eight such machines in my barn, including a snow thrower, edger, trimmer, mulcher, etc.

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on September 23, 2015

Washington Post to put all articles on Facebook
http://www.wsj.com/articles/all-washington-post-stories-to-go-to-facebook-1442961105?mod=djemCFO_h
The Washington Post said it will publish 100% of the stories that go on its website to Facebook Inc.’s Instant Articles—roughly 1,200 a day. The Wall Street Journal has been in talks with Facebook but has yet to agree to participate. One issue is that Facebook wants access to subscriber data that the Journal isn’t eager to share, according to a person familiar with the situation.

"Universities Move to Flat-Rate Textbooks," by Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology, September 16, 2015 ---
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/09/16/universities-move-to-flat-rate-textbooks.aspx

Course materials management company Rafter today announced new agreements with several colleges and universities to deploy Rafter360, technology that provides both print and digital textbooks through a flat-rate model. Students at Mars Hill University (NC), Green Mountain College (VT), the Institute of American Indian Arts (NM), Illinois College and Bethany College (KS) will now receive all course materials by the first day of class, for a reduced fee that is incorporated into their tuition. Rafter's pricing is expected to save students more than 50 percent compared to traditional textbooks. And when students have access to all their course materials up front, their chances of success improve, according to the company.

Continued in article

Podcast --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

"Improving My Teaching Via Podcast," by Jim Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 17, 2015 ---
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1125-improving-my-teaching-via-podcast?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

At the end of every academic year, my department gathers to celebrate our graduating English majors and everyone is invited to share a favorite poem or passage. One of my colleagues always reads aloud Galway Kinnell’s poem "Oatmeal," in which the poet describes how the great authors of the world enrich his breakfast with their writing.

"Yesterday morning," she recites, "I ate my oatmeal porridge, as he called it with John Keats.

Keats said I was absolutely right to invite him:

"due to its glutinous texture, gluey lumpishness, hint of slime, and unusual willingness to disintegrate, oatmeal should not be eaten alone.

"He said that in his opinion, however, it is perfectly OK to eat it with an imaginary companion, and that he himself had enjoyed memorable porridges with Edmund Spenser and John Milton."

I’ve been having a similar experience lately, although, instead of the great poets, my companions have been leading thinkers and visionaries on teaching in higher education. Nevertheless, they have been very kind to accompany me as I run my daily errands, do chores around the house, exercise, and even wait in security lines at the airport.

As I was making pancakes for my twins the other day (I’m not an oatmeal fan), Jose Antonio Bowen, president of Goucher College and author of Teaching Naked, spoke to me about why he loves "noisy and messy classrooms." He also reminded me that "the thing that teachers do best in the classroom is to be human beings, and to get to know their students as human beings, and to make that connection between what matters to your students and what matters to you." -

Read more at: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1125-improving-my-teaching-via-podcast?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en#sthash.KZe6xhFe.dpuf

Bob Jensen's threads on tools and tricks of the trade ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

"California Reports First Common Core Assessment Scores," by Leila Meyer, T.H.E. Journal, September 14, 2015 ---
http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/09/14/california-reports-first-common-core-assessment-scores.aspx

. . .

Key results of the CAASPP assessments include the following:

•Statewide in all grades, 44 percent of students met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 33 percent met or exceeded the math standard;

 

•for English language arts in all grades, 16 percent of students exceeded the standard, 28 percent met the standard, 25 percent nearly met the standard and 31 percent did not meet the standard;

 

•for math in all grades, 14 percent exceeded the standard, 19 percent met the standard, 29 percent nearly met the standard and 38 percent did not meet the standard;

 

 •among 11th-graders, the assessments found that 56 percent of students are ready or conditionally ready for college-level work in English language arts and 29 percent are ready or conditionally ready for college-level work in math; and

 

•the CAASPP revealed a persistent achievement gap among students from low-income families, English language learners and some ethnic groups when compared to other students.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Now we know why teachers' unions are so down on Common Core testing.

Not being able to read is no longer a constraint for high school graduation in California
Bill allowing diplomas for California's students who failed exit exam goes to governor ---
http://edsource.org/2015/bill-allowing-diplomas-for-students-who-failed-exit-exam-goes-to-governor
Jensen Question
Why bother with the trouble and expense of administering exit exams?

"When a Degree Is Just the Beginning:  Today’s employers want more, say providers of alternative credentials," by Goldie Blumenstyk, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 14, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/When-a-Degree-Is-Just-the/232969/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

. . .

T he underlying ethos of the credentials movement — that "it’s all about the job" — may make many four-year colleges and even some community colleges uncomfortable. But that hasn’t kept several of them from experimenting with new types of credentials — in many cases aided by a burgeoning group of young companies like Pathbrite, Fidelis Education, and Parchment, which sell digital products that help students manage and communicate their skills and expertise. Gunnar Counselman, a founder of Fidelis, which also offers tools that colleges can use to build assessments that underlie their badges, says that until recently, his company’s services were a hard sell: "Five years ago, nobody believed the degree was insufficient." Today, he says, more college officials are starting to say that degrees are necessary, but not enough.

"The whole skills gap," says Mr. Counselman, "is the result of schools’ not understanding what employers need" and not creating the kind of curriculum modules that would translate to the workplace. Changing attitudes are fueled by frustration with the status quo. You go to school for 16 years, he points out, "and you get four freaking data points out of it": the name of the college, the name of the degree, the year it was issued, and maybe a GPA.

Lipscomb University, which is working with Fidelis, hopes to fill the information gap with badges that describe the "soft" skills its students have acquired, like communicating effectively and working in teams. Colleges tell students they’re getting training for life, but "we didn’t ever have any way of verifying that or quantifying that," says Nina J. Morel, dean of the College of Professional Studies there. The badge program is "something more concrete," she says.

Lipscomb, in Tennessee, has developed 41 badges based on employment-screening techniques developed by Polaris Assessment Systems. The badges will be digital elements of a competency transcript, she says, and can be added to students’ LinkedIn accounts and online portfolios.

It could be a long time before employers start demanding such evidence from graduates, acknowledges Ms. Morel, but "we want to make sure they have every opportunity and every tool in their tool box to convince an employer."

In fact, for most employers, the college degree remains the key credential, so much so that a 2014 report by Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads, found that employers in many fields were requiring bachelor’s degrees for jobs that previously didn’t need them. (The exceptions were for fields, such as health care, in which there are good alternatives for identifying skill proficiency.)

But that may be changing. Recently. Burning Glass analyzed 20.6 million non-health-care job ads from a 12-month period, and it found that 20 percent of all posts requiring a bachelor’s degree also called for applicants to have a certificate or a license for a particular skill. That, says Matthew Sigelman, the company’s chief executive, suggests that employers see the college degree "as a minimum ticket to ride rather than something validating specific competencies."

Burning Glass hasn’t seen much interest from employers in badges, at least not yet. "That doesn’t mean they don’t have value," says Mr. Sigelman. But they’ll need to be externally validated, or carry their own brand, if they’re going to matter.

Certificates themselves are not all equal, either. Of the 20.6 million jobs analyzed, Burning Glass found 2.8 million requiring a certificate. But only certain certificates were highly sought. Of the thousands of possible certificates, the same 200 came up again and again. The Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) credentials were among those that topped the list.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Respect for badges and other certificates of competence depend heavily upon difficulties of accomplishment.
There are really two interactive indicators of such accomplishment. One is the accomplishment it takes to become eligible to take the competency test. For example, a 3.0 grade average does not mean much when 80% of the graduating classmates at Harvard have higher grade averages. However, the accomplishment of greater importance is the fact that you got into Harvard in the first place.

Similarly a certificate of accomplishment in a technical procedure in brain surgery interacts with the fact that this surgeon was even allowed to take the steps necessary to get a badge for that procedure.

Respect for masters degrees in education for school teachers declined greatly in education when they became virtual certificates of attendance. These degrees in the past led to automatic pay raises. Teachers at K-12 levels traveled off to take masters degree courses in the summertime that gave out A and B grades with almost no performance standards other than class attendance. The same thing applies to badges of attendance that are almost anybody in a discipline can obtain with little or no effort.

