Dakota Today

**Architecture-- University Grotesque HodgePodge Style and Graffiti

First the graffiti.  I rant and rave about vandalism, but this bit of graffiti is just plain clever and
funny.  Not  sure of the source.  It was emailed to me with no references.

And, graffiti of an architectural kind on the University of South Dakota campus at Vermillion. The appearance may be an artifact of the alumni publication or the computer generated image. Whatever..the new student center looks like a dog's vomited breakfast.
Click on image for a larger view. Source the recent USD Alumni News. This looks like something from Grotesque HodgePodge School of Architecture... Toss together the plans for a confinement hoghouse add on a nursing home design, toss in an exposed stairway and something from the plans of a highschool gymnasium and hot lunch food service....mix in a large nonsense block of decorative brick and WOW!! Your perspective might be better and/or much different than mine, but sticking this building on the same campus with Old Main seems like architectural graffiti or vandalism

. **Stay tuned even if a blog is just a house of pixels blowing in the wind--- Doug Wiken

**Nova runs the Mega Volcano show again

Sure seemed like I had seen some of the NOVA program broadcast tonight before.  I started to see hits on Dakota Today from Google searches for "Lake Toba".

Anyway, tonight I saw the whole NOVA program, but if you want to see the Dakota Today post made
months ago, check

Dakota Today on NOVA's MegaVolcano Show Sept 26, 2006

Breathing sulphuric acid and volcanic ash glass particles is not good for your health. Hope we have no immediate surprise Mega Volcano in the neighborhood such as Yellowstone.

Anyway.. interesting show, but now and then Public Broadcasting "detective-type" shows scientific, historical, whatever take an inordinate amount of time to get to the point. "Building suspense in Science Reporting" is kind of an oxymoronic phrase.
**Stay tuned as we build suspense in the wait for real SD news such as SD Democratic women whining about Tom Daschle endorsing Sen. Obama who will not be the next woman president-- Doug Wiken

**Let's think about thinking

I woke up this morning with parts of an old Bob Lumen song running through my
head as I thought about three software products.

Let's think about living
Let's think about loving
Let's think about the whoopin' and hoppin and boppin' and the lovie, lovie
dovin'
Let's forget about the whinin' and the cryin'
And the shooting and the dying
And the fellow with a switchblade knife
Let's think about living
Let's think about life.

http://www.lyrics007.com/Bob%20Luman%20Lyrics/Let's%20Think%20About%20Living%20Lyrics.html
New Window LINK to text link for song above

http://snipurl.com/252g4

Philosopher and mathematician Descartes apparently concluded, "I Think therefore I am." I guess "I am" means living, so if we are thinking about living, we are also thinking about thinking. Recent articles in WIRED magazine concerned thinking under the "Get Smarter" cover. The May 2008 set of stories was in the usual fashion for WIRED, a bit flippant, but also with some interesting information.

The cover also brought back a memory from 1958 or 1959 at Wakonda Public School. The May 2008 WIRED cover shows a dude with a helmet of sorts with lights, spark plugs, wires, meters, circuit boards, etc sticking out in all directions. Reminded me of highschool and college friend Robert "Bob" Rederick whose interest in radio and electronics caused him to put on a cap one day in study hall that was complete with wiring and glass radio or TV tubes, capacitors, coils, etc wired on top. No pictures of that humbug exist. The study hall laughter generated a near instant very negative response from the teacher.

Neither the teacher nor Rederick (or any of those of us laughing at the time) probably realized Rederick was about 50 years ahead of the "cutting edge" of nerdy media graphics.

Anyway, one of the stories in the WIRED May 2008 issue memory special is titled "The Memory Master" (pages 118 to 125). It is about Polish psychologist Piotr Wozniak and his memory jogger, learning enhancer software Super Memo.

New Window LINK to Super Memo

According to the WIRED story and the website, SuperMemo helps a person learn and remember. Old and new data from psychology research back to 1888 shows we learn or "memorize" information, but then forget much of it if we don't use the information or concept everyday. SuperMemo is designed to time your re-enforcement of the memory, ideas, concepts just at the right time. That right time is just as you are on the edge of forgetting or misplacing the information in your brain..

SuperMemo handles the timing and reminding if you can use it correctly with honest assessments of your memory.

