Goofy Tarot Quiz

The Hierophant Card
You are the the Hierophant card. The Hierophant,
called The Pope in some decks, is the preserver
of cultural traditions. After entering The
Emperor’s society, The Hierophant teaches us
its wisdom. The Hierophant learns and teaches
our cultural traditions. The discoveries our
ancestors have made influence the present.
Without forces such as The Hierophant who are
able to interpret and communicate traditional
lore, each generation would have to begin to
learn anew. As a force that is concentrated on
our past and our culture, The Hierophant can
sometimes be stubborn and set in his ways. This
is a negative trait he shares with his zodiac
sign, Taurus. But like Taurus he is productive.
His traditional lore can provide a source of
inspiration for the creatively inclined, and
his knowledge provides an excellent foundation
for those who come into their own in the
business world. Image from: Morgan E.
Cauthers-Knox.
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/m/o/morganc/morganc.html

Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Like any other one of these things, there’s some truth to this, there’s a lot of bunk to it. I don’t put a lot of faith in any of these kinds of things, though I am told that the reason I don’t believe this stuff is because I’m an Aries…

Picturing Google

I don’t know if this is an “official” kind of blog entry or not, but I thought this was pretty cool…

Basically, these people are looking at a painting of a screen shot of the Google web site. The image itself is from a web broadcast which has been reproduced on the web. Sort of one of those images in a mirror reflected in a mirror and then another mirror and in a photograph.

See the whole story at Natural Process : Process Flow.

Still MORE about the damn house!

I know there’s been a lot of posts here lately about that and I also know that millions of my regular readers don’t really care about it or EMU politics all that much, but I have to post this entry and link to a HUGE article in the Sunday Ann Arbor News about all this. A few quotes from the article:

* The episode has scarred Eastern, said Peter Fletcher, an Ypsilanti booster and Republican Party activist. He blames departing President Samuel Kirkpatrick and the Board of Regents, who were all appointed by then-Gov. John Engler, a Republican.

“Instead of achieving great things for the university, (Kirkpatrick) has brought absolute public humiliation and disgrace. The university appears to be out of control financially. While classrooms and dormitories are falling apart and there’s public safety at stake, they built this palatial mansion for the presidents. Their priorities are completely scrambled. It’s the Marie Antoinette mind-set: Let them eat cake,” Fletcher said.

(Jeesh, I’m even agreeing with a Republican! That’s just how bad this has all gotten…)

* When it first began discussing the project, EMU administrators and regents emphasized that no tuition dollars or state money would be used. They were firm in their pledge that tuition would not increase because of the house.

The state audit showed, however, that about $3.7 million was taken from EMU’s operating revenues – which include student tuition and fees. The audit noted that EMU tuition increased in annual rates of up to 22 percent during the years the house was being built.

* From the beginning, Kirkpatrick distanced himself from the project, saying it was the regents’ decision to build it.

But an investigation by The News showed Kirkpatrick and his wife, Pam, were deeply involved in many decisions – selecting appliances, paint colors, the finish on hardware and hinges and the security and sound system.

An internal memo documents 22 change orders made by the Kirkpatricks during construction.

* Kirkpatrick surprised the university community last month when he announced his resignation. He and Incarnati each said neither the house nor the audit played a role in his exit.

Yet Kirkpatrick is leaving to take an unpaid job at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington. The one-year position as senior fellow has no benefits, housing or other incentives, said Heather Berg, the group’s spokeswoman. Kirkpatrick said he wanted to follow his interests in working with urban universities.

When Kirkpatrick resigned, the university press release said he would get about $470,000. But the agreement, which the university refused to release until The News filed a Freedom of Information Act request, shows the package will cost the school more than $514,000.

It includes two years of salary and benefits; heath care coverage through 2008; a $25,000 lump-sum payment; and $44,400 in bonuses Kirkpatrick would have received if he had remained at Eastern. Kirkpatrick and the board also agreed not to criticize each other, under terms of the agreement.

