As we slip into deep sleep, higher regions of our brains take a vacation from each other, disconnecting so much that consciousness is snuffed out and a once highly integrated organ becomes separated, according to a groundbreaking experiment by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.Sleeping in class? Much, much worse.
Sep 30, 2005
sleep makes your brain fall apart
Well, sort of.
tales outta school
1. Yesterday we spent a half hour reading in each class. Hack, hack, cough, cough, hack, sniffle, hack, cough, cough. I walked around with a Kleenex box, but there were few takers. This is an English class, but maybe I should take a few moments to lecture on the Germ Theory of Disease.
2. An administrator came by to check on a student who's been absent seven days. No one noticed the one who has yet to show up, but miraculously is still on my attendance list.
3. Yesterday's tie was declared "not as girly."
4. Students took umbrage at a letter to the editor (the first one, the "just kids" one.)
5. Today we're examining specific blog entries from different classes, talking about what makes for effective, non-doofus writing in an online environment. It's tough to drag students away from bad habits garnered from AIM or MySpace. Gratuitous exclamations and ROTF LMAO don't exactly add credibility.
6. Freshfolks are having a class discussion where I type up their thoughts on screen as they talk. Powerpoint works okay for this, but if there's a way to edit in fullscreen mode, someone tell me. Thanks.
2. An administrator came by to check on a student who's been absent seven days. No one noticed the one who has yet to show up, but miraculously is still on my attendance list.
3. Yesterday's tie was declared "not as girly."
4. Students took umbrage at a letter to the editor (the first one, the "just kids" one.)
5. Today we're examining specific blog entries from different classes, talking about what makes for effective, non-doofus writing in an online environment. It's tough to drag students away from bad habits garnered from AIM or MySpace. Gratuitous exclamations and ROTF LMAO don't exactly add credibility.
6. Freshfolks are having a class discussion where I type up their thoughts on screen as they talk. Powerpoint works okay for this, but if there's a way to edit in fullscreen mode, someone tell me. Thanks.
Sep 29, 2005
utilitarianism and wet-nursing
Should infants nurse only at their mother's breast? A little-known passage from John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism addresses the age-old question.
[thirty-fifth in a series]
Whether one is to wet-nurse or to nurse one's own infant, this poor philosopher cannot say. Aristides of Sparta declared the wet-nurse a parasite. Bentham encouraged the practice. That an infant must be nursed is indisputable, but the method cannot be reconciled to any theorem or axiom of the moral calculus.Better ask a Kantian.
[thirty-fifth in a series]
Sep 28, 2005
dueling dorks
Anderson's Maxim of Discourse has a new partner.
Anderson's Frightening Observation
Strangely relevant stories will appear on Obscure Store, whatever your topic.routine
A tornado on his back, he blitzes the classroom, poking the vacuum's snakelike plastic nozzle at tiny bits of notebook paper under the desks. "Here I am again," he shouts over the din.
"Me too," I shout back.
I work late when my wife works; he works late every night. We repeat this drill twice a week or so. Some nights we talk football, others we just nod and smile.
If my wife decides to work less to concentrate on school, this might be one of our last hellos, I tell him. He shakes his head, weaving through the desks.
"I know all about that," he shouts, then stops the vacuum and plunks down on a desk. "I tried that thirty years ago. Pre-med and a full-time job. Then the kids started coming, and I had to decide."
His eyes are bigger behind his glasses, his close-cropped gray hair hidden beneath a backward baseball cap. He adjusts the cap and scratches his scalp from time to time, mostly when making a point.
A military man for twenty-three years. A father with three grown sons.
Now, by choice and circumstance, a night custodian. "It's a great profession," he says. "With all my combined pension checks I'll retire with the big boys. But I wish sometimes I hadna left... It was tough. I didn't do real good in math. Those big lecture halls... it would go in one ear and out the other. But in the lab, it was different."
He pauses, searching for the moral. "When I look back... I threw away three years."
"Ever thought about dabbling, taking a few classes at the community college, getting back into it?" I ask.
"My friends are all doin' that," he replies. "I don't know. I don't know if I have the mentality anymore--to study like that."
"There are times when I just want to say 'screw it.' I take a lot of shit. I never thought I'd be cleaning up after people."
Five minutes of straight talk: back to work. Hitching up the vacuum, he drags a chewed up extension cord behind him and hollers good-night.
"Me too," I shout back.
I work late when my wife works; he works late every night. We repeat this drill twice a week or so. Some nights we talk football, others we just nod and smile.
If my wife decides to work less to concentrate on school, this might be one of our last hellos, I tell him. He shakes his head, weaving through the desks.
"I know all about that," he shouts, then stops the vacuum and plunks down on a desk. "I tried that thirty years ago. Pre-med and a full-time job. Then the kids started coming, and I had to decide."
