Win One Month of DreamBox Math Games for Kids
The folks at DreamBox apparently liked the blog post we did about their contest, and offered (through my cousin-in-law Dan) to donate one month of their fun, engaging and educational math games, designed for K-2 kids, to one of our readers.
I don’t know how many readers we have with K-2 kids, but I guess we’re about to find out!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below. Tell us the name of the child you’re entering the contest for, and a little bit about why that child is special to you. This can be your own son or daughter, or it can be a niece, nephew, grandchild or even a kid you know who would enjoy it — and if you don’t have someone to enter for, just send this blog post on to a friend of yours who does.
And don’t forget to have that kid enter the DreamBox contest to win $1,000 while you’re at it! All it takes is a YouTube video.
Both contests end on November 30, so hurry!
Getting to Inbox Zero: It Can Be Done
I deal with a huge amount of e-mail every day…usually 300-400 messages. A lot of those are spam, and many of them are not messages that require my personal attention, but I still manage to get my inbox to zero about once a week.
(There are some people I know who can do this once a day. Once in a while, I wish that I could do that — and once in a while, I do — but for the most part, getting to Inbox Zero on Friday afternoons is an achievable goal that still takes a lot of hard work to accomplish.)
So how do you get to Inbox Zero? I thought I’d share my tips for how I accomplish it. (This certainly has roots in the Getting Things Done methodology, but not all of that works for me, so this is my twist on it.)
Laying the Foundation
First, from my perspective, you can’t do Inbox Zero unless you have a task list. Whether it’s a to-do list on paper, Outlook tasks, or some other way of tracking your to-dos, it’s a simple fact that many of the e-mails you receive create work for you to accomplish.
You may say, “my inbox is my task list…every e-mail I leave there represents something I need to do.” Two points in response: first, it’s mixed in with a lot of other stuff, and that’s bad organization. Second, you’re wasting huge amounts of valuable time “reinterpreting” the e-mail into your action item over and over again. With a separate task list, you can do that once and it’s done forever. Don’t underestimate how many mental cycles you’re wasting trying to remember what you were supposed to do in response to that e-mail with the subject line of “Hey Bob” that is actually about the annual report.
Does Higher Education Need to Re-Evaluate How It Does Business?
The following is an excerpt of a thought provoking piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education, authored by Hamid Shirvani, the President of California State University Stanislaus. Special thanks to the Sierra College faculty member who sent this to me!
Much has been written in recent months comparing the problems of higher education with those of the auto industry, and many of the comparisons are apt. Resistance to change in academe has helped create inflexible, unsustainable organizations, just as automobile manufacturers wedded to gas-guzzling models have been unprepared for the demand for smaller, more eco-friendly cars.
Yet American auto manufacturers are no more alone in creating their disastrous present than colleges are in attempting to stare down the budget cuts and dwindling revenues they now face. In both instances, inflated consumer demand has created an expectation of elements once considered “extras”: MP3 players and GPS navigation systems in new cars, country-club-quality recreational facilities and multitudes of majors and minors, however narrow, at colleges. People feel entitled to things that were once considered luxuries. And that sense of entitlement—among students, parents, faculty members, and administrators—has driven expansion in higher education beyond what is reasonable or necessary.
…Cutting costs is not enough. We need to break down expectations based on entitlement and focus on educational productivity and outcomes. Institutions should review redundancies, rethink staffing models, and streamline business practices. Productivity measures should be applied in all areas. In the same way that secondary schools are being challenged to consider longer school days and an extended academic year, we in higher education need to revisit basic assumptions about how we deliver higher education to students. We should not be tied to any one model or structure.
If We Can’t Afford to Lose, Play to Win
Let’s leave beside the question of whether or not Iraq was the right war. During the 2008 presidential election, President Obama said we needed to pull out of Iraq so that we can double down on a “war of necessity” (as he termed it) in Afghanistan.
Instead, the President and his foreign policy team have been locked in a multi-month prolonged period of indecision. Meanwhile, precious time has slipped away that could have been used to develop the security needed to make political progress in the country — the strategy employed by Secretary Gates that worked in Iraq.
On Sunday, David Broder — one of the longtime political journalists at the Washington Post — opened the floodgates of question about this lack of decisiveness by the President.
The more President Obama examines our options in Afghanistan, the less he likes the choices he sees. But, as the old saying goes, to govern is to choose — and he has stretched the internal debate to the breaking point.