Another problem lies with great test takers who have skills at passing technical examinations without really having great skills other than tremendous memorization skills for passing tests. This is most likely why surgeons must actually perform mentored surgeries in addition to passing written tests for a badge of accomplishment.

In the future we may see more interactions of colleges with on-the-job experiential training required for badges of competence --- what we might call the advanced medical model of competency.

The bottom line is that badges do not mean much unless they are difficult to earn.
That of course is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. For a career there is also a market test of the demand curve for such skills. Brain surgeons are in high demand; Less so for bassoon musicians and Shakespeare scholars.

Once a serial plagiarist always a serial plagiarist
"Alleged Serial Plagiarizer on Leave From Arizona State," Chronicle of Higher Education, September 18, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/18/alleged-serial-plagiarizer-leave-arizona-state?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=52fbbd44c7-DNU20150918&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-52fbbd44c7-197565045

A professor of history at Arizona State University who’s been accused of plagiarism multiple times was placed on administrative leave this week as the university looks into new allegations of misconduct, The Arizona Republic reported. While previous allegations against Matthew Whitacker involve his published research, the most recent complaint involves Whitacker’s extracurricular consulting business.

Last month, the city of Phoenix demanded a refund of the $21,900 it had already paid the Whitacker Group to develop cultural consciousness training material for its police force, according to The Republic. The city said more than half of some 80 slides Whitaker produced were ripped from the Chicago Police Department, with minor, if any, changes. Lonnie J. Williams Jr., Whitacker’s attorney, said he questioned why the university would investigate a matter in which it’s not involved, and that Whitacker had been up front about his intention to borrow the Chicago material.

Continued in article

From Full to Associate Professor:  A Rare Demotion in the Academy
"Anonymous Charges Vindicated,"  by Scott Jaschik, July 13, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/07/13/arizona-state-demotes-history-professor-after-investigation-his-book

When an anonymous blog last year accused Matthew C. Whitaker of plagiarizing portions of Peace Be Still: Modern Black America from World War II to Barack Obama, he said that he wouldn't respond to charges presented in that way. His publisher, the University of Nebraska Press, backed him.

The anonymous nature of the charges bothered some at Arizona State University, where Whitaker was a full professor and led a research center. But after the university conducted an investigation and found misconduct, Whitaker now says that he agrees that he made significant mistakes in the book.

Mark S. Searle, Arizona State's interim provost, last week sent an email message to history faculty members in which he said an investigation into the book had "identified significant issues with the content of the aforementioned book." Searle went on to say that "as a result of the outcomes from that investigation, Dr. Whitaker has accepted a position as associate professor without a Foundation Professorship [an honor he previously held], and now co-directs his center."

Searle also forwarded a letter from Whitaker, in which he admitted wrongdoing. Both letters were forwarded by someone other than the authors to Inside Higher Ed.

"I have struggled to overlook the personal nature of the criticisms, and to evaluate and recognize that there was merit to some of them. I alerted ASU administration to the fact that the text contained unattributed and poorly paraphrased material. I accept responsibility for these errors and I am working with my publisher to make the appropriate corrections," he wrote.

Continued in article

"Meet Retraction Watch, the Blog That Points Out the Human Stains on the Scientific Record," by Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 25, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/Meet-Retraction-Watch-the/233373/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Most people would not have been interested in the sins of Ariel Fernández.

In 2013 someone suggested that Mr. Fernández, an Argentine scientist, had contributed bad data to a genomics paper. Two of the institutions affiliated with Mr. Fernández had investigated; one had found his data credible, the other had not. "Interpret the data with due caution," wrote the editors of BMC Genomics, the journal that had published the paper two years earlier, in a note to readers.

The implications of the note were hard to parse. What exactly had gone wrong? Could the paper be trusted, or not? What did "due caution" mean?

Retraction Watch was set up to answer questions like those. By that time the thorny little blog had already planted itself in the side of journal editors and researchers who preferred that errors in the scientific record be dealt with discreetly. Its founders, a pair of veteran science writers, were not just interested in big-ticket fraud cases; they were determined to apply scrutiny to scientific screwups of all kinds, including the obscure ones that tended to slip through the cracks.

So when BMC Genomics posted its note, Retraction Watch wanted answers. "One of Fernández’s three institutions, we don’t know which, found cause for concern with his results," wrote Adam Marcus, one of the blog’s founders, in a post about the journal’s note. "Another did not (why only two are referenced here is a mystery). What, we wonder, did Fernández have to say about all this?"

He soon got a response: Take down the post, or I will sue you.

Retraction Watch later quoted several emails that its editors said Mr. Fernández had sent to Mr. Marcus and to editors at BMC Genomics. The messages threatened legal action against the blog and asked the journal to help stop Retraction Watch from damaging Mr. Fernández’s reputation. (In an email to The Chronicle, Mr. Fernández denied writing the messages. "Someone is using my email address," he said, adding, "I don’t read blogs.")

In the messages, Mr. Fernández argued that his paper should not have been written about on a blog called Retraction Watch because technically the journal had issued an "expression of concern," not a retraction. When Mr. Marcus explained that he had made the distinction clearly in his post, he received a reply, in all caps, insisting that his post amounted to libel.

It was not the first time a scientist had threatened to sue Retraction Watch, and it wouldn’t be the last. Over the last five years, Mr. Marcus and his partner, Ivan Oransky, have gotten under the skin of plenty of researchers and journal editors by turning retraction-spotting into a spectator sport. In the process they have earned a few enemies — along with many fans, including a few powerful grantmakers.

Unexpected Influence

Armed now with a bona fide reputation and $700,000 in foundation funding, Retraction Watch finds itself in a position of unexpected influence at a time when scientific researchers are struggling to maintain their credibility in the public eye. The past decade has seen an boom in research-fraud cases, some of which have made national headlines. A recent meta-study of 100 psychology papers found that less than half of the published findings could be replicated. People looking for excuses to distrust scientists no longer need to look very hard.

Continued in article

New TAR (The Accounting Review) Retractions Listed in the July 2015 Edition of The Accounting Review ---
http://aaajournals.org/toc/accr/current

RETRACTIONS

1707

Partial Retraction: Section IV: Survey in R&D Capitalization and Reputation-Driven Real Earnings Management Nicholas Seybert Citation | Full Text | PDF (437 KB) | Supplemental Material

1709

Retraction: Potential Functional and Dysfunctional Effects of Continuous Monitoring James E. Hunton, Elaine G. Mauldin and Patrick R. Wheeler Citation | Full Text | PDF (377 KB) | Supplemental Material

1711

Retraction: Financial Reporting Transparency and Earnings Management James E. Hunton, Robert Libby and CheriL. Mazza Citation | Full Text | PDF (358 KB) | Supplemental Material

1713

Retraction: Does the Form of Management’s Earnings Guidance Affect Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts? Robert Libby, Hun-Tong Tan and James E. Hunton Citation | Full Text | PDF (384 KB) | Supplemental Material

1715

Retraction: Capital Market Pressure, Disclosure Frequency-Induced Earnings/Cash Flow Conflict, and Managerial Myopia Sanjeev Bhojraj and Robert Libby Citation | Full Text | PDF (297 KB) | Supplemental Material

1717

Retraction: An Assessment of the Relation Between Analysts' Earnings Forecast Accuracy, Motivational Incentives and Cognitive Information Search Strategy James E. Hunton and Ruth Ann McEwen Citation | Full Text | PDF (458 KB) | Supplemental Material

New AH (Accounting Horizons)  Retractions Listed in the September 2015 Edition of Accounting Horizons ---
http://aaajournals.org/toc/acch/current

RETRACTIONS

743

Retraction: The Impact of Client and Auditor Gender on Auditors' Judgments Anna Gold, James E. Hunton and Mohamed I. Gomaa Citation | Full Text | PDF (363 KB) | Supplemental Material

745

Retraction: Does Graduate Business Education Contribute to Professional Accounting Success? Benson Wier, Dan N. Stone and James E. Hunton Citation | Full Text | PDF (364 KB) | Supplemental Material

747

Retraction: Sampling Practices of Auditors in Public Accounting, Industy, and Government Thomas W. Hall, James E. Hunton and Bethane Jo Pierce Citation | Full Text | PDF (368 KB) | Supplemental Material

749

Retraction: Is Analyst Forecast Accuracy Associated With Accounting Information Use? Ruth Ann McEwen and James E. Hunton Citation | Full Text | PDF (347 KB) | Supplemental Material

751

Retraction: Performance of Accountants in Private Industry: A Survival Analysis James E. Hunton and Benson Weir Citation | Full Text | PDF (397 KB) | Supplemental Material

753

Retraction: Hierarchical and Gender Differences in Private Accounting Practice James E. Hunton, Presha E. Neidermeyer and Benson Wier Citation | Full Text | PDF (408 KB) | Supplemental Material

 

Retraction Watch (cheating in research) --- http://retractionwatch.com

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

Evernote --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evernote

So what's the future of Evernote as it searches for an expanded business model?
Evernote, the first dead unicorn ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/evernote-the-first-dead-unicorn-2015-9

Bob Jensen's threads on Evernote and other Tools and Tricks of the Trade ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

"Rutgers Football Coach Tried to Get a Player’s Grade Changed. He Got Caught," by Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 16, 2015  ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/rutgers-football-coach-tried-to-get-a-players-grade-changed-he-got-caught/104585?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

. . .

