One of the less-helpful innovations to come out of DU Business School is something called a "2+2." Basically, at the end of a group exercise in one of the softer classes, like HR, organizational behavior, or leadership, the members of the group each give every other members two compliments and two areas of improvement.

We did this at the end of HR, with fairly normal results. In my case, people felt that I could have volunteered for more, but that I produced consistently high-quality work, in a timely fashion, and carried my weight. There was one person who seemed a little upset that we had to work things around the ubiquitous Jewish holidays, and didn't seem to like the fact that I had opinions, but other than that, pretty milquetoast stuff.

You can see the problem here immediately. Other than the one critique that was long on blade and short on handle, there wasn't much to go on. The one consistent criticism wasn't really all that bad. And given that this past quarter resembled the B-school equivalent of a 100-mile forced march to Bastogne in the dead of winter, I was doing what I needed to do to survive. There's a time and a place for everything, but it seemed prudent at this point for me to stay well inside the divorce-coronary-suicide inefficient frontier. I've got plenty of group work left to play myself back into shape.

The point is that 2+2s flatten everything out. There's no scoring system, so for someone who was truly outstanding, like one of the gals on the team, you still have to come up with two "areas of improvement." They might be that "you chewed gum a little too loudly in the meetings," but they show up on the page next to, and take up about the same amount of ink as "you stayed up all night editing the group's 40-page paper."

Something similar is going on with Iraq. The pluses, which are gigantic, get written down in the same size type with the same amount of ink as the minuses, which are much smaller. The same psychology that makes 2+2 look good superficially is at work here as well: a post-mortem, or even a mid-term evaluation, of any operation will produce pluses and minuses. But without any judgment, without any way of ranking them, you can spend time fixing things that aren't really broken, or miss chances to stay ahead of the curve.

In addition to the good job numbers from May, the Institute for Supply Management, which surveys expected activity in the manufacturing and service sectors, reports that their employment indices rose for May, as well, indicating that even more robust hiring is on the way.

The manufacturing employment index was up to 61.9 from 57.8 in April, and the service employment index was up to 56.3, from 54.5 in April. This is the highest manufacturing emloyment index since April of 1973. Anything over 50 means growth in the job market, or net hiring. Incidentally, the both indices have been over 50 since late last year.

The overall Manufacting Index has been over 60 for 7 straight months, something that happens about once every 10 years. Cheer up, folks, the economy's normal.

I know this is old news, but I haven't seen it commented on anywhere else, and I think it's worth mentioning.

The Ford Foundation got caught passing money to groups and "researchers" in middle-east studies departments whose first order of business is the destruction of people like the board of the Ford Foundation, and who would only spare Dearborn because of its close proximity to Detroit. Since then, the Foundation has promulgated some new rules, preventing their money from going to programs or institutions that support terror or hate or bigotry (even directed against Jews) or the destruction of any country (even Israel).

Naturally, the Ivy League is up in arms. Claiming that this violates academic freedom. Coming from people who 1) overwhelmingly support "campaign" "finance" "reform," and 2) pass speech codes that have made duct tape part of the incoming freshman "valu pak," this is rich beyond words.

Of the nine schools who are complaining, seven of them get either a red or a yellow light from Speechcodes.org, FIRE's site devoted to monitoring campus squelch knobs. Of the two where free speech is explicitly defended, one is the University of Pennsylvania. While the University may not have an explicit code, it has been less-than-zealous defending actual free speech, refusing to condemn the theft of conservative campus newspapers, and censuring a religious Jewish student for complaining, colorfully but not racially, about the noise coming from a black sorority.

Here's the list:

Harvard

Yale

Princeton

Cornell

Columbia

Stanford

University of Pennsylvania

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Chicago

Of course, the irony here is that a student could get kicked out of school, or worse, for saying the very things that the universities insist that they have the right to promote.

Hypocrisy is an easy charge to make, and not very impressive. But these schools seem to have a nasty habit of trying to tell other people what they can say with their own money.

posted by Joshua |  permalink | 1:36 PM | |

President Bush gave the commencement address at the Air Force Academy yesterday. If you were unfortunate enough to have the Denver Post as your only source of news, you might not know what he said.

Oh, sure, they published the text of the address. But they also sent the eponymous Karen Crummy out to cover it. Once again, the folks over at the Rocky must be glad she's writing for the Post.

Of the 750 words devoted to the speech, Ms. Crummy give over a third to Democratic operatives, and the candidate himself. These comments are interspersed throughout the article, acting as a Greek chorus. In the case of Gary Hart, his official role as an adviser to the Kerry campaign goes unmentioned.

