Tidbits on December 13, 2018
Bob Jensen
at Trinity University
Pictures
of Our Heavy and Early Winter in 2018
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Snow/Set12/SnowSet12.htm
Tidbits on December 13, 2018
Scroll Down This Page
Bob Jensen's Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For
earlier editions of Fraud Updates go to
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Bookmarks for the World's Library ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations
Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/
More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and
Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
Updates from WebMD --- Click Here
Google Scholar --- https://scholar.google.com/
Wikipedia --- https://www.wikipedia.org/
Bob Jensen's search helpers --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm
Bob Jensen's World Library --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm
USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl
Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
Videos: Ethics Unwrapped --- https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/
Video: How Singapore solved garbage disposal ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/singapore-waste-energy-garbage-landfill-space-2018-11
Why Should We Read Kurt Vonnegut? An Animated Video Makes the Case ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/why-should-we-read-kurt-vonnegut.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
The Inn on Sunset Hill (just down from our cottage) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s
Free music downloads ---
http://faculty.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://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm
Photographs and Art
See the Complete Works of Vermeer in Augmented Reality: Google
Makes Them Available on Your Smartphone ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/see-the-complete-works-of-vermeer-in-augmented-reality.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Baby Elephant Orphanage in Kenya ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/baby-elephant-orphanage-in-kenya-photo-tour-2017-12#upon-first-sight-of-the-elephants-a-sea-of-cheers-sprang-from-the-crowd-everyone-lifted-their-phones-and-cameras-in-anticipation-4
These 17 photos show Finland's brutally cold World War II battle
with the Soviet Union ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/ussr-russia-finald-wwii-winter-war-photos-2017-3
Here's how the US pulled off a daring mission to take out the
mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/operation-vengeance-us-kills-pearl-harbor-planner-isoroku-yamamoto-2018-12
These are the most incredible photos of the US Marines in 2018
---
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-incredible-photos-us-marines-in-2018
The life and legacy of former President George H.W. Bush in
photos ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/george-hw-bush-life-and-legacy-pictures-president-2018-12
Bob Jensen's threads on art history ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#ArtHistory
Drone Photography ---
https://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2018/11/framing-nature.html
Celebrities, billionaires, and royalty flock to St. Moritz every
winter to hit the slopes and vacation in style ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/st-moritz-secret-gem-ski-resort-luxury-swiss-alps-photos-2018-11#in-1928-it-hosted-the-first-official-winter-olympics-and-again-in-1948-women-dressed-in-silk-sequins-and-fur-men-dressed-in-three-piece-suits-according-to-vogue-the-event-secured-its-status-as-a-luxury-winter-tourism-destination-3
Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on libraries --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---Libraries
George Sand’s Only Children’s Book: A Touching Parable of Choosing Kindness
and Generosity Over Cynicism and Greed, with Stunning Illustrations by Russian
Artist Gennady Spirin ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/11/27/george-sand-the-mysterious-tale-of-gentle-jack-and-lord-bumblebee/?mc_cid=5ae12f20d0&mc_eid=4d2bd13843
Against Common Sense: Vladimir Nabokov on the Wellspring of Wonder and Why
the Belief in Goodness Is a Moral Obligation ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/12/02/vladimir-nabokov-the-art-of-literature-and-commonsense/?mc_cid=c2a4a06bea&mc_eid=4d2bd13843
Why Should We Read Kurt Vonnegut? An Animated Video
Makes the Case ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/why-should-we-read-kurt-vonnegut.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fe
Free Electronic Literature ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Now in
Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on December 13, 2018
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2018/TidbitsQuotations121318.htm
USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl
To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the booked
obligation of $19+ trillion) ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2016/05/25/spring-2016-to-whom-does-the-us-government-owe-money-n2168161?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
The US Debt Clock in Real Time ---
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Remember the Jane Fonda Movie called "Rollover" ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film)
To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the
unbooked obligation of $100 trillion and unknown more in contracted
entitlements) ---
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/15/news/economy/entitlement-benefits/
The biggest worry of the entitlements obligations is enormous obligation for the
future under the Medicare and Medicaid programs that are now deemed totally
unsustainable ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm
Entitlements are two-thirds of the federal budget.
Entitlement spending has grown 100-fold over the past 50 years. Half of all
American households now rely on government handouts. When we hear statistics
like that, most of us shake our heads and mutter some sort of expletive. That’s
because nobody thinks they’re the problem. Nobody ever wants to think they’re
the problem. But that’s not the truth. The truth is, as long as we continue to
think of the rising entitlement culture in America as someone else’s problem,
someone else’s fault, we’ll never truly understand it and we’ll have absolutely
zero chance...
Steve Tobak ---
http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/02/07/truth-behind-our-entitlement-culture/?intcmp=sem_outloud
"These Slides Show Why We Have Such A Huge Budget Deficit And Why Taxes
Need To Go Up," by Rob Wile, Business Insider, April 27, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-presentation-on-the-federal-budget-2013-4
This is a slide show based on a presentation by a Harvard Economics Professor.
Peter G. Peterson Website on Deficit/Debt Solutions ---
http://www.pgpf.org/
Bob Jensen's threads on entitlements --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm
Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
Are numbers of doctorates awarded finally starting to reflect the poor
academic job market? New data show decline in nonscience and engineering
degrees. Women continue to make gains ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/12/10/are-numbers-doctorates-awarded-finally-starting-reflect-poor-academic-job-market?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c9b1789c5e-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c9b1789c5e-197565045&mc_cid=c9b1789c5e&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Jensen Comment
I don't have the latest numbers for accountancy Ph.D. degrees awarded, but the
low of 106 graduates in 2003 seems to be that --- a low point. Since them the
numbers have been slowly rising toward 200 but are still well below the 1980s
when big mills like Texas, Michigan, and Illinois were still pumping out
accounting doctorates at much higher numbers than at the beginning of the 21st
Century when all established accountancy doctoral programs had dropped output
and some new programs commenced that did not come close to making up the
difference ---
http://www.jrhasselback.com/AtgDoct/XDocChrt.pdf
Accounting programs are reacting very slowly to what has been and still is an
outstanding Ph.D. academic job market. The decline in accounting Ph.D. graduates
between the 1980s and the 21st Century is not
due to shrinking demand and salaries. Personally I think the decline is
mostly due to taking accounting out of accounting doctoral programs and
replacing it with mostly mathematics and econometrics at levels that do not
appeal to practicing accountants thinking about career changes into academia ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
There's a marked increase in foreign applicants, especially mathematics wizards
from Asia.
Medicare for All: Administrative Costs Are Much Higher than You Think ---
https://mises.org/wire/medicare-all-administrative-costs-are-much-higher-you-think?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=8a83a2b8d3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-8a83a2b8d3-228708937
How to Mislead With Statistics
Left-Leaning VOX: The $21 trillion Pentagon accounting error that can’t pay
for Medicare-for-all, explained ---
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/3/18122947/pentagon-accounting-error-medicare-for-all
The US military budget is such a bloated monstrosity that it contains accounting errors that could finance two-thirds of the cost of a government-run single-payer health insurance system. All Americans could visit an unlimited array of doctors at no out of pocket cost. At least that’s a notion spreading on left-wing Twitter and endorsed and amplified by newly elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of Democrats’ biggest 2018 sensations and an undeniable master at the fine art of staying in the public eye.
Unfortunately, it’s not true.
The idea spread like a game of telephone from a Nation article to the US Congress while losing a crucial point of detail: The Pentagon’s accounting errors are genuinely enormous, but they’re also just accounting errors — they don’t represent actual money that can be spent on something else.
Proponents of this vision have the political wind at their backs and continue to deploy the idea effectively to win intra-party arguments without really making any headway on the core obstacles to writing a Medicare-for-all bill that could become law. That said, to the extent that political power rather than concrete legislation is the goal, that’s probably for the best.
Misunderstandings fly around on Twitter all the time, and AOC’s level of policy knowledge is pretty typical for a member of Congress. But this particular flub is telling about progressive frustration over the double standard on military versus non-military spending, and also the fraught state of play regarding the push for a Medicare-for-all program.
