Lyrics of the Day

This time next year
We'll be looking at our yesterdays
Seeing how far we've come from here
All of our fears
Are the history of future days

Rocket Scientists, "Oblivion Days"

Feasting on Friday

The latest from Friday's Feast:

Appetizer On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how attractive do you think you are?
While I’m not likely to be mistaken for Brad Pitt, I’m not hideously deformed, either. I suppose I’m about average. Since we’re treating this mathematically, I’ll put myself somewhere around the mean –- say, 5.0 ± 1.5.

Soup What local restaurant would you recommend to a visitor to your town or city?
Café Rio. Great food and generous portions at very reasonable prices. I’d probably call ahead for takeout, though. The place is always insanely busy.

Salad What's a lesson you had to learn the hard way?
I had to learn that once a relationship is over, you have to move on. You can’t go back. I tried it once -- and spent six years getting back out. Feh.

Main Course Name something in your life that you feel you can depend on 100%.
Death. Taxes. Exams. Utah drivers not paying attention to the road. Women doing things I don’t understand. Protesters shouting and waving signs at General Conference. The bus I’m transferring to running on time when the bus I’m on is late. Computer crashes at inopportune times. Government incompetence. The Rockies’ bullpen blowing a lead. Being asked for money while walking downtown. Junk food being cheaper than real food. Colleges and universities cranking out athletes who can’t complete a grammatically correct sentence. Said athletes making millions while teachers pay off student loans for the rest of their lives. Credit card solicitations in the mail. Networks dropping innovative programming to make room for more reality shows.
Cynical answers to innocuous questions.

Dessert If you could see the front page of a newspaper from September 24, 2104, what would you imagine the headline might be?
Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Jerusalem. With the history those folks have got, what difference could another 100 years make?

Still Here

Okay, I haven't blogged in a few days, but I'm still here. I just took my first exam of the semester, and I have three more between now and Monday. Isn't academic life wonderful?

Today's exam was for my "Foundations of Business Thought" class. Part of it was a take-home section consisting of a couple of short essay questions. In one of them, I was asked to select one of the relationships that business establishes and explain it using three of the two dozen or so readings we've seen so far. I chose to explain the relationship between business and the community, drawing upon readings from Plato, Ayn Rand, and Andrew Carnegie. Quite a spread, but it came off pretty well.

So I've written something based on the writings of Ayn Rand. Now I can say I have something in common with Neal Peart.

The Rules of Wizards

Note: I know that most, if not all, of my regular readers are already familiar with at least the Wizards First Rule. But for anyone else that may have wandered into my domain and been confused by the last entry, here's an explanation. -M

During my visit to Curtis a few weeks ago, we talked a little about Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I've read all eight books (so far) and enjoyed them a great deal. He has read only the first, having been bitten by Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. He didn't want to get into the Goodkind until the series was complete. Considering that Goodkind is writing a World War, heaven only knows how long that's going to be.

One of the things I really enjoy about Goodkind's books is that each book includes a Wizards Rule, a bit of philosophy that can be applied to real life. There are, so far, eight Wizards Rules, with which I agree and to which I relate in differing degrees.

Here are the Rules, and my own thoughts on them. (I'll try to keep this spoiler-free for those who haven't read all the books yet.)

Wizards First Rule: People are stupid. People will believe any lie if they want it to be true, or if they're afraid that it might be true.
This is one of the most profound things I've read in a long time. It seems that much of what goes on in business, politics, education, or whatever is based on lies. If you deal in falsehoods, the key is knowing which lies you can get people to believe. (For Latter-day Saints, the episode of Korihor {Alma 30} revolves around this principle, in my opinion.) As consumers of information, we have to be able to ask ourselves objectively, "Is this really true, or do I just want it to be true? Or am I just afraid that it's true?"

Wizards Second Rule: The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.
To me, the lesson here is that we can't really make judgments about people without knowing their true intentions. Those who cause us pain, difficulty, or inconvenience may not intend to do so.

Wizards Third Rule: Passion rules reason.
In other words, if we're not careful we can let our feelings get in the way of our better judgment. We have to be careful to think rationally about our decisions (but see also the Sixth Rule, below).

