Goals & Progress

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Many runners work hard for months, but as soon as they cross the finish line, they stop training. The race is no longer there to motivate them. When all of your hard work is focused on a particular goal, what is left to push you forward after you achieve it? This is why many people find themselves reverting to their old habits after accomplishing a goal.

The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress. 

James Clear, Atomic Habits

89-year-old pizza delivery driver gets surprise $12K tip

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#GOODNEWS

Articles of interest about higher ed - Sept 23

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***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS

Colleges Are Canceling Spring Break To Help Stop The Spread of Coronavirus

There are now more than 40,000 cases of COVID-19 at American colleges and universities

Colleges knew the risks but they reopened anyway. Here's how they got it all wrong

Don't Rely on Student Contracts to Safeguard Your Campus

Infection rates soar in college towns as students return

***SPECIFIC SCHOOLS

Wichita State instructors prohibited from informing students of possible class COVID-19 exposure

After 80 students test positive for COVID in 2 days, a New England college switches to remote learning

***K-12 

Some schools withhold COVID-19 information from parents

***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS

An arbitrator sided with the University of Akron in its termination of nearly 100 unionized full-time professors

 Pacific Northwest College of Art Will Merge With Willamette University

 ***HIGHER ED 

Cornell to receive ‘on-campus’ accreditation visit via Zoom

Michigan Offers Free College Education To Essential Workers

State auditor says University of California wrongly admitted well-connected students

***HIGHER ED IN COURT

Affirmative action: Challenge to Harvard's admissions practices hits federal appeals court

Ex-Georgia Tech Researcher Can Proceed With Lawsuit Against University Officials

***HUMANITIES 

Adrian College planned to terminate history, philosophy, religion and more -- until graduates organized to stop it

What a U.S. Liberal Arts Education Can Provide International Students

***ONLINE CHEATING  

Universities need to condemn the use of problematic online proctor services (opinion)

Students share concerns about cheating in online classes

***ACADEMIC LIFE 

Professor Who Called COVID-19 the ‘Chinese Virus’ on Leave

University of Michigan faculty approves no-confidence vote against President 

Mississippi auditor investigating Ole Miss professor for striking

Canadian professor at heart of controversy over White House push to control COVID-19 messaging

How Can A Tenured Professor Become A Homeless Ward Of The State In Just A Few Days?

91-year-old University of St. Thomas professor goes viral in online teaching photo

***ADMINISTRATORS

Lincoln University reappoints president who had been ousted two months earlier

Ohio University Administrator in the middle of decision to lay off 100s accepts $100K Bonus  

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 

Students protest racism at Lancaster Bible College

Houghton College resets tuition to aid students during COVID-19

‘Ring by spring’ isn’t everyone’s thing

***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

911 Call From Intoxicated Jerry Falwell Jr.’s House Last Month Describes ‘A Lot Of Blood’

The New York Times files to dismiss Liberty University's defamation lawsuit

***RESEARCH 

The top public universities in producing research which needs to be corrected or removed

The Internet Archive Will Digitize & Preserve Millions of Academic Articles with Its New Database, "Internet Archive Scholar

***STUDENT LIFE 

Oregon fights historic fires with college students on the front lines

New Report Addresses Mental Health of Students of Color

College students give failing grade on return to campus

On Campus Students are targeting Greek Life

You Could Get Us All Sent Home 

RAs enforcing Covid rules: ‘I think about quitting every day’

University of Missouri president unblocks students on Twitter after backlash and lawsuit threat 

Graduate students reach deal with University of Michigan to end strike

***STUDENTS IN COURT

Attorneys file opening brief before US Supreme Court in Gwinnett County free speech case  

***STUDENT MEDIA

University of California San Diego settles lawsuit with satirical campus publication

College Newspapers Aim To Keep Schools Transparent During Pandemic

***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT

Woman sues Wisconsin over reinstatement of former football player Quintez Cephus

Prestigious British university rocked by online allegations of rape, sexual misconduct

***HIGHER ED & RACIAL ISSUES  

Survey finds 'shocking' lack of Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Gen Z

University of Chicago only accepting English students willing to work in black studies

University of Wisconsin-Madison grad student admits pretending to be a person of color

Conditional Acceptance

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Too often we claim that we accept others for what they are when we truly mean that we accept them as long as they do what we want them to. When we truly accept others the way they are we no longer have to take unnecessary responsibility for others’ emotions an behaviors, we maintain emotional balance at a time when it is most needed, and we encourage the other person to be more responsible for his own emotions and behaviors.

Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control

Self-handicapping

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The fear of being unmasked as the incompetent you “really” are is so common that it actually has a clinical name: impostor syndrome. A shocking number of successful people (particularly women), believe that they haven’t really earned their spots, and are at risk of being unmasked as frauds at any moment. Many people deliberately seek out easy tests where they can shine, rather than tackling harder material that isn’t as comfortable.

