David Rackovan ‘04 has been re-deployed to Iraq and is having a BIRTHDAY on August 12th.

Please consider joining me and sending him a birthday card.

• David Rackovan
• Camp Harper
• MND-SE / Unit 60519
• Basrah Air Station
• APO AE 09375

It only takes a regular stamp !

Thank you for supporting our fellow Alums who are deployed in harm’s way.

Stewart Menking ‘79

Williams College Adopt An Eph Program

Reader Aidan wanst to know why Professor Jim Burns ‘39 “hates the Constitution?”

In his excellent column, Mr. Friedman calls for nation-building here in the United States to deal with our intractable problems at home and abroad.

For decades, I and other political scientists have called for rebuilding our horse-and-buggy 18th-century constitutional system, with its divided powers and inevitable gridlock. We have warned that the system survives mainly by putting more power into the hands of the president — a dangerous fall-back when we are governed by an inept president.

Proposals for reform range from institutional changes such as abolition of the Electoral College to fundamental transformations such as democratizing our political parties and synchronizing terms of office for House, Senate and president.

I hope that Mr. Friedman will spell out his own strategies for comprehensive nation-building in future columns.

Aidan, of course, jests. Burns (my professor 20 years ago) does not hate the Constitution. And he has, indeed, been arguing for decades for a more parliamentary style of government. But, still, there is some revisionism here. Burns never worried about “putting more power into the hands of the president” back in the day when our presidents were more to his likely. Consider Burns’ The Deadlock of Democracy: Four-Party Politics in America. From a Kirkus review:

How is it that our President, who has the vast and overwhelming support of the nation, cannot enact into legislation his foreign and domestic programs? The answers to these and other related questions are the subject of this book. Professor Burns concludes that we have been captured by the Madisonian model of government, a system of checks and balances that requires the consensus of many groups and leaders before a nation can act, while we have rejected (or neglected) the competing system of Jefferson, emphasizing strong leadership, majority rule, party responsibility, and competitive elections. The author’s thesis is that the pattern of national politics is essentially a four-party pattern each of the two parties divided into congressional and presidential structures–and that the chief executive is therefore forced to manage multi-party coalitions. Because the congressional and presidential parties share to a great extent the same powers, they can block each other. This deadlock has resulted in a government unable to supply the steady leadership and power necessary for the conduct of our affairs.

When Kennedy was in office, Burns wanted the President to have more power. Now, not so much.

An extreme anti-Federalist like myself is more consistent. I want all presidents to have less power. Three cheers for gridlock!

Happy July 4th to Ephs far and wide.

Funny Michael Lewis column on recession advice for financiers includes:

No, if you want to win the recession, you need to find a hole and crawl inside it, until the shooting stops. This hole is called a HEDGE FUND.

Look around. Note how many of the really shrewd people have recently decided to abandon the big firms for which they have happily worked for many years, and sneak off to some small corner of the financial universe.

Last week, the two guys who ran the distressed-debt desk at Citigroup just disappeared inside their own firm. The team doing the same thing at Bear Stearns Cos. vanished inside Tudor Investment Corp. Even the guy who kept Goldman Sachs Group Inc. out of the subprime mess fled, and raised money for his own fund.

Would that guy be Michael Swenson ‘89? Alas, it seems more likely that the reference is to Swenson’s fellow Goldman trader, Josh Birnbaum. So, Birnbaum rather then Swenson is more likely to have been the source for the Wall Street Journal piece. Why would Birnbaum leave and not Swenson? Being married with four kids makes you risk averse, for starters. And, by all accounts, Goldman is a nice place to make a career. With any luck, Goldman will reward Swenson’s loyalty.

Ahem.  As some of you have gathered– and others been beaten over the head with,  it’s hard to tell which– I participated,  in some small way,  in the Presidential campaign of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,  in Mexico.

As the United States approaches another election,  and as the election above “concluded” two years ago today,  in a series of events which now seems eerily similar to the pattern of elections worldwide,  it seems like a good time to take some moments to reflect upon the experiences of July 2^nd, 2006,  and what they may mean for us all.

My experience of the events was intensely personal;  my role,  both complicated and far less important than many others,  and still one which I am not fully “at liberty” to speak openly about.  Yet- with the impending sense that far more is at stake than protocols-

There is also the question of tone.  Perhaps the quality of Scott McClellan’s reflections say more about the state of the North American Republic than anything I might write,   but there is a “look at me” quality to so much of the US-American experience-which is entirely opposed to the ideals  and hopes,  the self-effacing humility,  of the regime to which I took part.

