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February 25 2010
And I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd but I sure saw Molly Hatchet
Where I'll be tonight:
February 18 2010
January 02 2010
Beat Louisville
Former University of Kentucky athletics director Cliff Hagan looks forward to the Wildcats playing the University of Louisville.
"It's become the premier game on Kentucky's schedule," he said this week.
Former UK coach Joe B. Hall sees the Kentucky-Louisville game as an irreplaceable gem on the Cats' schedule.
"Without it, I don't know if you have a good, strong rivalry," he said.
Former U of L coach Denny Crum calls the game "the right thing to do."
Bill Olsen, the U of L athletics director when the current series began in 1983-84, says the rivalry has "far exceeded" what he and others originally envisioned.
This solidarity of warmth for the big show in Rupp Arena on Saturday represents an evolution of thinking impossible to envision 27 years ago. Then UK and U of L were basketball's Rush Limbaugh and Keith Olbermann.
From 1922 until 1983, the two schools only 80 miles apart did not play a regular-season game. The mandates of the NCAA Tournament brought UK and U of L together four times in that period.
It took the executive power of then-Gov. John Y. Brown Jr., to force Kentucky and Louisville — well, just Kentucky — onto the same basketball court.
December 24 2009
My Christmas wish for you--pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
David Bowie and Bing Crosby said it all:
Peace on Earth, can it be
Years from now, perhaps we'll see
See the day of glory
See the day, when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again
Peace on Earth, can it be
Every child must be made aware
Every child must be made to care
Care enough for his fellow man
To give all the love that he can
I pray my wish will come true
For my child and your child too
He'll see the day of glory
See the day when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again
December 17 2009
I almost had a day off
From the inbox:
The Ohio State University Columbus campus experienced a power outage when construction crews accidentally severed a power line late Wednesday (12/16) afternoon. Twenty six buildings on the north side of campus were affected. These buildings are expected to be out of power for at least 24 hours as work crews make repairs to affected circuits. The University will remain open for business as usual, but employees in affected buildings who are not deemed essential in emergency situations are being asked to stay home.
The good news? I'm not an essential employee.
The bad news? My building isn't on the list.
December 10 2009
Does this make me cooler than Kahn?
Relative to my graduate school classmates at a certain mid-Western school, I was pretty cool. I challenge other economists to start posting some photos of their past to their blogs. History should not be left to the historians.
Ok, here's my entry.* See John, there was someone freakishly taller than me:
I'm #9--that's my dad over my left shoulder.
*It was a choice between this and one of my high school band pictures. I think this one is cooler.
December 04 2009
Where I wish I were going to be tonight
Place: M&T Bank Stadium (Home of the Baltimore Ravens)
Time: 7:30 PM
Event: Maryland Division 4A State Football Championship: Old Mill Senior High School vs. Wise High School
Why: I'm a 1987 graduate of Old Mill* and this is their first ever (I think) appearance in the state finals.
Old Mill is led by 6'3" 200 pound (with a 'legitimate' 4.36 40 time) running back Josh Furman. While being recruited by LSU, Maryland, Florida and Rutgers, unfortunately his college choices have been narrowed to Virginia Tech and MICHIGAN? I thought Old Mill grads were smarter than that.
*and my niece and nephew are 2005 and 2009 graduates.
November 27 2009
Playoffs
No, I'm not on CNN talking about the recent SEA meeting, I'll be at a simple-minded sporting event (ASU opens postseason ...): For the second year in a row, Appalachian State University will open the NCAA Division I Football Championship at home versus South Carolina State. This year’s first-round matchup...
November 20 2009
Why students protesting tuition hikes in California are well-intentioned, but misguided
Students were occupying buildings Friday on several campuses of the University of California system in protest of a 32 percent tuition hike.
...
University officials said the $505 million to be raised by the tuition increases is needed to prevent even deeper cuts than those already made because of California's persistent financial crisis.
Protesting students said the hike will hurt working and middle-class students who benefit from state-funded education.
