Category: Science

I smell a trend…

On the same day that I (finally) post about my biking accident, PeeZed has an unfortunate interaction with a ladder and leaves. While the casual observer might not make a connection…I smell a conspiracy!

Think about it – there are just too many connections to ignore. PeeZed and I are the only two publicly blogging faculty at UMM that we know of. And that’s just the beginning. Certainly anyone with the analytical skills of an ID supporter can see that this is

a conspiracy to silence us:

  • Middle-aged
  • White
  • Male
  • Married
  • Heterosexual
  • Scientist
  • Faculty
  • At UMM
  • Who are bloggers,
  • Support and study evolution,
  • Have highly nerdly tendencies,
  • And have kids
  • Who are heavily into theater (theirs and ours)

Surely this can’t be a coincidence, can it? First we learn that global warming is “a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s” and now this. Maybe I should start an on-line petition where we can all express our concern in an effort to ensure that Our Fearless Leader adds this to the priority list for Our Nation’s Security.

Yeah, that’s the ticket…

Warning label

(Ain’t it amazing what you can infer from two data points?)

Currently listening to: The tremendous “Death letter blues” by Son House. I (slightly) prefer the recording on Columbia’s Legends of the blues: Volume 1, but what was playing was the version from the 4 disc American roots music set that went with the PBS series.

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It’s nice to know that someone cares

Big icicles on our house in winter
Yesterday the missive below came from our Chancellor (Sam Schuman). That’s a nice bit of pro-active thinking, getting on top of it before it’s a complete mess. Now one wonders what kinds of similar thinking is happening at the community, state, and federal levels? I can certainly imagine this being an enormous problem for people skating on the edge of homelessness or people (like many elderly) on fixed incomes.

As we all know, costs of fossil fuels of all types are going up dramatically. This is, of course, obvious at the gas pump. It is, at this point, less obvious when we think about heating our homes and offices. We are monitoring this situation carefully, in terms of UMM buildings, but we are also concerned for students (and other members of our community) living off campus.

Students living in rental housing who are responsible for their heating bills should anticipate costs that are about DOUBLE those of last year! We are worried that this may pose a very serious fiscal challenge to many of our students.

Shortly, the Financial Aid Office will be staffing a table at the student center with information about this issue, and materials for seeking supplemental funding to help with unanticipated heating costs. I’d personally encourage all students living off campus to mull this situation, and take appropriate steps deal with this new challenge. If there is any way I or any of us can help, let us know!

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