Walter Hutchens’ Blog

• From a couple of weeks ago, but worth the read: The Post-Crisis MBA http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/05/05/mba #
• NYT: Chinese Stocks Retreat Abruptly From Gains in 2009 http://nyti.ms/a3LUMs #
• Another China rich list person off to jail: WSJ.com – Ex-Gome Chairman Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison http://on.wsj.com/azpl8h #
• WSJ excerpts McGregor book: The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers: http://on.wsj.com/9wKw5W #
• Teachers Facing Weakest Market in Years – http://nyti.ms/aj7y0q #
• RT NYT NEWS ALERT: Senate Approves Bill to Overhaul Financial Regulation #
• Encouragement for grads facing tough economy http://bit.ly/cQIuxX @ 41:18 Anderson Cooper commencement speech @ Tulane @OnPointRadio #
• 8 Websites you need to STOP building…from the Oatmeal: http://bit.ly/a85fla #
• Compare Senate, House Financial Reform Bills: CFPA, Fed, Derivatives Differences http://huff.to/c6ZVLC #
• Commodities Futures Trading Commission chair agrees derivatives contracts that evade clearing reqmnts should be void. http://huff.to/d6DZF7 #
• Financial overhaul: House and Senate versions – latimes.com http://shar.es/mYhs6 #
• Basketball star Yao Ming now has a daughter @YaoMing #
• Report "EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENTS AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS" http://www.tellus.org/publications/files/endowmentcrisis.pdf #
• Enjoyed discovering PacMan "Google." #
• "Fish & Wildlife responding to a bear stuck in a tree. It's on Indian Trail Rd near the Yoke's. KREM 2 News has a crew headed to the scene." #
• RT @bbcbusiness China needs to adopt a domestic "level playing field" for Chinese & foreign companies, says US Sec http://bit.ly/deCk7R #

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USA Today article “Toughest test comes after graduation: Getting a job” notes that:

About 2.4 million students will graduate with bachelor’s and associates degrees as part of the Class of 2010, says the National Center for Education Statistics.

Those job-seekers will go head-to-head not only with fellow classmates but also with laid-off workers, financially strapped retirees and still-unemployed 2009 and 2008 grads. There are more than five job seekers for every opening, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures analyzed by outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.

Link to story.

I love this quote:

The failure of the students to develop a coherent understanding of the field . . . had grown out of the faculty’s failure to present the field coherently.

It’s from a story from Inside Higher Ed about an inter-disciplinary program at the University of Georgia in recreation and leisure studies. The faculty realized the program wasn’t working, and they went back to the drawing board to fix it. Good for them. I’ve been in programs that need to do this. There’s a lot of inertia in higher ed, like in other areas, so it takes some gumption to not just passively keep doing what’s been done but instead to re-imagine things from the ground up. I admire that these two institutions were willing to create something new.

The Georgia model has now been adopted at Clemson, too. There the chair of recreation and leisure studies:

[C]onvened his department to examine the nine courses typically offered to majors in the spring of their sophomore year. Like the faculty at Georgia, they tacked the courses and their learning objectives to the wall. And like the Georgia professors, they found redundancies. By the end of the meeting, they had winnowed the sophomore spring curriculum down to four essential courses — then resolved to teach the courses as one big course with four separate grades.

Pedagogically, the idea at both Georgia and Clemson is to have the course resemble an actual job: A multifaceted yet singular activity that occupies the whole day, and involves the freehand application of learned concepts to various practical tasks.

The article talks about how these efforts to reengineer the curriculum taxed faculty. They had to do the re-design work. Then they had to teach in teams; that requires greater time for coordination. Some courses were eliminated. And, theoretically at least, the demands of the new format could impinge on the “publish research” imperative that hangs over younger faculty (though some people spoken to for the article said that issu had not materialized).

The new format also increased demands on students. They could shirk less since profs. were communication with each other.

Also, I really liked this:

[O]ne distressed [student asked], “Don’t you realize we’re the multiple-choice generation?”

“We have to help them realize,” [Prof.] Powell says, “ that the world is not just full of multiple-choice questions.”

Amen that.