Days into our experience of the unfolding events– this is not a place to discuss the decision not to concede,  though that is a decision the United States may well have to revisit and endure again soon-I had the chance to pause and review Ted Sorenson’s account of November of 1960-I discovered,  again,  the point where Ted remarks to John Kennedy,  that in reviewing the inaugural addresses of the United States,  he discovered the majority “unmemorable.”

It would be interesting,  one day,  to teach a seminar at Williams or Vanderbilt,  reviewing such addresses in history-to begin,  by looking over the students,  and asking,  “Who among you,  might one day… Who among you,  may build and secure the future we need as nations?”

After my review of Sorenson,  I called ——-,  to share this remark,  and ——- responded,  quite curtly given the situation,   ”Yes,  that’s pretty much what I discovered” (when conducting the same review).

What does this experience mean,  or reveal?   As we might put it on a syllabus:  what is it to assemble an administration-to address a nation-what happens,  is achieved or is not achieved,  in such moments and events?  How do we understand them,  as individuals,  as citizens,  as nations?

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Brandi Brown ‘07 is hilarious. “I’d be less bitter about being 55k in debt if Williams had an ice cream truck circling campus giving out free stuff.”

John Stahl ‘95 passes along this observation: “If someone says ‘leverage resources for improved engagement collaboration’ I guarantee that nobody will be paying attention by the end of the sentence.”

Rachel Barenblat ‘96 is feeling proud in Jerusalem.

Chap Petersen ‘90 is passing laws in Virginia.

Jennifer Mattern waits. There is no more clever writer in all of Eph Planet.

Who are your favorite writers among the tribe of Ephs?

John Bozeman ‘98 is nearing the end of his deployment.

He was able to be in Williamstown for his 10 year reunion, but is now back in Iraq.

Please consider sending him an apolitical letter or e-mail. You only need a regular 42 cent stamp. {There’s not enough time to mail a package.}

Sgt. John L. Bozeman

MITT 0730

Unit 42719

FPO AP 96426-2719

e-mail:  BozemanJr@hotmail.com

Thank you for your support of our fellow deployed Eph.

As I was watching the swimming Olympic Trials last night, who should appear on the screen but Lindsay Payne! Payne won the 100 breaststroke in the NCAA Division III nationals all four years, and racked up many wins. I know her from a winter study photography class; here are her photos.

In the 100 breaststroke semifinals at the Trials, she tied for 8th with another swimmer (Jessica Botzum), so to determine which of them would make the final, the two swimmers had a match race last night — just two swimmers in the pool, with 14,500 spectators. It was very exciting to watch! Payne started out with a small lead, then at the flip turn they were tied, then Botzum pulled ahead a bit, and in the last stroke it was so even that they touched at the same time. The touch showed that Payne beat Botzum by 0.02 seconds.

Payne will compete tonight in the final (start list - PDF). It will be televised tonight from 8 pm - 9 pm eastern time on channel USA. She will be in lane 8. Y’all come watch now!

At graduation three years ago, class speaker Ben Cronin ‘05 said (HT to Jonathan Landsman ‘05):

Merit, of course, is important, but it is not what makes Williams distinctive. The entire university system incubates merit, each institution in its own way. Indeed, I will be so un-nationalistic as to say that even Wesleyan and Amherst serve much the same function. But what truly makes this place distinctive is its physical location, up in this mountain valley, far from the madding crowd. Henry Thoreau remarked on this after visiting Williams, saying “It would be no small advantage if every college were thus located at the base of a mountain.” It is a comment which the College has reproduced in so many advertisements and brochures that seeing it will leave the practiced Williams eye a little queasy. But this does nothing to diminish its truth. These mountains, these hills that surround us and fence in our little valley with their beautiful, almost amorous shapes, truly set this place apart, from other campuses and from the outside world. This has no doubt been a source of dissatisfaction to those of you who remember, a little wistfully, the bright lights of New York and Boston. But the cities shall pass; the hills will not. They have stood in mute witness to ten thousand years of human history in this valley, and they have watched over us as well — in the throes of first adversity, in the ecstasy of final triumph, watched us glow and sorrow in first love, old love, new love and true love; they have accompanied us, unmoving, through every season under the sun. In the fall they explode into a vibrancy made poignant by its ephemerality; in the winter, sere and white, they are Ethan Frome’s country. In April and May a slow vernal tide works its way up their living sides, while in the summer, they simply exult. And now, they will see us off, out into the world.

