mcmwright.bsky.social
Acoustics, Folk Music, Disability, not necessarily at the same time. OHMI trustee.
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This year it's Geometric Vectors by Gabriel Weinreich, who I'd only known for his work on violins. His arrows, stacks, thumbtacks and sheafs got me closer, but I'm still not there.
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Give my regards to Dr Strabismus (whom God preserve)
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Also provided the unintelligible voice of Mrs Glum on Take It From Here
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In Rushton's version he might have added "Nice tits, by the way", but I'm far too delicate to include such elements
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"Right, where do you want these blinds put up then?"
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The man enters and says:
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"Very well, entrez-vous" sighs the nun.
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"Please, I must come in, I am a blind man!" says a voice through the door.
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"Go away!" she cries (I won't do the accent), "I am a Belgian nun, and I am in the bath!"
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To wit: A Belgian nun is having a bath when she hears a knock on the door.
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Ahem
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If uni-VCs managed football teams they'd make the players mow the pitch to save money
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Willie Rushton had one about a Belgian Nun for the 'A Joke for Europe' section of Two Old Farts in the Night
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Our student registration system capitalises the third letter of any surname beginning m-a-c, to the bewilderment of several African and Eastern European students I've known
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It might be a minority degree, but acoustical engineering is no more a 'niche' subject than, say, electronic engineering, it touches every field of human endeavour, it's also the only means of communication in the ocean and the number one technical challenge in commercial flight. Advert over.
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(also, there's nothing wrong with studying Music Technology as long as you're realistic about your subsequent career aspirations)
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It might be a minority degree, but acoustical engineering is no more a 'niche' subject than, say, electronic engineering, it touches every field of human endeavour, it's also the only means of communication in the ocean and the number one technical challenge in commercial flight. Advert over.
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I get the impression that you're no more disposed to put an asterisk on competition than I would be to put one on conservation of energy, in which case we should both just get on with our days. I just have some footnotes for anyone who might search "acoustical engineering" and find this thread:
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At a more mundane level, some students tell me they chose the HEI I teach at because it's by the sea. Competition isn't going to move other HEIs closer to the coast
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One of those multiple objectives that students consider would be Bryan Caplan's signalling effect, that's nothing to do with how the HEI acts, and if it were it's not desirable for them to address it
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A hypothetical HEI that was doing it objectively badly would indeed be likely to see demand fall, but demand can rise and fall for plenty of other reasons, even outside my no-true-scotsman programme
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That's why my view is that trying to infer HEI efficacy (in an objective non-circular sense) from student demand is like looking down the wrong end of a telescope
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I think we're on the same page about student choice, it's rational but it's based on limited information and it seeks to satisfy multiple objectives.
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The problem with that isn't just that it's a crude proxy, it's that it's a circular definition, it amounts to saying "competition is good because it has the effects that competition has", which is undeniably true, but a) doesn't add much and b) might not be what readers would infer from your claim.
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Morning.
OK, so how (he asked) did you mean it when you made your claim?
I'll come back to your three points about student choice once that's dealt with if that's OK
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Literal Overton window
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Will reply tomorrow, if you don't mind
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The Grateful Dad
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Do you think that all the history degrees that closed recently were just being badly taught, and if they'd been better taught would they still be open?
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I don't think they choose at random, do you think they have accurate information about how well the course they're considering applying to is taught and prioritise that above other considerations to the extent that that demand correlates with teaching quality?
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I understand (all too well) that lack of demand leads to unprofitability, but why do you equate lack of demand with those delivering not being good at it?
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That's just reasserting that it happens, the question was how, not whether.
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How is it stopping HEIs delivering courses they're "not good at"?