Tidbits on November 23, 2015
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Part 4 Photographs of My Impatiens and Other Flowers of Summer
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Impatiens/ImpatiensSet04/ImpatiensSet04.htm    
 

 

Tidbits on November 23, 2015
Bob Jensen

Bob Jensen's Tidbits ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

For earlier editions of Fraud Updates go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Bookmarks for the World's Library --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm 

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




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
Watch this monster machine rip trees out of the ground like they're toothpicks ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tree-harvesters-work-2015-11

An Interactive Timeline Covering 14 Billion Years of History: From The Big Bang to 2015 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/an-interactive-timeline-covering-14-billion-years-of-history-from-the-big-bang-to-2015.html

The Most Beautiful Moon Rise --- https://player.vimeo.com/video/137218768

Intense video shows Russian warplanes carpet bombing in Syria ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/intense-video-shows-russian-warplanes-carpet-bombing-in-syria-2015-11

Michio Kaku & Brian Green Explain String Theory in a Nutshell: Elegant Explanations of an Elegant Theory  ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/michio-kaku-brian-green-explain-string-theory-in-nutshell.html
Note that there are two videos that are more of an introduction to string theory than an explanation of it that us novices probably would not understand anyway.

Video:  The Psych Show --- https://www.youtube.com/user/thepsychshowdotcom


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 

The Aaron Copland Centennial: NPR Archives --- http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/copland/archives.html

Salut Salon "Wettstreit zu viert" | "Competitive Foursome" - YouTube ---
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKezUd_xw20?rel=0

Now Streaming Free: The Best of The Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” Concerts in Chicago ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/now-streaming-free-the-best-of-the-grateful-deads-fare-thee-well-concerts-in-chicago.html
Jensen Comment:  I'm "grateful" that I don't have to listen to The Grateful Dead

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

How to Take Perfect Photos, According to Martha Stewart (Selfies Included!) ---
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-13/photography-tips-from-martha-stewart?cmpid=BBD111315_BIZ

32 things everyone should do in Germany ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/32-things-you-need-to-do-in-germany-2015-11

Philadelphia Museum of Art: Teacher Resources http://www.philamuseum.org/teacherresources

Galaxies:  The Glory of Spirals ---
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/19/galaxies_two_photos_of_nearby_spirals.html

Russian Air Force destroyed a convoy of ISIS fuel trucks in Syria (picture) ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3361620/posts

21 stunning Instagram photos that show the true beauty of Asia ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-photos-asia-2015-9?r=UK&IR=T

The US military took these incredible photos this week ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-military-took-these-incredible-photos-this-week-veterans-day-2015-11

35 beautiful vintage photos show what Istanbul looked like in the 1960s ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/charles-cushman-vintage-istanbul-photos-2015-10

Beautiful, Color Photographs of Paris Taken 100 Years Ago—at the Beginning of World War I & the End of La Belle Époque ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/beautiful-color-photographs-of-paris-taken-100-years-ago.html

Architecture:  Check out 22 Bishopsgate — a new London skyscraper that wants to be 'the City’s first vertical village' ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/londons-new-skyscraper-22-bishopsgate-2015-11?r=UK&IR=T

Carros de Cuba, an automotive landscape frozen in time ---
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/carros-de-cuba-automotive-landscape-frozen-time

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

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

100 Novels All Kids Should Read Before Leaving High School ---
http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/100-novels-all-kids-should-read-before-leaving-high-school.html

The Poetry Foundation: Tracy K. Smith --- http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/tracy-k-smith#poet

Jellyfish Magazine (poetry) --- http://www.jellyfishmagazine.org/11/

A computer made up stories about these 13 photos and the results are hilarious ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/robot-wrote-hilarious-love-stories-about-internet-images-2015-11
I don't think this writer is ready for the big time.

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 November 23, 2015
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2015/TidbitsQuotations112315.htm      

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

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

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

Cato Institute: Social Security http://www.cato.org/research/social-security

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

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




Richest Person In Every State ---
http://buccareer.com/?p=728&themedemo=mh-newsdesk-lite2&utm_source=RBM2-BC-Richest-in-state-rotate&utm_medium=mh-newsdesk-lite-display&utm_content=31093270327&utm_campaign=Richest-In-State


PhilSci-Archive (philosophy of science history) ---  http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/

Bob Jensen's threads on philosophy ---


One of the most important things to know today
We tried chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A, Wendy's, Burger King, and McDonald's — and the winner is clear ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/we-tried-chick-fil-a-wendys-burger-king-and-mcdonalds-chicken-nuggets-heres-who-we-thought-dominated-2015-11 

One of the great unknowns in research this year ---
What about chicken nuggets/tenders from KFC?

Warning
When it comes to wings and tiny drumsticks, BBQ flavorings hide a lot of vile skin and fat. Have another Manhattan with a nutritious cherry instead.


'Calvin and Hobbes' just turned 30 — here's the history of the strip and its mysterious creator Bill Watterson ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/calvin-and-hobbes-just-turned-30-heres-the-history-of-the-strip-and-its-mysterious-creator-bill-watterson-2015-11


With New Funding, Udacity Valued At $1 Billion ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/11/12/new-funding-udacity-valued-1-billion?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=d6b04e7ae8-DNU20151112&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-d6b04e7ae8-197565045

Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs with credit options ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


MIT:  Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending November 14, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543321/recommended-from-around-the-web-week-ending-november-14-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151113

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending November 14, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543326/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-november-14-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151116

MIT:   (Week ending November 19, 2015) ---

MIT:  Recommended Robot and AI Reads (Week ending November 19, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543636/recommended-robot-and-ai-reads-this-week/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151119

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending November 21, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543601/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-november-21-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151120

MIT:  Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending November 21, 2015) ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543606/recommended-from-around-the-web-week-ending-november-21-2015/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151120


Ahaan Rungta, a 15-year-old who obtained the entirety of his elementary and secondary education from online courses provided by MIT, has been accepted to college at MIT ---
http://news.mit.edu/2015/ahaan-rungta-mit-opencourseware-mitx-1116


From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on November 18, 2015

  • Rivals take aim at UPS, FedEx with services focus
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/ups-fedex-rivals-take-services-focus-1447788645?mod=djemCFO_h&alg=y
    Online purchases of bulky items like furniture are up sharply, creating opportunities for delivery companies able to provide home dropoffs with services such as set up, installation and removal of old goods.