What makes Williams distinctive, a different place than all the many excellent liberal arts colleges? Is it really the physical location?

What makes Williams Williams?

This is the most irresponsible thing Williams has ever done. It punishes the landscape as a reminder to us all, that life is about more than money.

The Tubs

This is private property, so I am not going to give the exact location on the internet. It is in Pownal just off of Rt 346, about fifteen minuets from town. If you want to check it out, make friends with a townie and they will show you the way. It is a very beautiful location. 

Warning- the terrain is rough and not really suitable for children.

There was some trash on the site. If you go, please bring an extra garbage bag and clean up after yourself and those who have decided to litter.

Cheers!

Could this story about a Singapore university seeking a partner (and mentioning Williams by name) be part of the reason a large entourage of Williams employees, including President Schapiro and development officers, is reportedly in Asia?

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_252307.html

Now that the Odd Quad has been dead for two years, where does the current generation of “Deviants” hang out?

The name “Deviants” was adopted by members of the Williams community who associated themselves with a less mainstream culture, particularly social life. The name was taken from a listserver owned by Jesse Dill ‘04 and Chris Holmes ‘03, which was first created to organize Driscoll Deviations, and then gradually became a means to announce social events in general. It is still used for this purpose.

The Deviants emerged in 2002 and enjoyed the height of their mischief in 2003. Prior Williams generations of people who enjoyed doing things that were off the beaten path had, until then, associated themselves with WARP and used that listserver as primary means of communication. With the graduation of the class of 2002, in 2003 WARP took on a slightly heavier role playing, bopsword, video gaming identity. Out of a desire to participate in quirky, fun events but not necessarily under the WARP banner were born the Deviants.

In a campus of Neighborhoods, where do the Deviants call home?

In my regular truckload of political news yesterday and today, I noticed a little gem about Williams’ regular contributor and building namesake Edgar Bronfman, Sr. (of Seagram’s fame).  Well, technically I think the building is named after the whole Bronfman family, many of whom contributed to the building, but still…Edgar was the initial Williams connection so far as I know.

Former World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman headlines a group of prominent Jewish leaders from New York who are signing on to support the Barack Obama campaign.

The Obama Jewish Leadership Council of Metro New York plans to meet next Tuesday. Other participants include Merryl Tisch, Howard Milstein, Penny Pritzker, Tom and Andi Bernstein and New York Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Steve Israel.

(Another piece from Politico on the same fundraiser)  There are some very interesting names on that list, but Bronfman obviously stood out.  I am still impressed that he and the family donated for a building - and later many other things - when he didn’t actually graduate from Williams (would have been class of ‘50, got his bachelor’s from McGill in ‘51).  We gave him an honorary degree in 1986 though, and a Bicentennial Medal in 2005.  Funny, the honorary degree isn’t indicated in his entry in the online Alumni Directory.  The announcement re: the Medal also is cagey about his graduating or not, saying only that he was “a member of the class of 1950″ but the other entries state “after graduation from Williams in 19XX.”  Subsequent to the family giving $1.25 million of the $3.9 million needed for the building (bit of history here with fabulous ’60s pictures), several other members of the Bronfman family also went to Williams (Samuel II ‘75 and Matthew ‘81 - sons of Edgar, and Stephen ‘86 - nephew of Edgar, son of Charles who actually spearheaded the family fundraising for the building).  There is also a Fiona Wood ’81 that comes up when you search the directory…hard to track all the family members so I assume she fits in there somehow.  Google can only give you so much info.  Bronfman also gave $5 million in 2003 for scholarships “to help extend need-blind admission to all international applicants” which should make David proud.  He also gave money toward the building of the Jewish Religious Center.

I wonder if this means that Obama will get an ugly, overly concrete building for his campaign HQ now?  I know there are those out there who sing the praise of strange ’60s and ’70s concrete & brick architecture like that of Bronfman (seen around campus in Greylock, Sawyer library, Prospect), but I have always found the interiors of such buildings cold, the sound quality terrible, and the weird odor from the concrete during warm humid days somewhat disconcerting. 