If they’re forced into a challenge they don’t feel prepared for, they may even engage in what psychologists call “self-handicapping”: deliberately doing things that will hamper their performance in order to give themselves an excuse for not doing well. Self-handicapping can be fairly spectacular: in one study, men deliberately chose performance-inhibiting drugs when facing a task they didn’t expect to do well on. “Instead of studying,” writes the psychologist Edward Hirt, “a student goes to a movie the night before an exam. If he performs poorly, he can attribute his failure to a lack of studying rather than to a lack of ability or intelligence. On the other hand, if he does well on the exam, he may conclude that he has exceptional ability, because he was able to perform well without studying.”

Megan Mcardle writing in the Atlantic

Articles of Interest about religion - Sept 20

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***THE VIRUS

How Can I Tell Whether I Have Flu or COVID-19?

Russia vaccine data called into question as experts worry about global distribution

Survey finds 61% of Americans aren’t comfortable returning to the workplace

***RELIGION & THE VIRUS

Thousands gather for Christian music concert at California Capitol, breaking COVID-19 rules

***RELIGION 

Girls tell of terror, abuse at Missouri Christian boarding school under investigation

I Was a Pastor’s Wife. Suicide Made Me a Pastor’s Widow

How a mysterious man fooled a Harvard scholar into believing the 'Gospel of Jesus' Wife' was real

Max Lucado: After I was molested as a child, Jesus met me in my storm

***RELIGION BY THE NUMBERS

10 key findings about the religious lives of U.S. teens and their parents

LifeWay Research “State of Theology” poll

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

The surprise religious group that could decide Trump's fate

Evangelical pastor urges Christians to "mobilize" to fight civil war against left-wing activists

Faith and politics mix to drive evangelical Christians' climate change denial

***RELIGION & THE LAW 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died Friday was shaped by her minority faith 

Kroger sued: Did not accommodate the religious beliefs of workers fired for refusing to wear aprons with LGBT logo, lawsuit says

***RELIGION & RACIAL ISSUES

Black Pastor Wants His Mostly White Congregation To Understand Racial Justice

Televangelist Pat Robertson says Black Lives Matter is trying to destroy Christianity 

***CATHOLIC

Judge Amy Barrett's charismatic Catholicism — Who are the People of Praise? 

Mark Galli, former Christianity Today editor and Trump critic, to be confirmed a Catholic 

***CHANGING NAMES

Prominent Southern Baptists are dropping 'Southern' name amid racial unrest

Evangelicals for Social Action Leaves Behind ‘Evangelical’ Label

***MOVIES

Infidel review: Jim Caviezel again in faith-centric thriller

I just hate them

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“I just hate them,” says one woman when asked why she refused to put one on. “I think I hate them because you have to wear them, and I think it’s more of a ‘you’ve got to wear it’, so I don’t want it.”

“I think, whether you’re male or female, it’s a dominance thing,” replies the man next to her. “I’m in charge, you don’t tell me what to do.”

The interviewees were British drivers who admitted to not wearing their seat belts while in cars in 2008, despite it being a legal requirement in the UK to wear one in the front seat of a vehicle since 1983 and in the back seat since 1991.

William Park writing in BBC Future

Virtual Leaders are Doers

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New data shows that the confidence, intelligence and extroversion that have long propelled ambitious workers into the executive suite are not enough online, because they simply don’t translate into virtual leadership. Instead, workers who are organised, dependable and productive take the reins of virtual teams. Finally, doers lead the pack – at least remotely.

The study shows that, instead of those with the most dynamic voices in the room, virtual teams informally anoint leaders who actually do the work of getting projects done. “They are the individuals who help other team members with tasks, and keep the team on schedule and focused on goals,” says lead author Radostina Purvanova,

As expected, the face-to-face teams chose leaders with the same confident, magnetic, smart-seeming extroverted traits that we often see in organisational leaders. “The people who portray themselves as organised, dependable and reliable look to us like effective leaders,” says Purvanova. But those chosen as remote leaders were doers, who tended towards planning, connecting teammates with help and resources, keeping an eye on upcoming tasks and, most importantly, getting things done. These leaders were goal-focused, productive, dependable and helpful.

In other words, virtually, the emphasis shifts from saying to doing. 

Arianne Cohen writing for BBC WorkLife

Articles of interest about higher ed - Sept 14

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***THE VIRUS 

14% of U.S. adults say they have tested positive for COVID-19 or are ‘pretty sure’ they have had it

Medical records suggest coronavirus was loose in L.A. before China even announced its outbreak

***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS

Texas Tech addressing video of young woman at party saying she has COVID-19

'Astonishingly risky': COVID-19 cases at colleges are fueling the nation's hottest outbreaks

OU Installs PPE Vending Machines On Campus

***CLOSING COLLEGES

Experts Say Colleges Should Rethink Punishing Students For Partying 

Despite Warnings, No Clear Advice on Closing Dorms 

***OUTBREAKS AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS

All Michigan State students asked to quarantine due to 'exponential growth' of COVID-19

Ole Miss sees an influx of COVID-19 cases since students returned

A University Had a Great Coronavirus Plan, but Students Partied On

WVU suspends in-person classes amid rising COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus cluster linked to a University of New Hampshire frat party, state says

Dartmouth quarantines 23 Tuck students after party in dorm

Coronavirus Spread At University Of Illinois Leads To Student Lockdown

At Georgia College and State University, one in 10 on-campus students has had COVID-19 

