Local Baseball Legends

I had one of Cloyd's sons in class when I student taught in Webb City. Sadly, Mike died in a tragic hunting accident a few years ago. Dad later told me that the remembered them and that his brother Gene played some local ball with them.

This is the reason

for Memorial Day.

Qualitative School Data Input

Thanks to Sherman Dorn for this post.

Having been involved in the trenches of quantitative vs. qualitative data for evaluating pre-service teacher candidates and providing proof of our university's program for state and federal accrediting agencies, I am still struggling with how to deal with undefined data or, at best, constantly changing "goals". Am still clarifying my thoughts but I am convinced that not all of it is in the best interests of everyone involved. Some of the same political processes that blocked previous reform attempts are also keeping current efforts from being effective and/or correctly implemented. More thoughts later . . . am trying to take a few days to recover from an intense semester before the craziness of summer institutes starts.

'My Teacher Doesn't Like Me'

Chronicle Careers: 5/20/2008: 'My Teacher Doesn't Like Me':

"The majority of student complaints turn out to be baseless. Department heads who follow up each gripe with a CSI-worthy investigation will find themselves overworked and unpopular, while trying to explain to their superiors why faculty morale and department productivity continue to decline.

Effective chairs, on the other hand, deal with each complaint as common sense dictates -- which, about 70 percent of the time, means ignoring it."

Why ‘Sex and the City’ matters/www.kansascity.com | 05/17/2008 |

www.kansascity.com | 05/17/2008 | Why ‘Sex and the City’ matters:

"In reality, HBO was redefining comedy using techniques that networks wouldn’t have wanted to take a chance on in the late 1990s. We see them now in one-hour dramadies, in laugh-track-free sitcoms and in frank-talking women’s Web sites like WOW and Broadsheet.

Popular entertainment has a more sophisticated and, yes, adult feel to it these days, and “Sex and the City” rightly deserves some of the credit for that."

End of Semester

Grades . . . are . . . DONE . . .

Sunday

It's another beautiful day. We're getting some cool evenings and mornings - we thought maybe we had missed out those with it staying cold so long into the spring. But it looks like there will be some easy into summer heat. Given that fall and spring are my favorite seasons - but I really do like the best of all four seasons - this is good news.

Molly is getting more settled in. She's eating better and enjoying romping in her yard. I'm still getting used to the contrast of a male dog compelled to mark and a female dog who just takes care of business a few times a day.

I went out with a friend last night and had fun, including a trek to Target - always a dangerous thing for at least one credit card during each visit. I found Molly a new dog bed that is all her own. I will spread out Shadow's old ones for back-up and donate extras to the humane society. I'll also donate the dog "coats" that are too big for her to them. I did buy her one sale coat just so we have one on hand when needed. We go for utility more than cuteness and only put her in a coat when necessary. If all goes as planned, she will get her first bath tonight.

The yard is drying out a bit more but the city should be here this week to work on the dumped in area that is blocking drainage behind our houses.

Neighbor Mark was back yesterday to mow. He will continue to be missed even though he is just across town. My newer neighbor on the other side just bought a riding lawnmower - it's just too heavy to get much into my yard given the wet ground.

I have a bit of grading to finish up before the semester is done. My thesis workload has decreased given that a student chose to vent publicly on Facebook. Lessons learned for him.

I also have some grant reviewing to do but have through tomorrow to get that done and the agency understands that we've be in heavy school mode since they asked me to participate.

If all works as planned, Molly and I will be at the lake next weekend and visit with Uncle Bill when he comes through Springfield. His moving us away from Christmas makes the scheduling much more problematic for 5 adults.

Kansas City National Archives Progress on Move

New Archives Facility for
National Archives – Central Plains Region

The National Archives Central Plains Region in Kansas City will move to a new facility in the Union Station complex. The move is expected to take place in late 2008.

“This new facility offers easy public access in the heart of Kansas City. It is also an opportunity for the National Archives, working in partnership with the community, to highlight our extensive research services,” said Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein. “We will be able to feature innovative outreach efforts through student training programs, civic education, special events, and other learning experiences that invite broad public participation and promote civic literacy.”

The new Central Plains Regional Archives facility will be located in the former Adams Express building, a part of the Union Station complex. Under the supervision of the General Services Administration, the historic building will be renovated and then leased to the National Archives. Upon completion, the Central Plains Region will then move from its present facility at the Bannister Road Federal Complex, where it has been since 1969.

Treasures of the Central Plains Region include records relating to the milestone Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, Wild West showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody, President Ulysses S. Grant, and Walt Disney which are among the 50,000 cubic feet of records in its holdings. In commenting on the move, Professor Weinstein said, “The Central Plains Region will serve as a focal point for promoting greater appreciation of the region’s role in American History. The new facility will allow us to better showcase the treasures that we hold in trust for our citizens.”

The Study of Conservativism in Academe

History News Network:

"But the idea also attacted criticism from some conservatives. George Will: 'Like Margaret Mead among the Samoans, they're planning to study conservatives. That's hilarious.'"