The Doctor is in.

November 2014

The Senior Staff Member in SBGE

I have worked in the SPU business school fifteen years longer than any other staff member. So even with my new "faculty" status, I still serve as the senior staff member. Tom Lane (seated at my right) has a few years on me but is reasonably new to the school. Our newest staff members are Dr. Jackqueline Miller, the black lady across from me and our new Graduate Coordinator, and Jared Wymer, standing behind me, our new Budget Manager. I was on the search team that hired Jared. He just recently left the U.S. Marine Corps and has an MBA from American Military University, an online university. Jackie and Jared are great teammates and I get along with them especially well. Kathy Stegman, who is taking the picture, is another good friend. She says I remind her of her older brother. I hope that's a good thing.

I have a good relationship with all my fellow staff members. We make a good team. Our skills are very diverse. Mark Oppenlander (standing, holding a drink), is an extrovert, and is our Center for Applied Learning director. I could never do his job. Similarly, Daniel Hallak, on my left, our Professional Development Specialist, interacts with employers, whereas I just talk to computers and students.

This picture shows me leading the staff through an exercise at our September retreat. In November, I began a new team project with Jared, Kathy, and Tom — planning on the move of all of our shared data from the campus network to a new SharePoint site.

State Cross Country Championships

I was happy (and relieved) when the new sports writer/editor at the Bellevue Reporter newspaper, Shaun Scott, was eager to sponsor me as their photographer at the State Cross Country Championships in Pasco on November 8th. He is the third editor at that paper that I have worked with.
He was very pleased with my photos but did not use any this year.

Also pleased was Coach and mom, Juli Rising, of Goldendale who's son was the first runner from there to ever run at State. Juli is a friend of BCS coach Ed Sloan. I sent her three great shots of her son Dillon and this was her reply.

Doc, It was a pleasure to meet you at the state meet! Ed speaks so highly of you, now I know why! The photos you took of my son Dillon are fabulous, what a treat. We are always too busy cheering to think of photos. Thank you so much! Your new fan, Juli Rising

BCS sent four runners to State: junior Emily Donnel, freshman Kathleen Crosby (right), sophomore Craig Lambert, and freshman Jared Donnel.

This is a working vacation I enjoy each November.

Confusion About My Teaching Future

Plans brewing between my dean and undergraduate associate dean may impact my teaching. Alas, the mention of "Statistics" has been heard once again. There is a suggestion that our students should earn the Microsoft Office Specialist certification instead of taking my BUS 1700 Spreadsheets class. I might become their exam coach instead of their professor. It will require me to get certified first. Joseph Williams has agreed to fund my taking the "specialist" exam and two "expert" Excel exams. I am not convinced our students could pass the first MOS exam. Only 70% pass that exam, and six months of Excel experience is expected.

On Thursday, November 20th, the last day of new student registration for winter quarter, I saw that there were forty students on the "wait list" for my two sections of BUS 1700. I volunteered to add a third section of 28 students and raised the limits in the original classes from 24 to 28. At the end of the month, there are still 14 stdents on my wait lists. My little 1-credit course is needed before students can move on to Business Statistics or Managerial Accounting.

How does my little Spreadsheet course differ from a certificate? I don't just teach "how," I teach "why." Someone may know how to produce a given result but not know why one method is superior to another.

Captain Thomas Kydd Sails Again

Julian Stockwin has added a fifteenth volume to his Kydd sea adventures. And, at last, great good things greeted both Captain Kydd and his particular friend Nicholas Renzi upon their return to England from the Caribbean. Unexpectedly, Kydd is knighted for his heroism against the French, becoming Sir Thomas. And Renzi's noble birth elevates him to the position of Lord Farndon, Earl of Farndon, master of Eskdale Hall, upon his father's demise. He also (finally) marries Cecilia Kydd, Thomas' sister. Of course, she is shocked to learn the former Naval lieutenant whose proposal she accepts is actually a Lord of the realm. How both Renzi and Kydd find themselves in Constantinople enmeshed in the intrigue between British, French, Russians, and Turks makes for a satisfying story.

I filled out my set by buying a few used volumes from Amazon.com. I should have been more frugal and bought all the books used. But these used books join a few autographed first editions sent from Great Britain.

Laurie and Tom See Their Home Come Together

Laurie and Tom Kleespies were in town last month for a baby shower for Katherine and Adam, and they'll be back in town in December for the expected birth of their first grandchild, a boy.

In Loveland, Colorado, their new home is getting put together nicely. (I wish we had finished all the floors before we'd moved in. Twenty-one years later, the floors are not finished in our master bedroom, the library, gym, and Nathanael's bedroom.) I look forward to finding time for a drive to Colorado, perhaps this coming summer.

Thanksgiving 2014

Randy and church friend Georgia joined us for Thanksgiving at Susan's. Nancy did another good job on the turkey I bought. Georgia read excerpts from The Boys in the Boat to us after dinner. If the movie is anything like the book, it will be amazing.

Bits and Pieces

♦ My weight on November 30th is 185.

♦ I have an annual review scheduled with Joseph Williams on December 5th.

♦ On the 28th, I visited Randy in Everett. He is anxious about his health so he asked that I be added to his Chase and Banner bank accounts. It's nice to be so trusted. We spent the Black Friday holiday taking care of this. We had planned a night out at a hockey game but decided to save our money. The pending snow encouraged me to get back to Bellevue.

♦ I'm typing this as the Apple Cup airs on the radio. The Huskies are leading 14-0 at halftime. They are already guaranteed a season-ending bowl game, but a win tonight will upgrade the game to which they will be invited. Second half, second play, 21-0. 3:07 in the 3rd, 24-0. 12:30 in the 4th, 31-0. A Cougars score! 9:55 in the 4th, 31-7. Another WSU score! One minute to go and it's 31-13. Game! And, indeed, it was just a game.

♦ In November, the Saturday men finished their study of Romans, covering Romans 16 while I was in Pasco. We then began the Psalms of Ascents (120-134) and got through 130. We will begin a new study through Ezra in December.

♦ I wish I'd had my long lens on my camera when a bobcat walked past the sunroom door of Susan's house. By the time I got out on the deck, he (or she) was heading north along the east side of Susan's tennis court.

My Quote from November

LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING
William Wordsworth, 1798

 I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

A poem referenced in Pasha by Julian Stockwin.

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