***K-12 

Volusia school district tries to stop teachers from talking with the media

The extremely weird story of a remote-learning company that’s making parents livid

Virginia's Largest School System Hit With Ransomware 

Meet the students thriving in remote learning

***UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

University rankings don’t measure what matters

Here's what changed in this year's U.S. News college rankings 

***HIGHER ED  

UC Berkeley Fined $2.35M for Clery Violations

Martin Methodist may join the University of Tennessee system

Inside a private university's decision to create a 2-year college 

***HIGHER ED AFTER 2020

How forcing colleges to go online could change higher education for the better

Cal State to Stay Virtual in Spring 2021

As colleges opt for hybrid and online-only classes, parents and students look for a cheaper Plan B

Ohio State cancels spring break, makes other changes amid COVID-19

***HUMANITIES 

Liberal Arts Colleges Need an Overhaul or They Won’t Survive

Student debt and the end of the liberal arts dream

COVID crisis shows value of a liberal arts degree

***ONLINE CLASSES  

Zoom Is Making a Major Change to Protect Security. What You Should know

The surprising traits of good remote leaders: good doers instead of good talkers

The Art of Teaching Writing

Report: Most educators aren't equipped for student-centered learning

***ONLINE CHEATING  

Cheating during online class: Is it more common during virtual learning

***ACADEMIC LIFE 

University puts white professor on paid leave for using n-word in class

Professor, can you take us through your theory in layman’s terms? … No.

This Tenured professor said his college's reopening was risking lives: Now a letter of reprimand is in his personal file ($)

***ADMINISTRATORS

College President Dies After COVID Battle

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 

Christian Colleges Are in Crisis. Here’s What That Means for the Church

Baylor, Southwestern Baptist sue to wrest control from ‘rogue’ foundation with ties to Paige Patterson

Catholic college removed a statue of founder from campus following revelations of slave ownership

Education Department Finalizes Religious Freedom Rule 

Houghton College ranks No. 1 in NYS for social mobility, No. 10 in nation no-10-in-nation

At Liberty University, an Evangelical spin on Black Lives Matter

***RESEARCH  

Can we estimate a monetary value of scientific publications?

COVID-19 arrived on a meteorite, claims Elsevier book chapter

***PREDATORY JOURNALS

How reliable and useful is Cabell's Blacklist

A qualitative content analysis of watchlists vs safelists: How do they address the issue of predatory publishing?

Dozens of scientific journals have vanished from the internet, and no one preserved them

***STUDENT LIFE

Facebook returns to its roots with Campus, a college student-only social network

Mizzou Students Say The School's President Is Blocking Them Online For Expressing Concerns About COVID Safety

College students struggle with uncertain job market after graduation

Recent Articles about Data Science

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Making raw data more palatable for your machine learning models using quantization, power transformations, feature scaling, and interaction features

Automation will ultimately increase demand for data scientists instead of decreasing it

True purpose of neural networks begins to emerge: DeepFake Smashed Mouths Smashup

The Guardian publishes its first-ever op-ed written entirely by artificial intelligence

5 concepts every data scientist should know: multicollinearity, encoding, sampling, error, and storytelling

Why machine learning remains a niche while and automation dominates business use of technology

How artificial intelligence and robotics are changing chemical research

Developing a LSTM neural network with PyTorch on trading data to predict the price of unseen trading data

“This is the market for magic, and that market is big. Whether it’s about blockchain, big data, cloud computing, AI or other buzzwords.”

Blockchain, the amazing solution for almost nothing

Trending data science 2020 topics/tools

Analyzing the logical components of a time series using R

2019: Student wins fiction prize for a story about a dystopian algorithm deciding people's fate based on class. 2020: The same student is denied a university place because of...

an R package for fitting Bayesian epidemiological models using Stan code

5 free resources for data scientists  

“The most promising general-purpose algorithms” on the NIST’s list of candidates in the quest for quantum-proof encryption uses lattice approaches

Quantum-proof encryption leaps forward

A US Air Force pilot is taking on AI in a virtual dogfight. The showdown will be the final battle of DARPA's AlphaDogfight competition— here’s how to watch it

Is natural language processing is chasing the wrong goal

Deep learning won’t give us level 5 self-driving cars bec of its long-tail problem—it has distinct limits that prevent it from making sense of the world in the way humans do  

Even job openings for data scientists are in deep decline

An animated video of the top 10 data science tools over the past two decades

 

Being a selfish jerk doesn’t get you ahead

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“I was surprised by the consistency of the findings. No matter the individual or the context, disagreeableness did not give people an advantage in the competition for power — even in more cutthroat, ‘dog-eat-dog’ organizational cultures,” said Berkeley professor Cameron Anderson.

The researchers found those who scored high on disagreeable traits were not more likely to have attained power than those who were generous, trustworthy and generally nice.

That’s not to say that jerks don’t reach positions of power. It’s just that they don’t get ahead faster than others, and being a jerk simply doesn’t help, Anderson said. That’s because any power boost they get from being intimidating is offset by their poor interpersonal relationships.

Read more in Berkeley News