The Pentagon’s mystery $21 trillion, explained
The underlying article by Dave Lindorff in the Nation that kicked this off is an investigative report into the Defense Department’s accounting practices. Lindorff reveals that Pentagon accounting is quite weak, that the department keeps flunking outside audits, that funds are shifted between accounts without proper oversight, and that overall documentation of what’s actually happening with the Pentagon’s vast budget is extremely poor.
Lindorff goes beyond these observations to allege that what’s happening amounts to deliberate fraud, the purpose of which is to persuade Congress to increase appropriations levels beyond what would otherwise be approved.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
We really cannot compare proposed Medicare-for-All plan without more specific
definitions of "Medicare-for-All" and the "cared for population." For example,
Medicare currently does not pay for the enormous cost of long-term nursing care.
Medicare only pays 80% of most of the things it does cover like hospital and
doctor care.
Also Medicare has built up trust funds over the 50 years using payroll deductions from individuals and employers. The trust funds are not sustainable at predicted usage rates, but it's not like the existing Medicare program did not accumulate any finds for the elderly and disabled. A Medicare-for-All plan does not have 50 years of payroll deductions to help pay for an abrupt shock to the system.
Advocates of Medicare-for-All never mention that Medicare for all is mostly a private sector program where claims are serviced in the private sector along with private sector doctor, nursing, and medicine delivery of goods and services. Medicare is not like the U.K. system where most services are delivered by government employees.
The Nation's analysis of the Defense Department's expenses ignores the fact that even if we entirely eliminated the current Army, Navy, and Air Force the government's obligations to retired and disabled former military personnel would carry on for hundreds of billions of dollars into the indefinite future. And how long would the USA and its Medicare-for-All program survive without any Army, Navy, and Air Force?
The Nation's analysis is an example of totally irresponsible and misleading statistics.
WaPost fact-checker gives Ocasio-Cortez four Pinocchios for Pentagon claim
---
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/419730-wapost-fact-checker-gives-ocasio-cortez-four-pinocchios-for-pentagon-claim
How to Mislead With Statistics
NYT: What Straight-A Students Get Wrong ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/opinion/college-gpa-career-success.html
Jensen Comment
What this article fails to mention is that the University of Georgia or Ohio
State University might well trounce any of the Top 4 college playoff teams if
only Georgia or Ohio State had made it to the 2018 college playoffs ---
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/college-football-playoff-alabama-clemson-notre-dame-and-oklahoma-chosen-as-final-four-teams
My point here is that in Google, Apple, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, or Deloitte the fact that 4.0 gpa students don't on average have higher performance ratings that 3.7 gpa employees fails to overlook the fact that most graduates hired by are rarely anything but high gpa students relative to other graduates in their colleges' programs. There may be some adjustment such as when employers may except a slightly lower gpa applicant from a prestigious university that has the highest admission standards in the worlld.
My point is that to be a high performance winner you have to get in the game, and only the highest gpa students are likely to get in the game unless there is some mitigating circumstance such as having a perfect GRE score or being a 2.85 gpa biology major admitted to medical school because of a perfect MCAT score.
The problem for employers and graduate school admissions officers these days is grade inflation across the USA where nearly all applicants have close to a 4.0 gpa. This is why employers and recruiting officers look to other criteria such as excelling in extra-curricular activities and volunteer work such as teaching English or math in Africa for a couple of years.
Having said this I concede that in terms of job performance there are many criteria (and don't rule out luck) that frequently override gpa or test scores. There's anecdotal evidence that CPA Exam gold medal winners sometimes bomb out on the job (especially those with zero personalities). There anecdotal evidence that incoming applicants with perfect GMAT scores do worse that low GMAT performers with high grade averages.
The above NYT article makes some good points, but it fails if some students become less concerned with grades because they took the article to heart.
Luck, courage, and motivation may beat out grades and skill --- but only if you are in the game to have a chance at high performance.
Think of those glum Georgia and Ohio State varsity football players watching the 2018 college playoffs on television.
How to mislead with statistics
Jim Borden: America’s Biggest Fears – and Mine ---
https://www.jborden.com/americas-biggest-fears-and-mine/
Jensen Comment
This type of survey is misleading because it depends crucially upon
what questions are asked plus
how all questions are worded.
For example, there's a huge difference between the wording of "illegal immigration" versus "Open borders to all seeking to enter." The phrase "Illegal immigration" to most implies illegal immigration at rates experienced in the last decade or so. The phrase "Open borders to all seeking to enter" is an entirely different fear not mentioned in the survey, but it is a fear that Trump probably wins heaviest on these days. Trump is not building his political base on illegal immigration at present rates. He's building his base on fears of open borders, and Democrats are not helping by avoiding mentioning limits to welcomed immigration hordes.
There's a huge difference between the phrase "High medical bills" versus "Spending $4+ trillion per year on Medicare-for-All." For many spending $4+ trillion annually on most any single government program is the most scary thing they can imagine. Others cannot even comprehend the difference between $3 billion versus $3 trillion as long as fat cats pay the difference. At $4+ trillion per year all cats will starve.
I also question how the sampling population "Americans" was sampled. It's virtually impossible in research such as this to even reach tens of millions of Americans, and there are tens of millions more who will refuse to give out such information when contacted,
In other words, I contend that this study is more misleading than helpful --- mostly due to what questions are asked plus how all questions are worded
WaPost fact-checker gives Ocasio-Cortez four Pinocchios for Pentagon claim ---
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/419730-wapost-fact-checker-gives-ocasio-cortez-four-pinocchios-for-pentagon-claim
How to Mislead With Statistics
The Left Is Lying About Why Life Expectancy Is Declining ---
https://therevolutionaryact.com/left-lying-life-expectancy/
. . .
There isn’t a single piece of information produced by the CDC yesterday that would point to a deteriorating health care system or a poorly functioning one as the cause of the decrease in life expectancy.
In fact, the opposite may be true. For example, although the overall life expectancy dropped, the death rate amongst members of every age group except 25-44 year-olds and those over 84 years of age actually improved. Indeed, in those groups engaged in greater health care consumption and therefore more impacted by its quality (the 45-74 year olds) the mortality actually dropped.
And although one could correctly argue that 85 year-olds and older are also consumers of healthcare, the issues at play in this group are much more complicated and no conclusion could be gleamed from the data available. It was in those age groups that are not large consumers of health care where the mortality rate rose.
So, if it isn’t healthcare, what could be causing the death rates of 25-44 year-olds to rise so precipitously? The CDC, Dr. Raj, and even the Wall Street Journal answered this question: accidents and suicides made for a rising incidence of deaths, with smaller increases from pneumonia and influenza.
Indeed, for the two biggest killers and the two most directly affected by the quality of healthcare delivered — heart disease and cancer — the death rates diminished markedly. (See Tables below.)
Continued in article
How to Mislead With Statistics
Executive Compensation at Private and Public Colleges ---
https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/executive-compensation?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=5bf52aed6e6e43f78f975b824c5d8930&elq=4a87f4bce9a24f229f506e5715ca9eba&elqaid=21627&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=10447#id=table_private_2016
Jensen Comment
All or part of the compensation may be fixed for some college executives versus
being commission-based according to some performance metric such as a percentage
of endowment funds raised. Those million-dollar salaries seem less outrageous
when they are commission-based.
Some effort is made in the above data to adjust for varying perks that are part
of compensation (such as free cars and housing) but many perks are just too
complicated to value for the data. For example, some college executives benefit
more from hitching rides on private jets than others. The typical private jet
arrangement is to hitch a ride on a corporate jet where a corporate CEO is a
rich alumnus and may even be on the college's Board of Trustees. Occasional and
infrequent hitched rides may be entirely personal at no added cost to the
company such as when a college executive's family hitches a ride to London for a
vacation --- when the jet is going to London anyway on corporate business. Such
a perk is seldom made to available to most employees down the line but may be
made available to some top college executives.
It's sometimes hard to distinguish personal and professional perks. When I lived in San Antonio I was active in the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) and was even its President one year. One of my close FEI friends was the CFO of a well-known oil company. He occasionally invited me on a free jet ride, but this was an offer from a friend. I'm sure college executives get similar offers more because they are friends rather than because of their employment.
Do those free cars come with drivers at all times? Does that free mansion come complete with staff such as cooks and maids?
My point here is that perks are uniquely crafted such there may not be another college executive that has exactly the same perk package. There may be a driver or a house maid, but the executive may have partly pay those perks.