    November Readings, by David Giles, Econometrics Beat, November 15, 2015 ---
    http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2015/11/november-reading.html

    Somewhat belatedly, here is some suggested reading for this month:
     
    • Al-Sadoon, M. M., 2015. Testing subspace Granger causality. Barcelona GSE Working Paper Series, Working Paper nº 850.
    • Droumaguet, M., A. Warne, & T. Wozniak, 2015. Granger causality and regime influence in Bayesian Markov-switching VAR's. Department of Economics, University of Melbourne. 
    • Foroni, C., P. Guerin, & M. Marcellino, 2015. Using low frequency information for predicting high frequency variables. Working Paper 13/2015, Norges Bank.
    • Hastie, T., R. Tibshirani, & J. Friedman, 2009. The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction (2nd. ed.). Springer, New York. (Legitimate download.) 
    • Hesterberg, T. C., 2015. What teachers should know about the bootstrap: Resampling in the undergraduate statistics curriculum. American Statistician, in press. 
    • Quineche. R. & G. Rodríguez, 2015. Data-dependent methods for the lag selection in unit root tests with structural change. Documento de Trabajo No. 404, Departmento de Economía, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

    From the CPA Newsletter on November 19, 2015

    US ranks 14th in world for financial literacy
    http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/
    The US ranked 14th in a survey of global financial literacy that was conducted in more than 140 countries. The researchers asked multiple-choice questions about topics such as interest and diversification. Only 57% of Americans received a passing grade. Find the AICPA's financial education resources at 360financialliteracy.org. Forbes (11/18)

    Bob Jensen's personal finance helpers ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


    A Guide to College Savings Plans ---
    http://www.moneygeek.com/education/college/resources/college-savings-plans-guide/

    Bob Jensen's helpers in personal finance ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


    The BBA, unique in Australia, is specifically designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professionals wishing to gain a degree qualification to maximise their career options.
    Applications open for new business degree for Indigenous students
    http://www.uts.edu.au/about/uts-business-school/news/applications-open-new-business-degree-indigenous-students


    These are the top 15 European universities if you want a high-paying job in finance ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/best-paid-universities-for-finance-graduates-2015-11

    Jensen Comment
    What is even more revealing is how some European countries did not make the list, including Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. I think all the universities that made the ranking are fee-based and not free like the universities in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway where the top high school graduates can go for free tuition.

    November 13, 2015 reply from Martin Persson

     

    Dear Bob,

    I grew up in Sweden and attended London School of Economics, which made the list, before moving to Canada. Tuition has not been free in Sweden for several years but all students are, just as in the US, offered government backed student loans. These are subsidized and you qualify even if you choose to pursue your education elsewhere. The same is true for Denmark and Norway. As such, a lot of students, such as myself, chose to pursue their education in the UK or elsewhere. 

     

    The reason a lot of students choose to pursue their education in the UK is not a function of the potential to pay a much higher fee, presumably because it would give a higher quality education, but because the city of London is a great place for finance and everyone already speaks English. This is a less daunting move than one to perhaps Berlin or Barcelona, where one has to pick up what would be a third or fourth language. I am sure things are similar here in North America: people do not move to New York City solely for the purpose of paying more money in tuition. It just so happens that it's the financial hub.

     

    As a side note, I was given what amounted to almost a full scholarship to attend LSE and tuition at Oxford and Cambridge is 9,000 GBP per year for any student from Europe. This is considerable lower than most of its American counterparts. 

     

    I have no interest in engaging in the rather venomous back and forth that I've seen on this mailing list as of late, so I hope this reaches you in the spirit intended.

     

    Best wishes,

    Martin

     

    --
    Martin E. Persson, MSc, PhD, FHEA
    Assistant Professor, Managerial Accounting & Control
    Ivey Business School at Western University
    1255 Western Road
    London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1
    http://ssrn.com/author=1327162

     November 13, 2015 reply from Zafar Kahn

    The report says (emphasis added):

    The survey was based on the salaries of 700 finance workers in London who graduated after 2011, and excludes people with MBAs.

    Business schools in Paris and London dominate the rankings, with six institutions in London, and seven in Paris making the list.

    It says all. Drawing any inferences beyond the study subjects is meaningless. No basis for trashing free tuition institutions.

    November 13, 2015 reply from Bob Jensen

    I stand corrected. I should have looked more closely at the sample.\

    Bob Jensen

    November 13, 2015 reply from Bob Jensen

    This set me out thinking about how Europeans rank their universities vis-a-vis how the USA media (e.g., US News) rank USA universities.

    My first Google hit revealed how much more difficult it must be to rank European universities because of differences between both education of applicants and whether much of the academic research is conducted outside the universities. Consider Germany as a case in point ---
    https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/3n2tsj/ranking_of_european_universities_according_to_the/?

    In terms of global rankings I think there's more of a tendency to rank universities within each nation rather than between nations ---
    http://worldtop20.org/global-universities?gclid=CNbfp-qcjskCFZWHaQodV70IbA

    In general, rankings of colleges and universities can be highly misleading. In Europe these rankings are even more misleading. Globallysuch rankings are probably total nonsense.

    A few things I've picked up along the way in life include speculations that cheating is rampant in many of the top universities within some nations. Exhibit A is Russia. Partying is supposedly rampant in Japanese universities where students are intently serious before being competitively admitted to universities. Of course cheating and partying is pretty rampant in other nations, including the USA.

    Universities vary greatly in terms of quality of programs within a university. For example, in the USA it used to be the case that some universities with top engineering programs had pretty weak business schools to catch the students that flunked out of engineering. This was more the case 50 years ago than today.

    Perhaps I'm in deep enough trouble already.