• RT @chronicle Is Higher Education Losing Its Influence Over the Tech Industry? http://bit.ly/8ZoIHn #
• Via @bbcbusiness Fannie Mae has asked for another $8.4bn in gv't aid http://bit.ly/a0ahYo #
• Engadhet reviews Sony VAIO P Series new iteration http://bit.ly/bTgAuI I bought earlier model & really like it (premium less for used one) #
• Grading or root canal–which is preferable? Can't really grade under heavy anesthesia, so I think root canal wins. #
• "Space archeology" cool! NYT: Mapping Ancient Civilization, in a Matter of Days – http://nyti.ms/cWUCUS #
• ATT iPhone exclusivity winding down? http://i.engadget.com/2010/05/10/confirmed-apple-and-atandt-signed-five-year-iphone-exclusivity-de/ #
• You can sell a human egg but not a kidney. Odd. RT @nytimes Payment Offers to Egg Donors Prompt Scrutiny http://nyti.ms/bAkTFh #
• I'm interested: RT @WSJ Verizon's CEO says his company is working with Google on a tablet computer http://on.wsj.com/9nPiWp #
• Could not get either iPhone's built-in Safari browser or Opera mini to work with Blackboard course mgt software for entering grades. Arghh. #
• RT @Spencerante Wanna read this. RT @peHUB: Barney Frank Says: Don’t Mess with VCs or Angels http://dlvr.it/wZHS #
• Came out to a cafe to settle in for some grading. Cafe closing at 10. Oh, Spokane. #
• Spokane Art Supply is now out of brown ink for cheap Shaeffer fountain pens; I bought it ALL this morning. #
• Highly recommended: Charcuterie platter @ Sante, in Auntie's boostore bldg in downtown Spokane. Duck procuito, their own mustard, wow! #
• NYTimes: Prosecutors Ask if 8 Banks Duped Rating Agencies http://nyti.ms/aQdMdX #
• Unlikely: WA Gov. Gregoire on short list to replace Elena Kagan as SG http://bit.ly/98nZ1W / via @seattletimes @spokesmanreview #
• RT @baselinescene Senator Kaufman Was Right http://bit.ly/abtlO2 #fb #
• GROUP video chats free via Skype: RT @engadget Skype's group video calling beta now available for Windows http://bit.ly/9ruFb6 #
• Bad for my job security: Plan B: Skip College – http://nyti.ms/a2zXcQ #
• Phoenix real estate investment trust buying 26-story City Center Plaza in Bellevue for $310 million http://www.djc.com/news/re/12017914.html #
• Seattle-based Nordstrom profits are up 44 percent, http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_us_earns_nordstrom_glance.html #
• Oregon State University has received a $16 million gift commitment for new $50 million business school building. http://bit.ly/dvUx8x #

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• WSJ: Apple says it has sold more than 1 million iPads http://on.wsj.com/aChfrR My prediction re the device flopping — not doing real well. #
• RT @engadget Apple to face antitrust inquiry over iPhone coding restrictions? http://bit.ly/95iBuK #