Some college executives need more expensive security packages at times when armed campus police must be nearby (even inside the house) or alongside on flights. When I was at Trinity University one of my daily coffee mates was a former Secret Service agent who had been assigned to Air Force One duty. Later in life while being Chief of security at Trinity University he still had a license to carry a side arm on any commercial airline flight. I don't think he ever had to accompany his campus bosses (Trinity is a relatively non-controversial campus) on any flight, but there are some college executives who at times need such security details on and off campus.
Of course there are a lot of fee receptions and dinners, but there are many times when the executives would rather be at home in the kitchen eating corn flakes.
How to mislead with statistics
Australia's horses and cows are killing more people than its snakes and spiders
https://www.businessinsider.com/australias-horses-and-cows-are-deadlier-than-its-snakes-and-spiders-2018-12
Jensen Comment
Big deal! Between 2008 and 2017, nine years, horses and cows killed 77 people in
Australia. Does that make them a serious death threat? In most instances the
cause of death is carelessness in handling the big animals.
Australia does have some of the most venomous snakes in the world. Apparently
they don't kill many people --- most likely because they seldom come in contact
with people ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venomous_snake
Spider bites are more apt to make you sick more than dead. In Australia the
poisonous spiders are limited to certain regions ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_bite#Australia
Like everybody else in the world, Australians should worry more about heart disease and cancer.
2,000 MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Getting Started in December 2018
---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/2000-moocs-massive-open-online-courses-getting-started-december-enroll-today.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
How MOOC Collaboration Could Aid On-Campus Teaching and Learning ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2018/12/05/how-mooc-collaboration-could-aid-campus-teaching-and-learning
Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Harvard University's Extension School will offer its first coding boot
camp in March 2019 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/12/07/harvard-offers-first-coding-boot-camp?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=8459ebc68b-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-8459ebc68b-197565045&mc_cid=8459ebc68b&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Yale to offer coding boot camp ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/12/10/yale-offer-coding-boot-camp?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c9b1789c5e-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c9b1789c5e-197565045&mc_cid=c9b1789c5e&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Bob Jensen's links to other coding boot camps ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#---ComputerNetworking-IncludingInternet
Earlier this year, I went through an academic
existential crisis in which I questioned whether the field of research I’m in
(personality psychology) is the right one for me.[1] So, I decided to lurk over
the proverbial edge of the plate and ended up attending the Summer School on
Socio-Economic Inequality in Bonn
Econ Envy
by Julia Roher
http://www.the100.ci/2018/12/04/econ-envy/
Jensen Comment
Perhaps Julia should think beyond economics and into accountancy (recalling that
new accounting tenure-track faculty are probably the highest-paid new faculty on
campus due to shortages of applicants) ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsWorkingPaper450.06.pdf
Potential Changes to UC’s Relationship with Elsevier in January 2019 ---
https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/news/potential-changes-to-ucs-relationship-with-elsevier-in-january-2019/
Bob Jensen's threads on how for-profit journal oligopoly publishers are
ripping off libraries ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#ScholarlyJournals
28 Must Have Gadgets That Are Selling Out This Holiday Season ---
http://weeklypenny.com/perfect-gift/index.php?aff=1561&sub=MFRB_Perfect_Gifts&xcode=c8629fba-de7a-45c3-a462-5b1cd159320b
Bob Jensen's threads on gadgets ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#Technology
The 17 Most Shocking Airline Stories of 2018 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-shocking-airline-stories-of-year-2018-12
The 40 Most Incredible Sports Plays of 2018 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/top-sports-plays-2018-2018-12
The award, which aims to “draw attention to poorly
written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern
fiction”, was presented in Frey’s absence by the singer Kim Wilde at London’s In
and Out club ---
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/03/james-frey-wins-bad-sex-in-fiction-award-for-dubious-katerina
NYT: Choosing the Right Health Savings Account ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/your-money/health-savings-account-hsa.html
NYT: Fixing Medicare
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/opinion/fixing-medicare.html
Medicare for All: Administrative Costs Are Much Higher than You Think ---
https://mises.org/wire/medicare-all-administrative-costs-are-much-higher-you-think?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=8a83a2b8d3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-8a83a2b8d3-228708937
Seven Books Recommended by Stanford University Business Professors ---
Click Here
Jensen Comment
They may surprise you like they surprised me, especially what can supposedly be
learned from the Grateful Dead
NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide to 2018's Great Reads ---
https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2018/
Jensen Comment
Among the various classifications you might particularly enjoy the "Seriously
Great Writing Classification" ---
https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2018/#/tag/seriously-great-writing
The biggest remaining hurdle to mass electric vehicle ownership.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/chevy-bolt-review-best-features-and-charging-challenges-2018-8#but-while-initiating-a-charge-is-simple-charging-an-electric-vehicle-takes-far-longer-than-filling-it-with-gas-does-24
Jensen Comment
It's not the limited range per se. It's the time it takes to recharge the
batteries. Hard-to-find professional charging stations for a Chevy Bolt only add
25 miles of range for each hour of charging. To get 200 miles of range you may
have to sit four hours twiddling your thumbs unless your work place has
professional charging stalls. On a family trip be be prepared to entertain bored
kids before trying to get another 200 miles. I don't know the efficiency of
older batteries. For example, does a Bolt with 75,000 miles have the same range
as a new Bolt with only 1,000 miles on the odometer?
Teslas are a tad better on charging times ---
https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-it-take-to-charge-a-Tesla
Each Tesla model takes a different amount of time to fully charge as they have a different range.
Model - Model S - 75
Range (max) - 265 mi
Wall Connector - 75 kWh - 07:41 hours
Wall Connector - 100 kWh - 5:06 hours
Supercharger Station - 1:03 hours
Model - Model S - 75D
Range (max) - 275 mi
Jensen Added Comment
In 2017 slightly less than 200,000 electric vehicles of all makes and models were sold in the USA, mostly to owners who also had at least one gasoline vehicle as well. At the same time 17.5 million road vehicles of all makes and models were sold. The EV market is still in its infancy but, like an infant, growing fast.
Workers who commute daily might consider owning one EV and then renting a gas guzzler for each long road trip.
Electric riding mowers save on gas and pollution, but they're only good for about one hour on mowing on a full charge ---
https://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/cubcadet/zero-turn-riding-mowers/rzt%E2%84%A2-s-zero/featuresI don't know of any electric farm tractors on the market that will replace diesel heavy-duty tractors.
Most buyers of electric trucks don't plan on taking them far away from town and are still experimenting (think FedEx).
Video: Why are college textbooks so expensive?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv-60ZA-PnM
Jensen Comment
If a publisher really wants an excellent textbook more should be spent on the
end-of-chapter questions and problems than on the chapter content. Add to
this the cost of providing a really high quality test bank for lazy teachers. Of
course those test bank materials must be modified by astute teachers who know
full well that students probably have access to and study from the test banks.
Thus good test banks become great pedagogy for
learning!
Tutorials: Google Web Fundamentals: Accessibility ---
https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/accessibility/
The 18 biggest tech scandals of 2018 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-tech-scandals-2018-11
Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Time studying is strongly correlated with grades earned, but the amount of
time that students spend studying has declined dramatically ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/11/the-disappointing-impact-of-encouraging-students-to-study-more.html
Jensen Comment
Disgraceful grade inflation is the main reason students spend less time
studying.
And teaching evaluations used for tenure and performance evaluations are the
main cause of grade inflation.
There I said it, and I'm sticking to my assertion.
Bob Jensen's threads on grade inflation and the disgraceful impact of
teaching evaluations ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor
Video: How Singapore solved garbage disposal ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/singapore-waste-energy-garbage-landfill-space-2018-11
USC Marshall School of Business Dispute
A dispute in USC’s Marshall School of Business is
shaping up to be a key test of a new approach to handling misconduct cases, and
it’s pitting top administrators against some of the university’s major donors.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/12/wealthy-usc-donors-revolt-after-interim-president-pushes-out-top-dean-over-handling-of-misconduct-ca.html
The Best Robotic Vacuum Cleaners For Every Budget ---
https://www.reviewgeek.com/10444/the-best-robotic-vacuum-cleaners-for-every-budget/
Jensen Comment
I'm still happy with my Electrolux Pure i9 that I paid around $950 for before it
was price reduced to $720 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/electrolux-pure-i9-robot-vacuum-review-2018-5
This is the Amazon site ---
https://www.amazon.com/Electrolux-Robotic-Vacuum-Shale-Satin/dp/B07CTJ4F1Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1544224075&sr=1-1&keywords=Electrolux+Pure+i9
Being Electrolux it has a powerful motor, and I really like the electric eye that keeps it from bumping to obstacles, stairs, and ledges where it might otherwise fall. It's relatively low to the ground and can get under some of our chairs and beds.
