The Neverending Semester

We are finally into exams at North Henderson. Weather has delayed this semester by a week, but it seems like much longer. I have already given two finals, the last one will be tomorrow morning. Here are some sample questions:

1. The process of mummification was connected to the Egyptian belief in

a. spirits.

b. magic.

c. an afterlife.

d. multiple gods.

2. The main result of the domestication of animals was that humans

a. were safer during a hunt.

b. were able to hunt more efficiently.

c. could use animals to pull carts and wagons.

d. had a ready supply of meat and animal products.

3. What was true of the Mongol Empire?

a. The Mongol Empire treated all conquered peoples humanely.

b. Mongols refused to adopt aspects of the cultures they conquered.

c. The Mongol Empire was the largest unified land empire in history.

d. Mongols forced conquered peoples to convert to their religion.

4. Where in the Americas did Christopher Columbus land first?

a. an island in the Caribbean Sea

b. the southern tip of South America

c. the coast of what is today Panama

d. the eastern coast of North America

5. What happened on July 14, Bastille Day?

a. Robespierre was executed by guillotine.

b. French women marched all the way to Versailles.

c. A mob stormed a prison looking for gunpowder.

d. All of the above are true.

6. What were the Fourteen Points?

a. parts of the "war guilt" clause

b. a plan for the postwar world

c. the constitution of the League of Nations

d. the terms of surrender offered to Germany

7. In 1939, Adolf Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with which country?

a. Italy

b. Soviet Union

c. Japan

d. China

8. How can you best summarize the trends in technology and innovation over the last 100 years?

a. Technology and employment has become more automated due to computers

b. People have to work harder because there are more machines to operate

c. People do not need much education because machines do everything

d. Technology has only affected industry, not regular people and their daily lives.

9. Which of the following nations would be considered an archipelago?

a. Japan

b. Mongolia

c. Bangladesh

d. Saudi Arabia

10. What came out of the blown BP well in the Gulf of Mexico this past summer?

a. water

b. oil

c. macaroni

d. ice cream

Answers: 1-c; 2-d; 3-c; 4-a; 5-c; 6-b; 7-b; 8-a; 9-a; 10-b

How'd you do?

Final Words

Last words on the college football scene:

• Yes, I pulled for the Ducks. They're my favorite team west of Seymour.
• Something about this Auburn team makes me feel dirty-- like I need to bathe to clean myself off after watching them.
• I would vote TCU First Place in my poll if I were a voter. Just to stir the pot.

And I offer you my alternate postseason:

• Eight team playoff
  
• Champion of each automatic qualifying conference gets in (I would make all the conferences have a championship game).
  
• Two at large qualifiers determined by the BCS Rankings. Teams from Non-automatic qualifying conferences are guaranteed a spot if they are in the top five.
  
• Higher ranked team hosts in their home stadium in first round.
• Semifinals are at the sites of the Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar Bowls on a rotating basis. The two bowls not hosting that year have first choice of match-ups between non-playoff teams.
• Finals rotate among the 4 BCS Bowls each year.
  
• Other teams can go to their bowls (there are 35 total bowls).
  

In my world, the college football postseason would have looked like this:

• #8 Connecticut (Big East Champ) at # 1 Auburn (SEC Champ)
  
• #5 Wisconsin (Big Ten Champ) at #4 Stanford (at large)
• #6 Oklahoma (Big12 Champ) at #3 TCU (at large)
  
• #7 Virginia Tech (ACC Champ) at #2 Oregon (Pac10 Champ)

Semifinals would be:

• Rose Bowl: #5 Wisconsin, #1 Auburn
  
• Sugar Bowl: #3 TCU vs # 2 Oregon
  

While the other BCS bowls invited these non-qualifiers:

• Fiesta Bowl: LSU vs Boise State
  
• Orange: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

The finals in Tempe would then have had:

• TCU vs Auburn

Final score: TCU 25, Auburn 24

Too bad it won't happen. The Conference Presidents say it will extend the season too long and make kids miss class. That despite that the FCS (formerly Division 1-AA) does it every year and no one questions the class time that Duke and Baylor missed last year in the NCAA Basketball tournament. The Conferences also like their contracts with the bowls and ESPN that pay them handsomely, even if most schools lose money attending the bowls.

The BCS is un-American. It is set up for the rich to get richer and limit access for the poor (sorry Mountain West and WAC Conferences). There are no Cinderellas in the BCS. No Baylors.

We who have power will capitalize on our position to increase our prestige while limiting or eliminating competition. That's the BCS. On second thought, maybe it's more American than I first gave it credit for...

Can you tell I hate the BCS?

I Hate/Love Football

I'm pulling for Oregon tonight in the BCS Championship. I need an excuse for a bulleted list, so here's why I like the Ducks:

• State of Oregon > State of Alabama. Salem tops Montgomery, Portland tops Birmingham. Oregon has Crater Lake, Alabama has well, Biloxi. Oregon wins big.
• Duck might not be the toughest mascot, but at least Oregon can decide on one. Unlike the Auburn Tigers/Eagles. Plus, Ducks are original. There are 46 four year colleges that use Tigers (and 74 that use Eagles). Info from this interesting article.
• Autzen Stadium cooler than Jordan-Hare Stadium.
• Oregon's offense is cooler to watch. Makes you tired they move so fast. And anyone can use hand signals and runners, Oregon uses these to call plays:
• I also think there's something dirty about Auburn. I have no proof, but the Newton saga just stinks. If it smells like poop, it just might be poop. And I do believe that Auburn all-world DT Nick Fairley is a dirty player because of his late hits and unnecessary roughness . Mighty talented, but dirty.
  