Wizards Fourth Rule: There is magic in sincere forgiveness, magic to heal - in the forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness that you receive.
I agree with the principle, but not the implementation. There is real healing in being forgiven. It's one of the central foci of Christianity. But the true magic of forgiveness is in the granting of it. There is a sublime, profound change in us when we choose to forgive - and it is a choice. Whether or not the one who offended us deserves forgiveness, or whether or not they even seek forgiveness, is irrelevant. Forgiveness is ultimately more for us than for them. Forgiveness takes a heavy burden off the shoulders of the one who forgives. Nothing is as hard to carry as a grudge.¹

Wizards Fifth Rule: Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.
People will say whatever they're going to say. Sometimes they'll mean it, and sometimes they won't. You just have to take your chances. But your chances are better if you observe their behavior, not just their words.

Wizards Sixth Rule: The only sovereign we can allow to rule us is reason.
This is the rule with which I disagree the most. Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of reason, and frankly, I wish more people would exercise it more often. But even the best of us are limited in our reasoning capacities. Even with the best available information, the best of us will sometimes come up with the wrong answers. And that doesn't even account for the GIGO² problem. More importantly, though, there are things that reason just doesn't cover. Curiosity, intuition, inspiration - these are independent of reason but still vital. So what is the role of reason? I say that it is better to be served by reason than to be ruled by it.

Wizards Seventh Rule: Life is the future, not the past.
All of us have done stupid things, and all of us have things in our past that we'd rather not have. But life is full of fresh starts. In most cases, the important thing is not what we may have done once upon a time, but the direction we're going now.

Wizards Eighth Rule: Deserve victory.
This is basically another way of saying, "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game."³ I agree with this idea. You play hard, but you play fairly. It is more important to deserve victory than to win undeservingly.

So, there are the Eight Wizards Rules. Now go forth and use them to make the world a better place!

--

(I found a compilation of the Wizards Rules at Kings Row Sword of Truth Database. That author's interpretations differ from mine, of course, but I find the material basically sound.)

¹Yes, that is the voice of experience you hear.
²GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out.
³Coincidentally, I have Queen singing "Play the Game" on my stereo at this moment. Strange.

Politics as Usual

This story comes via Yahoo News: Facts Are Lost in Bush, Kerry Campaigns.

Wouldn't it be nice if politicians--from either side--used honesty rather than exaggeration and innuendo to get elected? Maybe if more people were interested in the facts and not in just hearing what they wanted to hear, that strategy would work.

Wizard's First Rule strikes again.

Thoughts of the Day

I saw both of these yesterday on the University of Utah campus. The first was on a T-shirt at the bookstore, the second was on a bumper sticker outside the bookstore in the parking lot.

1) A week without great football is like any week in Provo. ^*

2) Guns don't kill people. Drivers with cell phones do.

--
^* Substitute Lincoln, Laramie, Boulder, Corvallis, or any other city as appropriate.

I Don't Think That Word Means What You Think It Means

I don't know how it came up, but last night I was talking to one of our interviewers and used the word 'lugubrious'. One of the other interviewers overheard us and asked, "What does that mean?" I thought for a second before answering (always a good move, I've learned) and said, "You know, I think I know what it means, but I'm not certain. Let me look it up and make sure."

Good thing, too. I thought it meant 'fearsome and/or repulsive'. Wrong. According to Merriam-Webster Online, it actually means:

1 : MOURNFUL; especially : exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful
2 : DISMAL

I think I first heard this word as part of the Disney Hercules animated feature. I misinterpreted the meaning based strictly on the context in which it was used. That trick almost always works, but it's best to check, I suppose.

By the way, Derek, is this a word you can use in your dissertation?

Useless, but Fun

My quest for a new default web page has led me to this timely site. As stated, it's useless, but fun. It's also impermanent; I'm sure I'll change it again once I find something better.

Some other fun related pages can be found at this site. Be sure to check out the one called "Timepiece", it's mind-boggling.

Strange Encounter

I was coming home from work one night last week when I met a woman with three kids at the train station. She was talking to a couple that were waiting for the same train that I would take to get home. She was asking them what they knew about the nighttime transit schedule. She and her children had ridden a bus to the area to take care of something, not realizing that the routes and schedules all change after 6:30 p.m. Consequently, the bus she had taken to get there was no longer running, and she had no idea how they were going to get home.

I overheard the conversation and asked her where she needed to go. I habitually carry a stack of bus and train schedules in my backpack, so I figured the chances were good that I could be of at least some help. She told me where she needed to go. As it turned out, I was headed for a stop just past that on the same route. I told her where I was going and suggested that if she (and the kids, of course) would follow me, I would get them where they needed to go. I don't know if there's a word that means 'a combination of relieved and ecstatic', but if there is, that's what she was.