I do wish it had a larger dust bin. And mine is only good for about 30 minutes between chargings.
I do have trouble around some of our rugs that have very long fringes. It
often says the following:
"I'm hung up. Please give me a nudge."
I also wish it was a bit more predictable about its cleaning patterns. It would be nice to be able to set it to do half a room at a time.
Professors Share: The Moment That Changed the Way Others Teach ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Professors-Share-The-Moment/245266?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=6069b573e12c4f8d98ecbc92d399fa07&elq=2e361fd055864a039d8961ea78397180&elqaid=21591&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=10385
Cathy N. Davidson
Distinguished professor and founder and director, The Futures Initiative
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Like many college professors, I find the rhetoric of "outputs" and "outcomes" artificial, a fake metric that feeds the bureaucratic machine. Six or seven years ago, I mentioned this in one of my undergraduate classrooms at Duke University. I said something like: "You will not find any trite and clichéd ‘outcomes’ on my syllabus." One of my students responded, with sincerity, "Will I find serious and meaningful ones?" This was a brilliant student who asked with such earnestness that it made me question my assumptions. We ended up having a superb class discussion during which I realized that most students have no idea what they are supposed to be learning in a classroom beyond the "content" level, nor do they know why the content is valid in and of itself nor what use or application or purpose it will have beyond the final exam. I now frequently ask my students to collaboratively think about what outcomes they would like from a particular class and compose their own learning outcomes. Here are three of the best outcomes I’ve encountered (and they are anything but trivial and bureaucratic).
1. Learn to respect one’s intellectual life and education as a precious gift that no one can steal from you.
2. Become a lifelong advocate for public support of public higher education because you have witnessed the way it has changed your life.
3. Stay alert to surprise. Many times — in class and out — the best learning outcomes are the ones you never expected.
Bryan Dewsbury
Assistant professor, department of biology
University of Rhode Island
As a graduate student, green to the art of teaching, I was handed a lab syllabus and basically implored to use my gregariousness to do no harm. The students I taught, at Florida International University, were largely first-generation college and/or immigrant students. I struggled to connect with them about the social reasons that influenced their presence in the classroom, both in terms of career choices and the unique ways in which they navigated being a college student. My struggles made me realize that I didn’t know them as people, and my teaching in that form was the mere delivery of a syllabus full of content. I interviewed every student in the class, asking them the reason for their career pursuit, and in the process learned their personal stories and recognized how little I knew about their cultural backgrounds. I then embarked on a months-long reading journey that helped me better understand their cultural and immigration histories, many of which were formed in nearby communities. From that point, I was able to design a course that spoke to their lived experiences but also provided opportunities for them to exhibit agency and find their voices.
That has always been my first experience truly learning what it means to be inclusive of the student voice. Since then, I am humbled, even in my large classes, to find ways for students to continue to tell me their stories, and to design an educational experience that helps them, and me, become better versions of ourselves.
Rajiv Jhangiani
Psychology instructor and special adviser to the provost on open education
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (British Columbia)
It was my very first semester of undergraduate study in Canada. I had moved halfway across the world (from India) as an international student and, although I was doing well academically, I was still struggling to adjust to life in a new country and cultural context. It wasn’t the big things that the tourist brochures and academic advisers had warned me about that tripped me up. It was the little things — having to learn how to operate a photocopying machine and a rotating combination lock, or remembering that the bus numbers remain the same for both directions of a single route.
My instructor for introductory psychology noted that I was quiet in class, read my biography (an early assignment in his class), and asked me to stay after one day. He asked about how I was doing outside of college, extended himself as a resource, emailed me periodically to check in, wrote me a letter of reference as I applied for my first job, and later even bought a painting from my mother (an artist who moved to Canada the following year). In short, he modeled compassion, kindness, and generosity. I will never forget my vivid realization at the end of that first semester that this was the career I wanted to embark on and precisely the kind of difference I wanted to make. So today when I begin my interactions with students from a place of compassion and trust, I trace this approach to him. His name is Michael MacNeill, and I will forever be grateful.
Statements of other teachers continued in article
Camtasia --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camtasia
Jensen Comment
The moment that changed the way I taught was discovery of Camtasia. Accounting
theory topics I focused upon were particularly technical and difficult, e.g.,
FAS 133 and FAS 138 on accounting for derivative financial instruments contracts
and hedging activities. It was obvious that there were enormous variations in my
courses were some of the hardest working students seemed to follow me most of
the time while others didn't have a clue. It was then that I flipped my
classroom. Students had to study my (eventual) scores of Camtasia videos on the
most technical topics in the course. In an electronic classroom where each
student had a computer that I could switch to display in front of the class the
students then individually had to show the class what they'd learned from the
Camtasia videos. Students no longer had to come after class for help sessions
that I repeated over and over for 1-3 students at a time. Instead they played
and replayed my Camtasia videos until that mastered each technical topic.
Mine was not a video course to the extent that students no longer met face to
face in class. Examples of video courses include the ADEPT Masters of
Engineering Program at Stanford and the year-long on campus basic accounting
courses at BYU ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#BYUvideo
Video teaching requires highly motivated and disciplined learners. In my case my students were all masters degree students who had previously graduated with accounting majors. Video teaching is particularly effective when teaching technical topics that students learn better by playing the learning material over and over until they master the topics. The major complaint is the extent of content in my courses that students claimed to an unfair proportion of time spent on my courses. Students could watch the videos in small groups where they helped each other. And yes I did give tough final examinations.
After I retired in 2006 Microsoft removed a Windows codec such that all my Camtasia videos can no longer be played back. This would've angered me a great deal if I was still teaching. Such is one of the hazards of relying on technology.
Tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Mac ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-mac-tips-tricks-keyboard-shortcuts-2018-4
Tale of an Unhappy Mac User ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-im-never-buying-an-apple-computer-again-2018-11
The world’s first fully autonomous passenger ferry has launched in Finland
---
https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/03/rolls-royce-demonstrates-fully-autonomous-passenger-ferry-in-finland/?utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review&utm_campaign=04f291eeb1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_04_12_43_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-04f291eeb1-153727301
Jensen Comment
This is certainly more cost efficient and in some ways safer (e.g., avoiding
pilot distractions) than a human-piloted ferry. But it does not overcome
fundamental dangers such as the inability of larger ships to turn on a dime. I'm
reminded years ago when we were watching Far Harbor fireworks from a tour boat.
The boat's captain, my summer-cottage neighbor, was distracted by the fireworks
until we looked up at a bright warning light of the huge Blue Nose Ferry coming
from Nova Scotia coming straight at us. The ferry could've never turned in time
to avoid hitting our tour boat. Fortunately, our engine was on idle and our
captain revved it up in time to get us barely out of the patch of the Blue Nose.
China: A Culture of Cheating
A half marathon in China made international news for all the wrong reasons:
Hundreds of participants were caught cheating at the Shenzhen Half Marathon on
November 25.Officials punished 258 runners for cheating ---
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a25361215/runners-caught-cheating-shenzhen-half-marathon-on-camera/
Students riot over China's crackdown on exam cheating
---
https://www.ucanews.com/news/students-riot-over-chinas-crackdown-on-exam-cheating/68583
NYT Investigation: Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black
Kids to Elite Colleges. Here’s the Reality ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/us/tm-landry-college-prep-black-students.html?elqTrackId=39d876d33bb84ff8ba9ff1d9a3b754f3&elq=a9781e478e4e4ab884c26d9213c9d2ff&elqaid=21547&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=10337
Also see
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/12/03/admissions-officials-react-exposé-about-transcript-fraud-and-abuse?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=7ecf161916-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-7ecf161916-197565045&mc_cid=7ecf161916&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Charter Schools: About that ‘ 100 percent’ college claim ---
http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/SanAntonioExpressNews/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=SAEN%2F2018%2F12%2F03&entity=Ar01100&sk=929D8CBE&mode=text
Thank you Ken Hummel for the heads up
Bob Jensen's threads on academic cheating ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm
In the Victorian era, a different kind of ghostwriting became
popular—largely because it allowed men to take all the credit ---
https://daily.jstor.org/wb-yeats-live-in-spirit-medium/
A College President Accused of Plagiarism ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/12/03/president-lemoyne-owen-college-accused-plagiarism?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=7ecf161916-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-7ecf161916-197565045&mc_cid=7ecf161916&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
. . .