The article and software site is interesting. But, I don't know anybody who has actually tried SuperMemo. It certainly looks like it might be the kind of software that the great state of South Dakota might want on every high school and college students computer.
NOTE: A google search that found this post here at Dakota Today also found this link on learning and SuperMemo: NWL to Sharp Bean Blog on Learning, etc The home link to Sharp Bean might be worth bookmarking too:
Sharp Bean Blog

Meanwhile, a post was made here at Dakota Today by Shimon Sofer who is part of an Israeli software company selling a product called "42Tags". It is a kind of database using a "tag" system for storage of document scans, files, images into "packages" of information with and easy search system. It does not appear to have a text editing function so that your own writing or notes can be saved into the package without first using a word or text processor and saved as a file. The "42Tags" system seems to have promise. Note, Sofer indicated in his post that the program will be available free until May 1, but buried in the fine print is "or until 1000" free copies have been distributed. It appears at the site that the 1000 total has already been reached. NOTE: I received e-mail from Shimon Sofer this morning (April 21, 2008) indicating that free authorization will continue until May 1 without regard to the 1000 copies limitation. Looks like an opportunity to me. Seems fair too that if you get it an like it that you tell others about the software.

Scramble to the link and download-- New Window LINK to 42Tags Site and Software

Now, another big however. For years, I have been using off and on a "daily journal" kind of software called "THE JOURNAL by David RM Software. It allows storage of your writing, your images, your imported files, etc and also has a good search system. With an add in or some modest changes, THE JOURNAL software might do everything that the two products above appear to do. So also take a look at THE JOURNAL site.
This is good software that is regularly updated with suggestions from users. I have had an ad for it on Dakota Today, but it apparently never generated one sale for THE JOURNAL which did surprise me. Even
so, below is a link without any ad revenue associated with it for Dakota Today:
New Window LINK to THE JOURNAL software by DavidRM NOTE: Free 45 day trial period of THE JOURNAL is available.

So, what do you have to say about learning, memory, and related software..or NOT? Comments here are pretty much open if they are relevant and not loaded with insults to me or others.

**Stay tuned even if your area is filled with smoke like the air is here today from a fire somewhere to the south..perhaps Kansas--- Doug Wiken

**Former highschool teacher obituary-- Robert T. Lang

Just got news of the recent ..well about 2 months ago actually..death of Robert T. Lang, a former highschool teacher of mine back at Wakonda, SD when it was still a school separated from Irene, SD. Part of the obituary follows. The link to the funeral home is included.

Robert Thomas Lang of Braham, MN died Friday, January 11, 2008 at the Grandview Christian Home in Cambridge. He was 78 years old. Robert was born one of twin brothers, to Clifford and Gertrude (Hill) Lang, in Rapid City, SD on February 18, 1929. He and his family moved to Lead, SD in 1931. His father died in 1932 and his mother took over the business while her mother took over the household. Bob graduated from Lead High School in 1947 and attended South Dakota State University. He married Dorothy Doscher in 1951. He graduated from Black Hills State University in 1953 and taught nine months in McFadden, WY before entering the Army. After two years of service in El Paso, TX he taught in Wakonda, SD for six years. During this time he attended the University of SD, receiving a Masters' Degree in Speech & Dramatic Arts. In June of 1963 he and Dorothy moved to Braham, MN where he and his brother bought and operated Braham Lumber Co. Bob retired after 29 years. His gift from God was his sense of humor, which all of his friends and family enjoyed

http://www.aifuneralhome.com/site/2008/01/11/robert-t-lang/
New Window LINK to more on Robert T. Lang

"Lang" as he really did not like to be called by his high school students taught business courses and now and then got stuck with study hall with 50 or 60 of us not all of whom were interested in studying all the time. I took a typing course from him thinking it was a waste of time, but which may have proven to actually have been the most useful course I took in high school. He also directed some school plays and was probably more or less responsible for klutzing together some actual stage lighting.

As the obituary indicates, he had a good sense of humor and a cheery smile..at least as much as a school teacher dares to smile. I remember him fondly and at times his bouncing through the halls made high school a lot more interesting..or at least amusing. Thanks to John Logue for his e-mail with the obituary. Condolences to any friends and family of RT Lang. I'm almost certain they will miss him.
New Window Link to John Logue's Linklist

**Stay tuned for news on a cheerier note. The sun is shining and temps are rising. A real spring day for a day or two---Doug Wiken

**Test results. Does the curve grade the students or the professor?

Professors teach, students study, professors write tests, students take tests, students get graded. Same old same old for the past hundreds of years.