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• WaPo: Charles River Buys Chinese Drug Research Firm – http://nyti.ms/dbo9tj #
• NYT: The Rise of the Fleet-Footed Start-Up – http://nyti.ms/9Z3cms #
• NYT: Charles River Buys Chinese Drug Research Firm – http://nyti.ms/dbo9tj #
• WSJ.com – Housing to Test Economy's Post-Stimulus Strength http://on.wsj.com/aYMihp #
• WSJ.com – Push for Global Bank Tax Bogs Down http://on.wsj.com/b7AP1U #
• WSJ.com – French Bank Teams Up for Chinese Experiment http://on.wsj.com/cB8YTE #
• NYT Review of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown http://nyti.ms/9ltGkv #
• Krugman on credit rating agencies & financial crisis: Berating the Raters – http://nyti.ms/c0Caek #
• Comedy Central et al display "cowardice and self-censorship" – Not Even in South Park? – http://nyti.ms/dyw8Xy #
• WSJ.com – China Ponders Imposing New Property Taxes http://on.wsj.com/anrA3V #
• WSJ.com – China's Citic, Spains' BBVA Launch China Auto Finance Joint Venture http://on.wsj.com/bP7q6P #
• Antitrust: WSJ.com – FTC Investigates Oil Firms Over Hiring, Wages http://on.wsj.com/bTqcSi #
• Can opposing financial reg really be a good GOP strategy? WSJ.com – Shelby Expects GOP to Stand Together in Vote http://on.wsj.com/aEinTG #
• WSJ.com – [Fin reform] Deal May Force Trading-Desk Spinoff http://on.wsj.com/aDtxXs #
• FT: " Launch of Chinese index futures, a milestone in the development of the country’s financial markets." http://bit.ly/bVccgT #
• Foreign firms to list inside China? NYT: Shanghai Exchange Finalizing Plans for Foreign Listings – http://nyti.ms/crQZfH #
• Chinese knock-offs beat real products to market – WSJ on fake iPads http://bit.ly/dDlequ #
• Wash Post: China gains clout in World Bank vote shift – share behind US & Japan, but above Germany, Britain & France http://bit.ly/ciiPQt #
• Wash Post: IMF Memo to rich nations: You're maxed out. – http://bit.ly/b82QaV #
• Growth industry: Chinese language ed. NYT from back in Jan: http://nyti.ms/7bHQMK & follow-up discussions: http://nyti.ms/aaNYID #
• RT @Legal_Times Supreme Court to Rule on [State reg of] Violent Video Games http://bit.ly/boHXcQ #
• "Paul Krugman and Robin Wells: Our Giant Banking Crisis—What to Expect" http://bit.ly/aAv3VZ from NY Review of Books @nybooks #
• NYT: G.O.P. Readies a Rival Bill on Financial Regulation – http://nyti.ms/9svYop #
• RT @lawjobs Top Beijing Lawyer for Lovells Leaving for Chinese Firm http://bit.ly/aHP1TE #
• RT @nytimes Expo Offers Shanghai a Turn in the Spotlight http://nyti.ms/aP5Fq5 #
• RT @WSJ Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Goldman Sachs. Full coverage: http://on.wsj.com/8YhV2I #
• RT @nytimes As Europe Struggles, China Has Reason to Worry http://nyti.ms/bu177C #
• Jobs doesn't like Flash http://bit.ly/dnmu7L Lots of my pics use Flash nav http://bit.ly/cM1R8Q so not buying iPad & next phone = Android? #
• RT @WSJ Top 1% of Americans increased their share of all national wealth to 35.6% in 2009, up from 34.6% in 2007 http://on.wsj.com/cXhww5 #
• RT @nytimes Goldman’s Shares Plunge on Inquiries and Downgrade http://nyti.ms/cS8PFP #
• Campus paper on my wonderful colleague Tony Clark's public lecture on China last week: http://bit.ly/91EJPy #
• Thanks to everyone who stopped by today's farewell event. Nice to see such a great swath of friends; sad to know I'll see less of them soon! #
• Parting gift from my department: a bow tie with sailboats on it. Awesome! #
• Bought tiny used Sony Vaio P on eBay (Atom Z520, 1.33 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB HHD). Liking it! #
• NYT: In Shanghai, Preservation Takes Work – http://nyti.ms/aMpIop #
• Ntl Law Journal: The Law Professor Behind the Arizona Immigration Law http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202457530844 #
• Great NYT headline "Greek Wealth Is Everywhere but on Tax Forms" http://nyti.ms/97Ut7X #
• WSJ econ blog: Number of the Week: $132 Billion of Lost Synthetic Mortgage Bets http://on.wsj.com/8Z2gt1 #
• WSJ: "U.S. government's massive share of the nation's mortgage market grew even larger during the first quarter" http://on.wsj.com/cKqbRR #
• PRC stats bureau official: GDP can't capture all aspects of social progress. http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-05/800244.html Amen that. #
• Rainy days are beautiful in their own ways—everything glistens. #
• Chinese paper on

  Chinese paper on Labor Day — origin of this great proletarian holiday in Chicago strike in 1866 http://bit.ly/dbWMog #

• Chinese paper on Labor Day — origin of this great proletarian holiday in Chicago strike in 1886 http://bit.ly/dbWMog (US Labor Day diff) #
• Cute photo of kid who's blissful about noodles, from Chinese website: http://photo.huanqiu.com/whtml/2010-04/745681.html #
• Gadget porn here: http://www.umpcportal.com/allumpcs.html and here: http://products.pocketables.net/ #
• Bought a little Sony Vaio P on eBay. Found previous owner bookmarked JKOnTheRun.com, a gadget site I read daily too. #
• In St. Louis 3.5 yrs; never visited Arch. In Spokane 3 yrs; never ran in Bloomsday. Shame on me. Seattle's Space Needle 1s stop after move? #
• Photos of Spokane's Bloomsday race/mass event from local paper: http://www.spokesman.com/events/bloomsday-2010/ #

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