    Bob Jensen
     

    August 1, 2013 message from Liesel XXXXX (I disguised her last name)

    Dear Professor Jensen,

    My name is Liesel XXXXX and I am an accounting doctoral student at Stockholm Universtiy in Sweden. However, I am an American from San Antonio, Texas, who received my BBA and took MPA courses at University of Texas at Austin. I worked for many years as an auditor and consultant, beginning with Arthur Andersen in San Antonio and ending up with a regional firm in Madison, Wisconsin. I then took the leap to Europe to study IFRS, and have learned so much more. I took a Masters in Accounting at Stockholm School of Economics and Stockholm University and studied MBA courses at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

    I will be attending the AAA conference in Anaheim this coming week and was perusing some of the material, and came upon your delightful website. Thanks to your website, I have had very little sleep in the past two nights!! It is such a fun read, that I cannot stop.

    It has been a an eye-opening experience to learn accounting in Sweden, and I am not talking about IFRS. I am talking about the historical differences between European countries (sans the UK) and the US in regards to business education, how businesses are structured in regards to financing and corporate governance. The difference in mentality is quite vast. This brings me to the reason that I enjoy your site so much.
    I would describe my education in Sweden as being more of a critical, discursive one. I sometimes struggle with how to "fit" my education and experiences in Sweden into an American context. For me, the content on your website is very much a bridge between the American and the Swedish context. You have some great links that provide a good start in learning about the philosophy of science and the philosophy of social science. I am concentrating my efforts on reading historical accounts mainly in the field of economics to aid in my quest.

    I just wanted to thank you for your enlightening and fun website that has given me guidance in my aim to understand the European discursive methods with my American education background.

    I was a bit disappointed to learn that you are now in New Hampshire, as I am currently visiting my family in San Antonio. I would have enjoyed meeting you. But, I am sure that you are enjoying the fantastic summer weather up there.

    Best regards,

    Liesel XXXXX


    Misleading Statistics
    Top USA Business Schools That Are the Hardest to Get Into
     http://www.business2community.com/us-news/the-top-25-hardest-business-schools-to-get-into-rankings-01377924

    Jensen Comment
    Any rankings of schools based on acceptance rates among applicants are misleading
    without more detailed comparisons of applicants.

    For example, one obvious consideration is the pool of applicants between a very expensive program (Stanford) and an inexpensive program (Arizona State University). In fact the above article is now out of date since there is no data yet about the impact of the MBA program at Arizona State becoming tuition free. I suspect that ASU in the future will become the hardest MBA program in the world to get into based on its acceptance rate.

    There are other barriers to application that affect pools of applicants. One is living costs. Subsidized housing costs (such as affordable apartments for candidate families) may be limited, especially in some of the most expensive business programs and most expensive outside housing such as those business programs like Columbia, NYU, SMU, Harvard,  Babson, Bently, Stanford, Chicago, etc.
     

    Other barriers to application can be the spousal job market. Some business candidates will depend upon spousal income while in the business program. In some locales the job market is very good for most any spouse such as the job markets in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, and Silicon Valley. The spousal job market is not so great in Hanover, Ithaca, Iowa City, East Lansing, Lincoln, etc.

    Other barriers to application are the job markets for business graduates. Some applicants will beg, borrow, and steal enormous amounts to get into the business programs like those of Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Wharton, and Dartmouth having very high average salaries of business graduates. These top prospects may not even apply to business programs where the average salaries for business graduates are significantly lower.

    My point is that acceptance rate statistics based upon pools of applicants are misleading if those pools of applicants themselves differ greatly between programs.

    Make Your Own College Rankings ---
     
    http://chronicle.com/article/Make-Your-Own-College-Rankings/151473/?cid=inline-promo

    Bob Jensen's threads on ranking controversies in general are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#BusinessSchoolRankings


     In Accounting We Call it EIEO --- Everything In, Everything Out

    "Cranking Out Credentials — but What About Quality?" by Katherine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 17, 2015 ---
    http://chronicle.com/article/Cranking-Out-Credentials-/234228?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en&elq=e04cc3e81c37409fa69422fd0133d152&elqCampaignId=1874&elqaid=6943&elqat=1&elqTrackId=befc899056144718b79a868368dc3c88

    Jensen Comment
    Exhibit A is comprised of all graduate programs that only give A or B grades to any student who makes an effort --- some B grades go to students who make an effort but would not have a chance in a competency-based examination. For example, increasingly law schools are now both admitting and graduating a large number of students who do not have a chance of passing the BAR examination. Many accounting graduates are afraid to even take the CPA examination. California's Two-Year Colleges now want to fire their accreditor and bring in an easier accrediting agency.

    The EIEO phenomenon is linked to grade inflation and the power students now have over teacher performance ratings ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor


    Grade Inflation:  Taking a RateMyProfessors.com (RMP) Hit for Tough Grading

    The national competition below has nothing whatsoever to do with RMP
    "4 Professors of the Year Are Honored for Excellence in Teaching and Service," by Kate Stoltzfus, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 19, 2015 ---
    http://chronicle.com/article/4-Professors-of-the-Year-Are/234266?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=9bb456361c274fdc9ab06414d3c75bda&elqCampaignId=1887&elqaid=6955&elqat=1&elqTrackId=82fc8b62b32d40a9ba12a04e24126998

    Most professors hope to have an impact on their students, but their work usually takes place behind classroom doors. For the national recipients of the 2015 U.S. Professor of the Year Awards, their influence on their campuses is now rippling outward.

    . . .

    Community Colleges
    Amina El-Ashmawy, a professor of chemistry at Collin College, in Texas

    When the cost of textbooks spiked, Ms. El-Ashmawy decided to write her own curriculum with colleagues at Collin College so that every student could get access to the materials for her chemistry lab. She has served on American Chemical Society exam committees and has collected data to improve the college’s approaches to learning. Because chemistry can be abstract, Ms. El-Ashmawy uses everyday examples to make science relevant and wants students to feel free to make mistakes as they learn. She says that, after she graduated, the pay in laboratory work was "enticing," but such work "didn’t excite me the way teaching did."