While well-intentioned, the students are failing to recognize the simple economics of education. Students demand education--therefore there is a demand curve for education(click the diagram to the right) that is downward sloping: some are willing and able to pay more than others. Private educators are willing to supply education, but it is costly (Private Tuition). For a variety of reasons--affordable access to education, reduced crime, increased productivity--society, through state and federal tax revenues is willing to subsidize education thereby reducing the costs of education (Spublic). This downward shift in the supply of education decreases tuition (Public Tuition) and increases the number of people willing and able to get an education.
So what happens when the state is forced to reduce the subsidy, as California is currently doing? Starting from the fully subsidized situation (Spublic ), the reduced subsidy will shift the supply curve back to the left raising the market clearing price of education (Current Tuition + hike) and reducing the number of number of people receiving an education from Qbefore to Q+hike. Not only are less people educated, but those losing access to education are those with the lowest willingness to pay OR ability to pay. And this is where the protests come in. The increased tuition reduces education among those with the least ability to pay. Sounds protest worthy, right?
But, what happens if tuition isn't raised in the face of the reduced subsidy? On that case, the price of education would stay at the current Public Tuition level in the diagram, but the supply curve still shifted left (actually up) by the amount of the reduced subsidy. If tuition doesn't rise, the quantity of education supplied at the current tuition will be less than if tuition rises (Qnohike in the diagram).
Contrary to the tuition hike case, it's now a crap shoot as to which students lose out on education, but the end result in unambiguous: a successful protest for no tuition hikes (assuming funding for education is cut) will result in less total education than allowing tuition to rise.
Is that really what the protesters have in mind?
November 19 2009
Another reason not to recommend this blog--to anyone: my D3 football playoff brackets
Here is the bracket (PDF). I'll send a bumper sticker to anyone who tops my point total (your picks are due by Friday at 5 pm [in the comments section]).
First round (1 pt):
Mt. Union
MSU
Albright
DV
NCW
MC
HS
DePauw (go SCAC!)
UWW
'Bash
CWR
Witt
Coe
Monmouth
MH-B
Linfield
Mt. Union
DV
NCW
DePauw
'Bash
Witt
Coe
MH-B
Third Round (3 pts):
Mt. Union
DePauw
'Bash
Coe
Fourth Round (4 pts):
Mt. Union
'Bash
Stagg Bowl (5 pts):
'Bash
A short story about Jason Shogren, 2009 AAEA Fellow
First, congrats to Jay! Here is a bit from the journal announcement:
Jason Shogren has left an indelible impact on the profession of agricultural and applied economics. ...Prior to his appointment at his alma mater, he held positions at Appalachian State, Yale, and Iowa State Universities. ...
... he enjoys fishing and performing with his hard acoustic roots band (www.jshogren.com).
Funny story. I'm on the job market and interviewing with Appalachian State at the SEA meetings in San Antonio, November 1989* (or was it the ASSAs? Anyway, doesn't matter). App is one of my dream jobs and I hear that some great environmental guy is down there. Shogren and Larry Ellis, then chair and our interim chair last year, were in the interview room and things are going great. Until, Shogren asks me about incorporating uncertainty in my model. I explain that I only have funding for four years of graduate study, I'm hoping to defend in 6 months, incorporating uncertainty would take too long and I don't think it is a big deal anyway. After leaving I'm wondering if that was the wrong answer ...
Later that day I'm in the elevator, Shogren gets on and is talking with a buddy. The buddy asks, "have you interviewed anyone any good?" (or something like that). My ears perk up as Shogren goes down the list. I cringe and get sucked into the elevator wall as he doesn't mention Whitehead.
I guess I got the last laugh 15 years later!
*There was an active SEA job market until the recession of the early 1990s killed it.
November 17 2009
Peter King on John Gruden's time away from coaching: I also really like how he's taken the year for some continuing education about football. We talked about the spread offense and how much he's learned about it from reaching out to college coaches. "I've really learned a lot from [Oregon...
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