“A few members of the LeMoyne-Owen College faculty are calling for my resignation because they feel I plagiarized a sermon by Joel Osteen. The fact is I did use material from Joel Osteen within the boundaries of Fair Use, which means I may not photocopy or print text for distribution,” her statement read in part. “In my notes, I have a statement giving credit to Pastor Osteen that I may have overlooked while delivering the speech. In that instance, it would be an oversight and does not constitute a serious breach of academic standards that would rise to level of review for faculty or students. The faculty as a body did not call for my resignation. It is no secret that organizational changes, the pace of change and our new direction at LeMoyne-Owen College has caused consternation among some faculty members. Still, I am committed to ensuring this 156-year-old institution achieves new heights in outcomes for the students and families we serve.”
Jensen Comment
In my opinion, the boundaries of Fair Use do not
include absence of citation even in a speech. You still have to cite sources
even when you're quoting without permission. The Fair Use safe harbor in the
DMCA allows for limited use of copyrighted material without seeking permission
or paying, but to my knowledge the sources must still be
cited. You can learn more about the boundaries of Section 107 (Fair Use)
of the DMCA ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm#Copyright
Inappropriate use of Fair Use is very common in academia, although in most cases
I think teachers cite the sources. For example, a professor who plays a
30-minute portion of a NetFlix video in class is probably not protected by
Section 107 of the DMCA. However, that teacher most likely cited the source (the
film's source) of the video. In most many instances Section 107 is violated by
playing more than 30 seconds of the video in class or by making a copy of an
entire chapter of a book available on Blackboard or Moodle server without
permission to do so.
Fair Use safe harbors in copyright law are not common outside the USA.
One of the main purposes of a Fair Use safe harbor is to make it difficult for copyright owners to remain above criticism by their refusal to allow reasonably long/short quotations. This obviously did does no apply in the above controversial plagiarism at LeMoyne-Owen College. The length of the quotation is not the issue in this case. It's the lack of citation during her speech. I frequently (daily) use quotations. But I always cite sources. One of my readers (not an author) disputes the lengths of some of my quotations. One time an author complained, and after I removed the entire quotation from my Website the author wrote back and requested that I restore the long quotation. Another time a university requested that I remove a quotation that had been removed from it's own Website.
I have had a number of requests from people mentioned in my Website where they want original sources of their names to be forgotten. For example, I once quoted from an San Antonio Express News article about a former student who owned a business that went bankrupt. The student, not the SAEN newspaper, requested that I no longer mention that student's name in my Website. I removed his name. He shortly thereafter was doing quite well as a CFO of a successful company.
Would this be an appropriate use of Section 107 (Fair Use) of the DMCA?
The above LeMoyne-Owen College plagiarism controversy raises a question I
sometimes think about, but I've never seen this question answered.
Suppose President Miller at Lemoyne-Owen College announced at the beginning of
her speech that she would be using one or more non-cited short quotations during
the speech. However, suppose she also announced that the speech would afterwards
be posted at a Website with appropriate citations of those quotations.
Would this be an appropriate use of Section 107 (Fair Use) of the DMCA?
Plagiarists plagiarized: A daisy chain of retractions at Anesthesia &
Analgesia ---
https://retractionwatch.com/2010/11/24/plagiarists-plagiarized-a-daisy-chain-of-retractions-at-anesthesia-analgesia/
Bob Jensen's threads on plagiarism ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm
Joe Biden --- Beyond Plagiarism
If only Vice President Joe Biden had stuck to plagiarism. But he apparently
hasn’t learned. In 1987, he copied and used a large chunk of a speech given by
British labor leader Neil Kinnock, even though some of the facts (related to
family history) didn’t match his own.
A.W.R. Hawkins, Human
Events, April 14, 2009 ---
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=31447
When a ghost writer plagiarizes where does the fault lie for that
plagiarism?
This raises a question about use of ghost writers. Celebrities (including
leaders of nations) often hire ghost writers to entire speeches or parts
thereof. When a ghost writer plagiarizes where does the fault lie for that
plagiarism?
I had a student that I gave an F to because of a plagiarized term paper. That student, however, did not write the plagiarized paper. One of his employees he hired to write the term paper plagiarized. In any case he cheated enough to earn his F grade.
Supply-Side Economics --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics
Economics Blog Recommendation
Miles Kimball, a Professor at the University of Michigan
Confessions of a Supply-Side Liberal
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/
Supply side solutions to macroeconomic issues and monetary policy. His
arguments are well written and thoroughly researched.
The long, tortured quest to make Google unbiased ---
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/6/18125879/search-neutrality-google-bias-seo-rigged-sundar-pichai-congress-eu
Jensen Comment
One type of bias arises when you're search for a B&B hotel's home page. In the
listing of hits the first 20 or more are usually third-party booking sites and
not the hotel's home page.
When I'm seeking home pages I usually avoid Google ant go
to
DuckDuckGo ---
https://duckduckgo.com/
A worse alleged bias
is when Google liberals allegedly suppress respected conservative sites.
This is why I often use Microsoft's Bing
https://www.bing.com/
This graph shows 90% of political donations from big
tech workers went to the Democrats, with Googlers leading the charge ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-apple-amazon-netflix-google-political-donations-graph-2018-11
Top U.S. general says it’s ‘inexplicable’ that
Google would seek business with China but not work with the military ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/r-top-us-general-urges-google-to-work-with-military-2018-12
Jensen Comment
Why is it so surprising? Google is headquartered in California.
Find a corporate home page quite easily by going to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_of_the_United_States
Bob Jensen's search helpers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm
Can your tell the difference between a real face and one rendered by AI?
Give it a try.
http://nikola.mit.edu/experiment?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=68183497&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9xPH4H2FoQ185CkCEkWyW70CKdgMR7V55h5L3ixhxGyZWAGD-bFHeH_VknsudxDddLgygsZrcp-uIqKBcdGfnArxsoCA&_hsmi=68183497
Jensen Comment
I think this must be a great new tool for the police to generate a face
consistent with descriptions from a witness.
Different Ways to Understand Blockchain ---
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/podcast/ways-to-understand-blockchain.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10Dec2018
AICPA's Blockchain Certificate ---
https://www.aicpastore.com/blockchain-fundamentals-for-accounting-and-finance/PRDOVR~PC-188140/PC-188140.jsp?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10Dec2018
From The Chronicle of Higher Education newsletter on December 4, 2018
Majoring in a Discipline that Interests You Versus Majoring in a Discipline Leading to a Career
I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education covering innovation in and around academe. Here’s what I’m thinking about this week:
Majors, skills, and job-market success.
Fans of the liberal arts (count this history major among them) have been conditioned to cringe when the national discourse about the value of college ends up directing job-conscious students away from programs that actually interest them and toward ones that they think will be more practical.
Now two new reports, based on the labor-market experiences of millions of college graduates, show that the cringing may be legit. The reports — one from the company Burning Glass and the other from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work — highlight the ways that majors like philosophy and communications can imbue students with the very skills that today’s employers are seeking. In many cases, these can also be a better choice of a major than business or some other occupational-seeming discipline.
But the operative word here is “can.” Without some intentional tweaks, the reports argue, such liberal-arts departments won’t necessarily equip students to avoid underemployment (the focus of the Burning Glass report), or help them navigate a work environment increasingly dominated by automation (the theme of the Strada report).