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    This is a grade inflation era when most professors across the USA, trembling in fear of student evaluations that affect their tenure and performance evaluations, are good teachers with one flaw --- they've become easy graders and thus caused the grade inflation in virtually all colleges and universities ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor


    Each year I look up the four Professor of the Year winners on RateMyProfessors.com for insights into what makes them award-winning Professors of the Year in a national competition that has nothing to do with RateMyProfessors.com
    And yes I am aware of all the possibly misleading results on RateMyProfessor.com. Firstly the sample sizes are relatively small and respondents are self-selecting. But I study RMP a lot since it is entertaining and well as informative. What I find is that contrary to popular opinion great numbers of respondents praise rather than lambaste their teachers. I don't pay much attention to the rating numbers, but I do like to read the subjective comments of students. Often they are quite insightful about teaching.

    Virtually all the time these four award-winning professors also rate high on RateMyProfessors.com for outstanding reasons of caring for students, dedication to teaching, and teaching quality. But the sad news is that nearly always they also are rated as "Easy" teachers in terms of grading.

    A noteworthy exception is the 2015 Award Winning Professor El-Ashmawy cited above who is apparently a hard grader willing to take a hit on her teaching evaluations ---
    http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=225916

    Some of the 70 RMP respondents describe her as an incredible teacher. I suspect there would be many more who would have done so if her median grades were A- in every course.

    Professor El-Ashmawy should also receive the Courage of the Year Award if there was such an award. I am really, really glad that she received a coveted national 2015 Professors of the Year Award without selling her soul out to grade inflation pressures.

    Bravo!

    I might also note that she teaches online as well as onsite and must work night and day to perfect her craft.


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

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

    "Lower Education," by Michael Morris, Inside Higher Ed, September 9, 2011 --- Click Here
    http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/09/09/morris_essay_on_faculty_responsibility_for_decline_in_college_student_standards

    "When Students Rate Teachers, Standards Drop Why do colleges tie academic careers to winning the approval of teenagers? Something is seriously amiss," by Lyell Asher, The Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304176904579115971990673400?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

    "Why We Inflate Grades," by Peter Eubanks, Inside Higher Ed, August 9, 2011 ---
    http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/08/09/essay_on_why_faculty_members_participate_in_grade_inflation

    Grade distribution by course and section at UW-Madison (since 2004)---
    http://www.metafilter.com/110462/Grade-distribution-by-course-and-section-at-UWMadison

    The grade distribution for all courses at UW-Madison is available going back to the spring 2004 semester. Unlike studies of aggregate grades that document grade inflation with time, this site provides grade distributions for each individual course and section. The data clearly shows that students in STEM courses at Madison receive markedly lower grades than students in education courses. Cornell recently stopped posting similar data because it believes access to this information causes grade inflation because students select courses with higher medium grade averages. This recent article addresses the question of grade inflation more generally and the efforts at UNC to fight it. Meanwhile, this student editorial in the Bowdoin newspaper argues that faculty at selective schools must continue to inflate grades so that students can maintain a competitive advantage. Also, see this previous post.
    posted by Seymour Zamboni (91 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite

    "Most Frequently Awarded Grade at Harvard: A," Inside Higher Ed, December 4, 2013 ---
     http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/04/most-frequently-awarded-grade-harvard

    Mode = A
    Median = A-
    In the 1940s both the mode and the median grade was C (the historic average performance grade).

    Jensen Comment
    It would be sad if it was just the Ivy League that gave out such high median grades. But these days high grades are given out in virtually all USA colleges and universities ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor
    Look at the data tables and charts


    Diploma Mill Fraud

    EDMC is the nation's second-largest for-profit college system and the parent company of four higher education systems: Argosy University, The Art Institutes, Brown Mackie College, and South University. It was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2006, which retains 40% ownership in the company today.

    "College accused of being a 'high-pressure recruitment mill' agrees to a record $95.5 million settlement," by Abby Jackson, Business Insider, November 16, 2015 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/for-profit-college-edmc-settled-civil-lawsuit-for-955-million-2015-11

    Jensen Comment
    For-profit universities tend to have no admission standards.

    The good news is that any student who can pay the tuition has a chance, especially online alternatives for degrees.

    The bad news is that for-profit universities have had a race for the bottom in recruiting students who have little aptitude for higher education, little time to devote to learning (e.g. a parent with three pre-school toddlers), and an low prospects of ever completing a program.

    The bad news with the political plans for free undergraduate education for every student in the USA is that the non-profit colleges and universities may commence a scramble for government-paid tuition is that hey may commence a race for the bottom in recruiting students who have little aptitude for higher education, little time to devote to learning (e.g. a parent with three pre-school toddlers), and an low prospects of ever completing a program.

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


    "Louisiana’s School Voucher Victory:  A sordid Justice Department lawsuit gets a judicial rebuke," The Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2015 ---
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/louisianas-school-voucher-victory-1448061539?mod=djemMER

    Bobby Jindal made a name for himself in the GOP by championing school choice. Upstaged by new candidates on the block, the Louisiana Governor this week dropped out of the Republican presidential race. But at least the education reformer can take heart that his private-school voucher legacy has finally been protected.

    Last week a 2-1 majority of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court ruling that granted the Justice Department pre-clearance review of Louisiana vouchers. The “burdensome, costly, and endless” process imposed “a vast and intrusive reporting regime on the State without any finding of unconstitutional conduct,” wrote appellate Judge Edith Jones for the majority.

    The rebuke punctuates a sordid, two-year case in which the Obama Administration sought to deny poor, black kids better educational opportunities under the pretext of promoting integration. In August 2013 Justice sued to block Louisiana’s vouchers, which the Administration claimed appeared “to impede the desegregation progress” of public schools under federal desegregation orders dating to the 1960s and ’70s.

    Only students who come from families below 250% of the poverty and attend schools with a C or lower grade are eligible for the vouchers. In 2013 black students received 85% of 6,800 vouchers awarded. But Justice complained that black voucher recipients might leave their failing public schools more white.

    According to a study by Boston University political scientist Christine Rossell—who has analyzed desegregation plans for more than 25 years—Louisiana vouchers “had no negative effect on school desegregation in the 34 school districts under a desegregation court order.” Justice produced no evidence to the contrary.

