Love, after all, has far more to do with seeing someone clearly and accepting them fully for who they actually are than it does with feeling attracted to or liking them. -William Bridges

July 17, 2020

Sexual Repression

July 17, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

The media has contributed to the confusion in our culture between repression and suppression. "Poster after poster, film after film, novel after novel, (CS) Lewis notes, “associate the idea of sexual indulgence with the ideas of health, normality, youth, frankness, and good humour.” He claims this association gives a false impression and is a lie. “Like all powerful lies,” Lewis explains, “it is based on a truth.. that sex in itself.. is ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’.. the lie consists in the suggestion that any sexual act to which you are tempted at the moment is also healthy and normal.” Lewis adds that human sexuality, like gravity or any other aspect of our universe, cannot in itself be moral or immoral. Sexuality, like the rest of the universe, is given by God and therefore good. How people express their sexuality, on the other hand, can be moral or immoral.

Armand Nicholi, The Question of God

July 16, 2020

A large group of professionals

July 16, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

July 15, 2020

The joy of third place

July 15, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Is third place better than coming in second? Third seems to be a better result if you are in the Olympics. Psychologists at Cornell University say their research shows bronze-medal winners are generally happier than silver medalists. Why? When you come in second place, you focus on what you might have done differently to win. When you come in third you are happy just to get a medal.

The phenomenon of "what if" reasoning (knows as Counterfactual thinking) leads us to imagine how things could have been different rather than on what actually has happened. The bronze winners generally think “what if” I hadn’t won anything and they realize how fortunate they are to be on the podium. But for the silver medalist, “what if” means pondering the little things that might have turned silver into gold.

It seems counterfactual thinking plays out, not just in games, but in everyday life. If a student misses making a grade of "A" by one point, having scored a "B" is no longer so satisfying.

"Would I be happier today if only I had married someone else?" “What if I had attended a different school or majored in another field?” “Suppose I had selected a different profession?”

Miss a flight by five minutes and you are frustrated. But if there’s no way you could make the flight you don't waste time on it. It's like the football team that loses in the final seconds of a game. If the team had gotten blown out, the players could more easily put it behind them and move on. But when victory was so very close, they can always think of little things they might have done differently to affect the outcome.

Do you puzzle over what you might have done until you what-if yourself into dissatisfaction? Do you get stuck thinking about what almost happened? Do you feel like you are the silver medalist in life?

It's worth noting that first place has its pitfalls as well. Research indicates that the first runner in a long-distance race puts in three times more effort to maintain that position than the runner-up. The researchers recommend when you are in the lead you should focus on the struggle with oneself rather than the pace of the other runners.

Stephen Goforth

July 14, 2020

Recent Data Science articles

July 14, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

What is the difference between artificial neural networks and biological brains

MIT engineers develop a hybrid process that connects photonics with “artificial atoms,” to produce the largest quantum chip of its type

Some things Uber learned from running machine learning at scale

Understanding the “average treatment effect” number

MIT removes huge dataset that teaches AI systems to use racist, misogynistic slurs

The Detroit Police Department's facial recognition software is wrong 96% of the time

Artificial neural networks are more similar to the brain than we thought

Unpacking Spark 3.0—adaptive query execution, GPU help, and more

How to Do A/B Testing: a checklist

TensorFlow components (TensorFlow Datasets & TensorBoard) can be useful for building a toolset to make modeling evaluation more efficient

July 14, 2020

We’re in perpetual beta.*

July 14, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

*Beta is a period of testing and evaluation under normal, everyday conditions to evaluate conformance to system requirements, not to break or destroy the product

July 14, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus & higher ed - July 14

July 14, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

More than 1,000 TSA employees have tested positive for coronavirus

If the coronavirus is really airborne, we might be fighting it the wrong way

The Psychology Behind Why Some People Refuse To Wear Face Masks

Coronavirus: New UK study shows antibodies fade after 3 weeks

***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS

The pandemic may have changed the American college experience forever (opinion)

University of Texas staff member dies from COVID-19 complications, campus’ first fatality