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I hate the BCS. TCU won a quality football game against a pretty good Wisconsin team. They finished 13-0. Bowl apologists, please never ever tell me again that every game matters. Obviously it doesn't. A team should not win every game and not get a chance to play for a championship.

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Is College Athletics a Sweatshop?

Interesting read. Continuing the spirit of bulleted lists:

• College Athletes have to do an amazing thing by balancing social, academic and athletic obligations. Greg Strobel, head wrestling coach at Lehigh University told me he tells his athletes they can excel at two of the three, but not all three. So they have to choose. But they also get preferential selection of classes, housing and academic tutors. They have lots of help.
• College football programs generate lots of revenue and the poor athletes get nothing from it. I must apologize and say I do not for one moment feel sorry for a big time football or basketball player. They get equipment, training tables with the best food, per diems and leave college with no debt. You know who's starving? I was. And many of my friends and other regular students who had to work their way through college. You know who else is starving? Collegiate wrestlers, gymnasts, lacrosse players and other minor sport athletes. Please don't tell me, Tyrelle Pryor, that football players can't make it.
  
• I would not be opposed to paying college athletes on top of their scholarship. It needs to be something universal across the NCAA, or else Texas, Alabama and Notre Dame will become the Yankees of college sports by paying their athletes the most. Maybe something like you can pay college football players $500 per month, minor sports $250.
  
• I would like to see football and basketball scholarships become more of a loan. If you do not get a degree in 6 years from your first semester (that even lets you go pro and work towards a degree), you are contractually obligated to repay the value of your scholarship. Then maybe we would see more student-athletes in these sports. The ones who are using it for a stepping stone to the pros can then give back to the school that assisted them.

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Final word: As the NFL season winds down, there is a talk of a lockout by the owners. The NBA collective bargaining agreement is expiring soon also. There's lots of things that need to be worked out, but if anyone in the know is reading please remember:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics have January 7 unemployment numbers at 9.4 percent.
  
• Tom Brady is guaranteed 48.5 million in his new contract, $72 million with incentives. I would have to work about 970 years just to reach just his guaranteed money.
• Reggie Bush's 2009 salary was just over $7 million. He ran, caught or returned the football 144 times that year. Basically, he got $48,611 for each time he touched a football.
  
• US Census data has median US income in 2009 at $49,777.
• If there's a lockout, we'll come back to football eventually. But we'll be hurt because many of us will not understand or be able to relate with millionaires who do not have enough money.
  
• Some will wonder why, when they cannot find employment, these men who get to play a game for a living do not want to work.
  
• I hope there is no lockout, because I do love football. But if there's no NFL, I'll ride my bike more, hike after church and pay more attention to the college game.
  

Some Thoughts

First, many prayers to the victims and families of all involved in attack Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. There's been plenty of blame passed along: the left blaming the right and the right blaming the left. Right now, we're still trying to figure everything out. Let's wait until we have all the facts before we start making judgments.

But I do believe that the leaders need to be more responsible with their political rhetoric. Sarah Palin said in March, "Don't retreat, reload" and proceeded to publish a poster with members of Congress in formerly Republican districts that voted for the Health Care Bill. Their districts were marked with Crosshairs from a gunsight. Giffords' opponent in the election, Jesse Kelly, invited supporters to a rally that invited them to "Get on Target" and involved shooting a M16 with the candidate.

Did either Palin, Kelly, Glen Beck or any other pundit endorse the attack on Gabrielle Giffords? I surely hope not. But with the militant talk that you often hear, are you surprised? Even if the attacker was not a right leaning, Fox loving conservative, the speech and hate is irresponsible and incendiary. It would be like me being a parent and swearing all the time and then astonished and angry because my 3 year old daughter cusses.

Two-
I love the Constitution. I consider it one of the great documents in history. I get excited teaching it. It's the oldest Constitution in the world that still is in use. Many countries have modeled their Constitution after ours. So what could ruin the Constitution for me? Congress, of course.

The 112th Congress opened its session last week with a reading of the Constitution. Why would this be so bad? Oh, let me count the ways:

1. This was a political move to appease certain factions (Tea Party) and not a genuine reading because of their "love" of the document. It was purely cosmetic. Yes, it was a bipartisan reading, but do not mistake the partisanship that lead to the reading.
   
2. They read the "deleted" Constitution, not the "amended" one. The 3/5 Compromise was not read. Nor was 18th Amendment that prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol (the 21st Amendment that repealed the 18th was read).
3. The GOP introduced new procedures that say all new legislation must cite its Constitutional authority. Sounds good, but it is the role of the judicial system, primarily the Supreme Court, to uphold whether or not legislation is Constitutional. The role of Congress is not to interpret the Constitution, but to make legislation.
   
4. It was boring! I want my students to love the Constitution the way I do. The way Ray Brown does (he walked across the USA to talk about it!). A nearly two hour reading interrupted every 20 something words for a new Representative to come read does not make your average American, much less one of my ninth graders, think: "This thing rocks!" See for yourself:

Three-
I thought Congress rallied really well during the lame duck period to get some crucial things passed. Tax law passed, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed, START treaty approved and 9/11 Responder's Bill passed. There was one bill not passed that I was really pulling for: The Dream Act.

I understand, they're in this country illegally. But this was a bill that could help everyone. Students affected by the Dream Act are the very students we want to have contributing to this country. We've had a few students at my school at the top of their class who were not pursue further education because of their legal status. These are students who did not make the choice to come to the United States, who've lived here nearly their entire lives and who would give back to their communities if they had the opportunity.

I hope the Dream Act is not dead. I wonder how different the lives of some of my students would be if they had access to this.