To make matters worse, Mr. Barnwell and five other players are facing criminal charges for their roles in a series of alleged home invasions and assaults.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Maybe Rutgers players should concentrate more on invading opponents backfields as well as their studies.

Over the years this type of thing will become a bigger and bigger issue as the "denominators" grow for affirmative action testing

"Indian Enough for Dartmouth?" by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, September 16m 2015 --- Click Here
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/17/indian-activists-raise-questions-about-woman-appointed-lead-native-american-program?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a9bc92c37b-DNU20150917&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a9bc92c37b-197565045

Jensen Comment
When I was on the faculty at the University of Maine in the 1970s, the University of Maine System charged $0 tuition for Native Americans. By then it was already a problem deciding who was eligible, although there were not great numbers of applicants. I had a Native American advisee from the Penobscot Reservation whose family allegedly disowned her because she elected to go to college. She could no longer live at home even though her family lived less than five miles from campus.

"Journal Of Legal Education Symposium: Igniting Law Teaching," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, September 11, 2015 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/09/journal-of-legal-education-symposium-igniting-law-teaching.html

Conference Papers, Igniting Law Teaching, 64 J. Legal Educ. 542-687 (2015) (10-minute TED Talks here):

• Warren Binford (Willamette), How to be the World's Best Law Professor, 64 J. Legal Educ. 542 (2015)
• Jamie R. Abrams (Louisville), Reframing the Socratic Method, 64 J. Legal Educ. 562 (2015)
• Michele Pistone (Villanova), Law Schools and Technology: Where We Are and Where We Are Heading, 64 J. Legal Educ. 586 (2015)
• Debora L. Threedy (Utah) & Aaron Dewald (Utah), Re-conceptualizing Doctrinal Teaching: Blending Online Videos with In-Class Problem-Solving, 64 J. Legal Educ. 605 (2015)

• Jay Gary Finkelstein (Partner, DLA Piper; Adjunct Professor, American, Georgetown, Stanford & UC-Berkeley), Practice in the Academy: Creating "Practice Aware" Law Graduates, 64 J. Legal Educ. 622 (2015)
• Emmeline Paulette Reeves (Richmond), Teaching to the Test: The Incorporation of Elements of Bar Exam Preparation in Legal Education, 64 J. Legal Educ. 645 (2015)
• Jeremiah A. Ho (Massachusetts), Function, Form, and Strawberries: Subverting Langdell, 64 J. Legal Educ. 656 (2015)

"Shining a Light on Effective Teaching Best Practices: Survey Findings from Award-Winning Accounting Educators," by Donald E. Wygal and David E. Stout, Issues in Accounting Education, Article Volume 30, Issue 3 (August 2015)  ---
http://aaajournals.org/doi/full/10.2308/iace-51038
This is not a free download.

Abstract
This paper provides best practices evidence from a sample of accounting educators in the U.S. recognized formally for their teaching excellence. These teaching exemplars were surveyed and asked to list, in their own words and in ranked order of importance, “a minimum of three and up to five factors or qualities of your teaching that you believe have helped distinguish you as an effective teacher.” We received 453 responses to this question from our sample of 105 award-winning accounting educators. A content analysis of these responses suggests the following major characteristics of teaching effectiveness in accounting (in decreasing order of perceived importance): class session learning environment, student focus, preparation and organization, importance of the practice environment, passion and commitment to teaching (as a profession), and the design of the course learning environment. Response breakdowns suggest the existence of contextual effects: differences in importance ratings for selected characteristics of teaching effectiveness were observed with respect to respondent professorial rank, years of full-time teaching experience, and gender. Results shine a light on teaching effectiveness in accounting education providing, for the first time, both evidence of the perceived relative importance of specific characteristics, as well as insights on pedagogical knowledge to guide educator classroom pursuits.

Jensen Comment
Most of the findings in this study are motherhood and apple pie, but I found it interesting to read the respondents' remarks about such things as passion, delivery skills, classroom management, active learning, empathy, preparation, etc.  Very little reference is given to humor, grading, and easiness although these seem to be of importance to respondents on RateMyProfessors.com. It's very hard to be an award-winning teacher with a median class grade below a B+ at the undergraduate level. Times have changed over the years.

There's nothing in this study about effectiveness of technology and multimedia other than email. For example, how does use of videos outside of flipped classes affect teaching evaluations and learning?

The study is not much help in comparing pedagogy such as lecturing versus Socratic method and case method teaching.

There's nothing regarding online teaching versus onsite teaching except an appeal for future research into this topic.

My conclusion is that the study leaves out too much to be of great interest to me. I get more insights from scanning RateMyProfessors.com for award-winning treachers ---
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/

"Gaps in Alumni Earnings Stand Out in Release of College Data," by Kevin Carey, The New York Times, September 13, 2015 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/upshot/gaps-in-alumni-earnings-stand-out-in-release-of-college-data.html?_r=0
Thank you Elliot Kamlet for the heads up.

Colleges give prospective students very little information about how much money they can expect to earn in the job market. In part that’s because colleges may not want people to know, and in part it’s because such information is difficult and expensive to gather. Colleges are good at tracking down rich alumni to hit up for donations, but people who make little or no money are harder and less lucrative to find.

On Saturday, the federal government solved that problem by releasing a huge set of new data detailing the earnings of people who attended nearly every college and university in America. Although it abandonded efforts to rate the quality of colleges, the federal government matched data from the federal student financial aid system to federal tax returns. The Department of Education was thus able to calculate how much money people who enrolled in individual colleges in 2001 and 2002 were earning 10 years later.

On the surface, the trends aren’t surprising — students who enroll in wealthy, elite colleges earn more than those who do not. But the deeper that you delve into the data, the more clear it becomes how perilous the higher education market can be for students making expensive, important choices that don’t always pay off.

The national universities producing the top earners are no surprise: Harvard, M.I.T., Stanford and others that routinely top the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings. The most troubling numbers show up far beneath the upper echelons of higher education. Elite institutions prop up the overall average earnings of college graduates nationwide. Although earnings of college graduates continue to outpace those of non-collegians by a significant margin, at some institutions, the earnings of students 10 years after enrollment are bleak.

The Department of Education calculated the percentage of students at each college who earned more than $25,000 per year, which is about what high school graduates earn. At hundreds of colleges, less than half of students met this threshold 10 years after enrolling. The list includes a raft of barber academies, cosmetology schools and for-profit colleges that often leave students with few job prospects and mountains of debt.

. . .

At the University of Cincinnati, a third of low-income students (from households earning less than $30,000 per year) had failed to pay back any of their student loans five years after graduation. At the University of Alabama, the number was roughly a quarter; at Wayne State University in Detroit, over 40 percent. At the for-profit University of Phoenix, nearly two-thirds of poor students are in these dire straits.

It will take time for the raft of new federal earnings data to seep into the complex reputational ecosystem that continues to govern the higher education market. But this new bottom line will eventually become a permanent aspect of how colleges of all kinds are understood.