His eyes are bigger behind his glasses, his close-cropped gray hair hidden beneath a backward baseball cap. He adjusts the cap and scratches his scalp from time to time, mostly when making a point.
A military man for twenty-three years. A father with three grown sons.
Now, by choice and circumstance, a night custodian. "It's a great profession," he says. "With all my combined pension checks I'll retire with the big boys. But I wish sometimes I hadna left... It was tough. I didn't do real good in math. Those big lecture halls... it would go in one ear and out the other. But in the lab, it was different."
He pauses, searching for the moral. "When I look back... I threw away three years."
"Ever thought about dabbling, taking a few classes at the community college, getting back into it?" I ask.
"My friends are all doin' that," he replies. "I don't know. I don't know if I have the mentality anymore--to study like that."
"There are times when I just want to say 'screw it.' I take a lot of shit. I never thought I'd be cleaning up after people."
Five minutes of straight talk: back to work. Hitching up the vacuum, he drags a chewed up extension cord behind him and hollers good-night.
Sep 27, 2005
an English teacher's pet peeves: blogging edition
it's = it is
its = belonging to it
they're = they are
their = belonging to them
there = not here
criteria = more than one criterion
ideology, ideological, ideologies
atheist, atheism, atheists
Thank you.
poop de grace
Just when we're arguing whether whizzing in Sizzler's worth the intervention of the state, along comes this weirdo.
Sep 26, 2005
is Achilles a hero?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, of course.
Horribly punned answer: Yes, but he's quite a heel.
[thirty-fourth in a series]
Long answer: Yes, of course.
Horribly punned answer: Yes, but he's quite a heel.
[thirty-fourth in a series]
sip to your heart's delight
I love coffee, and since discovering the robust goodness of Batdorf and Bronson's decaffeinated pleasure, I imbibe in nearly guilt-free circumstances every other day or so. (It's expensive, that's why.)
NewScientist's recent article on the demon drink (sorry, subscribers only) mostly makes good sense, swatting away some of the myths surrounding the nectar of the gods. No, coffee doesn't raise blood pressure, at least not in regular users. No, coffee won't cause cancer. No, coffee won't steal your innocence and throw your heart in the trash. The only real risk, it seems, is a greater incidence of bone fractures among those tippling four or more cups per diem.
But tucked away in an otherwise unobjectionable "science update" is a curious little section about caffeine's allure.
Coffee: enjoy it while you still can.
NewScientist's recent article on the demon drink (sorry, subscribers only) mostly makes good sense, swatting away some of the myths surrounding the nectar of the gods. No, coffee doesn't raise blood pressure, at least not in regular users. No, coffee won't cause cancer. No, coffee won't steal your innocence and throw your heart in the trash. The only real risk, it seems, is a greater incidence of bone fractures among those tippling four or more cups per diem.
But tucked away in an otherwise unobjectionable "science update" is a curious little section about caffeine's allure.
... [S]ure, caffeine is a habit-forming stimulant, but nobody abuses it. Take too much and you feel jittery and anxious rather than getting high. And nobody ever got mugged by a caffeine junkie. "An addictive drug is something you commit a crime for," says Manfred Kroger, a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University and spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists.Maybe they would, if caffeine were prohibited and cost $500 per cup, turning preps into anarchists and law-abiding mothers into mobsters.
Caffeine researcher Lawrence Armstrong, an exercise physiologist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, agrees. "Caffeine is a substance of dependence, not a drug of addiction," he says. "The words 'drug' and 'addiction' are powerfully emotive. Nobody robs banks or commits murder for caffeine."
Coffee: enjoy it while you still can.
Sep 25, 2005
one long drag toward the slippery slope
This week The Olympian is calling for voters to support I-901, which would add bars, restaurants, and other privately-owned establishments to the list of places where a puff of rancid tobacco is forbidden. A few choice paragraphs from the editorial show just how deep-rooted the logic of protectionism has become in society. Let's take a look.
Smokers are doomed. I-901 will pass, and may even survive the courts. But not with my help.
*It's not as silly as it sounds. The Evergreen State College, always on the cultural vanguard, prohibits the use of deodorants, perfumes, or colognes in any of its buildings.
On Nov. 8, Washington voters should adopt Initiative 901, which will ban indoor smoking from bars, restaurants, skating rinks and bowling alleys. In effect, I-901 bans all indoor smoking. It's the last step in a long process....The newspaper's blunder in the first paragraph is telling. I-901 doesn't prohibit "all indoor smoking," instead extending the ban to all privately-owned businesses. You can still smoke in your own home. For how long, though? I'd say about twenty years; the neo-prohibitionist movement is building momentum. (Come back in two decades and see if I'm right. If wrong, I'll buy you a fine Cuban cigar. Well, as long as that ban is lifted by then.)
