The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: Asymptotic on May 10, 2024, 05:38:06 AM

Quote from: EdnaMode on May 08, 2024, 04:59:37 PMNot sure where the money is going because their tuition is among the highest in the Big Ten.

Administrative bloat. Main campus has an absurd number of redundant administrators. They sign our emails so I know.

For grins, I decided to compare my doctoral alma mater to Penn State using publicly available data. Two institutions of similar size, similar number of students, smaller campuses dispersed across the state, similar types of programs offered in engineering, the sciences, humanities, etc. so a relatively equal comparison. Penn State has nearly twice the number of administrators (at similar salaries) and charges twice the in-state tuition of my alma mater. I think you may be correct, they seem to have an astounding amount of administrative bloat going on, and that may be where at least some of the financial problems come from. And the whole state seems to have problems in higher ed funding, from what others have posted. If I taught there, I'd be very concerned.

Anyone see the new Planet of the Apes movie yet?

Just T1 again, I think.

Good morning!

Got to somewhere past genius with pangram (which took me a bit for some reason).  Yesterday we had team QB.  I know I needed nonlocal again but forget what else.

No luck on LB.  Congrats on your solutions!

Got some big news this morning that eldest daughter got engaged! Not a huge surprise since her fiance had asked her dad for permission (guess some still do that!), and it wasn't a secret from her.  He also just graduated with his doctorate this weekend, so hopefully they will have some fun planning their wedding and future.

Anyone see the Northern lights? We didn't even bother looking because we are pretty far south, but apparently some neighbors captured the phenomenon, so we will go out and take a look tonight (or at least hope that our cameras see it).

Happy solving!

Good morning!

QBwH yesterday for nonlocal. QB today.

LB: programed-direful. I found a 2fer today as well.

Ciao_yall, are you staying pretty much in the southwest, or heading for other regions? Sounds like a wonderful trip. Langue_doc, happy birding!

Happy puzzling!

I suppose that the occasional student tries to use alleged "religious reasons" as an excuse for missing work or class.  Wouldn't think this sort of abuse would be very common.  Religion in any form probably isn't even on most of their radars.

Quote from: sprout on May 10, 2024, 12:21:56 PM

Quote from: apl68 on May 03, 2024, 08:06:55 AMThe Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester.  As much as anything, this is a love letter to the Oxford English Dictionary.  The print version of the OED, which I recall using some in grad school, is an awe-inspiring work.  Multiple, vast, well-produced volumes, filled with hundreds of thousands of words, each with a painstaking etymology and numerous quotes tracing its assorted definitions and shades of meaning down through the centuries.  Though the first edition was not completed until the 1920s, it was in origin a fantastically ambitious Victorian project. 

...

Sounds like this is a retitling of The Professor and the Madman which I enjoyed a while back!

I'd forgotten that the book was known under that title as well.  That's probably the title under which I saw it reviewed years ago when it first came out.  Looks like the story has also been made into a movie at some point.

Federal law essentially says you have to accommodate religion. It doesn't say how. My school says it does this, but then gives no direction, so its up to the student to arrange something reasonable with the professor. After the fact declaration doesn't seem reasonable. You could, as a prof, ask for "proof", but what would that mean?  So few students have ever asked for this kind of accommodation here, but those that do so usually do it in a timely manner and without hassle, so I don't give them any guff.

Good morning!

Pangram and genius. QB yesterday, with unlock at the end.

perfumed/dialog

Bird walk today, so no more puzzling.

Happy solving!

Morning!

Losing track of the days. But QBw2LL, last word lacuna. 2fer profiled-demagogue.

Yes, I hear Lascaux 2 (and 3) did a great job. But still, it reminds me of going to New Orleans for the first time and thinking wow, this looks just like New Orleans Square at Disneyland! Um...