Coronavirus Is Blowing Up America’s Higher Education System

More colleges, states mandate masks on campus

***THE FALL SEMESTER

Unreleased CDC Document on Campus Reopening

Coronavirus is spreading in fraternity houses, raising concerns for campuses opening this fall

Rice University is building nine big new classrooms all of them outdoors ($)

Colleges' COVID Fall

Coronavirus is spreading in fraternity houses, raising concerns for campuses opening this fall

Mapping U.S. colleges' fall 2020 plans

Universities roll back reopening plans amid new COVID-19 outbreaks

A rush back to campus is sowing distrust at universities (opinion)

UC Berkeley reopening in doubt after 47 coronavirus cases tied to fraternity parties

***K-12

Los Angeles, San Diego Schools Won’t Reopen Due to Rising Coronavirus Cases

NYC schools can open if local infection rate stays below 5% but a spike could shut buildings down again

America is not prepared for schools opening this fall. This will be bad (opinion)

Texas teachers writing their wills as state promises to open schools in fall

To reopen schools safely, close streets and create outdoor classrooms

***HIGHER ED

Stanford will drop 11 varsity sports, including wrestling, men's volleyball and women's field hockey

Insurance Costs on the Rise for Colleges

Michael V. Drake is expected to be named UC president, first Black leader in system’s 152-year history

***HIGHER ED & RACIAL ISSUES

Mississippi students voted to move a Civil War statue. Now they fear a Confederate shrine

Washington and Lee faculty vote to change the university's name

15 Classroom Resources for Discussing Racism, Policing, and Protest

The University Of Texas Is Renaming Its Football Field

***HIGHER ED & POLITICS

Trump threatens to pull tax exemption for schools, colleges

***HIGHER ED IN COURT

SCOTUS will consider free speech damages in case of evangelizing college student

***TEACHING ONLINE

The Greatest Teaching Techniques Don't Compute Over Zoom

College Courses Online Are Disappointing. Here’s How to Fix Them

Yes, Your Zoom Teaching Can Be First-Rate

Number of academic dishonesty incidents during spring term remains within normal range at Dartmouth

***ACADEMIC LIFE

Study: faculty fit in hiring is vague and potentially detrimental to diversity efforts

University professors fear returning to campus as coronavirus cases surge nationwide

Many College Professors Don’t Want To Teach In Person. Will They Have A Choice?

'Scared for my life,' but needing a salary: Teachers weigh risks as COVID-19 looms

NC State professor writes letter to chancellor warning of COVID-19 dangers with face-to-face classrooms

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

Racial slur, ‘The Idiot’s Guide to Kama Sutra’ led to chaplain’s firing, says Wheaton College

Loyola University Chicago Rolls Back Plans For In-Person Classes This Fall

'It's been an embarrassment to Liberty'; Falwell says he backs renaming Lynchburg

Evangel to require masks on campus

***RESEARCH

‘Each scientist must stand up, at all costs, for the truth’ ($)

The Pandemic Is Pushing Scientists To Rethink How They Read Research Papers

How to Read Covid-19 Research (and Actually Understand It)

***STUDENT LIFE

4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall

College students fume over having to pay full tuition for dubious online learning

African grey parrot outperforms children and college students

An Algorithm Set Students’ Grades—and Altered Their Futures

6 Ways To Slow The Spread Of COVID-19 When You Get Back To Campus

July 13, 2020

31 Questions college students should ask their schools about returning to campus & the virus

July 13, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Here are some questions that students, parents, and faculty might ask about a school's plan for handling the virus during the fall semester.

1-Will students be expected to quarantine when they first arrive?

2-Will be outdoor social distancing activities?

3-Will there be a list of dues and don’ts along with an indication of what’s the most important?

4-Will students with underlying conditions get special help?

5-Should students treat their professors differently than students since they are older?

6-Will classrooms be cleaned after every class meeting?

7-What messaging will be used to motivate students to be safe?

8-How will students be encouraged to wear masks at social events?