The cost of indecision is growing every day. Americans, our allies who have contributed their own troops to the struggle against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and the Afghans and their government are waiting impatiently, while the challenge is getting worse.
…The president, notwithstanding his earlier rhetoric and actions, has hesitated to resolve the issue. Obama needs to remember what Clark Clifford, one of Harry Truman’s closest advisers, said: that the president “believed that even a wrong decision was better than no decision at all.”
…Meantime, events in Afghanistan support McChrystal’s prediction that delay in expanding the U.S. troop commitment will almost certainly lead to gains for the Taliban and greater risk for U.S. and allied troops.
…Given all of this, I don’t see how Obama can refuse to back up the commander he picked and the strategy he is recommending. It may not work if the country truly is ungovernable. But I think we have to gamble that security will bring political progress — as it has done in Iraq.
Obama did not believe that could happen there. But given what he inherited, and given what he has done so far, I think he has no choice but to play out that hand. If we can’t afford to lose, then play to win.
What do you think? Is the President simply trying to make a thorough decision, or is he “dithering” as Broder and others have said? Can we afford to lose in Afghanistan?
Wow, This Community Really Stepped Up for “A Soldier in Need”
I’m behind in updating you all on the efforts to help “A Soldier in Need” which I first blogged about back on October 5. In a nutshell, Jimmy Katches contracted Lyme Disease while in the United States Army but the Veteran’s Administration denied medical treatment. So we decided as a community to step up and help.
A great friend here in Colfax, Stephanie Gargan, scheduled a fundraiser at the local community center. Many of us posted about this on blogs, Facebook and Twitter. And the response was amazing! You might say “some gave…even more retweeted!”
The total amount raised for Jimmy’s treatment was $20,000, which I’m told by his wife Kristi will get them at least 18 months of treatment with antibiotics and a PICC line — which has every potential of curing the Lyme Disease permanently. In addition, both Sutter Health and Dr. Jared Thomas stepped up some free treatment, so this family has an amazing chance to put this health issue behind them.
I know none of these folks gave for personal recognition, but it’s appropriate to thank them here:
- Cindy Burtt
- Samuel Carstenson
- Mark Chesner
- Christine Grabyan
- Dave and Aimee Rohrer
- Rebecca Sadler
- Dr. Jared Thomas (free medical care)
- Meredith Turney
- 2 Anonymous Donors (I know who you are, and thank you again!)
To me, this is a little picture of what makes America great. Not sitting around and waiting for a government 3,000 miles away to do something, but a community of people stepping up to help their brother or sister in need. That’s exactly what we were all privileged to do with the Katches family, and thank you for being a part of it.
Progress at Sierra College NCC
Pictures of progress as the new buildings at the Sierra College Nevada County Campus start to go up. Our local construction team is doing a great job of sharing the progress with the community via Facebook and Twitter.
Two Years with Our Boy
Can you tell why these two are my favorite people?
I can’t believe I’ve been a dad for two years now. Spencer has been such an incredible blessing to us. And it was great to share today with many members of our family, and some great friends as well.
We celebrated “Spencer Day” simultaneously with Orphan Sunday this year. The live webcast was great. Steven Curtis Chapman was heartfelt…Dr. Sharen Ford was impactful…and Jedd Medefind’s couple of minutes on the stage were the best of the night. You could feel the passion and the love for children around the world coming right through the screen.
And then the numbers: 134 million orphaned children around the world. 130,000 waiting for forever families in the US foster care system. Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan. Every 15 seconds a child loses a parent to AIDS.
And my favorite statistic: it only takes ONE person to make a difference in the life of a child. You.
Did you watch the Orphan Sunday webcast or read about it? What moment, fact or figure amazes you the most?
SC@Work: November 10, 2009 Pre-Meeting Documents
Pre-meeting documents:
- Meeting Agenda
- Contracts (General / Capital Projects)
- Warrants
As you might remember, our last meeting had to be moved to the Rocklin campus due to weather. It looks like the weather is good for next week, so we’re back in Tahoe-Truckee for this next meeting on Tuesday, November 10 at 2:00PM.
On the agenda: the finalization of the 2008-09 budget, a discussion about our academic enrichment program for young students, a discussion about dealing with e-mail communication between the public and the board as a group (we want to ensure compliance with the Brown Act at all times), and ratifying the agreements to establish a partnership with Rocklin Police Department for an armed law enforcement presence at the Rocklin campus.
Question of the Month: Are you a Sierra College student or alumni? If so, what did you like best about your experience, and what is the most important thing we need to improve?