    Switching tactics, Justice in November 2013 asked the court to allow federal oversight of Louisiana’s vouchers under a 1975 desegregation order that banned public funding of discriminatory private schools. Justice demanded that the state, prior to issuing vouchers, hand over racial data for each public school as well as applicants’ names, addresses, race, previous public school and private school preference.

    In April 2014, federal Judge Ivan Lemelle imposed a tortuous federal pre-clearance review that allowed Justice to veto voucher awards. Parents of voucher recipients and the Louisiana Black Alliance for Educational Options petitioned to intervene in the case. They argued that the feds didn’t have jurisdiction over a private school voucher program.

    The Fifth Circuit agreed. As Judge Jones explains, Justice can’t compel disclosure of state records without alleging illegal public aid of discriminatory private schools, which it didn’t. “DOJ admits that [its] position amounts to a fishing expedition,” writes Judge Jones, and an “attempt—through pre-award ‘back and forth’ with the state on every single voucher—to regulate the program without any legal judgment against the state.” Justice’s argument “represents more than ineffective lawyering.”

    The Administration’s dubious prosecution of vouchers in Louisiana reflects its willingness to throw poor kids under the bus to curry favor with the teachers’ unions. Unlike President Obama, Mr. Jindal will leave office on the right side of history.


    Question
    Why did we love Goofy more than Mickey?

    George Lucas Says Jar Jar Binks Was Based on Goofy, Ahyuck ---
    http://time.com/4119022/george-lucas-revealed-favorite-star-wars-character-jar-jar-binks/?xid=newsletter-brief


    "Business or pleasure? Course and scope of employment while on a business trip," by Sua Sponte, A Dallas Appellate Blog,  November 5, 2015 ---
    http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=434a9d29-9e57-4e1d-b32d-16d0e1fc30f9
    Thank you Scott Bonacker for the heads up.

    Jensen Comment
    This is an interesting case that makes what seems to be a sensible extrapolation of the contractual terms of the insurance contract. It would have been better, however, to have this circumstance and other circumstances spelled out more explicitly in the contract, but when it comes to writing contracts it's usually impossible to spell out all possible circumstances.

    Does this particular insurance contract in effect force the out-of-town employee to sacrifice most normal pleasures of leisure time relative to pleasures enjoyed when at home? For example, must the employee stay in the hotel room during all leisure time while on a business trip? If he's shot as an innocent bystander in a hold up while having a cocktail in the hotel's bar should he be denied coverage?

    If the employer sends an employee to a high risk location, such as a border town in Israel, and the employee is murdered coming home in the evening from a synagogue should he be denied coverage since he left his hotel for personal reasons? Remember that where his employer sent him greatly increased his personal risk in going to and from a place of worship relative his home synagogue in Bethlehem, New Hampshire.

    It may well be that an suitable insurance contract in such circumstances has to 12,437 pages long in small fonts.


    "Woman claims right to reside in pricey Piper Glen home," by Michael Gordon, Charlotte Observer, November 12, 2015 ---
    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article44522178.html

    Moorish Nation, whose members make it their business to assume ownership of vacant luxury homes without paying a dime, appears to have established an outpost in one of Charlotte’s finest neighborhoods.

    Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article44522178.html#storylink=cpy

    Bikers Bring Justice in Lieu of Helpless Police
    "Squatters Trash Home of Deployed Soldier, so Bikers Show Up & Bring KARMA," buzpo.com, November 12, 2015 ---
    http://buzzpo.com/squatters-trash-home-of-deployed-soldier-so-bikers-show-up-bring-karma/?utm_content=buffer302ab&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=positivelyrepublican

    Army Spc. Michael Sharkey was stationed in Hawaii when he learned that a pair of ex-cons had broken into his New Port Richey, Florida, home and claimed it as their own.

    By the time Sharkey was able to return home, Julio Ortiz and Fatima Cardosa had already changed all of the locks and established residency with his address.

    “They are criminals,” the soldier told local news affiliate WFLA. “I am serving my country, and they have more rights to my home than I do.”

    Legally, there was nothing Skarkey could do.

    But bikers don’t always care as much about the law as they do vigilante justice.

    When police claimed they could not kick Ortiz and Cardosa out because they had established residency, a local biker gang of military veterans stepped in to “peacefully make the squatters uncomfortable.”

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    Maybe we need more bikers. In some cases the owners across the USA are simply on vacation when their houses are taken over by thugs. Occupiers are encouraged by promises that if they remain nonviolent and eventually go to prison they will quickly be released. Meanwhile for months they've enjoyed luxury housing and other people's personal belongings for free.


    Distracted, misbehaving children (including college students) aren’t learning ---
    Eva Moskowitz --- http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-students-need-to-sit-up-and-pay-attention-1447373122?mod=djemMER 

    "University of Minnesota Rejects 9/11 Remembrance Because it Might Incite Racism," by Christine Rousselle, Townhall, November 12, 2015
    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2015/11/12/university-of-minnesota-rejects-911-remembrance-because-it-might-incite-racism-n2079788?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=

    Here's another instance of political correctness on a college campus going a smidge too far, courtesy of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: A proposed resolution to recognize the 9/11 terrorist attacks on campus each year was rejected by the Minnesota Student Association as it may potentially violate a "safe space" on campus.

    Continued in article

    "The right to fright;  An obsession with safe spaces is not just bad for education: it also diminishes worthwhile campus protests," The Economist, November 14, 2015 ---
    http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21678223-obsession-safe-spaces-not-just-bad-education-it-also-diminishes-worthwhile-campus?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/20151112n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/NA/n

    . . .

    Like many bad ideas, the notion of safe spaces at universities has its roots in a good one. Gay people once used the term to refer to bars and clubs where they could gather without fear, at a time when many states still had laws against sodomy.

    In the worst cases, though, an idea that began by denoting a place where people could assemble without being prosecuted has been reinvented by students to serve as a justification for shutting out ideas. At Colorado College, safety has been invoked by a student group to prevent the screening of a film celebrating the Stonewall riots which downplays the role of minorities in the gay-rights movement. The same reasoning has led some students to request warnings before colleges expose them to literature that deals with racism and violence. People as different as Condoleezza Rice, a former secretary of state, and Bill Maher, a satirist, have been dissuaded from giving speeches on campuses, sometimes on grounds of safety.