Continued in article

"With Website to Research Colleges, Obama Abandons Ranking System," by Michael D. Shear, The New York Times, September 12, 2015 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/us/with-website-to-research-colleges-obama-abandons-ranking-system.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

President Obama on Saturday abandoned his two-year effort to have the government create a system that explicitly rates the quality of the nation’s colleges and universities, a plan that was bitterly opposed by presidents at many of those institutions.

Under the original idea, announced by Mr. Obama with fanfare in 2013, all of the nation’s 7,000 institutions of higher education would have been assigned a ranking by the government, with the aim of publicly shaming low-rated schools that saddle students with high debt and poor earning potential.

. . .

They said the new scorecard — which can be found at collegescorecard.ed.gov — will allow students and parents to compare schools based on measurements that are important to them. Using the website, for example, a student might search for schools with average annual costs of under $10,000, a graduation rate higher than 75 percent and average salaries after graduation of more than $50,000 per year.

The data is based on students who have received a federal loan or grant to attend college, but officials said their economists believe it is representative of all students. And they said the new government data offers critical information that is not available elsewhere, a point underscored on Saturday as researchers began mining the data for trends. In a Twitter post, one writer called it an “amazing new treasure trove” of education data.

“You’ll be able to see how much each school’s graduates earn, how much debt they graduate with, and what percentage of a school’s students can pay back their loan,” Mr. Obama said in his weekly address.

Administration officials said the data that powers the scorecard was also being freely shared with companies and other organizations that already offer online college search tools. White House officials said three such sites — ScholarMatch, StartClass and College Abacus — already have begun using the data to enhance the information they provide.

Officials said they hoped the information would help students avoid making poor choices when deciding where to attend college.

“The new way of assessing college choices, with the help of technology and open data, makes it possible for anyone — a student, a school, a policy maker or a researcher — to decide what factors to evaluate,” the White House fact sheet said.

"White House Unveils College Scorecard That Replaces Its Scuttled Ratings Plan," by Goldie Blumenstyk, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 12, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/White-House-Unveils-College/233073/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

"The New College Scorecard," by Michael Stratford, Inside Higher Ed, September 14, 5015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/14/obama-administration-publishes-new-college-earnings-loan-repayment-data?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=ec84d1f219-DNU20150914&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-ec84d1f219-197565045

What is a “honorary chancellor?”
"Hillary’s For-Profit Education:  The company that paid Bill doesn’t do well on the Obama scorecard," The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2015 ---
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillarys-for-profit-education-1442273388?mod=djemMER

Consider Laureate International Universities, based in Baltimore. According to Bill and Hillary’s tax records, Laureate paid Bill $16.5 million to serve as its “honorary chancellor” from April 2010 to April 2015. Laureate has also donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. It was probably no coincidence that Mr. Clinton dropped off Laureate’s payroll when his wife began running for President.

Laureate operates more than 80 colleges world-wide—most in developing countries—and five are located in the U.S. This allows investors to skirt the White House’s “gainful employment” regulation because schools that don’t draw federal aid don’t have to disclose their students’ median debt and job placement rates.

While such for-profits as Corinthian, ITT Tech and Education Management Corporation have drawn government scrutiny, Laureate seems to have avoided political attention. However, it performs no better than other profit-making schools on the Obama scorecard.

Continued in article

Theory is Not Practice:  Do the majority of downtown library patrons mainly play video games,seek shelter, hang out, have sex, and use the toilets?

"Police officials say downtown library branch is draining resources, 'culture change' needed," by Roseann Moring, World Herald, September 17. 2015---
http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/police-officials-say-downtown-library-branch-is-draining-resources-culture/article_5e9424d8-5cdb-11e5-a6c3-87784c9c1c52.html

Frequent disturbances, rowdy behavior and even reports of sex in the stairwell spurred Omaha police to ask library officials Wednesday to clean up the downtown library.

Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Capt. Katherine Belcastro-Gonzalez told the Omaha Public Library Board that the branch is draining police resources.

Several board members agreed that there is a problem at the W. Dale Clark Library and two said they have felt intimidated by people at the location.

The board took no formal action but asked staffers to work with police to make a plan to fix the problems.

In the past year or so, Belcastro-Gonzalez said, the Police Department has received about 200 calls to the main branch at 215 S. 15th St. If every business did that, she said, “our police resources would be exhausted.”

Police officials said the problem appears to be groups of people — some of them homeless — who congregate in and around the library and cause frequent disturbances.

The officials said much of the problem would be solved if library staff better enforced the institution’s policies and rules. “I believe there needs to be a culture change,” Belcastro-Gonzalez said.

Belcastro-Gonzalez cited two instances in which she said someone caused a disruption but was allowed back into the library. One was a sex offender who made an inappropriate comment about a child. The other was a person accused of theft.

She asked the board to enact a policy that would allow library officials to turn over footage from security cameras to police without requiring a subpoena. She also suggested searching patrons’ bags to make sure they don’t have weapons or open containers of alcohol.

The board also discussed the possibility of installing metal detectors.

Library staffers said they’ve been working with other entities to make the library less of a congregation point for disruptive people. Library staff would like to see a nearby bus stop moved down the block, and for the Open Door Mission stop dropping people off across the street at the Gene Leahy Mall.

Continued in article

"An Academic Reputation at Risk:  The U. of Oregon’s big brand masks its fragile standing," by Jack Stripling, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 14, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/An-Academic-Reputation-at-Risk/233049/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

. . .

What has been more difficult, however, is for Oregon to remain competitive with the top-­tier research universities that it has for decades described as its peers. Save a few marquee programs, Oregon often fails now to measure up to higher education’s heavy hitters, which bring in more federal grants, produce more doctoral degrees, and boast higher graduation rates.

Oregon falls behind for some good reasons, most notably its relatively modest array of academic programs. Without cash cows like engineering, medicine, and pharmacy, Oregon cannot expect to generate the kind of research dollars that the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor or the University of Washington might.

But few question that something must change here. After decades building an identity around a vibrant and alluring undergraduate experience, Oregon now wrestles with the sober reality that it must either elevate its academic standing or risk sliding further down the prestige ladder.

In recent years, the university has been known for all of the wrong things. Professors and administrators have been at frequent loggerheads, arguing over the outsize role of athletics at the university and the thorny issue of campus sexual assault. Many leaders have come and gone into the Oregon maelstrom, where five presidents, including two interim chiefs, have served in the past six years.

Jensen Comment
Although Oregon has a College of Business that business college has never been a "heavy hitter" in any business school rankings or doctoral programs. In accounting for example Oregon averages less than one Ph.D. graduate per year according to the Hasselback Directory.

Garth Saloner, Dean of Stanford's Graduate School of Business, Resigns in Less Than Honorable Circumstances
And a Business Professor is Terminated Allegedly Due to Too Many Leaves of Absence
"Stanford Dean Resigns Amid Suit Over Relationship," Inside Higher Ed, September 15, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/15/stanford-dean-resigns-amid-suit-over-relationship?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=7cf63226ff-DNU20150915&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-7cf63226ff-197565045
 

"Texas State University System Promotes Free Frosh (MOOC) Year," Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2015 --- Click Here
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/11/texas-state-promotes-free-frosh-mooc-year?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=40333d85eb-DNU20150911&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-40333d85eb-197565045

The Texas State University System on Thursday announced a "Freshman Year for Free" program in which students could earn a full year of credit through massive open online courses offered by edX and coordinated by a new nonprofit called the Modern States Education Alliance. The only costs to students would be either Advanced Placement or College Level Examination Program tests, which would be passed after completing various MOOCs. Appropriate scores would be required on the tests to receive credit from Texas State campuses.

Jensen Comment
One unmentioned concern is transferability of these credits to other colleges and universities such as nonprofit colleges and out-of-state universities.

Times are changing with respect to transferability of distance education, including MOOC credits, but we are not yet all in synch.

By definition learning on MOOCs is free. However, most MOOCs charge fees for certificates and college credits. This Texas MOOC program is similar in this regard.

One reason MOOCs are generally advanced courses is that MOOCs do not work as well on introductory courses where students are more diverse in terms of scholastic aptitude and motivation. Introductory students typically require more personal attention either online or onsite. For example, an online distance education course with 20 students can and generally does have intense daily email communications between teachers and students. MOOCs are generally enormous in size with little or no private communications between teachers and students.

