Tuesday, July 28, 2009
An Interview with James Stewart
The MAA has posted an interesting interview with James Stewart, the author of the calculus textbook we use here at Carnegie Mellon. Included: his passion for music, and his remarkable home, "Integral House."
Friday, May 22, 2009
21-270: Final Wrapup
Well, the final grades for the course have been turned in. You can look at your exam grade in the Blackboard site, which will remain up for a little while longer. I'm not sure how long. Here are the final statistics for the course, including the cutoffs for final averages.
Have a great summer!
Have a great summer!
Monday, May 4, 2009
21-270: Final Exam
The Final Exam will be given on Thursday morning, from 8:30-11:30am. The exam will be in McConomy Auditorium. I will try to schedule a reveiw session for Wednesday afternoon, and I'll post information about it here when I know more.
I've posted a review page with some information about the final. Note that the Final will be cumulative. You should be sure to review the study problems from the first three exams, as well as your homework and exams.
UPDATE: Solutions to Exam #2 are now available from the blackboard site.
UPDATE: I've posted the formula sheet for the final exam on the blackboard site and the review page.
UPDATE: Solutions to most of Exam #3 are now available on the blackboard site.
UPDATE: Here are the current Statistics for the course.
UPDATE: Grade cutoffs have been corrected on the Statistics page.
I've posted a review page with some information about the final. Note that the Final will be cumulative. You should be sure to review the study problems from the first three exams, as well as your homework and exams.
UPDATE: Solutions to Exam #2 are now available from the blackboard site.
UPDATE: I've posted the formula sheet for the final exam on the blackboard site and the review page.
UPDATE: Solutions to most of Exam #3 are now available on the blackboard site.
UPDATE: Here are the current Statistics for the course.
UPDATE: Grade cutoffs have been corrected on the Statistics page.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Who are the Monsters?
Recently I received an email from the AAUP (American Association of University Professors), as I do from time to time. The text of the email is reproduced here. It begins as follows
The author, AAUP President Cary Nelson, goes on to say "What I learned in 1964 was to value the power of silent, nonviolent witness." Then Nelson gets to his main point: the reaction of various colleges to speaking engagements by Ward Churchill and William Ayers, who, Nelson would have us believe, are really quite nice people once you get to know them. They certainly are not without their controversies. But let's assume they simply follow Oscar Wilde's dictum: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."
Nelson recounts several situations where speeches by Ayers, Churchill, and Richard Dawkins have been cancelled due to threat of financial losses or physical violence.
So there you have it. Controversial "right-wing" speakers are afforded an oportunity to air their views on campus, while speakers from the left are driven out by threats and intimidation.
But things are not so neat and tidy. There is a reason that Nelson pulls his initial example from 1964. Things aren't like that anymore, as Tom Tancredo, an opponent of "illegal" immigration, discovered at a recent speech at UNC. Tancredo's speech on immigtration was disrupted by protestors, and ultimately cancelled when protestors broke a window of the room where Tancredo was speaking. You can watch the video here. Now suppose that Tancredo is a real monster, not a "false monster" like Ayers or Churchill. Why is he not accorded the same opportunity as a Nazi?
What does the AAUP have to say about Tancredo's experience at UNC?
Violence is not speach. And once violence is injected into politics, it is very difficult to remove.
Over 40 years ago, when I was still an undergraduate at Antioch College, the student government sent out a large number of letters to controversial or accomplished Americans and invited them to talk on campus. One who accepted was George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party...
...[T]he 500 students and faculty in the auditorium that day in 1964 ... sat in absolute silence throughout the talk. When the question period came ... everyone rose and exited, again in silence. So Rockwell began to curse us all. Still no one reacted. Eventually he gave up and left.
The author, AAUP President Cary Nelson, goes on to say "What I learned in 1964 was to value the power of silent, nonviolent witness." Then Nelson gets to his main point: the reaction of various colleges to speaking engagements by Ward Churchill and William Ayers, who, Nelson would have us believe, are really quite nice people once you get to know them. They certainly are not without their controversies. But let's assume they simply follow Oscar Wilde's dictum: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."
Nelson recounts several situations where speeches by Ayers, Churchill, and Richard Dawkins have been cancelled due to threat of financial losses or physical violence.
So there you have it. Controversial "right-wing" speakers are afforded an oportunity to air their views on campus, while speakers from the left are driven out by threats and intimidation.
But things are not so neat and tidy. There is a reason that Nelson pulls his initial example from 1964. Things aren't like that anymore, as Tom Tancredo, an opponent of "illegal" immigration, discovered at a recent speech at UNC. Tancredo's speech on immigtration was disrupted by protestors, and ultimately cancelled when protestors broke a window of the room where Tancredo was speaking. You can watch the video here. Now suppose that Tancredo is a real monster, not a "false monster" like Ayers or Churchill. Why is he not accorded the same opportunity as a Nazi?
What does the AAUP have to say about Tancredo's experience at UNC?
Search: tancredo
Found: Nothing!
Violence is not speach. And once violence is injected into politics, it is very difficult to remove.
21-270: Exam #3 Review
The Exam #3 Review Page has been posted.
UPDATE: I've added answers to the review problems.
UPDATE: I've posted solutions to HW#9 on the blackboard site.
UPDATE: I've added solutions to HW#7 to the blackboard site. It looks like I miscounted the number of assignments, as there apparently was no HW#8, but fear not, I've posted solutions to all the problems assigned from Chapters 4 and 5.
UPDATE: I've added answers to the review problems.
UPDATE: I've posted solutions to HW#9 on the blackboard site.
UPDATE: I've added solutions to HW#7 to the blackboard site. It looks like I miscounted the number of assignments, as there apparently was no HW#8, but fear not, I've posted solutions to all the problems assigned from Chapters 4 and 5.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Settlers of Catan Tournament
The CMU Gaming Club will be hosting a Settler of Catan Tournament on Friday, April 10, 2009 from 9:00pm - 1:00am in the University Center's Kirr Commons.
Settlers of Catan is fun, but personally, I prefer Civilization, or even better, Advanced Civilization
Settlers of Catan is fun, but personally, I prefer Civilization, or even better, Advanced Civilization
Thursday, April 2, 2009
21-270: Assignment for Week #11
I've posted the readings for Week #11, and the problems for HW#8.
UPDATE: I inadvertantly assigned problem 3.8, which you did on a previous homework. I've removed it from the assignment. The other problems are correct.
UPDATE: I inadvertantly assigned problem 3.8, which you did on a previous homework. I've removed it from the assignment. The other problems are correct.
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