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Category: Academic Steve

  • 3 Tid Bits, 2 Videos, Hands Tied

    On Wednesday, three neat things happened.

    Bobby B

    Junior year of high school, I took AP Chemistry with Mr. Becker.  Mr. Becker is an enthusiastic little man.  He put the periodic table on the ceiling, blew things up weekly, and instituted “early mornings” for AP Chem where we got to class at 6:55am three times a week.  I was awful at Chemistry, and quite honestly that class convinced me to end the family trade (both my father and grandfather were Chemists).  This man however was extraordinarily dedicated.  He inspired many to go into the sciences.  He came in early and stayed late after school helping students.  While Chemistry was not my thing, every high school should have a Mr. Becker.

    Mr. B got his well deserved props this week.  He was named Missouri teacher of the Year.  He will be nominated for National Teacher of the year.  It is simply neat that he got the recognition he definitely deserved.

    The Sunday Mail

    Sophomore year of college, some friends of mine had a town house.  Most of us lived in dorms, so having this venue was a gift.  The F Street townhouse was where many parties happened.  Before many of these parties, three guys in a band would play.  They were good guys and called themselves the Sunday Mail.  I was not great friends with them, but they were in my extended circle.  They kept the band together (but changed the name to Jukebox the Ghost) after college and have made a living out of it.  They opened for Ben’s Folds Five, are headlining a tour this fall to promote their second album.  And tonight…well…watch.

    Hands Tied

    On Tuesday, I had a bit of a dissertation rant to my friend Deborah.  As mentioned before, my advisers have pushed me to wander more.  On Wednesday, I went into one of their offices.  I returned a book I wandered in (it was actually pretty good).  We talked about it some, and I brainstormed with him on another unrelated idea, which he liked.  We talked about future readings, and I somewhat re-ranted my rant to Deborah to him.  I do not quite remember how the events unfolded, but somewhere in the conversation I said that this process is “eating your vegetables,” to which he chuckled.   Somewhere else he said: “Well, it is probably good to keep your hands tied for a couple more weeks.”  I don’t know why, but it made me feel a little better.   It made it seem like he understood a fair bit, which I appreciated.

    Sorry…No video on that one.

  • Maybe the first TV ad….

    This may be the first TV ad ever regarding the Seventeenth Amendment

    Hat tip to ColoradoPols via Enik Rising

    The saddest thing is the reason I came across this….I can’t fall asleep because I can’t stop thinking about a puzzle my Seventeenth Amendment paper is presenting.

  • Dissertating

    In the next three years, I will spend considerable time dissertating. Making my first real contribution to the academic world. For the last month or so, I have worked on formulating a research question, and it is tricky.

    To brainstorm, I have read a lot. Visited (and revisited) books. Turned the pages of other’s dissertations (for one, I got through the first ten pages of an adviser’s book where he said it was an improvement on the dissertation, prompting me to read what he first wrote: his dissertation)). So in coming up with my own dissertation topic, I have sought inspiration a range of topics. From Presidential strategies to Legislative Professionalism; from Ballots to Minority Party Rights; from Voter Turnout to Ideal Points.

    So what advice did I get from my advisers last week? Read more.

    At first, I did not know how to absorb this. It was not the only advice given, and they seemed relatively pleased with where I was at this stage. It however was a little difficult to think I primarily needed to continue what I was doing, but in a conversation today with one of them where I apologized for presenting a scattered idea, an adviser replied: “Well it should be scattered, we are telling you to wander.”

    Wandering is very different for me. I like to ponder problems over time, but generally the ultimate goal is known and solving the problem is a small step to get there. I agree with their advice, but it is difficult to stick in this stage where I am not tangibly producing something. I am not checking generals readings off a list, getting a data set in order, or producing another draft. I sit at my desk with a book and scribble down research thoughts in my notebook. Somewhat stupidly however I want to have something to report. Just very different to say: still figuring it out.

    Again, I agree with the advice given, and I fear I am sticking to much to a particular doable idea and just molding it a bit. Not necessarily allowing myself to fully explore others. My topic will dictate years of work. I however am impatient and want to get started.

    There ya go for a rambly Steve post. Let’s see what I think of it in three years from now.

  • The Most Relevant Amendment

    From Congressman Louie Gohmert via TPM with a hat tip to Sarah Binder

    Gohmert: Fight Health Care Bill By Repealing Popular Election Of Senators

    Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is calling for a strong re-assertion of states rights against Congress — in the form of a Constitutional amendment to eliminate the direct popular election of Senators, and go back to the pre-17th Amendment setup of state legislatures appointing them.

    “Ever since the safeguard of State legislatures electing U.S. Senators was removed by the 17th Amendment in 1913, there has been no check or balance on the Federal power grab for the last 97 years,” Gohmert said in a press release, calling for a constitutional convention of the states. “Article V requires a minimum of 34 states to request a Convention which in this case, would be an Amendment Convention for only ONE amendment.”

    And once again, the mainstream miscalculates how many Senators would be indirectly elected.  Dan Weigel incorrectly reports:

    For what it’s worth, Democrats currently control 27 state legislatures, so this would be a pretty bad deal for them at present, sending them back to 54 senators. Media Matters Action has video and points out how this conflicts with the “Massachusetts elected Scott Brown, thus health care reform should die” argument of a week ago.

    He is pretty close though.  Democrats would have at least 54 seats.  No idea how Nebraska or some tied legislatures would go.

    Gohmert: Fight Health Care Bill By Repealing Popular Election Of Senators

  • Sociological Reasons

    Andrew Gelman quote via Tyler Cowen via The Monkey Cage

    We originally wrote this article in Word, but then we converted it to Latex to make it look more like science.

  • Orthogonal

    Supreme Court Justices, law professor play with words
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010; A03

    Supreme Court justices deal in words, and they are always on the lookout for new ones.

    University of Michigan law professor Richard D. Friedman discovered that Monday when he answered a question from Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, but added that it was “entirely orthogonal” to the argument he was making in Briscoe v. Virginia.

    Friedman attempted to move on, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. stopped him.

    “I’m sorry,” Roberts said. “Entirely what?”

    “Orthogonal,” Friedman repeated, and then defined the word: “Right angle. Unrelated. Irrelevant.”

    “Oh,” Roberts replied.

    Friedman again tried to continue, but he had caught the interest of Justice Antonin Scalia, who considers himself the court’s wordsmith. Scalia recently criticized a lawyer for using “choate” to mean the opposite of “inchoate,” a word that has created a debate in the dictionary world.

    “What was that adjective?” Scalia asked Monday. “I liked that.”

    “Orthogonal,” Friedman said.

    “Orthogonal,” Roberts said.

    “Orthogonal,” Scalia said. “Ooh.”

    Friedman seemed to start to regret the whole thing, saying the use of the word was “a bit of professorship creeping in, I suppose,” but Scalia was happy.

    “I think we should use that in the opinion,” he said.

    “Or the dissent,” added Roberts, who in this case was in rare disagreement with Scalia.

    Source

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