Bob Jensen's threads on thousands of free MOOCs that are mostly advanced courses for motivated scholars available from prestigious universities in the Ivy League (especially MIT and Wharton), Stanford, Rice, etc. ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

ob Jensen's threads on thousands of free MOOCs that are mostly advanced courses for motivated scholars available from prestigious universities in the Ivy League (especially MIT and Wharton), Stanford, Rice, etc. ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on September 9, 2055

Macy’s to close dozens of stores
http://www.wsj.com/articles/consumer-electronics-returns-to-macys-stores-under-best-buy-partnership-1441731349?mod=djemCFO_h
Macy’s Inc. plans to close 35 to 40 stores, or about 5% of its existing fleet, as it reacts to changing shopper habits (read that Amazon) and fends off an activist investor who has pressured it to unlock value from its real estate. Starboard Value LP said in July that it had accumulated a stake in the retailer and was pushing it to spin off key properties.

U.S. News College Compass Details of 1,800 Colleges and Universities ($29.95 Annual Database Subscription Fee) ---
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/store/college_compass.htm
Jensen Comment
Much of this data is available for free at each Website, but it's harder to find and match with a student's profile that is this U.S. News consolidated database. The database appears to be of limited use for comparing academic discipline, although U.S. News has other sites (most of them free) for such purposes. For example if you want comparisons (rankings) on selected disciplines go to http://www.usnews.com/education

College and University Rankings (free) --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_and_university_rankings

For distance education program information go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm

Introductory Dilbert Cartoon --- http://dilbert.com/strip/2015-09-11

"Peter Thiel Explains Biotech Investing Rationale: Get Rid of Randomness," by Antonio Regalado, MIT's Technology Review, September 12, 2015 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/541226/peter-thiel-explains-biotech-investing-rationale-get-rid-of-randomness/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150914

. . .

How do you know what an early stage biotech company is actually worth?

There is disturbingly little intuition into what biotech companies are worth. If you are able to produce a drug that cures some sizeable disease for which there is no cure at all, that is worth billions, or tens of billions of dollars. And if you don’t succeed it’s worth nothing.

You have to get through basic research, preclinical, Phase I, II, and III, and then marketing. So approaching it analytically, the question is how do you discount [the risk of failure at each step]. If you do half on each step, and there are six steps, that’s 2 to the 6th, or 64. So something worth a billion at the end means you start at [a value of] $16 million.

The thing I don’t like about this as an investor is that the numbers are totally arbitrary. They are just made-up numbers. And our feeling with many biotechs is that people understate these probabilities. They say it’s half, but maybe it’s just one in 10. And if even if just one of these steps is one in 10, you are really screwed. I would be very nervous to invest in a company where it gets pitched as a series of contingencies that “this has to work, and this has to work, and this has to work.”

So is Stemcentrx doing it differently?

The question is, can you change those probabilities into different numbers? The reason we invested in Stemcentrx at a valuation that would have been higher than many other biotechs we looked at is that we felt the whole company was designed to get these probabilities as close to one as possible at every step, to get rid of as much of this randomness or contingency as possible. That is something that we found deeply reassuring.

. . .

The Winner's Curse:  Business Firm Valuation Errors by the Pros
Large-scale mergers often plague the "winning" bidder with what academics call the "Winner's Curse." The winner's curse takes place when a bidder does indeed win the object for which he or she was bidding, but the value of that object turns out to be less than what was bid for it. What's a recipe for a winner's curse in an M&A situation? Take one part highly visible transaction for a highly motivated, deep-pocketed acquirer.
"Kraft, Cadbury, and Hershey: A Not-So-Sweet Deal," by Rita McGrath, Harvard Business Review, November 19, 2009 ---
Click Here

Large-scale mergers often plague the "winning" bidder with what academics call the "Winner's Curse." The winner's curse takes place when a bidder does indeed win the object for which he or she was bidding, but the value of that object turns out to be less than what was bid for it. What's a recipe for a winner's curse in an M&A situation? Take one part highly visible transaction for a highly motivated, deep-pocketed acquirer. Add a bit of reluctant bride (or outright naysaying bride) on the part of the target firm. Add a potential white knight, preferably one that is despised by the original bidder. Throw in a couple (or more) hard-charging CEOs who view the deal as crucial to their company's good fortunes (or to their own reputations — either will do). Finally, entrust the whole mixture to a bunch of sophisticated deal packagers on Wall Street. Then, make it front-page news on the publications that "everybody" reads.

The announcement on Tuesday morning that chocolate maker Hershey (with a possible assist from Italy's Ferrero) might make a counter-offer to the deal broached by Kraft Foods for the United Kingdom's beloved Cadbury has exactly this flavor to it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kraft Foods of Northfield, IL, formally offered to purchase Cadbury for about $16 billion on November 9, after publicly making its intentions known in September. Cadbury rejected the initial offer, reports the Journal, as "derisory." But with no other bidders on the horizon at the time that Kraft was required by the UK to make its proposal official or to abandon the deal, it didn't increase the bid, commenting that the offer is "fair and attractive." If Hershey successfully figures out how to get in the game with a superior offer (and its bankers seem quite keen on enabling them to do that), a bidding war of attrition could well break out, as both sides seek to gain the upper hand. In such situations, emotions run high, spreadsheets are more often used to justify decisions than to inform them, and the individuals involved tend to get personal.

Something similar (with 3 bidders and a fourth who was enabling it) took place with Boston Scientific's recent acquisition of Guidant, a merger that was dubbed by Fortune magazine to be the "second worst deal ever" right behind the AOL-Time Warner merger (which is being unwound even as I write this). The stage for that merger was set when Guidant, a spinoff from Eli Lilly, was entering its tenth year of major success. Without much of a succession plan and a failed attempt to lure a new CEO from GE, the company was a perfect target, with a market cap of about $20 billion. Johnson & Johnson, in 2004, offered to buy the company for $68/share and, much as Kraft was snubbed by Cadbury, was turned down. Eventually, J&J was persuaded to increase its offer to $76/share, or $25.4 billion. In March of 2005, a patient equipped with a Guidant pacemaker died and a public furor broke out when it was revealed that the company had known about the flaw in the pacemaker for three years, but had not informed doctors about it.

What happens? First, the stock tanks, dropping to the mid-$50 range by 2005, amid a recall of over 290,000 devices. J&J's CEO Bill Weldon drops his offer by $6 billion to $58/share. Guidant rejects that offer. Weldon eventually goes a little higher, to $63/share, an offer which Guidant, seeing no other bidder, grudgingly accepts. In November of 2005, however, a new player emerges on the scene — Boston Scientific. They leverage a deal with a third party (Abbott Labs) to make a $72/share offer. Guidant, smelling opportunity, uses the presence of two eager bidders to ignite a bidding war. On January 11, 2006, J&J goes to $68/share — and even though it's $4 under Boston's bid, Guidant sticks with J&J. Provoked, Boston bids $73 on January 12. J&J comes back with $71. On January 17, Boston Scientific makes a "bid to end this" of $80/share, a total of $27 billion. To his credit, J&J's Weldon says that they "won't chase this deal to a price that doesn't make sense for the company" and J&J makes no further offer.

The acquisition of Guidant is widely regarded as a winners' curse situation for Boston Scientific; yes, they won the prize, but their stock has shown a steady downward trend since the time of the merger and they bought a host of quality and other problems along with the high-flying group.

Smells a bit like the Hershey-Cadbury-Ferrero-Kraft recipe, no? What do you think? Is this another war of attrition in the making? It certainly has all the necessary ingredients.

Bob Jensen's Threads on Return on Business Valuation, Business Combinations, Investment (ROI), and Pro Forma Financial Reporting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/roi.htm

"Home Energy Storage Enters a New Era," by Richard Martin, MIT's Technology Review, September 17, 2015 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/541336/home-energy-storage-enters-a-new-era/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150917

Jensen Comment
This emerging technology must be scaring the beejeebers out of power companies.

The real problem is that lithium reserves are limited in terms of emerging huge demand spikes combined with increasing dependence on foreign suppliers. It's ironic that just when the USA became self sufficient in carbon-based energy resources it's becoming increasingly dependent upon just a few countries for energy resources outside of carbon fuels ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium#Production

And why are we spending billions in towers and underground lines to bring Quebec hydro power into Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York if there will be no need for power companies in the future?