9-Will students coming from lax-mask wearing states be given extra help/encouragement to follow the mask-wearing rules?

10-What will be done to help to correct mistaken beliefs about safety measures on the part of students and staff?

11-What happens if someone refuses to wear a mask?

12-How will testing for the virus be handled?

13-How often will I be tested?

14-Where will testing take place?

15-What happens if someone refuses to be tested?

16-Is there an HR form to be filled out each week by employees about symptoms? Will HR notify the supervisor and work contacts if someone is a potential risk?

17-What if someone is turned away for testing because they don’t exhibit symptoms but may have been exposed?

18-Will there be an app used to track symptoms?

19-If there is a symptom tracking app used, will there be rewards for using it?

20-Can the tracking be personalized to their pre-existing conditions?

21-How will shame over contracting symptoms or contracting the disease itself be combated?

22-If someone is self-isolating on campus because of exposure to the virus, how will others be informed (so they don’t intrude)? How will meals be arranged?

23-How will the duties of staff/faculty be handled if the person is self-isolating?

24-Will it be made clear to students what will trigger automatic quarantine?

25-How will contract tracing be handled? (Even if county health authorities say they will conduct tracing, there are reports of this not happening in parts of the country.)

26-Will a “case manager” be assigned to each COVID-19 case (and who assigns them and is there a system in place to keep up with their findings)?

27-If the spread happens rapidly, what will happen if case managers are overwhelmed?

28-Will students who reveal they have been to bars (when they are underage) be punished for reporting these contacts?

29-How many cases will trigger parts of the campus to close or restrict services? How many cases will trigger a shut down of the school?

30-Will students clearly be informed about the threshold for campus shutdown?

31-If I feel unsafe, can I take my classes online?

If you have other questions to suggest, let me know! stephengoforth@gmail.com

July 13, 2020

We are actors in a play

July 13, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

We play many roles during our lifetime. The hard part is knowing when to play which role. We are often unaware that the curtain is falling, and another act is about to begin. Don't become one of those sad actors, playing a role that has already ended. You know someone like this: They are no longer relevant, and they are reciting lines that belong in another act, in another time.

There is another danger: Playing our role on stage and then running off the stage and into the audience. We take a seat and heckle ourselves. It is God's play, not our own: allow him to determine the value of your performance. As actors, we do not know when the final curtain will fall. We do not know the outcome of the play or even how storylines resolve themselves. There are twists that only the author understands.

The thought that "we are all actors in a play" is an old idea that reminds us that we do not have enough information to make heads or tails of too much of what’s going on around us. We are forced to ad-lib, to improvise, to guess our way through life.

CS Lewis wrote, “We keep on assuming that we know the play. We do not even know whether we are in Act I or Act V. We do not know who are the major and who the minor characters. The Author knows.” And then there's Garrison Keillor's quip: "God writes a lot of comedy...the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny."

Stephen Goforth

July 12, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus & religion - July 12

July 12, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

Warning of serious brain disorders in people with mild coronavirus symptoms

New Study Says 'Silent Spreaders' May Be Responsible For Half Of U.S. COVID-19 Cases

***WORKING FROM HOME

Lawsuit: Mom working at home fired because boss was upset about kids interfering with work

***THE VIRUS & RELIGION

A running list of situations where churches have met together and spread the virus

A Christian Summer Camp Shut Down After 82 Kids And Staff Got The Coronavirus

Churches, eager to reopen, have emerged as a major source of coronavirus cases

Evangelical minister from Mike Pence’s Indiana prayer group reveals he's voting for Joe Biden

***RELIGION

An Immaculate Copy of Leonardo’s The Last Supper Digitized by Google: View It in High Resolution Online

Montana man arrested after toppling religious monument

Israel orders US-based Christian TV channel off air

Kneeling in the Church of Social Justice

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

Author Interview: 'Unholy' Examines The Alliance Between White Evangelicals And Trump

A new dilemma for Trump’s team: Preventing super-spreader churches

When progressive evangelicals held the national stage

How an ardent defender of faith—and Donald Trump—came to think of the press as her enemy

The Faith Of The Black Lives Matter Movement

***RELIGION & THE LAW

Recent SCOTUS Decisions On Religion Open Up New Questions

Supreme Court lifts ban on state aid to religious schooling

Religious school teachers aren't covered by employment discrimination laws, Supreme Court rules

Why Supreme Court Liberals Joined Conservatives on Religion

Supreme Court Allows Exemptions For Birth Control Coverage

***RELIGION & RACIAL ISSUES

Evangelical leaders are speaking up about race — but will this new focus last?