But, if a group of students is made up of some of South Dakota's best and brightest and they are putting in many hours studying and working problems doing daily work and attending classes, then does the test grade the professor as well as the students?

If nearly every student misses a particular problem, might that suggest the professor was testing for something he failed to teach or which was not available to most of the students no matter how they worked and crammed? Or perhaps the question was so badly worded and phrased that the students answered the question they saw rather than the one the professor thought he or she had written?

Is it the function of all tests to sort out a third or two-thirds of a group of A students working hard into C-D-F categories when the class average with high and low scores tossed out might be at a D level rather than a C or C plus level?

It is time the SD Board of Regents working with a group of professors and education specialists sets up standards for correct and appropriate testing as well as for teaching.

Give higher education another hundred years and perhaps a dozen professors will agree that perhaps they are testing their teaching as well as how well students are working or learning.

***Stay tuned even if there are no standard tests nor non-standard grades given for reading Dakota Today-- Doug Wiken

SDSM&T and SDBOR select new President for SDSM&T

After a few weeks of looking, the SD Board of Regents with apparently some input from SDSM&T has selected a new college president for SDSM&T. Take a look at his short bio from a press release below:

Robert A. Wharton, Pocatello, Idaho, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Idaho State University. As the chief academic officer since 2005, Wharton has responsibility for advancing the academic and scholarly life of 13,280 students and 670 faculty members on the Pocatello campus and at four outreach centers. He successfully led the first campus-wide effort to implement and align evidence-based strategic planning, budgeting, and assessment at ISU, and led student recruitment and retention efforts that resulted in a 4 percent enrollment increase as of fall 2007. He is a tenured professor of biology at ISU and previously served as its chief research officer, leading the university’s efforts to foster, support, and expand its research enterprise. He has past service with the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has a Ph.D. in botany from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a M.A. degree in biology and a B.A. in botany from Humboldt State University in California.

His full information can be found at NWLINK for Robert A. Wharton PDF Data

A crowd of about 300 attended the announcement. Apparently about a dozen students showed up. The primary emphasis of discussion was all about economic development of South Dakota and almost nothing on actual education or education value. The closest the discussion got to that was concerning Wharton's desire to increase student enrollment as he apparently had done at Pocatello.

As you can see his background is primarily biology and botany which does not seem like much of a match for an engineering campus. A previous post here has a link to a site with all the candidates on it.

Below are a couple of images. One of Wharton and a very rapidly sketched cartoon which might suggest why only a handful of actual students attended the meeting.

Click on either image for significantly larger versions.

Well, that is about as much news on this that I have right now. Based on the apparent mixture in the crowd, I suspect the SD Regents are more interested in pleasing the rich and influential of Rapid City than they are about doing anything for the actual students on the campus. SD citizens have a right to start discussing what are the actual goals of the SD Board of Regents.

In the continuation is qualifications requested by SDBOR for the new President published with the notice of the job opening. There is nothing in that list that suggests anything which will change the apparent perception of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology as having a rather callous disregard for student rights, welfare, fair meaningful testing, or even actual education. Until that perception is changed, recruitment of more students will remain a tough job.

***Stay tuned for more "education"--- Doug Wiken

**So what are the SD Regents looking for in a top educator?

A previous post here provides some information on the SD Regent search for a President of SDSM&T. One of the finalists provides in his letter and vitae an indication of the concerns of the SD regents for SDSM&T. Take a look at this one and you may notice something:
NewWindowLINK to Cheatham Letter and vitae Note. It is a damnable PDF file.

If his letter indicates the actual expressed concerns of the regents for a college president at SDSM&T, they have little to do with students and actual education and a lot about money. Obviously they are linked, but the letter suggests the SD Regents are not really primarily concerned about students getting a good education or getting good instruction and education in difficult and complex disciplines. Disciplines and study areas which are difficult to comprehend with even the best quality teaching can be nearly incomprehensible with mediocre instruction followed by mediocre testing which measures mainly the professor's desire to show he or she is smarter than the students...even if some of those professor are not.

Here is a logo for SDSM&T that may provide a bit of reality for the candidates considering leading SDSM&T.

Click on the image for a larger view. Expect some better versions in the future.

It appears that the SDSM&T public information system does not work too well. Most students found out days too late about the opportunity to meet the applicants. The college presidents might even deign to walk among their students as did I.D. Weeks many years ago at USD.

This indicates a problem that should be fixed immediately at Tech. Campus communications suck. Some professors realize that it is a mess and try to supplement it by using other means to communicate with students outside the official dead-end channels. There is no annual and no real campus newspaper. Building any kind of a community requires regular information and communications.