So we got on the train and rode downtown, then got off and walked the block or so to the appropriate bus stop. The kids were pretty amazed when I correctly predicted the arrival of the bus we needed to get on. We all took up seats at the back of the bus and continued on our journey.

The lady and I had started talking, and she had asked me where I worked. I told her, and she knew exactly what I was talking about. It seems that she went to college with the owner of the company I work for. I also mentioned that I was finishing up my degree, and she asked me what I was studying. I told her that I was a chemistry major looking to teach high school this time next year.

Then she told me what she does for a living: she's a professional recruiter. Furthermore, her ex-husband - with whom she's apparently still on pretty good terms - is the vice-principal at a high school here in Salt Lake City. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her, and she would start setting up some connections for me.

If you wish, you may call this a happy coincidence. But I don't believe in coincidence. It has been my experience that every once in a while, God will bring two people together who need to meet one another.

On the following evening, I was telling one of my managers, Theron, about this experience. As I made this last point Greg, one of our callers (and a frequent contributor to right-wing political site called Conservababes), walked in. He said, "So, you don't believe in free agency?" Before I could answer, Theron, who is a thespian and a philosopher, replied, "Free agency is what you make of those opportunities." I agreed, adding, "It's also what you do get those opportunities in the first place."

That night had been a little hectic; I had been called upon to serve as Overlord again. Having temps in house always adds to my workload, and it makes it difficult to get out of the building on time. I could have chosen to take things a little easy that night, taking a little extra time to finish my job duties. Frankly, it would have been easier that way. But if I had, I wouldn't have been in time for that train.

Lesson: You can't always choose your circumstances, but how you choose to react may make all the difference.

Annoyance

It is, of course, well documented that one of the Democratic Party's biggest criticisms of the Bush administration is that it has used September 11^th to further its own cause. Fine, I can see the argument.

My designated default page in Internet Explorer (which, as Derek suggests, sucks) is The Daily Humorscope. So I get home from work today, pull up my browser, and find myself faced with listings/advertisements for five different books, all of which - surprise! - criticize the Bush administration.

Who's the opportunist now?

I found the hypocrisy lamentable, so I left the author a note telling him I'd prefer that he stuck with humor. Now I just have to designate a new default page. Any recommendations?

Friday's Feast - on Friday!

Appetizer What movie soundtracks do you own?
Okay, you asked for it: 1492: Conquest of Paradise; Blade Runner; Catch Me If You Can; Chariots of Fire; City of Angels; Dune; Henry V; The Hunt for Red October; Independence Day; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Ladyhawke; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; Much Ado About Nothing; Ocean's Eleven; Phenomenon; Pretty Woman; The Princess Bride; The Singles Ward; Somewhere In Time; Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and First Contact; and Star Wars: Episodes I, II, IV, V, and VI. Those are the ones I can identify right now, anyway.

Soup How much cash do you usually carry with you?
$2.00. I carry two Sacagawea dollars in my wallet for emergencies (bus fare, gas, etc.) or to give as tips. Other than that, I don't carry cash. That's what debit cards are for.

Salad Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why?
Right now, I would say I'm more comfortable around men. I'm still recovering from my last close encounter with a woman. Divorce will do that to you, I suppose.

Main Course What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child?
I'm sorry, I can't disclose that. My mother still thinks that was Derek's fault. ;-)
Seriously, I guess the most mischievous thing was using words that my classmates didn't understand to insult them without them realizing it. Yes, it was cruel, but so were they. But hey, I'm not bitter....

Dessert Who is the funniest member of your family?
Probably my brother Aaron, just because he is so blunt and outspoken. I remember playing Balderdash with the family once, and one of Aaron's definitions had us all laughing for almost ten minutes. ("Porch monkeys.")

Feasting and Fast Food

I didn't participate in this week's edition of Friday's Feast because I couldn't think of a bad movie I'd seen recently, I couldn't think of anyone I'd want to change places with for a day, and my favorite season (hockey season) may not happen this year at all. But I was intrigued by this question:

Dessert What is something you frequently buy that you don't really need?

The answer to that question would be "junk food". I probably pick up a bite to eat at work at least four times a week, and I buy something from the vending machines at work or on campus at least that often. This must stop!

So, for the next ten days, I am on junk-food hiatus. No pizza between classes or Chinese take-out at work. I'm trading in soda for juice, candy bars for fruit bars, and value meals for homemade meals.