How an iconic painting of Jesus as a white man was distributed around the world ($)

Indiana priest suspended after calling Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters 'maggots,' 'parasites' and 'serpents in the garden'

***TELEVANGELISTS

Televangelist Morris Cerullo dies at 88

Televangelists take a slice as churches accept billions in US coronavirus aid

***DENOMINATIONS

Church of God denomination facing significant COVID-19 outbreak; leaders won't say how many infected

Jehovah’s Witnesses schedule virtual convention due to coronavirus

Catholic Church Getting Over $1 Billion In Coronavirus Aid

***MEGACHURCHES

A Megachurch Let the Pastor’s Son Work With Kids Despite His “Attraction to Minors”

John Ortberg’s Church Says ‘No Evidence of Misconduct’ As More Details Emerge

John Ortberg’s megachurch announces new investigation

Dallas megachurch that hosted Pence approved for millions in coronavirus aid

A Dallas Megachurch Had A Coronavirus Cluster then It Hosted Mike Pence

***RELIGION & LGBTQ ISSUES

Instagram and Facebook ban all content promoting conversion therapy

Mexico City Lawmakers Vote To Ban ‘Gay Conversion’ Therapy

July 11, 2020

Humility

July 11, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Humility is the awareness that there’s a lot you don’t know and that a lot of what you think you know is distorted or wrong. -David Brookes

July 11, 2020

inspiring others

July 11, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. -John Quincy Adams (born: July 11, 1767)

July 10, 2020

Let us not cease

July 10, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Let us not cease to do the utmost, that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair of the smallness of our accomplishments. -John Calvin (Born: July 10, 1509)

July 09, 2020

Difficult experiences early in life

July 09, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

Having difficult experiences early in life is less important than whether we’ve found a way to make sense of how those experiences have affected us. -Daniel J. Siegel

July 08, 2020

How to Identify Adaptable People

July 08, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

How can you determine whether a job candidate is willing to constantly revise their understanding and reconsider problems they thought they'd already solved?" Ask: “Tell me about a goal you didn't manage to achieve. What happened? What did you do as a result?"

Most candidates will take responsibility for failing. (People who don't are people you definitely don't want to hire.) Good candidates don't place the blame on other people or on outside factors. They recognize that few things go perfectly, and a key ingredient of success is having the ability to adjust.

Smart people take responsibility. And they also learn key lessons from the experience, especially about themselves. They see failure as training. That means they can describe, in detail what perspectives, skills, and expertise they gained from that training. And they can admit where they were wrong -- and how they were willing and even eager to change their minds.

Jeff Haden writing in Inc.

July 07, 2020

Articles of Interest about the virus & higher ed - July 7

July 07, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

***THE VIRUS

Face masks vs. face shields: What should we be wearing?

The race to develop RNA-based vaccine ($)

***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS

Florida State just barred many employees from caring for kids while working remotely. Moms ask: ‘What am I supposed to do?’

New Report: How The Coronavirus Pandemic Affected College Enrollments In The Spring

A Reckoning In Higher Education: Will There Be Campus Life After Covid-19?

***THE FALL SEMESTER

What Will College Be Like in the Fall?

Colleges Plan to Reopen Campuses, but for Just Some Students at a Time

A Shift to Online Classes this Fall Could Lead to a Retention Crisis

A Ph.D. Student Simulated a Day in the Life of a Covid 19-Era Campus. It Went Viral, but It Wasn’t Pretty.

