University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department

Today, a colleague has shared the following article with me "University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department, Increases Athletic Budgets. Hmm." Here's a quick excerpt:

“Actually, the real villains here are the Florida state legislators, who have cut the budget for their flagship university by 30% over the past 6 years. Meanwhile, just two days ago, Florida governor Rick Scott approved the creation of a brand-new public university, Florida Polytechnic University, to be located near the city of Tampa.”

What do I think about this? Well many things, but most of all: instead of looking for the villains or trying to do good with other people money - of course, thinking of the public good in the most objective way, which usually turns out to be somewhat skewed and biased, at best - we should get out of the business of subsidizing education in this fashion and let the market forces work. The education should cost what it costs, and if it is paid by people who consume the service they are more likely to get what they need. If the demand for computer science education is high and there are no distorting subsidies involved, it would be suicidal for the business to cut down on the product in such demand. So, it simply would not happen.

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Inscription On The Bell

What can I say, I am a huge sucker for catchy quotes. So, I could not let this one pass me by: "All truth is one in this light: may science and religion endeavor here for the steady evolution of mankind from darkness to light, from narrowness to broadmindedness, from prejudice to tolerance. It is the voice of life which calls us to come and learn." Inscribed on the bell in Hayes Hall Bell Tower at SUNY (State University of New York) Buffalo.

What Motivates Us?

Update (04/10/2013) Came across another interesting video on the same subject (thanks to Stanislav Glozman ) Original Post (12/13/2010) Very interesting video that I found via a reference in one of the Information Technology (IT) online publications that I read on a pretty much daily basis: I liked many things about it - the format, in my opinion, is awesome; the presentation is dynamic; and, of course, the content is quite interesting. This "new theory of motivation" departs sharply from the established practice of monetary incentives and instead emphasizes the following three intrinsic human motivators: Autonomy Mastery Purpose I have first discovered these ideas in the book called "Cognitive Surplus" by Clay Shirky. The format was not as animated, but the ideas about these intrinsic motivators (and how they sometimes can be canceled by an addition of a monetary incentive) were interesting nonetheless. The book was a good read, though I mus...

Omar Khayyám, The Rubaiyat #1

I am a big fan of poetry and "The Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyám is one of my favorites. Naturally, I have first discovered him in Russian translation and I still enjoy it the most (by far), but recently I have been exploring English translation of his work as well; and some things are not bad at all. So, I decided to do a few posts of my favorites in both languages to showcase the differences and the similarities. This is a first one (hopefully, of many): You know, my Friends, with what a brave Carouse I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed, And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse. *** Мы чашей весом в ман печаль сердец убьем, Обогатим себя кувшинами с вином. Трикраты дав развод сознанью, званью, вере, На дочери лозы мы женимся потом.

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