    What makes this so objectionable is that there are plenty of things on American campuses that really do warrant censure from the university. Administrators at the University of Oklahoma managed not to notice that one of its fraternities, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, had cheerily sung a song about hanging black people from a tree for years, until a video of them doing so appeared on the internet. At the University of Missouri, whose president resigned on November 9th, administrators did a poor job of responding to complaints of unacceptable behaviour on campus—which included the scattering of balls of cotton about the place, as a put-down to black students, and the smearing of faeces in the shape of a swastika in a bathroom.

    Distinguishing between this sort of thing and obnoxious Halloween costumes ought not to be a difficult task. But by equating smaller ills with bigger ones, students and universities have made it harder, and diminished worthwhile protests in the process. The University of Missouri episode shows how damaging this confusion can be: some activists tried to prevent the college’s own newspaper from covering their demonstration, claiming that to do so would have endangered their safe space, thereby rendering a reasonable protest absurd.

    Fifty years ago student radicals agitated for academic freedom and the right to engage in political activities on campus. Now some of their successors are campaigning for censorship and increased policing by universities of student activities. The supporters of these ideas on campus are usually described as radicals. They are, in fact, the opposite.

    Jensen Comment
    And that is an illustration of how campus leaders are becoming gutless in protecting free speech that is not politically correct. The worst thing is the power that a single crazy has in turning the campus upside down. Students gather for protests when a crazy, possibly not even a student, throws a noose the the lawn or a redneck pickup drives through campus late at night showing a Confederate Flag. The football coach, following a secret ballot vote among players, who can and cannot be the next politically correct President of the University of Missouri.


    "Enter the Real Power of College Sports," by Thabiti Lewis, The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 11, 2015 ---

    These courageous young athletes deserve applause for taking an enormous chance. Like the Northwestern University football team, which demanded to be unionized, the Missouri players are using their power as college athletes to bring attention to injustice in the world.

    Perhaps the Missouri basketball team will apply pressure to help get the list of demands met. Or maybe during the college-football playoff or bowl games, or the NCAA basketball tournament in March, players from other teams will protest by sitting on the bench or refusing to play.

    The NCAA’s president, Mark Emmert, likes to remind us that these players are "student-athletes" and therefore undeserving of pay Maybe athletes in football and basketball will decide to leverage the moment for a bigger piece of the financial pie. Perhaps Clemson University’s football players will follow Missouri’s lead and strike to get their president, Jim Clements, to respond to the list of grievances that a student group, the Coalition of Concerned Students, gave him in January to deal with a pattern of social injustice.

    Regardless of what happens next, my hope is that this is only the beginning. For now, the Missouri players have shown us the power of sport in American culture. Their stand reminds us of what we learned during the Montgomery bus boycott: Those who control systems of power have a different meter of morality when it comes to money than when it comes to people.


    The average federal employee earned $84,153 in 2014—roughly 50% more than the average worker in the private economy

    How to Mislead With Statistics
    From a Wall Street Journal newsletter on November 20, 2015

    Mac Zimmerman cites a Cato Institute report showing that “the average federal employee earned $84,153 in 2014—roughly 50% more than the average worker in the private economy. When you include benefits like health care and pensions nearly 80% higher than everyone else.

    The Editorial --- http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-sweet-gig-of-being-a-bureaucrat-1447978181?mod=djemMER&alg=y

    Jensen Comment
    Comparisons like this should contrast differences in public sector versus private sector distributions of income. Relative to the public sector the private sector has a much larger standard deviation in a distribution that is not at all normal (think of the millions of minimum wage workers in contrast to a much smaller number of overpaid corporate executives). The public sector nearly always pays more than minimum wage but even the USA President Obama's salary is paltry compared to the highly paid corporate CEOs with all sorts of side deals like bonus plans and stock options.

    In comparison to the public sector, many private sector employees are on potentially lucrative pay-for-performance plans such as performance commissions and bonuses.  And there are usually more overtime opportunities in the public sector.

    Anecdotally, most graduates from accounting masters degree programs are seeking to pass the CPA examination and make a career in the private sector. There must be a reason. A few might seek to become glamorous pistol-packing FBI agents but most of the relatively small number of graduates looking for public sector jobs (like joining the IRS as a staff accountant) do so because they were passed over by the private sector.  Many of those in the public sector like those who become IRS agents are seeking opportunities to break into higher paying jobs in the private sector.

    A huge lure of the private sector is the possibility (however remote) of rising to compensation levels well above opportunities for above-average compensation in the public sector.


    Major IRS Policy Change
    "Tax ID theft victims may obtain copies of fraudulent returns," by Paul Bonner, Journal of Accountancy, November 12, 2015 --- 
    http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2015/nov/tax-id-theft-victims-may-obtain-bogus-returns-201513385.html#sthash.Sp4xnRjI.dpuf

    The IRS posted instructions on its website for taxpayers or their CPA or other authorized representative to obtain copies of returns filed by thieves using the taxpayers’ stolen identification. The new procedures represent a change of policy for the Service, which previously had refused to release fraudulent returns due to privacy concerns. Acknowledging that taxpayers victimized by stolen identification tax refund fraud may have a compelling concern to determine just what information about them was stolen and how it was used, the IRS said it will provide copies of fraudulent returns for the current tax year and up to six previous tax years. However, requests for the returns must meet strict requirements, and certain information will be redacted from the copies provided. Also, the IRS must have resolved the underlying identity theft case before it will provide a copy of any affected return. For now, only individual returns in the 1040 series may be requested. -

    See more at:
    http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2015/nov/tax-id-theft-victims-may-obtain-bogus-returns-201513385.html#sthash.Sp4xnRjI.dpuf

    Instructions ---
    https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Instructions-for-Requesting-Copy-of-Fraudulent-Returns


    "The Amazing Science Behind Pets That Find Their Way Home," by Jeffrey Kluger, Time Magazine, November 9, 2015 ---
    http://time.com/4104980/animal-navigation-pets/?xid=newsletter-brief

    . . .

