Geb’s World

This might be a good project for the robo camp.

- Geb

Donna Katen-Bahensky, the former CEO at the University Hospitals, did not resign, as the media had reported, but Jean Robillard, Vice President for Medical Affairs, had refused to sign the updated contract.  Katen-Bahensky’s base salary was $465,000.  The sudden end to the contract kicks in a severance package of $830,000.  She took another job as CEO of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics where she will end $600,000. 

Talk about landing on your feet!

I think it is nice that we take such good care of people who aren’t doing what we need them to do.  This way, she will still be able to have a nice Christmas and buy a half dozen BMW’s or something to brighten up her spirits during what must be a very challenging time emotionally.

In unrelated news, Mayor Bloomberg in New York is trying to redefine the outdated poverty standards in New York City.  Approximately 600,000 people are in public housing.  The current poverty level for a family of four is a little under $21,000. 

Katen-Bahensky’s severance package of $830,000 is enough to keep 39 families (156 people, 78 children) above the poverty line for a year.  That’s the equivalent of the entire kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade at our nearby elementary school, plus their parents. 

A guy fixed up his Honda civic (the Aerocivic) and now gets 95 mpg.  The main thing is reducing the drag coefficient, but the other trick is better driving habits.  The vehicle may be competitive for the $10M prize for the first car that can reliably get 100 mpg.

I love seeing this kind of inventive approach.  Nice work basjoos!

The Institute for Creation Research is trying to get accreditation for “an online degree in science education to prepare teachers to ‘understand the universe within the integrating framework of Biblical creationism.‘”  Last week an Texas advisory council recommended the program for approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 

“The Institute for Creation Research, which recently moved to Dallas
from Santee, Calif., says it teaches its graduate students “more
typical secular perspectives” alongside creationism.

But students and faculty must profess faith in a literal translation
of Biblical creation — that God created the world in six days and made
humans and animals in their current life forms; that the Earth is only
thousands of years old; and the fossil record is the result of a global
flood described in the Bible, according to the Web site.”

That certainly represents a different type of science education to me, more reminiscent of the flat earth theory, the humor theory of medicine, and alchemy.  Perhaps the degree should be more properly designated as pre-renaissance philosophy, pseudo-education or political debate rather than science education.

To be fair, though, I think it will be important for Texas to also offer degrees in the scientific philosophy of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, including its insightful work on the correlation of global temperature with the number of pirates.  I believe that challenging students with a little ironic humor would be far better than purposefully and artificially muddying the waters between religion and science.

Apparently 70% of all people have felt like impostors for at least part of their careers — feeling like they don’t deserve the benefits that they have received.  This feeling is very common among graduate students, for example. 

An article in Nature discusses the possibility that many professors are willing to take medications that will improve their memory or concentration.  This has the potential to become as controversial as athletes taking steroids. Ritalin and Modafinil may be the drugs of choice.  The article contemplates the following:

“If offered by a friend or colleague, would you, the
reader, take a pill that would help you to better focus, plan or
remember? Under what conditions would you feel comfortable taking a
pill, and under what conditions would you decline?”

“At present, relatively safe cognitive enhancers with clear effects in
healthy individuals are available. Today, in healthy individuals, most
cognitive-enhancing drugs yield only moderate effects, and enhance only
a subset of cognitive abilities. In the case of some drugs, such as
methylphenidate, there are improvement in some domains such as
attention, but there may be impairments in others, such as previously
learned spatial tasks¹⁰. Consequently, we believe that current debates must focus on the risks and harms at the level of the individual.”

I was pleased to discover that our Research University Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index has been rated as the 9th most productive Industrial Engineering Department by The Chronicle of Higher Education.  The rating in the Chronicle’s Facts and Figures section is based on analysis of web-accessible data and rates all the programs from 375 PhD-granting universities.  60% of the rating is based on journal articles and citations, 30% on grants, and 10% on awards.

Hopefully this proxy link will work for you:
http://chronicle.com.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&primary=5&secondary=54&bycat=Go
Otherwise you might look up the online Chronicle directly from the www.lib.uiowa.edu.