...In 1985, the state adopted the Clean Indoor Air Act, banning smoking in retail outlets. In 1993, offices were added to the "No Smoking" list.... If we protect the health of office workers and retail employees from the dangers of secondhand smoke, why shouldn't waitresses and bartenders and clerks at bowling alleys and skating rinks enjoy the same protection?A better question: why is it the government's role to protect people from smoke, when they have the right to vote with their feet and their wallets? No one is forced to work or eat in a smoke-laden environment.
...As for the loss of individual rights, Nick Federici, spokesman for the American Lung Association of Washington, says, "Your right to swing your arms ends at my nose." In other words, smokers don't have the right to pollute nonsmokers' air....Social norms usually take care of this problem. By this chop logic, a nonsmoker could enter a private home and tell its occupant to douse the cigarillo. As slippery slope--and one The Olympian is ready to slide right down.
...There is a strong argument to be made in favor of protecting the health of hospitality employees and patrons. Think about it. Restaurants and bars are already heavily regulated by the county health department. Inspectors ensure that cooks and dishwashers have taken a class on proper foodhanding techniques. The regulators conduct regular and special inspections ensuring that those individuals handling food are wearing gloves, that dishes are properly sanitized and that food is prepared and stored in a safe manner.First off, those regulations mostly protect patrons, not employees, because undercooked or unsanitary food is an immediate health hazard, and the unsuspecting customer has no idea what's going on in the kitchen. Granted, smoking isn't terribly healthy, but do we need more ways to tie up law enforcement, county employees, and business owners? What about other policy options? Give businesses incentives to upgrade their ventilation systems, tax breaks for switching to smoke-free environments. There are dozens of choices, but do-gooders want to regulate, regulate, regulate.
Those precautions are all in place to protect workers and patrons. Improving air quality is simply another protection.
Federici predicts that smoking establishments will increase business once the ban is in place. "People will spend more money at those places if they don't have to walk through a cloud of carcinogens to get to the scrambled eggs."If consumers really cared, they'd already tell the businesses that they're losing patrons because of their smoggy environments. I'm sure I'm not the only who's walked out of an indoor forest fire.
...There are more than 225,000 hospitality employees in this state who must show up for work in a smoky environment every day. They deserve protection from secondhand smoke as much as office workers and retail employees....Interesting choice of phrase: "must show up." They have no choice but to work in a smoke-filled den. Instead of banding together to convince their management to change things, they call upon the power of Ma State to knock private businesses around.
Everyone has a right to breathe clean air. That's why voters should cast their ballots in support of Initiative 901 on Nov. 8.I'm all for upholding rights, but I wasn't aware of a "right to breathe clean air." Let's go as far as the slope will carry us. Let's shut down the fragrance aisle at Macys.* And ticket those who flatulate in the public square. And provide mandatory scrub-downs for the B.O. burdened. And monitor emissions from the mall's food court. And clamp down on halitosis. And ban everything on the road but the Honda FCX.
Smokers are doomed. I-901 will pass, and may even survive the courts. But not with my help.
*It's not as silly as it sounds. The Evergreen State College, always on the cultural vanguard, prohibits the use of deodorants, perfumes, or colognes in any of its buildings.
Sep 24, 2005
I do bite my thumb, sir.
Mark Olson's essay comparing David v. Goliath to Menelaus v. Paris is up. One of his considerations:
Man’s competitive nature, and the value placed on honor leads inevitably to dueling. Today, the fact that we don’t duel makes it clear that, for the modern man, life is valued over personal and family honor.Perhaps "Dueling is a valid way to resolve disputes" will make it to the list of Lincoln-Douglas debate topics.
even more eyesores
Friday evening, for cheap entertainment, the wife and I went ugly car hunting. We walked around the downtown and elsewhere, tourists in our own town, digital camera in hand, and discovered these three beauties.
Black, silver, and ugly all over. (Custom plate reads "VW VIXON." Add poor spelling to the mix.)
A Geo with racing stripes. Yup.
I hope the "Re-Elect Carter / Mondale" sticker and the stripes are perversely ironic.
Orange plus tan on anything else makes for a hideous combination; on an El Camino, though, it's strangely alluring.
Black, silver, and ugly all over. (Custom plate reads "VW VIXON." Add poor spelling to the mix.)
A Geo with racing stripes. Yup.
I hope the "Re-Elect Carter / Mondale" sticker and the stripes are perversely ironic.
Orange plus tan on anything else makes for a hideous combination; on an El Camino, though, it's strangely alluring.
Sep 23, 2005
more on materialism, knowledge and question-begging
Joe Carter, attempting to declare materialism null and void, indulges in a little petitio principii. My responses are in the comments. (Maybe I'll post more here, when I have time.)