    Mammals—and particularly two of the species of mammals that humans love best: dogs and cats—have a range of ways to get around. Dogs, no surprise, are very big on scent, and that can take them a very long way.

    “An eleven-mile distance is actually not terribly long for a dog,” says Bonnie Beaver, the executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and a professor at Texas A&M University. “If the dog had walked both from and back to his home he’d be following his own scent trail.” In this case, the dog was instead probably following an equally compelling smell: that of its owner, a type of navigation that is entirely possible over long distances as long as the wind is right.

    Dogs extend their scent range by moving among overlapping circles of familiar scents—much the way cell phone coverage relies on interconnected footprints from different cell towers. A dog that wanders out of its own immediate range might pick up the scent of, say, a familiar dog in the next circle. That might point it to a circle that contains a familiar person or tree or restaurant trash can, and so on.

    Cats, like other animals, might rely more on magnetic fields—a faculty that could turn out to be quite common in mammals. “There are some studies that show that the ears of most mammals contain iron,” Beaver says. “That may cue them into the magnetic direction in the ground. There’s work showing that cattle, deer and voles tend to orient in a north-south direction.”

    The overall temperament of an animal—or, more broadly, of the species—can play a role in navigation too. A dog that travels a great distance to get home is likely trying to return to its owner, since the dog-human bond is a powerful one. A cat that travels the same distance is—sorry cat owners—probably just tying to return to its territory.

    No matter how well animals navigate, scientists caution against an observation bias that may make them seem better than they are. A dog or cat that finds its way halfway across the state makes news; the uncounted others that stay lost do not. What’s more, some cases of remarkable returns may turn out to be matters of mistaken identity, unless there’s a positive way to identify an animal like an implanted microchip that some owners use along with a collar.

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    When I lived on an acreage north of Tallahassee I had two horses for my children who rarely rode them. But I rode them regularly on a complex set of trails in the 100,000 acres if forest across the road that extended all the way into Georgia. I marked a maze of trails so I could find my way home, but I doubt that my horses could comprehend my markings on the trees. And yet from deep in the woods each horse could inevitably find it's way back home without my guidance.

    When I was a kid in Iowa we had several teams of draft horses. It was slow and boring to take a grain wagon all the way into town (usually Ringsted) behind plodding horses. However, once the grain was unloaded in town we could tie the reins to the wagon, slap the horses on the butt, and let them take the empty wagon back to the farm. It was usually fun to wait around town until I could hitch a ride in a car headed somewhere near the farm ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/max01.htm




    From the Scout Report on November 20, 2015

    Momentum: Personal Dashboard --- https://momentumdash.com/ 

    Momentum, a free Chrome browser extension, wins excellent reviews on several counts. First, it is simply nice to look at. Once downloaded, a personalized dashboard will open every time you use Chrome to check your email or read the news, featuring a beautiful landscape image from Iceland, Spain, or some other locale. Reviewers also like the inspirational quotes ("What is your main focus today?" or "Be awesome.") that greet users. Finally, the easy-to-use to-do list that automatically appears on the screen helps keep users on track and doing what they most want to be doing with their computer time.  


    NeedToMeet --- http://www.needtomeet.com/ 

    Scheduling meetings - whether for work, for volunteer activities, for sports, or for just about any other occasion - can be laughably difficult in today's hyper busy world. That's where NeedToMeet, a handy online app, comes in. Using the calendar is easy. Simply enter your available times and then share the invite with guests who may then mark the times they, too, are available. A single glance shows you when everyone is available so you can easily schedule the meeting, avoiding the incessant loops of emailing back and forth.


    The Coca-Cola Bottle Turns 100
    See the Original Coke Bottle Patent Granted 100 Years Ago
    http://time.com/4105134/coke-bottle/

    The Classic Coca-Cola Bottle Turns 100 Today
    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/classic-coca-cola-bottle-turns-100-today-180957291/?no-ist

    Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda
    http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/why-we-took-cocaine-out-of-soda/272694/

    Watch 128 Years of Coca-Cola's History in 2 Minutes
    http://www.fastcompany.com/3035762/watch-128-years-of-coca-colas-history-in-2-minutes

    The Coca Cola Bottle
    http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/The-Coca-Cola-Bottle.aspx

    Soda & Mineral Water Bottles
    http://www.sha.org/bottle/soda.htm
     

     




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


    Education Tutorials

    Resources Toolkit for New Teachers --- http://www.edutopia.org/article/new-teacher-resources-toolkit

    Discovery Education: Introduction to Bacteria --- http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/introduction-to-bacteria.cfm

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

    Philadelphia Museum of Art: Teacher Resources http://www.philamuseum.org/teacherresources

    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

    PhilSci-Archive (philosophy of science history) ---  http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/

    Michio Kaku & Brian Green Explain String Theory in a Nutshell: Elegant Explanations of an Elegant Theory  ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/michio-kaku-brian-green-explain-string-theory-in-nutshell.html
    Note that there are two videos that are more of an introduction to string theory than an explanation of it that us novices probably would not understand anyway.

    Discovery Education: Introduction to Bacteria --- http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/introduction-to-bacteria.cfm

    Galaxies:  The Glory of Spirals ---
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/11/19/galaxies_two_photos_of_nearby_spirals.html

    Scientists observe the birth of a baby planet for the first time ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-observe-the-birth-of-a-baby-planet-for-the-first-time-2015-11

    Architecture:  Check out 22 Bishopsgate — a new London skyscraper that wants to be 'the City’s first vertical village' ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/londons-new-skyscraper-22-bishopsgate-2015-11?r=UK&IR=T

    Mars Science Laboratory --- http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/

    The Mars Society --- http://www.marssociety.org

    STEM Lesson Plans: Mars Education --- https://marsed.mars.asu.edu/stem-lesson-plans

    NOVA: Can We Make It to Mars? --- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/can-we-make-it-to-mars.html

    ChemCam on Mar ---s http://www.msl-chemcam.com/

    Seven Minutes of Terror: The Challenges of Getting to Mars --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s