One of the main problems facing all education in science and engineering is the incredible growth in such knowledge..even in just the last 50 yers. Mathematical innovations that took tens or hundreds of years to develop are now dumped onto students with an expectation that they will understand in literal minutes what took real geniuses many years to understand and develop. Sorting massive amounts of knowledge and information in ways which will actually benefit real engineers and scientists in the real world is a great challenge. Dumping students into the middle of it works for some, but leads many to flounder in the sea of "stuff". Couple that with professors who are not really good at educating or testing and the system becomes a very expensive and inefficient sorting system rather than an actual working education system.

As a girl in a national science competition indicated, "Science is empowering," and our society and state needs that kind of power. Better ways to generate that talent and enhance it instead of merely finding it are needed. Challenges that face the USA are not going to be solved by scientists and mathematicians in India or China. Unfortunately they will also not be solved by those students who become so discouraged by a system that is advertised as the best but is often actually mediocre that too many students with excellent minds drop out of Tech. Some are depressed and turned off by science and math for the rest of their lives. Even making the school catalog more realistic with five-year options with class support as well as four-year plans might be a help. Psychological evaluations of professors might also be useful.

Tech presidents themselves need to talk to the freshmen and sophomores who decide to leave SDSM&T as well as the handful of "STARS" that excel or survive no matter how dreadful is the system.

And if he doesn't have anything else to do, the president ought to be looking toward converting one of the most poorly engineered and planned campuses in the US with grossly inadequate and inappropriate student housing into an example of good engineering, ergonomics, and design.. now and then by exploiting the talents of the students on that very campus.

Well, that is probably more than enough from a dumb farmer wasting time considering higher education in South Dakota...must get buried in my more "parochial interests"....as has been suggested by a South Dakota reporter of note recently.

**Stay tuned even if you don't remember that the LOG of 10 to the 50th power is something llike 50 unless your slide rule shows 49.995--- Doug Wiken

**SDSM&T Searching for round or square plug for a leadership hole

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) at Rapid City, SD is in need of a new college president among other things. You can look at their application letters and vitae at the link below. If you are planning to write job applications in the future, you might want to see what gets into an application for a college president.

New Window LINK to SDSM&T Job Applicant Info

I am getting too sleepy to do much with this tonight. I did notice that one applicant had been appointed to an education committee by George Bush...and not George Bush, Senior, but the Texas Twit. This is an interesting "qualification" considering what Bush the minor has done to eduction and the economy and government budget that is needed to support education at all levels.

More to come. The information on these guys is interesting. What the SD Board of Regents apparently wants them to do is also interesting. Improving teaching, testing, and student retention and graduation, prevention of student depression and withdrawal, etc. etc. are apparently in the "none of the above category" with the regents.

Comments and suggestions for what a new president of SDSM&T really needs to do are welcome.

And, here is a link to a blog apparently written by a college student from someplace in South Dakota who has found Dakota Today and likes it. I better hope she doesn't find any of the really popular SD Blogs.

New Window LINK to Someday Teacher Blog

And an author on Charlie Rose tonight was interesting. Her book sounds interesting more info on that tomorrow. Her name is "Susan Jacoby". Below is link to her site which mentions her recent book "The American Age of Unreason".

New Window LINK to Ann Jocoby Site

And, it sounds like the SD Legislature decided that being labeled as promoting "idiotic"laws by a police chief was not such a really good deal and the Senate decided to kill the bill turning SD colleges into homes for disenchanted posse members armed to the teethl. Why did it take them so long?

**Stay tuned even if the weather might be pleasant enough in SD that being outdoors might be better idea in the coming week--- Doug Wiken

**"Are you smarter" LTE by Jack H. Mueller

Usually the Mitchell Daily Republic Letters to the Editor page is filled with stuff fellow blogger Steve Sibson would likely drool over...including his own letters. Today there was a surprise. Jack H. Mueller of Chamberlain probably rattled a few dozen cages with his LTE titled "An adult version of "Are You Smarter". Below is my typed copy of the letter. I talked to Jack H. Mueller this afternoon and got his permission before my cellphone battery died. One of these days, another discussion on the wonder and wonderful pain that cellphones are. In the meantime, enjoy a good letter to the editor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Are you smarter than a sixth grader" is surely an educational and fund game. How about an adult version with questions like these"
Q: Is the earth 6,000 years old or billions?
A. Billions.

