Archive for the ‘e-mail’ Category
…
(if i now recall correctly).
(i think i’ve finally *now*
got my schedule for the
quarter… two linear analyses,
two analysis-twos, and a
discrete… into synch with
my life-itself schedule [so
that i’ll usually know things
like who i’m typing to, about
what class, and why. all i
need is some regular sleep
to start remembering things).
the “ALL CAPS” MEANS YOU SHOULD
TAKE OFFENSE convention is a dumb
thing that happened; one should ignore
it when not typing for the internet.
if it’s the way i’m most comfortable doing it,
well it’s *my* handwriting and probably more
legible than that of most of my readers at that.
and if a student thinks that the language
“abuse of notation” means i think they’re
doing something very wrong? they’re not
wrong about *that*. if they think *i’m* being
“abusive” in using what you and i both know
to be a common turn of the phrase in math
departments? they’re flat-out wrong.
alas, the upshot of all this. i’ll be commenting
less, probably a lot less. so much the worse
for the students who might’ve found my
(well-informed, thoughtful) remarks useful.
so much the worse for my ideal of having
done anything but serve as a rubberstamp
for chump change. one should know better.
if we don’t let BS artists get away with murder
in these classes, there won’t *be* any class…
and they know it. “harsh” might’ve motivated
a small few actually to take something seriously
that would otherwise have done some other
thing (like scratch out a copy of somebody
else’s work, worse than the original, because
this whole thing is just a silly little ritual anyway;
there’s a lot of that [for example; i *don’t* say…
because i don’t know… anything about the
particular student with the “abusive” remark]).
nothing a grader… or a lecturer… can do
will change the nature of large-enrollment
“weeder” courses. and i’ll’ve been some-
what naive to think of ours as any other
kind of course just because the book
is actually written well (modulo the hints).
ah, well. getting back to work. one
more thing.
i’ll quit the job laughing before i try
to change my handwriting around to
suit the whims of some silly beginner.
the livingston review 