"Justice Department Sets Sights on Wall Street Executives," by Matt Apuzzo and Ben Protess, The New York Times, September 9, 2015 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/politics/new-justice-dept-rules-aimed-at-prosecuting-corporate-executives.html?_r=0

. . .

Under Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., the Justice Department faced repeated criticism from Congress and consumer advocates that it treated corporate executives leniently. After the 2008 financial crisis, no top Wall Street executives went to prison, highlighting a disparity in how prosecutors treat corporate leaders and typical criminals. Although prosecutors did collect billions of dollars in fines from big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, critics dismissed those cases as hollow victories.

Justice Department officials have defended their record fighting corporate crime, saying that it can be nearly impossible to charge top executives who insulate themselves from direct involvement in wrongdoing. Ms. Yates’s memo acknowledges “substantial challenges unique to pursuing individuals for corporate misdeeds,” but it says that the difficulty in targeting high-level officials is precisely why the Justice Department needs a stronger plan for investigating them.

The new rules take effect immediately, but they are not likely to apply to investigations that are far along, such as one into General Motors over defects. Prosecutors in New York are struggling to charge company employees over problems linked to the deaths of more than 100 people, partly because the laws governing car companies require that prosecutors show that the employees intended to break the law, a higher standard than in other industries like pharmaceuticals and food.

Ms. Yates, a career prosecutor, has established herself in the first months of her tenure as the department’s most vocal advocate for tackling white-collar crime. She foreshadowed plans for the new policy in a February speech to state attorneys general, in which she declared that “even imposing unprecedented financial penalties on the institutions whose conduct led to the financial crisis is not a substitute for holding individuals within those institutions personally accountable.”

A criminal case last year against BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank, demonstrated the gap between charging a bank and its employees. Even as officials extracted a record $8.9 billion penalty and made the company one of the first giant banks to plead guilty to a crime, no BNP employees faced charges. The Justice Department said the bank insulated its employees by withholding records until after a deadline had passed to file individual charges.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
This is easier said than done given the power and money of corporate executives.

"CEO in fraud case needs more than seven days prison: court," by Jonathan Stempel, Reuters, February 15, 2013 ---
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-ceo-sentencing-decision-idUSBRE91E0W320130215

"Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail:  How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it," by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, February 14, 2013 ---
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214

Question How profitable is insider trading?
Answer Insanely profitable --- http://fortune.com/2014/10/20/insider-trading-profits/ 

Bob Jensen's threads on white collar crime leniency and how prison sentences are so light that executive crime is good business ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#CrimePays

"U. of Georgia Bets $4.4 Million That Small Classes Can Bolster Learning," by Dan Barrett, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 8, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/U-of-Georgia-Bets-44/232889/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

The University of Georgia, seeking to improve the classroom experience of its undergraduates, has begun a faculty hiring spree to reduce enrollments in hundreds of courses.

The university will hire 56 full-time, teaching-focused lecturers and professors over this academic year. It is one of several recent efforts at the research-focused institution to improve its educational environment. Others include the creation of a series of freshman seminars and the requirement that incoming students participate in a hands-on learning experience.

"It’s a piece in a larger puzzle," said Rahul Shrivastav, vice president for instruction.

The addition of instructional faculty represents only a 3-percent increase to the university’s full-time teaching staff, but it is notable for its focus. Other institutions have announced large, multiyear hiring campaigns in recent years, but they typically aim to bolster research capacity.

In cutting down class sizes, Georgia took a strategic approach, Mr. Shrivastav said. Administrators examined data to find the courses that students most frequently dropped out of, withdrew from, and failed. Consulting with deans and department heads, the academic leaders further zeroed in on courses with the worst bottlenecks that stymied student progress.

A slate emerged of 319 courses across 81 majors, including introductory courses in business, chemistry, mathematics, and political science. "There could have been 100 more," Mr. Shrivastav said.

Students this semester are enrolled in 120 new, smaller sections of nine courses. Some sections, like "Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business," were halved, going from 140 to about 70. Others experienced comparatively modest trims, like "Calculus I for Science and Engineering," from an average of 39 students to 29. Most of the new sections across departments now have between 23 and 30 students.

There was no ideal class-size target, just the governing principle that smaller is better. The goal, Mr. Shrivastav said, was, "Let’s try for really small courses where it will be a more personalized, more interactive experience."

Size or Quality?

Evidence about the importance of class size to educational quality is ambiguous, and sometimes even contradictory.

Joseph B. Cuseo, a professor emeritus of psychology at Marymount California University, has argued that smaller is better. Students in classes of 46 or more tended to exhibit shallower levels of thought compared with those in smaller courses, especially classes with 15 or fewer, he wrote in a synthesis of previous research.

Continued in article

"California's school test scores reveal gaping racial achievement gap," by Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News, September 9, 2015 ---
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_28782503/califs-test-scores-reveal-yawning-achievement-gap

The first results of a new test on student performance in California schools revealed a majority of students failed to meet state standards in math and English -- with a stark racial achievement gap despite decades of efforts to close it.

Of more than 3.1 million public school students tested in English statewide, only 44 percent met or exceeded standards; in math, only 33 percent met that threshold, according to the state Department of Education, which released the new scores. Scores at Bay Area schools generally mirrored the statewide results, as performance correlated with family and community wealth, language ability and ethnicity.

Continued in article

Artificial Intelligence --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence

OKay Class, Start Your Engines
"IBM Wants Watson to Teach Robots Some Social Skills," by Will Knight, MIT's Technology Review, September 24, 2015 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/541691/ibm-wants-watson-to-teach-robots-some-social-skills/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150925

Robots Serving Healthy, Cheap Fast Food At This New San Francisco Restaurant ---
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/08/31/robots-serving-healthy-cheap-fast-food-at-new-san-francisco-restaurant/

"Deep Learning Machine Teaches Itself Chess in 72 Hours, Plays at International Master Level," MIT's Technology Review, September 14, 2015 ---  Click Here
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541276/deep-learning-machine-teaches-itself-chess-in-72-hours-plays-at-international-master/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150915

In a world first, an artificial intelligence machine plays chess by evaluating the board rather than using brute force to work out every possible move.

MIT: 

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending September 19, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541436/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-september-19-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150921

MIT:  Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending September 19, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541376/recommended-from-around-the-web-week-ending-september-19-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150921

MIT:  Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending September 12, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541016/recommended-from-around-the-web-week-ending-september-12-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150911

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending September 12, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541026/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-september-12-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-business&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150918

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending September 5, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/541021/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-september-5-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-business&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20150911

Colvin, G. 2015. Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know that Brilliant Machines Never Will. Portfolio/Penguin.
Thanks to Jim Martin for the heads up on MAAW's Blog --- http://maaw.blogspot.com/2015/09/humans-are-underrated.html

Geoff Colvin provides a summary of this book in the August 2015 issue of Fortune. What he describes should be of interest to everyone, and it is particularly relevant to young people who aspire to become the leaders of the future.

Colvin, G. 2015. Humans are underrated:
As technology keeps wiping out jobs, here are the skills you need to thrive in the workplace. They're probably not what you think. Fortune (August): 100-113.

Colvin includes a self-test to determine what you are worth in the coming economy and argues that as technology advances, the economy increasingly values the most deeply human interpersonal abilities including empathy, social sensitivity, collaboration, storytelling, leading, and relationship building.

He also points out that women are better at many of these increasingly valuable skills than men are. Women score higher on test of empathy and social sensitivity than men. Some research shows that groups consisting entirely of women are more effective than groups that include even one man.

Continued in article

Robots Serving Healthy, Cheap Fast Food At This New San Francisco Restaurant ---
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/08/31/robots-serving-healthy-cheap-fast-food-at-new-san-francisco-restaurant/

There’s no one at this new San Francisco vegetarian restaurant to take your lunch order or tell you when its ready.

Instead, you’ll depend on machines for a fully automated dining experience straight out of an episode of The Jetsons.