One of the things I like in the “Robot Ready” report, from Strada, is the way it takes an in-demand but vague job skill and then sort of reverse-engineers it to show the ways someone with such a skill might apply it in a variety of fields. The report shows, for example, that a person skilled in communications might eventually work as a grief counselor in behavioral health, as a social-media manager in marketing, or in management training in human resources.
Do colleges get that? Maybe. Should they? According to the report’s authors, yes. Liberal-arts programs “must develop clearer pictures of the common careers of liberal-arts majors while developing a more precise language for the skills that they will need to develop and take with them as they transition within the job market,” the report says. Colleges that leave students unaware of how to translate their skills, the report argues, will “fumble the handoff from college to career.”
I was also intrigued by the stats in the Burning Glass report, “Majors That Matter: Ensuring College Graduates Avoid Underemployment.” One set of data showed that some business majors were more likely to be underemployed than, say, psychology majors who happened to have budgeting or research skills.
Underlying this is a simple theme — that adding a hard skill or two to a liberal-arts major will take a student farther. As I’ve reported, Burning Glass has highlighted this theme before. The company’s chief executive, Matthew Sigelman, is still trying to get that message across.
“Majors matter. Skills matter more,” Sigelman told me. Regardless of the department, he says, “we have to pay a lot more attention to what we teach in departments.” That means ensuring not only that history majors learn at least a little about research methods, but also that students in occupationally focused majors, like leisure studies, don’t miss out on the intellectual exploration typically emphasized in the humanities.
“An unfortunate decision about a major doesn’t have to consign you to a lifetime of underemployment,” says Sigelman.
As much as I appreciate the messages of both reports — and especially Sigelman’s assessment that backers of the liberal arts need to be “spending less time on the back foot” defending the value of such programs — I also sense a disconnect. A lot of what these reports recommend, such as greater use of project-based learning in classroom settings (Strada) and a greater focus on internships (Burning Glass), are already common practice at many colleges. In fact, just last week, in The Chronicle”s Teaching newsletter, my colleague Dan Berrett described recent surveys of students and professors that show how often students are already exposed to real-world situations as part of their undergraduate experience.
OK, perhaps these practices aren’t yet as widespread as they should be. But worthy efforts deserve their due. And a reminder of the need for greater intentionality around liberal-arts majors probably doesn’t hurt.
Jensen Comment
Some careers are more tolerant of undergraduate specialties than others.
For example law and business careers are usually quite tolerant of undergraduate studies provided graduates later go to law schools or MBA programs.
Careers in accountancy, engineering, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, etc. are far less tolerant. For example, an English major seeking to become an accountant will have to take the many undergraduate accounting courses required to sit for the CPA exam.
Humanities often take a beating when students are focused on post-graduate careers. However, mistakes can also be made in STEM fields. Prospects are pretty bleak for undergraduate physics, geology, and chemistry majors who do not go on for Ph.D. degrees. Prospects are not so bleak for programmers, nurses, dental hygienists, and pharmacists. Accountants and engineers often have to get masters degrees for better job prospects, but having undergraduate degrees in those fields greatly reduces the time needed for those masters degrees.
Sometimes career advisers and advising literatures are misleading. For example, I recently read where one of the top career opportunities is in zoology. Yes there are opportunities that are pretty good due to the relatively small numbers of majors in zoology. However, if tens of thousands of students leap into zoology as a major they will find that the numbers of job openings in zoology are quite small.
One of the things students should consider is the entry-level opportunity for graduates in some disciplines. Accountants and nurses face relatively good opportunities for entry-level openings that do not require experience (most graduates these days only had a few superficial few weeks of internship). Criminology and business graduates often encounter "experience required" constraints.
Prestige of the university can make a huge difference. For example, MBA and law graduates of flagship universities generally have many more opportunities than comparable graduates from less-reputable universities. My point is that the value of a specialty degree many depend greatly on where you got that degree, but this can also vary with the specialty. Accountants and nurses have better prospects than MBA graduates from less-reputable universities.
Inside the massive (Nevada) factory where
Tesla will soon make 60 percent of the world’s lithium-ion batteries ---
https://www.theverge.com/transportation/2018/11/30/18118451/tesla-gigafactory-nevada-video-elon-musk-jobs-model-3
Jensen Comment
Audit reports must now discuss both sustainability and financial risks. The
above article seems to avoid mention of the biggest risk to this company --- the
risk of being dependent upon an oligopoly of foreign-based lithium suppliers.
Lithium --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium#Production
There's also some political risk, especially from the EU's
revenue-salivating monopoly hunters ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_competition_law
Google threatened with break up by EU over monopoly fears ---
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-eu-competiton-commission-threat-margrethe-vestager-search-monopoly-anti-trust-laws-a8273961.html
Amazon’s looming challenge: Europe’s antitrust laws ---
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/21/17887008/amazon-europe-antitrust-laws
What Is the Purpose of Final Exams, Anyway?
https://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Is-the-Purpose-of-Final/245127?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=203ecebbd09149f69bf3bc17ee0396da&elq=ded3c96570ad4183b3bf56485d801aed&elqaid=21513&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=10312
As the calendar flipped to November, the anxiety level for both me and my students ratcheted up a notch as well. For me, the beginning of the semester’s penultimate month is a reminder that there is still SO MUCH LEFT TO DO. For my students, though, November means they’re that much closer to the dreaded Final Exam Week.
If your campus is anything like mine, there are all sorts of student customs that cluster around finals week. At my university, for example, students call the last week of classes before finals "Dead Week." I’ve never been able to ascertain the exact meaning of the label. Some students tell me it means professors are not supposed to assign any work that week, while others claim it’s simply how they feel going into final exams. Either way, it seems to be generally accepted that everyone is not at their best during that pre-finals week.
We can at least partially dismiss the aura that surrounds finals week as gallows humor, but its well-earned reputation as a period of concentrated, brutal stress makes me wonder if we might be going about the work of ending the semester in the wrong way. When I began my teaching career, every course I taught ended with a comprehensive final exam — in-class, with short-answer and essay questions. I didn’t think about why. Indeed, it never occurred to me to not to give a final. That was just how things were done in academe.
As I continued teaching, however — and saw more than a few students do A work all semester only to be derailed by one bad day during finals week — I began to wonder: What is the purpose of final exams, anyway?
Well, duh, you may be tempted to reply: Final exams are to see if our students learned anything in the course. Fair enough, but does one high-stakes assessment really give an accurate picture of that? I can’t help but wonder if this argument is the equivalent of declaring that the winner of the Indianapolis 500 is whoever has the best final lap, as it certainly seems more important than the previous 199 circuits around the track.
Sure, a high-stakes summative assessment — one that students complete in the same compressed time frame as three or four other assessments of the same nature — might measure student learning. More likely, in my experience, it shows: (a:) which students are tired, stressed, sick, or overwhelmed, and (b) which ones are good at taking tests (and good test takers haven’t necessarily mastered the course material).
What does your final exam really show? Put simply, is a traditional final exam the best way to assess if, what, and how much learning has occurred? Or is it a practice that reflects older ways of thinking — which equated student learning with academic performance? Is it sustained more by inertia than pedagogical value?
When I started posing those questions to my colleagues a few years back, I got a wide range of answers:
- Some had stopped giving final exams, and they now used finals week as the culmination of a semester-long project.
- Others gave a final but one similar in both length and grade weight to a normal semester test.
- Most still did what I was doing: giving an exam because … well … because we give exams at the end of the semester. It’s what we do!
Clearly there is no one-size-fits-all prescription for final exams. But my conversations with colleagues also made me realize that not thinking about what I was doing at the end of the semester — and, more important, why I was doing it — was a form of pedagogical malpractice.
Continue in article
Jensen Comment
In my opinion, the final exam is less important than the grade distribution of a
course. In Lake Wobegon the median grade for each course is A- before and after
the final exam ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wobegon
Personally I think the final exam is a great learning tool provided students experience perspiration, blood, and tears --- because the final exam can raise or lower their cumulative grade before the final exam.
If there's no final exam then there is a Santa Claus.
