Random Thoughts Anew

[EdnaMode]

Just a stray passing thought, might be an anniversary of sorts...

Sometimes your angel appears in the form of a big, weathered old Irish beat cop

...

Lifesaving heroes don't always wear capes or wings.

M.

Bless him. One of my heroes was a tow truck driver, must be 30 years ago now, who drove me home from the car dealership where he'd towed my car that had broken a tie rod as I turned a corner. It was a Saturday evening and I'd been out driving around exploring my new town. I walked to a hotel and used their front desk phone to call AAA. Since I had been in town only a couple of days, I had no friends yet, no family to call, no bus service to where I lived etc. He said that I reminded him of his daughter and he hoped someday someone would help her if she was in the same situation.

[apl68]

While in grad school in the 1990s I was on my way back from the Thanksgiving holiday when I got stuck in a 20-mile-long traffic jam near Memphis.  It was too much for my car's unreliable cooling system to handle.  I was stranded on the side of the road in that mess, 200 miles from either my home town or my current residence.  A student I barely knew from church, who was also heading back from the break, saw me there and picked me up.  He knew people in the area and was able to arrange to have the vehicle towed to a repair shop.  Then he carried me home.  Couldn't thank him enough.  I no longer even recall his name.  Some things are just not mere coincidence.

[AmLitHist]

Life is too short to continue doing trivial things you dislike, just because you're "supposed to" do them.

[mahagonny]

'How to enhance student response rates in course/instructor evaluations'

1. 'Remind them what evaluations are used for:

to help you figure out what the hell you should be doing from grade-grubbing 19 year-olds who were ill-equipped for admission to their program, because your years of training and real world success have been insufficient

to threaten the adjunct union

to decide who gets to teach the same course again next year for the same pay, no job security, regardless of my track record of accolades from the serious students'

No, I don't think you want me to remind them.

[mamselle]

I have so much to do I'm not sure I can afford the time for any random, un-focused thoughts for the next two weeks.

Except that one...

M.

[mamselle]

Well, there is one stray thought that has surfaced...

I much prefer Middle French.

Thorns are for roses.

M.

[downer]

I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.

[mamselle]

Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.

[Anon1787]

I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.

Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.

Yes. I have trouble proving my own existence.

[mamselle]

The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

[Anon1787]

The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

That's too difficult. A true-false question means a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, which is comparable to the odds in Pascal's wager.

[mamselle]

Fair enough.

   (...so to speak...)

M.

[apl68]

The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

Don't forget Anselm's Ontological Argument!

This question reminds me of the Peanuts strip where Peppermint Patty had a test question that read:  "Explain World War II.  Use both sides of paper if necessary."

[downer]

Entertainment Weekly stopped print publication last month. It's good that people are wasting less paper.

How long before printed books become a thing of the past?

[Langue_doc]

I once had a student complain angrily and bitterly that I was giving them too many handouts and that I would be saving trees and by extension by not giving handouts. This was a very angry Stu who complained in every class.