We are one of only 20 programs at the University of Iowa to be listed in the top ten within their respective fields, along with Civil Engineering.

It was delightful to note that we had a higher percentage of faculty members with a journal publication, more journal publications per faculty, a higher cited journal article rate and higher number of citations per faculty compared with the other highly ranked IE programs.  I think those metrics indicate that we have an extraordinary impact on our research communities.  Our productivity index of 1 signifies that we are one standard deviation above the mean in the combined score of these and the other included categories (for which data was not as readily available on the website).

It is also interested that Georgia Tech, rated #1 by US News and World Report, did not even make the list.

Ah, back from a relaxing ski vacation. Christmas is done and it is time to catch up on some reading.

Virtual manufacturing is taking up root in microelectromechanical manufacturing, an extremely complex endeavor.

Scientists come up with an explanation about why there is no limestone on Mars:  a massive sulfur cycle that inhibited carbonate materials.  Sulfur may have kept Mars warm, as well.

Cognitive patterns of high flexibility and low self-restraint tend to correlate with impulse buying.  If a person walks through a store randomly, just looking around and exhibits an “ooohh” response to a sale, they are likely to be an impulse buyer.

Sex education delays teen intercourse (71% and 59% less likely to engage in sex by 15) and increases the chance of using birth control (2.77 times among males).  The study did not distinguish between abstenance-only or teach about contraceptives. 

Decrease your chance of getting dementia by walking.  You’ll know if you are doing enough, because you have a great, built-in exercise monitor.  On a scale of 1-20, exercise on 12-15.  Your idea of what that means is probably surprisingly correct.

I’m shocked.  There is no evidence to support that airport security does any good. $5.6 billion worldwide spent each year.  13 million items stopped in the US, but how many of these are pocketknives, large shampoo bottles and other items that are probably benign.  How many hijackers have been foiled with the question:  “Did you pack all your bags yourself?”  How about a little old-fashioned research?

Humor may be biological.  A unicycling professor observed predictable responses based on age and gender that suggests that in men curiosity turns to aggression, then jokes, while in women curiosity turns to praise and concern.

A biology professor creates a biological fuel cell that turns garbage into electricity.

Metal foams are metals with many voids, like swiss cheese. They are light and tough.

Lack of insurance kills people.  “The uninsured are less likely to receive recommended cancer screening tests, are more likely to be diagnosed with later stage disease, and have lower survival rates than those with private insurance….”  Not surprising, but worth remembering as the country debates insurance in the next decade.

Yeah.  You don’t have to stop drinking when you get old.  “They concluded that moderate drinking is fine for the over 65s — and in some cases is better than not drinking at all.”

That’s how a colonel described the fighting style of the Sunni insurgents, an example of the complexities of getting what you want in Iraq.

The clash of this world-view with the cowboy simplicity of dead-or-alive reminds me of the difference between the redcoats and the early American colonists.  The British wanted to fight in straight lines with nice uniforms, the colonists fought from behind trees.  The British lost.  After the longbow, charging in full armor quit making sense.  Guerrilla warfare overtook conventional warfare.  The fashion of war changes.  It seems like the things we think of as noble are often not on the winning side.  Perhaps the notion of noble is tied to the sense of the pathetique defeat brings.  Nevertheless, things evolve.

I wonder, can Americans even think in terms of “Fight, Bargain, Subvert, Fight?”  I know my instincts are not geared that what. 

For example, if I feel a student or colleague has argued with me and we reached a consensus, every fiber of my being says:  “That issue is handled, now we can move on.”  If I discover later that the intent of our agreement is being consciously subverted, I feel outrage.  I feel that I have been double-crossed.  I can’t get my mind around the idea that people did not negotiate in good faith.  “That’s so duplicitous,” I stutter.

In short, I am unprepared for the evolving world view.

However, experience suggests that the world changes.  I better figure out how that works and get used to seeing the world from that viewpoint, even if I am not willing to act that way myself.

OK. So trying this approach, here’s an initial draft of the EPS2Online paper, mostly pulled from a recent NSF proposal. If you want to help write, let me know. Feel free, of course to comment.

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