Colleges Gear Up for an Uncertain Fall Semester Online

Texas universities are moving more classes online, but keeping tuition the same. Students are asking if it's worth the money.

Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes

Universities Reverse Campus Reopening Plans Amidst Covid-19 Spike

There is no safe way to reopen colleges this fall ($)

Local Communities Should Sue to Keep University Campuses Closed (opinion)

A COVID-19 outbreak on UW’s Greek Row hints at how hard it may be to open colleges this fall

'How the hell are we going to do this?' The panic over reopening schools

Colleges are racing to create 'a new sense of normalcy.' Will new rules, COVID-19 testing be enough?

***FALL COLLEGE SPORTS

Texas College will forego intercollegiate athletics in the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic

'Not a stretch': Reality dictates Covid-19 may hit college football programs

Unable to afford coronavirus testing, some colleges are canceling football season

***COLLEGE FINANCE

Shortened Semesters on Campus and Full Fees for Room and Board as Connecticut's Colleges and Universities Face a Steep Fiscal Challenge

***HIGHER ED

International students may need to leave US if their universities transition to online-only learning

College Leaders Have the Wrong Incentives

3 Colleges to Acquire U of Bridgeport

University of Maryland, College Park No Longer Under Warning for Lack of Transparency

Ed Dept blames Higher Learning Commission for failing to protect students from two unaccredited for-profit colleges

***HIGHER ED & HACKERS

Ransomware is now your biggest online security nightmare. And it's about to get worse

How hackers extorted $1.14m from University of California, San Francisco

***HIGHER ED IN COURT

CUNY faculty union sues system, saying adjunct cuts violate CARES Act

Steps Colleges and Universities Should Take to Avoid Future Litigation Over Tuition and Fees

***TEACHING

Seven Things That Worked in My Online Class

Are History Textbooks Worth Using Anymore? Maybe Not, Some Teachers Say - EdSurge News

Cornell researchers: in-person semester safer than online one

'We shouldn't go back to lectures': why future students will learn online

***ACADEMIC LIFE: GEORGIA TECH

Georgia Tech Professors Revolt Over Reopening, Say Current Plan Threatens Lives Of Students, Staff

'A Nightmare': Georgia Tech Faculty Push Back Against In-Person Reopening Plans

Georgia Tech won't require students to wear masks on campus. Faculty aren't happy.

***ACADEMIC LIFE

UVA professor, supporters question role of race in decision to deny tenure

As young people drive infection spikes, college faculty members fight for the right to teach remotely

Faculty from at least 15 colleges and universities in Virginia sign petition surrounding reopening

Mounting Faculty Concerns About the Fall Semester

A Problem for College in the Fall: Reluctant Professors ($)

University of North Carolina Wilmington University Paid $504,000 to Get Rid of Professor following campus uproar over tweets

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

Baylor acknowledges historic ties to slavery

Cedarville University Trustees Resign as Board Reinstates President after Investigation

Wheaton College Chaplain Fired For Inappropriate Comments

***RESEARCH

Rush to publication – What do we have to lose?

Publishing Journal Articles: Tips for Early-Career Scholars

Why someone wrote a paper called "Dear Reviewer 2: Go F’ Yourself"

The Lancet Editor’s Wild Ride Through the Coronavirus Pandemic

Science needs to look inward to move forward

***RESEARCH & RACE

Racial Inequality in Psychological Research

Science Has a Racism Problem

***STUDENT LIFE

ICE says international students must take in-person classes to remain in the US

Racist Social Media Posts From Students Are Forcing Colleges to Respond

Colleges Rescinding Admissions Offers as Racist Social Media Posts Emerge ($)

Medics who changed history wouldn't get into modern medical schools

College students are preparing to return to campus in the fall. Is it worth it?

***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT

Petition started to fire UWM lecturer, Wisconsin Air Guard colonel for saying 'sexual harassment is the price of admission' to military

July 06, 2020

Finding Yourself is not how it works

July 06, 2020/ Stephen Goforth

“Finding yourself” is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten dollar bill in last year’s winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. “Finding yourself” is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.

Emily McDowell