Ten days of my own cooking . . . wow. Wish me luck! By the end of it, I may be wanting that proverbial Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Oh, and about the goldfish, I think I would have named them Klaatu, Verata, and Necktie. No, wait, that's not right. Nickel? It's an 'N' word, it's definitely an 'N' word!

NCLB Hits Home

For the unfamiliar, NCLB stands for No Child Left Behind, the latest fad in education (in the tradition of such educational revolutions as phonics and the New Math). This legislation, pioneered in Texas and advocated by the Bush administration, has the stated goal of improving the educational process in the United States by holding schools accountable for the progress of their students. Academic achievement for each school is measured and tracked via standardized tests. Those schools that fail to show progress can receive failing grades and lose federal funding.

Let me first say that while it does not produce in me quite the same visceral reaction it produces in many educators, I'm not a big fan of NCLB. Yes, I believe that schools need to improve their performance, and I believe that there is a lot of inertia to be overcome in the American educational system before that will happen. But I don't think NCLB is the way to bring about the necessary changes. I see two problems¹ with NCLB: the reliance on standardized tests and the underlying Skinnerian philosophy of reward-and-punishment.

Standardized tests are always controversial, and rightfully so. One of the most common standardized tests, the SAT, was actually conceived as an intelligence test. Over the decades, its purpose and definition changed to what it is now: a test of 'scholastic aptitude' - whatever that is. This is indicative of one of the big problems with standardized tests: it's hard to define exactly what they measure. Standardized tests show only a moderate correlation with student grade point averages and content-specific assessment. They are also notoriously unreliable at predicting either future academic achievement or professional achievement. About the only thing that a standardized test reliably predicts is a student's ability to score well on other standardized tests.

Those who have taken Psychology 101 are familiar with B. F. Skinner and his theories of operant conditioning. Most educators now believe that Skinner's approach is outdated and ineffective.² But this is precisely the philosophy upon which NCLB is based: punishment for failing to meet established standards. So, in order to avoid punishment, schools learn (or become 'conditioned') to meet the standard, which is high scores on standardized tests. To achieve this end, schools stop teaching the curriculum and start teaching students how to do well on the tests. The result: test scores go up (if your district is fortunate), federal money rolls in, and students graduate - in many cases knowing less about the material than students in previous years did. And if your school doesn't happen to meet the standard, you lose the funding.³

And so we come to this irony: it seems that NCLB has turned to bite the hand that fed it. Because of a failure on the part of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to comply with the demands of NCLB, Texas stands to lose $7 million in federal education funding.

Under NCLB, states are required to inform parents when schools fail to meet the established benchmarks. When a school fails for two consecutive years, parents can transfer their children to a different school. TEA failed to release their report before classes started this fall, and parents have been unable to make the desired transfers. By current estimates, a preliminary report will be released in mid-November, with the full report following in February.

One of the biggest knocks against NCLB is that it asks schools and teachers to reach unattainable goals. So, if the state department of education can't even get the results out on time, how can teachers and administrators be expected to meet the myriad other requirements?

--

¹ "Only two?", I hear some of you asking.
² Ironically, most of these same teachers still use reward systems as a way to motivate students.
³ Although how schools are supposed to improve academic performance while spending less money on teachers, supplies, and infrastructure is a mystery to me.

Free Words!

For the last several days, WordPerfect has failed to work on my computer. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it - twice - to no avail. And since I'm a) too cheap to go buy another office suite and b) morally opposed to giving Herr Gates any more of my money than absolutely necessary, I went looking on the internet for a freeware word processor that I could download.

I had a couple of requirements in mind. First, it had to be relatively small, since I still use dial-up. (Yes, I know how cool broadband is, but why pay for it when I already get dial-up included with my tuition and fees?) A spell check feature was also an absolute necessity. While my spelling and general mechanics are usually fine, my typing is often suspect. (Sorry, Mom.)

So I went to Google and entered "freeware word processor". And I found one, on which I am composing this blog entry. It's called PolyEdit. So far it works pretty well. I had to download a dictionary in addition to the program itself, but at 547 Kb and 1.26 Mb respectively, it wasn't that big a deal. It has all the standard formatting features and provides translation to and from MS Word format if necessary. It also allows for special characters, tables, graphics, and embedded objects. If you happen to be coding HTML, it allows you to preview the finished product. And of course, it's got that spell checker (although it doesn't recognize "PolyEdit" as a word. I'm not sure what I think about a program that's unaware of its own existence.) So far, all the features seem pretty intuitive. Nice.

Isn't it great to know there's life (at least to some extent) without Microsoft^®?