November 30, 2018 reply from Tom Amlie
It's very rare (in my experience, at least) for a final exam to change a student's final grade, except at the margin. Occasionally someone with a "B" average moves to a "B-" or a"B+", or occasionally someone hanging on by their fingernails to a "C" slips to a "D" (usually the grade slips down; very seldom will it move up). For my part, the cumulative final exam is designed to measure whether a student has actually learned and retained the "high points" of what has been covered over the course of the semester. Lots of students can cram the night before and put a few weeks worth of material into short-term memory for the assignments over the course of the semester. The more important question for me is "what are they taking out of the class at the end of the semester?" If they've done well over all of the short-run assignments, and yet at the end of the semester can't remember some of the more fundamental concepts, then the final exam is doing exactly what it's supposed to do by revealing that.
Tom Amlie
What does economic evidence tell us about the effects of rent control? ---
https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-does-economic-evidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/
. . .
Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative externalities on the surrounding neighborhood. These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance to tenants against rent increases can ultimately be counterproductive. If society desires to provide social insurance against rent increases, it may be less distortionary to offer this subsidy in the form of a government subsidy or tax credit. This would remove landlords’ incentives to decrease the housing supply and could provide households with the insurance they desire. A point of future research would be to design an optimal social insurance program to insure renters against large rent increases.
Continued in article
Education Week: Students Say Schools Don't Give Them Skills They
Need to Succeed After Graduation ---
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2018/11/students_say_schools_arent_giving_them_the_skills_they_need_to_succeed_after_graduation_survey_finds.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2&M=58684691&U=2290378&UUID=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f
Jensen Comment
Much of the focus is on personal and social skills. I think maybe they don't
know enough to know what other skills are lacking --- like financial literacy.
Reasons Why Elon Musk should rescue a GM factory in Ohio ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-tesla-should-rescue-a-gm-factory-in-ohio-2018-11
Jensen Comment
As the article mentions, a friction here is Musk's dislike for labor unions.
Shutdown of 70-campus Education Corporation of America is largest closure
since collapse of Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/12/06/closure-education-corporation-america-raises-questions-about-oversight-and-support?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=70dd21541c-DNU_WO20181203_PREV_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-70dd21541c-197565045&mc_cid=70dd21541c&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Jensen Comment
My feeling is good riddance to bad business. To get and keep market share in
business you have to offer something worth paying for.
After publishers sued Sci-Hub, Russian ISPs are now preventing users from
accessing the valuable scientific data repository and paywall killer ---
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/gy7d7j/sci-hub-and-lib-gen-continue-to-get-attacked-around-the-world
Jensen Comment
In the networking age of electronic publishing, all academic journals should be
open-sourced. Knowledge yearns to be free.
Top seven mistakes when claiming Social Security benefits ---
https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2018/dec/seven-mistakes-claiming-social-security-benefits.html?utm_source=mnl:adv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=03Dec2018
Bob Jensen's personal finance helpers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers
Microsoft's surprising comeback over Apple is the outcome of two new CEOs
with radically different game plans ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-nadella-is-product-visionary-apple-tim-cook-isnt-2018-11
Different Ways to Understand Blockchain ---
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/podcast/ways-to-understand-blockchain.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10Dec2018
AICPA's Blockchain Certificate ---
https://www.aicpastore.com/blockchain-fundamentals-for-accounting-and-finance/PRDOVR~PC-188140/PC-188140.jsp?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10Dec2018
Madoff Victims Recoveries to Date ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-recovering-madoff-money/
From the Scout Report on November 30, 2018
YaCy --- https://yacy.net/en/index.html
YaCy (sounds like "ya see") is a peer-to-peer distributed search engine. It can be used in one of two modes: proxy mode and crawling mode. In proxy mode, YaCy runs locally on a user's computer and builds an index of sites that the user has visited. In essence, this mode gives users a content-based search of their browsing history. In crawling mode, users provide a list of domains which are then spidered and indexed. This mode can be used to build a search interface for intranet sites that may otherwise lack one. In crawling mode, users may also opt to enable the peer-to-peer features, sharing their indexed pages with the YaCy freeworld network. A set of video tutorials explaining how to configure and use these different modes is presented in the tutorials section of the YaCy site. In the search portal section, users can obtain a list of the current nodes in the freeworld search network and can try out searches on the network. YaCy can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Links to installation tutorials are provided alongside the installer downloads.
Taiga --- https://taiga.io/
Taiga is an award-winning open source project management platform. It was designed specifically to support Agile development workflows in an integrated, intuitive way. It provides issue tracking, a wiki, task management, team management, and other features, all built around Scrum or Kanban views to help manage a project. Importers for others platforms allow users to pull in data from other platforms like Trello, Jira, Asana, or GitHub. Taiga also provides a REST API that developers can use to interact with Taiga and build their own additional integrations or automation. The hosted version of Taiga provides unlimited public projects and a single three-member private project. Higher levels of service are available for a fee. Alternately, users may install and run Taiga instances on their own hardware following the installation guide located in the docs section of Taiga's support pages. Taiga is free software, licensed under the AGPL v3, with source code available on GitHub.
Shakespeare Documented --- https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/
Originally featured on 2/26/2016, Shakespeare Documented continues to be an excellent, incredibly rich resource for enthusiasts of the Bard, as well as for educators in history, literature, and theater. This collaboration between the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford, the British Library, the Shakespeare Birth Trust, and the National Archives, which was convened by the Folger Shakespeare Library, is perhaps the largest collection of primary source materials related to William Shakespeare. The exhibit concentrates its considerable erudition on documents contemporary to Shakespeare's life and times. The documents have been organized into four categories: Playwright, actor & shareholder (205 items); Shakespeare the poet (67 items); Family, legal & property records (186 items); and 17th-century legacies (33 items). In addition, within the exhibition section, readers may filter the documents by useful tags such as repository, people, plays & poetry, decade, medium, and highlights. Readers may also sort the collection by oldest to newest or vice versa. For educators looking for primary resources to enliven their lesson plans - or for anyone with a strong affinity for the English language's greatest wordsmith - this website is unparalleled in its depth.
Free Online Tutorials, Videos, Course Materials, and Learning Centers
Education Tutorials
Videos: Ethics Unwrapped --- https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/
NASA: Scientist for a Day --- https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scientist-for-a-day/home/
Google Web Fundamentals: Accessibility ---
https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/accessibility/
Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch
Bob Jensen's bookmarks for multiple disciplines --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm
Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate
Assessment, Volume II ---
https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/
New Zealand Birds Online --- http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/
The spread of low-credibility content by social bots --- www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06930-7
The 2018 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change --- www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2932594-7/fulltext
The evolutionary dynamics of microRNAs in domestic mammals --- www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-34243-8
From the Scout Report on November 30, 2018
Successful Landing of NASA's Mars InSight Mission
NASA's InSight Mission Has Touched Down on Mars to Study the Red Planet's Deep Secrets
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/science/nasa-insight-mars-landing.htmlNew Mars lander safely touches down. What happens now?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/mars-insight-lander-touches-down-what-happens-now-spaceWith Mars InSight: NASA Spacecraft Set Up for Exploring 'Red Planet' After Landing
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/11/29/mars-exploration-insight-nasa-spaceNASA: Mars InSight Mission
https://mars.nasa.gov/insightMartians of Tomorrow
https://www.challenger.org/martians
Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine tutorials are at --http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI ,
r
Social Science and Economics Tutorials
The spread of low-credibility content by social bots --- www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06930-7
African Education Research Database --- https://essa-africa.org/AERD
Being Black in the EU --- http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/eumidis-ii-being-black
American Indian Digital History Project --- http://aidhp.com/
IIASA PURE (large-scale interdisciplinary social research) --- http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/
Kindred Britain (genealogy) --- http://kindred.stanford.edu/#
Database of Classical Scholars --- https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/
UK in a Changing Europe --- http://ukandeu.ac.uk/
Fashion: 99% Invisible: Articles of Interest --- https://99percentinvisible.org/aoi/
The 2018 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change --- www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2932594-7/fulltext
Celebrating Simms (African American History) --- https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/simms/
Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and
Philosophy tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Law and Legal Studies
Videos: Ethics Unwrapped --- https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/
Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Law
Math Tutorials,
Science Friday: Explosion Math --- www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/explosion-math
Mathematical Association of America: On This Day --- www.maa.org/news/on-this-day
Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Mathematics and Statistics
Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
History Tutorials
American Indian Digital History Project --- http://aidhp.com/
The Lone Woman and Last Indians Digital Archive --- http://calliope.cse.sc.edu/lonewoman
The Thoughtful Note That George H.W. Bush Left on Bill Clinton’s Desk Before
Leaving the White House (1993) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/thoughtful-note-george-h-w-bush-left-bill-clintons-desk-leaving-white-house-1993.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
IIASA PURE (large-scale interdisciplinary social research) --- http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/
Database of Classical Scholars --- https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/
These 17 photos show Finland's brutally cold World War II battle
with the Soviet Union ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/ussr-russia-finald-wwii-winter-war-photos-2017-3
Here's how the US pulled off a daring mission to take out the
mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/operation-vengeance-us-kills-pearl-harbor-planner-isoroku-yamamoto-2018-12
See the Complete Works of Vermeer in Augmented Reality: Google
Makes Them Available on Your Smartphone ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/see-the-complete-works-of-vermeer-in-augmented-reality.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Clergy of the Church of England Database --- http://theclergydatabase.org.uk/