Let me be clear that I fully applaud the ideals of a unified science center, and I appreciate how much space it provides.  It allowed advances in science at Williams in a very real way (read the above link with the fun pictures).  But starting out as a math major and spending much of my first two years in there and also spending many long nights there in my later years as a tutor with the Math/Science Resource Center, I grew to detest its cramped classrooms, often dim interior, and weird echoes.  Perhaps I am alone in thinking this…and at least it doesn’t have the bizarre waffle ceilings like Greylock, but it’s not my favorite bit of Williams.  I personally think it’s one of the examples of technically “great architecture” without thinking about people enjoying of the use of the building.  I’m sure those who disagree with me will freely comment below.  My opinion may also be biased by spending much time of late in the large number of similarly styled government buildings in and around DC.  It just seems weird to me that if you accidently brush a wall on the INSIDE of a building, you could skin your knuckles.

I should point out that the Jewish Religious Center is a truly gorgeous building - inside and out - that is functional, filled with light, and beautiful.  So I guess Bronfman’s involvement doesn’t actually require an ugly building…this just gave me a fun hook to tie a few different comments about Williams together

Anyhow, viva la generous rich alums!  I’m sure this bit of fundraising will lead to all kinds of interesting commentary in the MSM, especially with some of these folks’ former support of Clinton and the fact that Bernstein is a former classmate and supporter of George W.  Too bad most bios of Bronfman don’t mention Williams at all…maybe some will now link to this little item?

I hadn’t realized just how big the summer theater has become, and how many venues in Williamstown they are using. The place is jumping!

http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/1654

Lots of athletics tid-bits over the last few weeks.

First, on the alumni front, several former Eph basketball players have been in the news: Mike Crotty ‘04 for his job with the NBA champion Celtics, and Casey Gibbons ‘06 for the basketball recruiting company he started. Also, check here for a nice feature on former Eph hockey star and current L.A. Kings Director of Amatuer Scouting Mark Yannetti ‘94. Finally, here is a nice story on former Eph All-American Track and Field athlete Dan Austin ‘06

Second, on the current Eph front, Eph football and lacrosse star Brian Morrissey ‘09 was one of the three featured speakers (along with New England Patriot Ben Watson) at the recent Boston Globe all-scholastic dinner, where he spoke to, among others Margie Fulton ‘12. In addition, here is an inspiring article about Eph rower Bianca Czaderna ‘11

Third, several recent features on star athletes in the class of 2012: Karyn Moss and Will Petrie.

An unusual poetry slam.

Educational wonkery as…poetry? Inside Higher Ed columnist Wick Sloane has accepted an invitation to read from his work 7 p.m., Friday, June 27, 2008, at La Luna Caffe, Cambridge (where else?) as part of the acclaimed City Nights Reading Series. Wick will read from his column, “The Devil’s Workshop,” including selections from Common Sense or The Bachelor’s Degree Is Obsolete?, the pamphlet published by Inside Higher Ed in May. Copies of the pamphlet are downloadable free at IHE or hardcopy at the Harvard Bookstore, where owner Frank Kramer, has confirmed that Common Sense is not only on sale but also selling.

If you go, say Hi to Wick from all his fans at EphBlog.

Information wants to be free, or so all the cool Ephs tell me.

One of my favorite recurring crusades is to encourage/cajole/force Williams into being more transparent. Too much information is too restricted to too few people. A central hallmark of an academic community is openness, a willingness to consider evidence and discuss policy. To that end, I have sought and received permission to publish important documents like the Report on Varsity Athletics (thanks to Professor Mike McDonald) and the Report on Williams in New York (thanks to Professor Chris Waters). It is truly pathetic that the College does not make these reports available on its website. Also of interest (but perhaps reasonable for the College to exclude since they are the statements of individual faculty members rather than official Williams committees) are commentary on athletics from former Coach Dave Barnard and commentary on WNY by Professor Robert Jackall. It seems a shame that, were it not for EphBlog, no one would have easy access to these important documents.

Yet, in all these cases, I received permission from someone in authority to publish this work. What about cases where I do not receive permission? We had this problem during our CGCL seminar two years ago on the Diversity Initiatives. The actual Diversity Initiative report was never made available to the general public. You needed (and still need) a password of some kind. Any high school students considering Williams (or their parents) can’t get in. And, since I did not have permission to make the information public, I did not. The same was true (after an initial tease) in the case of the Alcohol Task Force report from 2005.

