For those of you who don’t know, Laura has a second edition of her textbook Discovering Biological Psychology hitting the book shelves and everyone in the family is excited to see her efforts come to fruition.
One of the nice things that happens in our family is that everyone has helped Laura in ways large and small in getting her textbook to press. Whether it has been proof reading, researching, filing… everyone has tried to help…. all oars pulling together to get the job done. Our daughter Karla came up with an illustration ( as requested by one of Laura’s adopters) that will bring a smile to even the most hardened neuroscientist. The visual shows how orientation changes. Thanks, Karla you made it fun!
We had a chance to spend one day doing everything Karla wanted to do… zoos and carousels are her life and we did both!
One of he unique and fun things about the Sana Barbara Zoo is the ability to feed some of the animals. Karla enjoyed feeding the Giraffes except for the unpleasant side effect of having her entire arm licked!
One of three Carousels of this type ever made!
Santa Barbara also has this wonderful carousel near the beach…
Laura has done a wonderful job on keeping herself trim and fit. However, every once in a while her weight falls too far and emergency steps need to be taken. It is what the Polynesians call “going thin.”
After a week on Jenny Craig, we like to have a special Saturday Lunch to enjoy, celebrate and plan for the week ahead. However, before preparing lunch, we make the 2 mile walk to Farmer’s Market in San Luis Obispo to buy tomatoes, pistachios, onions and …. artichokes! Laura took this picture of me at our favorite local coffee shop, the Nautical Bean.
Now… this is an Artichoke!
This will be Sunday’s lunch served with Garlic Butter!
California Universities area mixed bag right now, some are holding their own in this tough economy, others are like the General Motors of academia and they are cutting classes and turning away students. Why is it that two universities in the same state or city — for that matter — could have dramatically different circumstances? What is one doing to better their position and succeeding while the other is less successful or failing?
All educational systems are being affected and the survivors will tell you that it is due to offering students their ‘unique skill sets.’ Although this may be true to some point, the key seems to be in how people and organizations adapt to changing circumstances. In California, it seems that the private colleges and universities are adapting faster and smarter. While one public university is adding administrative staff with one hand, it is laying off faculty with the other. How does this make sense?
In order to improve my education on the subject, I studied every college and every university’s web page in California for a clue. Let’s just say that there were far more web sites than I could imagine! The difference between those who were adapting and those who were falling behind was like night and day. One successful school had a link asking prospective students to meet them on Facebook, while others facing increasing troubles haven’t updated aspects of their sites in years carrying links to defunct organizations and former employees years after they have left.
Not all great ideas are just in the private universities, the Florida university system announced that for about $22,000 you can pre-buy your child’s education at birth! I love it, a ‘stock option’ on education!
In our challenging environment, those who have the best chance of success of thriving in the world ahead are those individuals that have learned to adapt and find and develop skills of value. If I were planning my college choice , I would follow those who are winning already in this tough economy.
Roger
Let me say that I have always been a supporter of Public Schools; however, faculty are not running the university anymore and it shows.
Maybe it was because I moved as a child more times than I can remember. I think moving to five different second grades (yes, wise guy, all in one academic year) taught me how to pack and travel light!
However, my children took a little longer. After her freshman year in college, Karen sent all of her stuff home in a number of large boxes without any padding. Obviously clothes were fine… but then there was the computer with the led screen. Interestingly enough, it all made it in perfect working order, although with a big dent in the back of the computer.
So, I teased poor Karen for years on her packing. Nowadays, she could work with Bekins, Allied or anyone… she is a ‘master packer.’
All of this came to play when Karen sent a few gifts home for the ‘fam’ or the ‘rents’ as some call their parents. Everything arrived perfectly and no crumbs!