Mathematical Association of America: On This Day --- www.maa.org/news/on-this-day
Celebrating Simms (African American History) --- https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/simms/
Jello-O: America's Most Famous Dessert: At Home Everywhere --- www.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/jell-o
Fashion: 99% Invisible: Articles of Interest --- https://99percentinvisible.org/aoi/
Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to History
Also see
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Language Tutorials
Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Languages
Music Tutorials
Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Music
Bob Jensen's threads on music performances ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Writing Tutorials
Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries
Bob Jensen's threads on medicine ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Medicine
CDC Blogs --- http://blogs.cdc.gov/
Shots: NPR Health News --- http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots
Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/
December 1, 2018
December 4, 2018
December 6, 2018
December 7, 2018
December 8, 2018
A1 versus A2 Cows: How Important is A1 Milk Protein as a Public
Health Issue? ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2018/11/13/how-important-is-a1-milk-protein-as-a-public-health-issue
Evidence that High Insulin Levels Lead to Weight Gain ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2018/11/27/evidence-that-high-insulin-levels-lead-to-weight-gain
A1 versus A2 Cows: How Important is A1 Milk Protein as a Public
Health Issue? ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2018/11/13/how-important-is-a1-milk-protein-as-a-public-health-issue
A Very Mixed Record on Grad Student Mental Health ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/12/06/new-research-graduate-student-mental-well-being-says-departments-have-important
Thank you Ed Scribner for the heads up
How Music Can Awaken Patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/music-can-awaken-patients-alzheimers-dementia.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Batten Disease ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batten_disease
Jensen Comment
My wife has a nephew and niece who both died in early childhood from Batten
Disease. This is an insidious affliction where body functions (walking, talking,
eating, bowel movements, seeing, etc.) fail in stages. Perhaps the last or
nearly the last to go is hearing. Seemingly this may be the case of dementia.
Purportedly on occasion people in a coma hear things --- which is why loved ones
sometimes read to them. I'm also told that some autistic children respond
to music therapy and a few have inexplicable music talents. Life is a mystery.
Humor for December 2018
51 hilarious White Elephant gifts under $50 that are guaranteed to get a good
laugh ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/best-funny-white-elephant-gifts-2018-10
Forwarded by Kimberlyn
Ode to the Spell Checker
Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the error rite Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it I am shore your pleased two no Its letter perfect awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.
NPR's 2018 Comedy Book Recommendations ---
https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2018/#/tag/funny-stuff
Forwarded by Paula
A New York woman was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the ocean. Just before she could throw herself from the docks, a handsome young man stopped her.
"You have so much to live for," said the man. "I'm a sailor. We're off to Italy tomorrow. I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take care of you, bring you food every day, & keep you happy."
With nothing to lose, combined with the fact that she had always wanted to go to Italy, the woman accepted.
That night the sailor brought her aboard & hid her in a small but comfortable compartment in the hold. From then on, every night he would bring her sandwiches, red wine, & they would make love til dawn.
Three weeks later she was discovered by the captain during a routine inspection. "What are you doing here?" asked the captain.
"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she replied. "He brings me food & I get a free trip to Italy."
"I see," the captain says.
Her conscience got the best of her so she added, "Plus he's screwing me."
"He certainly is," replied the captain. "This is the Staten Island Ferry."
Announcement from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3709164/posts
IRISH AIRLINES....
After being airborne approximately thirty minutes on an outbound evening Air Lingus flight from Dublin, the lead flight attendant nervously made the following painful announcement in her lovely Irish brogue:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so very sorry, but it appears that there has been a terrible mix-up by our catering service. I don't know how this has happened, but they did not deliver our meals until one minute prior to take-off. We have 103 passengers on board, and, unfortunately, we received only 40 dinner meals. I truly apologize for this mistake and inconvenience."
When passengers' muttering had died down, she continued, "Anyone who is kind enough to give up their meal so that someone else can eat, will receive free, unlimited drinks for the duration of our 4 hour flight."
Her next announcement came about 2 hours later...
"If anyone would like to change their minds, we still have 40 dinners available"
Forwarded by Paula
For those who travel, often the best food is a truck stop. wonder what the waitress would have to say if someone actually ordered their breakfast as this guy did?
A trucker came into a Truck Stop Cafe' and placed his order. He said, "I want three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards."
The brand new blonde waitress, not wanting to appear stupid, went to the kitchen and said to the cook, "This guy out there just ordered three flat tires, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards. What does he think this place is, an auto parts store?"
'No,' the cook said. 'Three flat tires... mean three pancakes; a pair of headlights... is two eggs sunny side up; and a pair of running boards...are 2 slices of crisp bacon"
'Oh... OK!' said the blonde. She thought about it for a moment and then spooned up a bowl of beans and gave it to the customer.
The trucker asked, 'What are the beans for, Blondie?'
She replied, 'I thought while you were waiting for the flat tires, headlights and running boards, you might as well gas up!
Forwarded by Paula
Did I read that sign right?
"TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW."
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -
In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ -----------------------------
In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS...
------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------
In an office:
WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------
In an office:
AFTER TEA BREAK, STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --
Outside a second-hand shop:
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --
Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS...
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------
Spotted in a safari park:
(I sure hope so.)ELEPHANTS, PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------
Seen during a conference:
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------------
Notice in a farmer's field:
THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Message on a leaflet:
IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ -----------------------
On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR - THE BELL DOESN'T WORK.)
Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn't you say?
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --
Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife
And Daughter
This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!! They put in a correction the next day.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -----------------
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Really? Ya' think?
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------Miners Refuse to Work after Death
No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works better than a fair trial!----------------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -----------------------
War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------
If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya' think?!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------
Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?
****************************** ****************************** ********************
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!
****************************** ****************************** ****************************** ****
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!
****************************** ****************************** ****************************** *****
And the winner is...
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?
Humor November 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1118.htm
Humor October 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1018.htm
Humor September 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0918.htm
Humor August 2018 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0818.htm
Humor July 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0718.htm
Humor June 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0618.htm
Humor May 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0518.htm
Humor April 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0418.htm
Humor March 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0318.htm
Humor February 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0218.htm
Humor January 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0118.htm
Humor December 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q4.htm#Humor1217.htm
Humor November 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q4.htm#Humor1117.htm
Humor October 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q4.htm#Humor1017.htm
Humor September 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0917.htm
Humor August 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0817.htm
Humor July 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0717.htm
Humor June 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0617.htm
Humor May 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0517.htm
Humor April 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0417.htm
Humor March 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0317.htm
Humor February 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0217.htm
Humor January 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0117.htm
Tidbits Archives --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and
Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.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/
Online Distance Education Training and Education ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray
Zone of Fraud (College, Inc.) ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud
Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral
Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH
CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1
Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory
---
http://faculty.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://faculty.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://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm
Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://faculty.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://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm
AECM
(Educators)
http://listserv.aaahq.org/cgi- 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.
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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. |
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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. |
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Business Valuation Group
BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag [RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM] |
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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
|
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The CAlCPA Tax Listserv September 4, 2008 message from Scott Bonacker
[lister@bonackers.com]
Scott forwarded the following message from Jim Counts
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Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm
Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Some Accounting History Sites
Bob Jensen's
Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links ---
http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds
History of
Fraud in America ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm
Also see
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm
Bob Jensen's
Threads ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and
Stories
http://faculty.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