    Open Culture: Aelita: Queen of Mars --- http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/watch-the-first-russian-science-fiction-film-aelita-queen-of-mars-1924.html

    Science Fiction Encyclopedia: Mars --- http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mars

    Histropedia: Mars in Fiction --- http://histropedia.com/timeline/jjqqtpg9bg0t/Mars-in-fiction

    100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books set on or about Mars --- http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/302.100_Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy_Books_set_on_or_about_Mars

    NPR: How 'The Martian' Became A Science Love Story --- http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2015/09/30/444446982/how-the-martian-became-a-science-love-story

    Radio Station's 'Attack By Mars' Panics Thousands --- https://archive.org/details/1938-10-31_Attack_By_Mars_Panics_Thousands

    Gods, Heroes, and Monsters Curriculum http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/mythology/index.html

    Mars: Adrift on the Hourglass Sea --- http://www.thehourglasssea.com

    UCI Exploring the Cosmos: Lecture 19: The Martian Canals Controversy http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/ExploringtheCosmos/lecture19.html

    The Poetry Foundation: Tracy K. Smith --- http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/tracy-k-smith#poet

    Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine 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


    Social Science and Economics Tutorials

    The 13 women who transformed the world of economics ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/women-who-transformed-the-world-of-economics-2015-11?r=UK&IR=T

    Video:  The Psych Show --- https://www.youtube.com/user/thepsychshowdotcom

    United Nations Environment Programme --- http://www.unep.org

    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

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


    Math Tutorials

    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

    An Interactive Timeline Covering 14 Billion Years of History: From The Big Bang to 2015 ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/an-interactive-timeline-covering-14-billion-years-of-history-from-the-big-bang-to-2015.html

    The 13 women who transformed the world of economics ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/women-who-transformed-the-world-of-economics-2015-11?r=UK&IR=T

    PhilSci-Archive (philosophy of science history) ---  http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/

    Philadelphia Museum of Art: Teacher Resources http://www.philamuseum.org/teacherresources

    The Poetry Foundation: Tracy K. Smith --- http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/tracy-k-smith#poet

    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  

    Beautiful, Color Photographs of Paris Taken 100 Years Ago—at the Beginning of World War I & the End of La Belle Époque ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2015/11/beautiful-color-photographs-of-paris-taken-100-years-ago.html

    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

    The Aaron Copland Centennial: NPR Archives --- http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/copland/archives.html

    From the Top (Classical Musicians) --- http://www.fromthetop.org/

    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

    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/

    November 13, 2015

    November 14, 2015

    November 16, 2015

    November 17, 2015

    November 19, 2015

    November 23, 2015

     


    Video:  The Psych Show --- https://www.youtube.com/user/thepsychshowdotcom


    Time: Health Blog --- http://time.com/health/


    While we're waiting for World War III here are some things that might give you comfort ---
    Nine at-home remedies that actually work ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/at-home-remedies-that-actually-work-2015-11

     

     


    Humor November 13-23, 2015

    From the Harvard Business Review
    Strategic Humor: Cartoons from the December 2015 Issue ---
    https://hbr.org/2015/11/strategic-humor-cartoons-from-the-december-2015-issue
     

    The 10 funniest 'Dilbert' comic strips about idiot bosses ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/dilbert-comics-on-bosses-2015-10

    'Calvin and Hobbes' just turned 30 — here's the history of the strip and its mysterious creator Bill Watterson ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/calvin-and-hobbes-just-turned-30-heres-the-history-of-the-strip-and-its-mysterious-creator-bill-watterson-2015-11

    "Stealing is punishable by the law," the sign reads. "If you are caught stealing the bathroom tissue from dispenser, you will be barred permanently from all New York Public Libraries."
    http://lisnews.org/attention_library_toilet_paper_thieves_youve_been_warned
    Unless you're visiting from Venezuela --- then God Bless You!
    Jensen's Advice --- Bring your own from the hotel

    21 Badly Placed Advertisements ---
    http://www.lifedaily.com/21-badly-placed-adverts-guaranteed-to-make-you-chuckle/#utm_medium=referral&utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=YH-BadAdvert


    A computer made up stories about these 13 photos and the results are hilarious ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/robot-wrote-hilarious-love-stories-about-internet-images-2015-11
    I don't think this writer is ready for the big time.


    Forwarded by Paula

    The Irish Furniture Dealer

    Murphy, a furniture dealer from Dublin, decided to expand the line of furniture in his store, so he decided to go to Paris to see what he could find.

    After arriving in the ‘City of Lights’, he visited with some manufacturers and selected a line that he thought would sell well back home.

    To celebrate the new acquisition, he decided to visit a small bistro and have himself a nice glass of wine. As he sat enjoying his drink, he noticed that the small place was actually quite crowded and that the other chair at his table was the only vacant seat in the house.

    Before long a very attractive young Parisienne walked up to his table and asked him something in French. Murphy did not understand a word, but anyway pointed to the vacant chair and invited her to sit down. He tried to communicate with her in English, but she did not speak his language. After a couple of hapless minutes, he took a napkin and drew a picture of a wine glass and showed it to her. She nodded, so he ordered some wine for her. After sitting together at the table for a while, he took another napkin, and drew a picture of a plate with food on it and she nodded once again.

    They left the bistro and found a quiet cafe that featured a trio playing romantic music. They ordered dinner, after which he took another napkin and drew a picture of a couple dancing. She nodded, and they got up to dance They danced until the cafe closed and the band was packing up.

    Back at their table, the woman, with a sensual smile on her lips took a napkin and drew a picture of a four-poster bed. To this day, Murphy has no idea how she figured out he was in the furniture business.

     




    Humor October 1-31,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q4.htm#Humor103115

    Humor September 1-30,  2015 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor093015

    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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials

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

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

     

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

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

     

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

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

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

    I found another listserve that is exceptional -

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

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

    Scott

    Scott forwarded the following message from Jim Counts

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

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

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

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

    Please encourage your members to join our listserve.

    If any questions let me know.

    Jim Counts CPA.CITP CTFA
    Hemet, CA
    Moderator TaxTalk
     

     

     

     

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

     

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

    Some Accounting History Sites

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

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