Read my previous thoughts on materialist aesthetics here.
Read my previous thoughts on materialist aesthetics here.
Sep 22, 2005
Mr. A's fashion quotes
Student: "You look like an Easter egg. So bright and pastel-y."
Me: "Is that a compliment?"
Student: "You always match. That's pretty rare for a teacher."
Student: "On the first day of school, why did you dress like a lawyer?"
Student: "I'd wear that tie. It's not tacky."
Me: "Are you kidding? It looks like grandma's curtains."
Student: "Now I get it, when you said that some teachers wear ugly ties and don't know it."
Me: "Is that a compliment?"
Student: "You always match. That's pretty rare for a teacher."
Student: "On the first day of school, why did you dress like a lawyer?"
Student: "I'd wear that tie. It's not tacky."
Me: "Are you kidding? It looks like grandma's curtains."
Student: "Now I get it, when you said that some teachers wear ugly ties and don't know it."
Sep 21, 2005
if you think it, it is so
A few minutes shy of my wife's five o'clock lunch break, as I pulled into the Macy's parking lot, I watched a teacher from my high school enter the store. I had this thought: It'd be funny if she bought a handbag from Melissa.
When her break finally came, my wife hopped into the car, bubbling with news that she'd just sold a nifty leather purse to that very same teacher.
Obviously, I control the universe. So blame your misfortune on my oversight, laziness, or utter disregard.
When her break finally came, my wife hopped into the car, bubbling with news that she'd just sold a nifty leather purse to that very same teacher.
Obviously, I control the universe. So blame your misfortune on my oversight, laziness, or utter disregard.
on our minds
Three sophomore English classes. Fifty-nine potential debate topics. Bold items were listed by all three classes. We whittle the list on Friday.
1. Drug legalization
2. Gay marriage
3. Polygamy
4. Domestic violence
5. Gas prices
6. Prison overcrowding
7. Hurricanes
8. Iraq
9. Pollution
10. Gender roles in the home
11. The WASL / new state graduation requirements
12. Celebrities and the justice system
13. School parking permits
14. Airline safety
15. Immigration
16. Taxes
17. Government spending
18. The Pledge of Allegiance
19. Steroids
20. Stem cells / cloning
21. The school's dress code
22. STDs
23. Premarital sex
24. Teen pregnancy
25. Human trafficking / international slave trade
26. The drinking age
27. Music
28. Longer school lunches
29. Homelessness
30. Abortion
31. The school's new soda policy
32. Obesity
33. Sports
34. Religion
35. Evolution
36. G. W. Bush
37. Driver's license requirements
38. Teachers who preach in class
39. Why school is mandatory
40. Marriage / Divorce
41. Area 51
42. Bible codes
43. Biological / Chemical weapons
44. Are we alone in the universe?
45. Guns
46. Fireworks
47. Natural disasters
48. Rebuilding New Orleans
49. The draft
50. Class in America
51. Cliques in school
52. The voting age
53. Cultural relativism
54. Fast food industry
55. Poverty
56. Droughts and disease in Africa
57. Racism in Olympia
58. The annoying morning announcements
59. Aging and rights
1. Drug legalization
2. Gay marriage
3. Polygamy
4. Domestic violence
5. Gas prices
6. Prison overcrowding
7. Hurricanes
8. Iraq
9. Pollution
10. Gender roles in the home
11. The WASL / new state graduation requirements
12. Celebrities and the justice system
13. School parking permits
14. Airline safety
15. Immigration
16. Taxes
17. Government spending
18. The Pledge of Allegiance
19. Steroids
20. Stem cells / cloning
21. The school's dress code
22. STDs
23. Premarital sex
24. Teen pregnancy
25. Human trafficking / international slave trade
26. The drinking age
27. Music
28. Longer school lunches
29. Homelessness
30. Abortion
31. The school's new soda policy
32. Obesity
33. Sports
34. Religion
35. Evolution
36. G. W. Bush
37. Driver's license requirements
38. Teachers who preach in class
39. Why school is mandatory
40. Marriage / Divorce
41. Area 51
42. Bible codes
43. Biological / Chemical weapons
44. Are we alone in the universe?
45. Guns
46. Fireworks
47. Natural disasters
48. Rebuilding New Orleans
49. The draft
50. Class in America
51. Cliques in school
52. The voting age
53. Cultural relativism
54. Fast food industry
55. Poverty
56. Droughts and disease in Africa
57. Racism in Olympia
58. The annoying morning announcements
59. Aging and rights
Sep 20, 2005
your mother was a virus...
... and your father reeked of endosymbionts. Could the story of human origins get any weirder? Ask Carl Zimmer, sci-blogger extraordinaire.
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