* In the end, said David Rutledge, a Democrat in the 54th House race, said regents should shoulder the blame. “This was a comedy of errors. This is the type of thing that happens when you do not put people with leadership skills in leadership positions,” he said.

Unbelievable.

The News also has a useful “EMU said/the audit or The News said” feature here.

So, now I apparently have a disease

It’s been all over the news that obesity is a disease, but I guess I’ve got a couple of questions/issues with that:

* This article from Houston’s channel 24 is pretty typical, noting that “Over 64 percent of the population in America is overweight, and nearly half of them are obese — more than 30 pounds over a healthy weight.” Then they show this “stock photo of a fat guy:”

Here’s my problem: what this sort of image does with the claim that 64% of the population is overweight is to equate everyone who is overweight with this guy, who, besides being headless (ever notice no really fat people have heads on TV?), is WAY more fat than “overweight” or even merely “obese.”

My point is there’s fat and then there’s FAT, and it seems to me that there’s a big difference between someone like me– a guy who could lose another 20 pounds or so, but who is otherwise in reasonably good health– versus stock photo fat guy, who could probably lose about 100.

* Besides that, just because someone is overweight or obese doesn’t mean they automatically have the problems we assume are caused by obesity. This is the point of this book by Paul Campos called The Obesity Myth.

* What counts as “obese?” Or, for that matter, “overweight?” I’ve blogged about this before too, but as long as we’re going to use Body Mass Index as the mechanism for deciding this, and as long we’re going to insist a BMI of less than 25 as “normal,” then of course a huge percentage of the population is going to be considered overweight. I’m no physician and I don’t have the answer to the question as to what counts or doesn’t as obese and overweight, but I think it’s gotta be different from this scheme.

* Why now is “obesity” being called a disease? Well, I don’t really know the answer, but I came across this interesting article. Now, granted, it comes from a group that I think lobbies for fast food companies and groups like that; but they suggest that one of the reasons why obesity is being named a disease for the purposes of Medicare is so that drug companies and doctors. that offer stomach surgeries can cash in.

* And I guess the big question I have is this: now that I am technically obese, can I cash in? I pay around $40 a month for the gym– can I have my medical insurance cover that? Low-carb food choices tend to cost more money than “regular” food choices, so I’m wondering if I can get some sort of reimbursement for the difference in costs there. And really, if being obese really were to get me access to certain government bennies, isn’t there some motivation for me to get even fatter? Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer gets super-fat so he can claim disability and then do his job as a nuclear plant safety office from home?

Hmmm…. that’s just crazy enough to work!

What to do about the house: Isn't the answer obvious?

There was an article in the Friday Ann Arbor News (which, for some reason, isn’t showing up on mlive.com) headlined “Granholm calls EMU report ‘disturbing.” For the most part, it’s kind of a “wrap-up” article– if you read the other pieces that have been covering this story lately, you already know what you need to know.

But repeatedly, it answers the question I imply and directly ask in previous posts, and it answers it the way I think that question should be answered. Who is ultimately responsible for this house debacle, and who should be held accountable? Let’s go to the article for a few quotes:

“Former state senator Alma Wheeler-Smith… laid the blame on departing President Samuel Kirkpatrick and Philip Incarnati, chairman of the EMU Board of Regents…. ‘The head of the board is still there,’ Wheeler-Smith said. ‘I’m saying the governor should probably ask for his resignation.'”

“Diane Kerr, an Ypsilanti school board member… said ‘the Board of Regents dropped the ball, from Phil on down. Some kind of censure against the board would be more appropriate (than reducing funding to the university).'”

“Rep. Scott Shackleton, R-Sault Ste. Marie, who chairs the Joint House and Senate Capital Outlay Committee… said he was aghast at the scope of the University House project as well as its opulence. ‘You have to has how many university presidents have a gated estate built for them,’ he said.”

You get the idea.

I think the good news here is if this is what people are saying in the newspaper, my guess is this is ultimately what’s going to happen.