But just because I am too fastidious to publish something without permission does not mean that every Eph is, nor does it mean that I won’t ask others to do so. Information wants to be free, after all. A kind-hearted Eph put the Alcohol Report on the web three years ago. Another Eph (could be the same person but the formatting looks different) has done the same with the Diversity Initiatives (portions of) the recent Self-Study. Great stuff!

Williams College should make these all documents public, on its own website. A scholarly community is defined by a openness and transparency. When former Dean of the College Steve Fix spoke at the Boston Alumni Society annual meeting a few years ago, he insisted that “Intellectual honesty is the highest value at Williams.” Exactly correct. When will the administrators who run our College live up to this claim?

Reading through one of the blogs featured in EphPlanet, I came across this comment: “…this story comes just as the president of my college, and a rather large entourage of administrative and development staff, are making a visit to China and Hong Kong and Taiwan.” The author was very clearly referring to President Schapiro and other Williams employees.

Anyone have any details? Know what the purpose of this trip is? Who’s going, and why? Where the funding is coming from?

In response to a question on financial aid, Morty told a story about an alum who is a college professor. Her son had been accepted by Williams and by an Ivy. [Morty did not so say directly, but the school was almost certainly Harvard, Yale or Princeton.] The alum told Morty that the Ivy was charging her family $20,000 per year less than Williams proposed. She just thought he ought to know. [EphBlog readers already know this and also know that Morty does not like bargaining.]

Morty used this anecdote to highlight some of the, in his view, absurdities in current financial aid packages at elite colleges. Morty had no problem with many of the recent changes. He thought that it was fine to allow the families of “poor” students (meaning families from the bottom half of the income distribution) to pay nothing for their child’s education. He seemed comfortable with eliminating student loans. But he felt strongly that HYPS were going to far, that offering financial aid to a family making $180,000 (and who had been making similar amounts for years) was ridiculous and that it was absurd to describe such aid as “need-based.” Morty also worried that, if Williams were to match the generosity of HYPS, it would set off a chain-reaction among other schools. Amherst, Swarthmore, Brown, Dartmouth would have no choice but to match us. Morty felt strongly that this would be a bad outcome, that these rich families ought to pay for the college education of their children. He implied that the current equilibrium, with HYPS being much more generous than other schools, was somewhat stable.

Morty also pointed out that much of the news coverages of these aid policies missed some of the juicy details. [I am embarrassed to admit that I missed these details as well.] For example, the family contribution for income levels from $120,000 to $180,000 is around 10% at Harvard. If your family makes $180,000, Harvard will only charge you $18,000. Morty pointed out that this was true but highly misleading. What happens if your family makes $181,000? Does Harvard charge you the full $48,000? Wouldn’t that make for a pretty horrendous marginal tax rate? Make an extra $1,000 and, not only does Harvard take all of that money, but it takes an additional $29,000 (post-tax!). Imagine the fellow offered a bonus at the end of the year and telling his boss, “No! Don’t give me the extra money!”

Morty explained that, of course, this is not the way things work. [I have never seen anyone point this out before.] Instead, the family who makes $181,000 still gets a huge break from Harvard, as does the family making $182,000, the family making $183,000 and so on. They may have to pay more than 10% of their family income to Harvard, but not much more. Morty said [not sure if he was estimating or claiming this as fact] that financial aid at places like Harvard actually goes to families making up to $280,000 because there is a smooth slope as you move above $180,000. In other words, the only families that pay the sticker price at Harvard are those with family incomes above $300,000 or so.

Below are highlights from an article which outlines Harvard’s new policy and my comments.
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I’ve been a frequent reader of (and occasional commenter on) Ephblog for a while, so when I encountered a discussion of the disadvantages of an elite education on MetaFilter, I emailed David to say this might be interesting content for this site.  And now I seem to have become an author.

Anyway, the MetaFilter thread is actually a discussion of an article about Yale by William Deresiewicz. Deresiewicz claims, among other things, that elite educational institutions — Yale, in particular — have created alumni who are not always able to connect with others across social and class boundaries:

It didn’t dawn on me that there might be a few holes in my education until I was about 35. I’d just bought a house, the pipes needed fixing, and the plumber was standing in my kitchen. There he was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn’t succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work. Fourteen years of higher education and a handful of Ivy League dees, and there I was, stiff and stupid, struck dumb by my own dumbness. “Ivy retardation,” a friend of mine calls this. I could carry on conversations with people from other countries, in other languages, but I couldn’t talk to the man who was standing in my own house. (more…)

[28] Comments

 

Bill Ryan ‘89 is not having as much fun watching Euro 2008 as I am.