The Message of the Election
I see several messages in the election tonight.
- The fact that President Obama was a far better choice than John McCain for most voters in 2008 did not constitute the endorsement of the rabid left’s policy agenda that they think it was.
- The fact that voters in New Jersey and Virginia elected Republican governors is not the endorsement of the Republican Party itself that some think it is. (Hint: it’s more about the philosophy of the candidates who won, not their party.)
- Freedom is alive and well in America, and we’re still a center-right country.
- Smart, pragmatic, solutions-oriented conservatives can win elections deep in blue state territory when they stand up for common sense policies that promote freedom and prosperity.
What was your take on election night 2009? What does it mean for the President’s legislative agenda in general and the health insurance bill in particular?
Photo Credit: AP
Fernando Enriquez de Salamanca y Celada
Disclaimer in advance: this is a tongue-in-cheek post and I’m very grateful to TSA for their work in keeping me safe whenever I decide to climb into a pressurized aluminum tube and hurtle 600 miles per hour through the air.
My full name is Daniel Aaron Bell Klein on my birth certificate, yet I’ve been Aaron Klein my entire life. The Bell is after my maternal grandfather, an Air Force pilot and one of my heroes, who had no male heirs. My dad’s name is Daniel, another hero, and while he did have male heirs (obviously), the Daniel was affixed to the beginning. My parents decided to call me by my middle name because after all, no “Little Danny” should be taller than “Big Danny.”
With all due thanks to them, I have six legal aliases at the Department of Motor Vehicles as a result.
I get mail to “D KLEIN”, “DAARON KLEIN”, “D A KLEIN”, “AARON B KLEIN” and “YO KLEIN DUDE ON THE SIERRA BOARD” (although the latter are usually students upset they didn’t get the class they wanted at Sierra College).
Like an idiot, I chose “D AARON KLEIN” for my driver’s license and passport. With all due respect to my wonderful father, do you know how stupid that was? Try explaining to someone that you have a space in your first name, and do not have a middle initial. The world is not set up for first initial names. “My first name is D space AARON,” I say. “I’m sorry,” comes the reply, “the computer won’t let me put a space in. It just assumes your name is a spelling error.”
Now, the Transportation Security Administration of the US Department of Homeland Security has officially begun discriminating against those of us afflicted with CNS (“confusing name syndrome”) with their new Secure Flight program. Now they actually want your name on your ID to match the name on your ticket.
This is especially bad for those who have tickets purchased for them. I’ve had clients or corporate travel departments book me as “ARRON KLEIN”, “ARRON CLINE”, “AARON KLINE” and every other combination known to man.
In addition, many airline systems won’t take apostrophes or hyphens, which leaves a whole new category of people out in the cold (and left on the tarmac). My friend Derek D’Amour should go see his business partner in Florida, because he’ll never fly again. Anyone who is Irish should learn to enjoy train travel. Anthony Maki-Gill will not be let on an airplane (although it was questionable whether he would be in the first place).
Even those with long names are in trouble. Apparently a “Christopher” had his first name translated into French and it came out “Christophe”, and God help Fernando Enriquez de Salamanca y Celada.
Here’s from the New York Times article:
Mr. Lichtenstein is one of many people in the corporate world now working hard to ensure that come next year, when a new Transportation Security Administration program called Secure Flight is fully in effect, travelers won’t get delayed at airports because of variations in the way their names appear on boarding passes and their IDs.
Actually, as he pointed out, the program is pretty much in effect now. Most airlines and online booking sites already require that travelers fully comply with provisions of Secure Flight. Reservations must reflect the exact name as the ID to be used (John J. Smith, for instance, can’t appear on a boarding pass when the ID says John James Smith.)
…Apostrophes are another issue. “My Irish birth certificate shows that I was born Patrick O’Hare and my passport shows an identical name,” Patrick O’Hare wrote. “However, when trying to purchase an airline ticket online, the apostrophe is always rejected,” he added. A security screener — at O’Hare airport, no less — “pointed this out to me and suggested that I could be denied boarding, but he offered no solution. So what should we Irish, afflicted with apostrophes in our names, do to avoid this problem?” he asked.
I’m doomed.
Who do you know that won’t ever be allowed to set foot in an airplane? Perhaps those of us with confusing name syndrome should band together and form some kind of union. We could go on strike and refuse to fly until…well, we’ll think something.
Illustration Credit: NYT