Welcome to Eatsa, a new futuristic fast food chain opening Monday in the Embarcadero (121 Spear Street) offering quick, healthy food for about $7 — a deal compared to other lunch time options in San Francisco.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
I predict that one day it will come down to two types of restaurants --- Hooters versus Robots

In a more serious light, humans that got the jump on robots will probably always stay ahead of robots, thereby making robots henceforth their gifted servants. That is not to say that there are not millions of tasks that robots will do better than servants --- including playing chess and contract bridge as well as preparing and analyzing financial statements. Robots are already driving about the surface of Mars in our quest for seeking better places for the future of mankind.

Ten States Burning the Most Coal ---
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/09/14/10-states-burning-the-most-coal/2/

Jensen Comment
It would be better to rank the states in terms of dependency on coal both directly and indirectly. For example, some states like California and Vermont now outsource much of there energy needs to the outside power grid that's being fed elsewhere by power plants in other states or in Canada, especially Quebec. Is a state really being green just because it relies on the grid for power rather than having coal and gas plants within the state?

From the Scout Report on September 11, 2015

Instapaper --- https://www.instapaper.com/ 

The advantage of Instapaper, one of a number of read-later solutions currently available on the market, is that it is designed to be read. The visual field is streamlined and text-based. There are no frills, ads, or distractions. So, for readers who want a system to store articles for later reading, and who don't want the complications of some of the other read-later options, Instapaper is a good find. It is also free. Sign up requires no more than an email and password. Next, readers will receive an email with links to download a browser extension for either Google Chrome or Safari, as well as links to download the free app for iOS or Android devices. From there, simply tap a button to save articles and then read later.  

---

Bing Translator --- http://www.bing.com/translator/ 

Microsoft's online Bing translator is free, easy, and getting better all the time. The service translates between 57 languages, including two varieties of Klingon (for the truly obsessed Trekkies out there), Yucatec Maya, and the more commonly used languages like Spanish, French, Russian, English, or Portuguese. To translate simply copy and paste a text into the left hand box. For instance, pasting the French phrase "Cette dame paie pour tout" into the text box returns the English translation "This lady pays for everything." One might also like to have that phrase in Arabic, Russian, or Hmong Daw, and all of this can be accomplished simply by changing the target language in the text box on the right. While debates have long continued on whether Bing Translator or Google Translates works better, most experts agree that the two are more or less equivalent. Readers might like to try both and simply see which one they like better.

---

Will the Discovery of 'Super-henge' Change the Way We Think About the World's Most Popular Neolithic Monument?
Move over, Stonehenge: Scientists just found a 'superhenge' next door
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/08/move-over-stonehenge-scientists-just-found-a-superhenge-next-door/

Will we ever actually get to see the 5,000-year-old Superhenge?
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/shortcuts/2015/sep/07/superhenge-standing-stones-near-stonehenge

Romancing the Stones
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/21/romancing-the-stones

Before Stonehenge
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/neolithic-orkney/smith-text

The Neolithic Revolution
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/prehistoric-art/neolithic-art/a/the-neolithic-revolution

Neolithic Period of Prehistoric Art
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_prehis6.htm
 

 

How to Mislead With Statistics
The Gun Control Leaning Media Would Have Us Believe the USA Murder Rate is Soaring When in Fact It's Not Soaring (albeit highly variable by city)
"Scare Headlines Exaggerated The U.S. Crime Wave: A full list of the top 60 cities gives a more nuanced picture." by Carl Bialik, Nate's Silver's 5:38 Blog, September 11, 2015 ---
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/scare-headlines-exaggerated-the-u-s-crime-wave/

From the Scout Report on September 18, 2015

draw.io ---https://www.draw.io  

For readers who would like a basic, very easy-to-use online diagram application, draw.io could be the answer. The service utilizes simple drag-and-drop techniques to arrange images for non-professional users. First select a system to which you will save your diagrams (possibilities include Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, your computer, and your browser). Then select Create new diagram. From there, select images from the dozen or so categories on the left hand side of the screen and drag them to the workspace, where you can change their color, increase or decrease line widths, and generally edit the style to suit your needs. There is also a helpful Quick start video that readers can watch to help them understand the program. The application is free and does not require a sign up or any other commitment.

---

Google Hangouts --- https://plus.google.com/hangouts 

Google Hangouts was launched in 2013 to bring together several similar but technologically distinct messaging and communication platforms. While the service has faced some criticism (especially concerning privacy issues), it features useful capabilities. Hangouts can be used for video or chat conversations between up to ten people at a time, which is a significant improvement over other free video and chat services. In addition, the platform can be used across devices, so whatever chat conversations users perform on their computers will transfer to their other devices, and vice versa. Users must subscribe to a free Google account to use Hangouts, or download a free app to use on Android or iOS devices.

---

What Can Birds Tell Us About Love?
New study asks why birds fall in love
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/14/new-study-asks-why-birds-fall-in-love/

Birds Fall in Love Too, Speed Dating Experiment Shows
http://news.discovery.com/animals/birds-fall-in-love-too-speed-dating-experiment-shows-150914.htm

Fitness Benefits of Mate Choice for Compatibility in a Socially Monogamous
Species
http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002248

Discovering the Secrets of Long-Term Love
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/discovering-secrets-long-term-love/

The Gottman Relationship Blog
http://www.gottmanblog.com/archives/

Journal of Marriage and Family
https://www.ncfr.org/jmf
 

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

Education Tutorials

Authentic Assessment Toolbox (critical thinking assessments) --- http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm

Tech Rocket (introductory coding and app development) --- https://www.techrocket.com/

CS For All: Introduction to Computer Science and Python Programming ---
https://www.edx.org/course/cs-all-introduction-computer-science-harveymuddx-cs005x

Code.org (computer science education and learning) --- http://code.org/

Free Computer Tutorials at GCFLearnFree --- http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computers

From Google:  Made with Code --- https://www.madewithcode.com/

National Education Association: Teaching with Maps --- http://www.nea.org/tools/teaching-with-maps.html

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

Penguin Books: Teacher Guides --- http://www.penguin.com/services-shared/teachersguides/

Get Graphic: The World in Words and Pictures --- http://www.getgraphic.org/teachers.php

Codecademy School Computer Science Curriculum --- https://www.codecademy.com/schools/curriculum/resources#1

Free Code Camp --- http://www.freecodecamp.com/

Institute of Physics: Education --- http://www.iop.org/education/index.html

Typing Lessons --- https://www.typing.com/student/start

Answers (to nontrivial trivia) --- http://www.answers.com/
Good conversation starters

Lifehacker (such as how to pack a suitcase) --- http://lifehacker.com/

Barking Up The Wrong Tree (self help health and leadership guides, not financial banking) --- http://www.bakadesuyo.com/

Adequacy, Litigation, and Student Achievement (adequacy litigation financing and achievement performance) --- http://www.oercommons.org/courses/adequacy-litigation-and-student-achievement/view

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

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

RAND: Academic Achievement --- http://www.rand.org/topics/academic-achievement.html

National Science Foundation: Chemistry Now --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/chemistrynow/

Institute of Physics: Education --- http://www.iop.org/education/index.html .

Physics Girl --- http://physicsgirl.org/

IUCN: Multimedia (environment and energy) --- http://www.iucn.org/knowledge/multimedia/

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

Difference Between (about variations in science, economics, politics, etc.) --- http://www.differencebetween.net/

The HistoryMakers (African Americans)  --- http://www.thehistorymakers.com/

The Center for Genomic Gastronomy --- http://genomicgastronomy.com/

A giant ocean observatory has captured thousands of hours of video revealing some crazy natural phenomena ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/about-the-oceanic-neptune-project-2015-9

The apocalypse is still on, apparently — at least in a galaxy about 3.5 billion light-years from here. Last winter, a team of Caltech astronomers reported that two supermassive black holes appeared to be spiraling together toward a cataclysmic collision that could bring down the curtains in that galaxy. The evidence was a rhythmic flickering from the galaxy’s nucleus, a quasar known as PG 1302-102, which Matthew Graham and his colleagues interpreted as the fatal mating dance of a pair of black holes with a total mass of more than a billion suns. Their merger, the astronomers calculated, could release...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/science/space/more-evidence-for-coming-black-hole-collision.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=1&mtrref=www.nytimes.com&gwh=
Jensen Comment
Makes climate change on the planet Earth seem rather insignificant in astronomy.