Maybe I Should be a CHE Diarists…

I came across this article/call for diarists at the CHE. Basically, they’re looking for folks who have stories to tell about going on the job market in the coming year. To quote:

“If you have a flair for writing, here’s an opportunity to use it and get paid. We select about 10 diarists a year; each writes three to four columns over the course of the year about his or her job search. Besides doctoral students and Ph.D.’s who are looking for their first tenure-track job, we welcome submissions from other academics who plan to spend this year hunting for a new position, including adjunct faculty members, professors already tenured or on the tenure track, and administrators. If you are part of a dual-career academic couple, you are welcome to write a diary together.”

I dunno, maybe I should apply. I’m going to be on the job market in the coming year– NOT because I’m unhappy at EMU (though, as I’ve said to any number of people, EMU isn’t as good of a place to work as it was when I got here, largely because of folks like Kirkpatrick and the current Board of Regents) and NOT because I’m unhappy with the department I work. Sure, there are some problems, but by and large, I’m happy here, I would be more than willing to spend the rest of my academic career here, and I know PLENTY of people who are working in worst situations. And, last but far from least, I very much like living in the Ann Arbor area.

However:

* I’m one half of an academic couple (my wife is Annette Wannamaker) who is severely under-employed at EMU UPDATE: Annette is now an assistant professor, no longer under-employed, and we’re both darn happy about it. See her web site, http://people.emich.edu/awannamak ;

* Michigan has some major economic problems that are likely to impact places like EMU;

* While the Ann Arbor area is very cool, it is also extremely expensive; and

* I’m really interested in exploring the possibilities for associate positions at some schools (places that might mean a lateral move) and assistant positions at others (places that might mean a move up the “academic food chain”).

For lack of a better way of putting it: I’m happy now, but I’m interested in finding out if I could be happier.

Anyway, it sounds to me like I might be the “type” that CHE would be interested in. Plus, I like to think I have a “flair for writing.”

The down-side of doing something like this is additional work and putting myself “out there,” though in the tradition of CHE, I’d probably be anonymous. The up-side is I’ll bet CHE pays pretty well for these little diarist stories– or at least better than this blog pays…

The Shift to Blogger: Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…

It’s been about a week or so since I’ve made the shift to blogger, and I must say I’m beginning to have some regrets. There have been some minor things that were missing from blogger, things like categories, that I was willing to live with. But now blogger has done something weird with their software– or something.

I’m posting this message now from my Mac iBook G4, which is my “main computer” that I use for just about everything, including this blog stuff. But I’m using the awful Internet Exploder browser because it’s the only one that will work from my Mac, basically as of about last night. I tried to post to my unofficial blog with Safari, my browser of choice and the browser I had used previously to do my blogger stuff, and while it would post the title of my entry, it wouldn’t post anything in the body of my post.

This morning, I tried to do it in several other browsers– Netscape, Camino, Mozzilla, Firefox– and none of them worked. I did get a “javascript” error with the Camino browser though, which makes me think that blogger has done something that essentially screws over Mac users like me and/or people who would prefer to not use Internet Explorer.

Anyway, IE works for now, perhaps it is an issue with my computer I need to address, and/or if it really is a “system-wide” problem at blogger, I’m going to have to assume that this is something that will be fixed. But the situation does make me have my regrets about the migration.

A slight update:

It appears that my problems are the result of some “improvements” blogger is making. Oy Vey. Here’s a link to some info about it all on the blogger site, and here’s a link to the blog of the blogger engineer who is working on these “improvements.

Now, I have to say that while it pisses me off that blogger has pushed out a software “improvement” that flat-out doesn’t work on the mac (yet), I am impressed that the blogger/google folk seem willing to at least tell folks what’s going on (sort of), and they appear to be working to solve this problem. In other words, I have to say they seem to actually want to work with their customers (who aren’t really “customers” at all since no one pays for blogger, right?) in a way I didn’t see happening with Movable Type. If you didn’t pay for MT, you got zippo in terms of support.

Of course, all your settings didn’t change automatically either…