Q: According to the Center for Public Integrity how many times did the Bush Administration lie about Iraq between 9-11 and the invasion"
A: 935.

Q: When the New Testament was translated into Greek, instead of a "young girl<" Mary, Mother of Jesus was mistakenly described as what?
A: A virgin.

Q: Why did the U.S. propaganda machine dump on France?
A: Because French oil companies drilled the wells in the former Kurdistan area, and they had a good thinkg going without getting sucked into the Americans' attempt at conquest.

Q: Why does President Bush use the term "surge" instead of "blitskrieg or "Iron Fist of Occupation"?
A: Because it sounds nice and the American public is as ignorant as it is blind.

Q: Why do people praise Ronald Reagan for "lowering taxes"?
A: Because they don't remember that the result was increased state, county and local taxes. [As well as a horrendous national debt].

Q: How much did they try to cut the SD Highway Patrol budget?
A: $2 Million.

Q: How much is the occupation of Iraq costing us?
A: $12 Billion per month.

Q: How much did President Bush just announce that he is giving to Israel?
A: $30 Billion.

Q: If the oil corporation heads that met secretly with President Bush before the invasion were "waterboarded" to extract the truth, would it hurt them?"
A: No, according to proponents of water boarding in the Bush Administration.

Q: After cheerleading the invasion, how much of its broadcast time did Fox News devote to the war during the first quarter of 2007?
A: Four percent.
Q: During the same period, how much time did Fox devote to Anna Nicole Smith?
A: 10 percent.

by Jack H. Mueller, Chamberlain, SD.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Spelling and typing errors which may be in the above are mine and not Mueller's or those of the Mitchell Daily Republic. And, I suppose we could toss in a few more that seem timely:

Q: How much is Bush proposing to cut from funding for SD Public Broadcasting?
A: Estimate appears to be around $700,000.

Q: How much has been spent on the Bush war in Iraq?
A: $3 Trillion? $7 Trillion... Do you actually grasp how much money there is in a $trillion?

Q: How many people died in the terrorist attack on the WTC on 9/11?
A: Around 3,000.

Q: How many US military personnel have been killed in Bush's revenge against the wrong country (Iraq)?
A: Now over 4,000.

Well, I better quit. This could be a game that went on for months if we started pulling stuff out of Gene Lyon"s on the right wing cabal attack on the Clinton's and the multiple bungling of the Bush administration.

** Stay tuned ..at least there were nearly the same number of answers as questions in this post-- Doug Wiken

**Booze and pot for minors and penalties

Ironic that SD is hellbent on demolishing old buildings at the state mental hospital in Yankton when there seem to be so many legislators and lawyers testifying there that need to seek help with their mental problems.

Somehow, while moaning about the costs of the South Dakota prison system, the legislature also apparently gives serious consideration to having a 10-year mandatory prison sentence for anybody selling one ounce of pot to a person under the age of 18. Penalties expand up to 25 years for larger amounts.

This is such a wonderful idea, that it calls for a modest proposition of penalty expansion Make the same penalties apply to those who provide even one can or bottle of beer to a person under age 18 and make the penalty 25 years for dispensing a whole six-pack of beer or one of those liter or larger containers. Those who push wine and distilled spirits down the throats of those with young impressionable minds should be give life terms.

But, I forgot. The same legislature is so loaded and loaded with booze hounds that it can't even pass legislation to increase the price of a bottle of beer 10 cents because that would unfairly tax responsible drinkers. The incredible social costs related to the sale of booze is readily apparent. I don't drink or use pot either, but it does not seem to me that the dreadful problems claimed to relate to pot even exist. The truly bad consequences appear to have more to do with legal penalties than pharmacologically related dangers.
I will leave such arguments to people like Bob Newland who may have experience with both pot and booze.

I assume the same legislators don't give a rat's rear about shifting the unnecessary costs resulting because of drinkers and drunken drivers to property tax payers and those who must license highway vehicles It is rapidly becoming apparent that the term "responsible drinkers" is an oxymoron...especially when they also happen to be in the state legislature or sucking contributions from the liquor industry.

Napoli of Rapid City is pushing for repeal of term limits. I think that makes a lot of sense. If we don't think any legislator is representing us instead of special interests, we have elections to get them out of the legislature. It is obvious that term limits have not kept the completely demented out of the legislature anyway.

**Stay tuned if for nothing else than to read my bitching about the coming really crappy weather-- Doug Wiken