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Social Science and Economics Tutorials

RAND: Academic Achievement --- http://www.rand.org/topics/academic-achievement.html

Macro and Other Market Musings (conservative economics blog) --- http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.pt

NCDD Resource Center (innovation in politics and conflict resolurion) --- http://ncdd.org/rc/

A.J. Jacobs (books, articles, and TED talk on our changing times) ---  http://ajjacobs.com/

Difference Between (about variations in science, economics, politics, etc.) --- http://www.differencebetween.net/

Understanding September 11 --- http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/understanding-september-11

How Sybil Turned Multiple Personality Disorder into a Psychological Phenomenon in America ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/how-sybil-turned-multiple-personality-disorder-into-a-psychological-phenomenon-in-america.html

The HistoryMakers (African Americans)  --- http://www.thehistorymakers.com/

Barking Up The Wrong Tree (self help health and leadership guides, not financial banking) --- http://www.bakadesuyo.com/

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

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Law and Legal Studies

Adequacy, Litigation, and Student Achievement (adequacy litigation financing and achievement performance) --- http://www.oercommons.org/courses/adequacy-litigation-and-student-achievement/view

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

Math Tutorials

John Heeley's Masterclass (mathematics in seven short videos)---
http://archive.teachfind.com/ttv/www.teachers.tv/series/jonny-heeleys-masterclass.html

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

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

History Tutorials

Maps Are Territories (cross-cultural study of history and philosophy) --- http://territories.indigenousknowledge.org/

History As Big Data: 500 Years Of Book Images And Mapping Millions Of Books ---
http://lisnews.org/history_as_big_data_500_years_of_book_images_and_mapping_millions_of_books

"Below Ground Zero," by John Ward, by John Ward, The Rivard Report, September 9, 2015 ---
http://www.therivardreport.com/below-ground-zero/ The HistoryMakers (African Americans)  --- http://www.thehistorymakers.com/

47 Animated Videos Explain the History of Ideas: From Aristotle to Sartre ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/47-animated-videos-explain-the-history-of-ideas-from-aristotle-to-sartre.html

A British farmer is auctioning off his £2 million collection of 230 vintage tractors ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/british-farmer-auctioning-collection-of-230-tractors-2015-9

Columbia U. Launches a Free Multimedia Glossary for Studying Cinema & Filmmaking ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/columbia-u-launches-a-free-multimedia-glossary-for-studying-cinema-filmmaking.html

2 coders used old photographs to make a mesmerizing Google Street View map of San Francisco in the 1800s ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/old-san-francisco-photos-turned-into-google-street-view-map-2015-9

Classics Stories by Edgar Allan Poe Narrated by James Mason in a 1953 Oscar-Nominated Animation & 1958 Decca Album ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/classics-stories-by-edgar-allan-poe-narrated-by-james-mason-in-a-1953-oscar-nominated-animation-1958-decca-album.html

Thomas Edison’s Recordings of Leo Tolstoy: Hear the Voice of Russia’s Greatest Novelist ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/hear-thomas-edisons-recordings-of-leo-tolstoy.html

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Galleries --- http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/museum-map/galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: (MoMa) In Circulation http://www.metmuseum.org/research/libraries-and-study-centers/in-circulation

MHS Museum: Online Collections (Montana) --- http://mhsmuseum.pastperfectonline.com/

100,000+ Wonderful Pieces of Theater Ephemera Digitized by The New York Public Library ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/100000-wonderful-pieces-of-theater-ephemera-digitized-by-the-new-york-public-library.html

Nelson Mandela Foundation --- https://www.nelsonmandela.org/

18-Year-Old James Joyce Writes a Fan Letter to His Hero Henrik Ibsen (1901) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/18-year-old-james-joyce-writes-a-fan-letter-to-his-hero-henrik-ibsen-1901.html

A Wealth of Free Documentaries on All Things Japanese: From Bento Boxes to Tea Gardens, Ramen & Bullet Trains ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/a-wealth-of-free-documentaries-on-all-things-japanese.html

Behold the Largest Atlas in the World: The Six-Foot Tall Klencke Atlas from 1660 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/behold-the-largest-atlas-in-the-world-the-six-foot-tall-klencke-atlas-from-1660.html

Difference Between (about variations in science, economics, politics, etc.) --- http://www.differencebetween.net/

Understanding September 11 --- http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/understanding-september-11

A.J. Jacobs (books, articles, and TED talk on our changing times) ---  http://ajjacobs.com/

The Song Dynasty in China --- http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/

Watch 1915 Video of Monet, Renoir & Rodin Creating Art, and Edgar Degas Taking a Stroll ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/watch-1915-video-of-monet-renoir-rodin-creating-art-and-edgar-degas-taking-a-stroll.html

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  

Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Language Tutorials

Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Languages

Music Tutorials

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

Get Graphic: The World in Words and Pictures --- http://www.getgraphic.org/teachers.php

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

Bob Jensen's threads on medicine ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Medicine

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

September 9, 2015

September 10, 2015

September 11, 2015

September 12, 2015

September 13, 2015

September 14, 2015

September 15, 2015

September 16, 2015

September 17, 2015

September 18. 2015

September 19, 2015

September 21, 2015

September 23, 2015

September 24, 2015

A new drug cut 32% of deaths in heart-risk patients, and it could revolutionize the way we treat type 2 diabetes ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-lilly-diabetes-drug-slashes-deaths-32-pct-in-heart-risk-patients-2015-9

How Sybil Turned Multiple Personality Disorder into a Psychological Phenomenon in America ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/how-sybil-turned-multiple-personality-disorder-into-a-psychological-phenomenon-in-america.html

Humor September 1-11, 2015

Steve Martin & Robin Williams Riff on Math, Physics, Einstein & Picasso in a Heady Comedy Routine (2002)  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/09/steve-martin-robin-williams-do-intellectual-comedy.html

Actual Newspaper Headline Forwarded by Paula
"Missippi's Literacy Program Shows Improvment"

Man Thinks He's Texting His Drug Dealer, Accidentally Messages Police Captain Instead ---
http://news.yahoo.com/man-thinks-hes-texting-drug-134007127.html

Here are the oddest and most interesting feats from Guinness World Records' 2016 edition ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/2016-guinness-book-world-records-interest-odd-feats-edition-2015-9

Ignoble Prize Winners of 2015:  These academic studies won this year’s most absurd awards --- 
http://www.improbable.com/

Jensen Comments
I really miss Senator Proxmire's infamous Golden Fleece Awards ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Fleece_Award

Yogi Berra --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra

Yogi Berra Quotations ---
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/79014.Yogi_Berra

Forwarded by Paula

MY TRAVEL PLANS FOR 2016

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 adrenaline flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, but I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing. They tell me it is very wet and damp there.

Forwarded by Paula

Dorothy and Edna, two "senior" widows, are talking.

Dorothy: "That nice George Johnson asked me out for a date. I know you went out with him last week, and I wanted to talk with you about him before I give him my answer."

Edna: "Well, I'll tell you. He shows up at my apartment punctually at 7 pm, dressed like such a gentleman in a fine suit, and he brings me such beautiful flowers! Then he takes me downstairs. And what's there; a limousine, uniformed chauffeur and all. Then he takes me out for dinner; a marvelous dinner, lobster, champagne, dessert, and after-dinner drinks. Then we go see a show. Let me tell you Dorothy, I enjoyed it so much I could have just died from pleasure! So then we are coming back to my apartment and he turns into an ANIMAL. Completely crazy, he tears off my expensive new dress and has his way with me three times!"

Dorothy: "Goodness gracious!... so you are telling me I shouldn't go?"

Edna: "No, no, no... I'm just saying, wear an old dress."

Humor August 1-31,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor081115

Humor July 1-31,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor073115

Humor June 1-30,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

Humor May 1-31,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

Humor April 1-30, 2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

Humor March 1-31, 2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor033115

Humor February 1-28, 2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor022815

Humor January 1-31, 2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor013115

Humor December 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q4.htm#Humor123114

Humor November 1-30, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q4.htm#Humor113014

Humor October 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q4.htm#Humor103114

Humor September 1-30, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q3.htm#Humor093014

Humor August 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q3.htm#Humor083114

Humor July 1-31, 2014--- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q3.htm#Humor073114

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

• With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
• With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
• With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR
• With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses

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

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.

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