The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: Langue_doc on April 06, 2024, 07:45:34 AM

Quote from: fleabite on April 05, 2024, 05:56:36 AMI had a good look at sparrows when they gathered around me to prospect for crumbs as I was eating a snack. I looked up their identities after I got home (I didn't have a camera with me). One of the group, very attractive, was a male house sparrow just taking on its breeding plumage. The others were, I think, non-breeding/immature males, but I didn't think to check the bill color. Sparrows are so omnipresent where I live (and zip about so rapidly) that it never occurred to me to try and distinguish among them before.

Depending on where you live, some of these could be song sparrows or even their white-throated counterparts.

Thanks for the reply, which I just saw. There are many of the tan-type of white-throated sparrow in my area, but what I saw were definitely house sparrows. They struck my eye because the markings were unfamiliar to me.

AmListHist: I hope all four eggs in the robin's nest hatch!

I recommend the 9/11 Report. I recognize that reading in full would not be in the scope of your course, but it is very well written, and I remember thinking that the chapter on the reasons for the attack was excellent. As it was a bipartisan report, it might be particularly acceptable to students who do happen to be engaged politically on one side or another.

Let There Be Water: Israel's Solution for a Water-Starved World, by Seth M. Siegel, is a very accessible read about how Israel turned desert lands into fertile land, as well as the other technologies that it uses to conserve water that could be copied around the world. I think that students would enjoy it, particularly those who are environmentally minded.

I've heard good things about Start-up Nation (also about Israel) but haven't read it.

Editing this to add that I also wanted to recommend The Ghost Plane: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Plane-Rendition-Torture-Program/dp/031236024X. I think most students will be shocked by the actions taken by the US in the Middle East, but it could help them to care about voting and politics.

This is a non-issue:

"All assignments are available from Day 1 of the semester. Plan ahead."

"There are five exams. Lowest exam score is dropped from the calculation of the course grade. There are no make-up exams."

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.