Dear Soccer,

While I was at the gym today, you happened to be on the television in front of me. That’s cool, I am a sports fan. It is certainly better than watching one of the news networks lie.

Until the 18th time one of your participants fell down when another player walked near them. Hey, I know it was Europe and those folks don’t bathe enough, but is that the issue? Are the players being knocked down by body odor? Are there invisible feathers falling from the sky and crushing them? Does someone somewhere have a voodoo doll of each of these players and is causing them to fall down?

Because seriously, I have seen 84 year old ladies in line at the supermarket take more contact and stay upright than your players. I was embarrassed for you.

Indeed.

But, even better, this random blog post by an Eph allows me to go off on an unrelated (?) rant below.
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Gaye Symington, Williams ’76, is running for governor in Vermont.  She has been Speaker of the House.   She’s a fine person.  Vermont is lucky.

Symington for Governor

http://symingtonforgovernor.com/

 Gaye Symington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Her Speaker Bio:

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/speaker/SpeakerBio.htm

As a counterpoint to the NY Magazine think piece on the sexy and wealthy life of Harvard grads I posted on last week, I offer you this NY Times article on a Harvard education professor who is teaching “reflection seminars” at Harvard, Amherst, and Colby to encourage students to look “beyond the consulting and financial jobs that he says are almost the automatic next step for so many graduates of top colleges.” The article quotes Amherst prez Tony Marx saying something pretty:

“We’re in the business of graduating people who will make the world better in some way,” said Anthony Marx, Amherst’s president. “That’s what justifies the expense of the education.

Williams not being mentioned in the article makes me one sad panda, as I’m sure it does to you all. And I do recall there being a great deal of debate here and on WSO on whether Williams does enough in this area or not. (Hopefully David can provide some links?)

I don’t have that many friends from Williams who joined finance, but I also don’t have many who seem to be going into public service, either. (Take this with a grain of salt, I don’t have many friends.)

Should Williams be doing more? Talk amongst yourselves.

Morty mentioned that the North and South Academic buildings already had names. I think that they will be formally dedicated this fall. He gave no hint as to what the names would be. I am still guessing that one will be Kraft Hall. Other guesses? Assume for a second that the donor will not be named, what person from Williams history should be honored? Presumably, a professor would be a good choice, but many of the most famous (Perry, Dodd) are already immortalized. Suggestions? Time to dust off your copy of Mark Hopkins and the Log.

Morty took great pride in claiming that athletic admission were very different now then when he started 8 years ago. This was clearly a great success, in his mind. I agree. He offered few details, but see our previous discussions. If Williams still had the same process in place today that it hard 10 years ago, at least 10% of the class we actually have would be replaced with dumber (perhaps) athletically more gifted students with lower academic rankings. You can claim that Morty has gone too far. You can claim that he hasn’t done enough. But there is no doubt that he has made major changes, that the Williams student body is significantly different than what it would have been if Morty had not become President.

Morty repeatedly sang the praises of the tutorial program. He mentioned that this was Williams’ “signature” program and cited impressive numbers as to tutorial growth over the last 8 years, something like 20 tutorials to 71 and 160 students enrolled to 760. [Does anyone have the exact numbers? I am (mis)remembering as best I can.] He thought that the College was on track (perhaps for the class of 2009?) to have at least 75% of the students graduate having taken at least one tutorial.

 Morty discussed a conversation he had with (previous president) Frank Oakley about tutorials. Oakley pointed out that, given Williams strength in tutorials, it made sense to devote more resources to them rather then towards areas of weakness. This made perfect sense to Morty since it is (more or less) the economic principal of comparative advantage.  Morty told this story in an amusing fashion, somehow managing to both compliment Oakley and make fun of his fellow economists.

Quick quiz: Can you see how that claim illustrates Mark Taylor’s critique of Morty as a “wise guy” rather than a “wise man?” Screed below. (more…)

The Hopper.

Check it out. Local, everyone knows where it is. You could jog here. Fast cold water, a nice field to picnic in, and you do not have to worry about the above sign. It is legal to swim here.

I may make it home this summer. If so, I’ll check up on some of my old swimming holes (the Pines, the Tubbs, the Orchards)  and see if they are still open to the public.