Blogs

Our family has fallen out of our school day routine over the summer. We were ready far too quickly this morning and ended up arriving 25 minutes early for my children’s first day of the new school year. I’d forgotten what time we needed to leave the house. The funny part is that students go back on the first day just for an hour.

People are always asking me about which schools/department do social media "the best" in higher education. My usual response is that the professionals who are actively engaging via social media are spending less time talking about what they are doing and more time focusing on the needs of their campus. However, when it comes to social media and campus dining, there's one operation that is consistently using social media at a level that I can easily say is "the best."

This time last year, I was sitting around my apartment and waiting for the results of my comprehensive exams. I was jittery and nervous, and jumped a mile every time my computer made the “you’ve got an email!” noise. I couldn’t focus on teaching or the zillion other responsibilities that I had, and spent most of the day in an anxious state of stasis. What saved me, surprisingly, was a ball of yarn and two knitting needles I found in the back of a closet.

Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, my previous post about a table of energy inputs and outputs for various forms of food production contained description and discussion, but not the table itself. If you're reading this, those difficulties have been resolved.

This year, for the first time since leaving grad school, I’d love to hear students on campus seriously discuss the election outside of class.

I was accused of complaining while not clearly outlining what I have accomplished in my current position. Consider it remedied.

This summer I was in Bali, conducting another of my social entrepreneurship trainings for a group of Balinese students and students from my university. In the past this program has been a real struggle for me and for my assistants, caused by personality conflicts, cultural misunderstandings, and less than helpful “partners” on the ground. And my own attitude, it turns out, is a huge indicator of how much I will enjoy the (sometimes) grueling six weeks of the program, but, more importantly, how my students will experience my class.

Basing your tech investment decisions on media coverage is a sure recipe for losing money. By the time the forces that determine whether a tech company thrives or dives make it into the press the smart money has already arrived or left.