Contrast this with the Rocky, which reserves three paragraphs at the end of the speech for Senator Kerry (nothing wrong with that). The main difference is that the Rocky also takes time to mention the cadets. You know, the guys who are liable to be going over there to fight for us? Remember them? Remember where the speech is happening, Ms. Crummy? Think maybe their reactions (positive on the whole) are worth recording?

The Post's "analysis" consists of a further 675 words arguing that the President is desperate, being dragged down the drain by a failed Iraq policy and a country that's falling apart on his watch.

Two other notes on the President's fundraising speech Tuesday. The headline "Bush Bags Millions" is just a little crass, don't you think? And a secondary story on the cost of the police security (it comes to a little more than a dime per resident) also seems petty.

So now, we know what to expect when candidate Kerry comes here in a couple of weeks. A report that's largely critical of his speech, with plenty of Republican reponse. A headline emphasizing the money he's taking in, no doubt commenting on the average income of Aspen residents. And a sidebar on the cost of police protection.

Don't hold your breath.

Cross-posted at Oh, That Liberal Media.

After a week of being buried by the collective demands of 16 hours' worth of end-of-quarter projects and finals, work (as in a job), and a Jewish holiday called Shavuot ("Feast of Weeks" to you folks), celebrating the 10 Commandments part of the "Ten Commandments," I've finally got time to catch up on the world.

Jared is reporting on a blog-flame war. Hey, as a friend of mine says, "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

To understand the difference between Denver's two dailies, you need go no further than their respective coverages of the anti-Bush protest here in Denver yesterday. Whether or not the appearance of 65 rabid Bush-haters in response to a Presidential visit is newsworthy is open to question, something the reporter for the News seems to have grasped. The Post reporter on the other hand (aided by the delightfully-named Karen Crummy), is under the delusion that the political rantings of 20-year-olds are worth the ink used to print them.

Among the Post's gems:

"It was exciting to be that close as he went by," said Lisa Arnolds, 26, of Denver a Kerry supporter. "He was probably looking away, ignoring all the dissent, though."

Looking away? Maybe if he knew where to look away from. Those limos are quiet.

Protesters were peeved that the president was attending the fundraiser where about 50 people contributed $25,000 to $50,000 per couple.

"I am blown away that anybody would spend that much for a plate," said Kate Breslin, 20, of Denver. "It's frustrating because so many people are unemployed and donors will be sitting in there listening to classical music and eating expensive meals."

Two words for you, Miss Breslin: George Soros. And these poor, unemployed people, whose ranks I may be about to join in a few weeks, can't afford classical music? Hell, unless it's a live string quartet, you probably helped pay for it. Colorado Public Radio has a 24-hour classical station. As for the meals, take another look at your videotape of that Democratic Unity Dinner a few months back. I don't think those are Chicken McNuggets they're chowing down on, disappointing though that might be to Bill Clinton.

Miss Breslin, if you were less busy protesting Presidential visits, and were majoring in something more useful than medieval women's art history, you too might have the chance, someday, to give $50,000 to the socialist of your choice.

Bernita Balekian, 25, of Denver said she takes Bush's stance against gay marriage personally.

"I'm bisexual," Balekian said. "It shouldn't be against the law to love someone."

Um, Bernita, it's not. And nice quote, by the way, managing to advertise in both the Looking For sections at once, for free, in a news article, at the newspaper's expense.

By contrast, the Rocky's correspondent can barely believe they sent him out to cover this tripe:

The president provokes his opposition to temper tantrums of such comprehensive scope, it was a challenge for demonstrators to boil down to a few words what it is about him that should tick off the rest of the country, too.

Boy, if that doesn't paint a picture of derangement, nothing will. When I was a kid, there was a huge sign on a local property (corner of Blake Lane and 123, if you must know), protesting something that someone had done to this guy. The message ran on for a couple of hundred words, and it probably took regular commnuters a few weeks to get through the whole thing, one red light at a time. The guy was clearly a lunatic. He had no chance against City Hall, but even something like "Bastards Stole My Land" would have had more of a shot.

Hecker had what appeared to be a 1,000-word manifesto printed on the back of his shirt. By comparison, his sign, "Today's lies threat: high," was a more visible message but far shorter on evidence.

He's here! We found him! Imagine that, after all these years, I've tracked down the guy, and he's living in my neighborhood. I'll have to ask him what that sign back in Vienna was all about. Isn't it glorious when you find pieces of your childhood still living and walking around?

Hecker said he was demonstrating against a president for the first time since the Reagan administration. He finally decided to do so, unsatisfied with complaining idly to several Republican friends.

"I'm here to do something to change the country for the first time in my life, besides sitting and arguing with people," Hecker said.

Sparago said her aim was similarly therapeutic.

"I'm just hoping that, by us being here, and (passers-by) hearing the horns honk, they understand that not everybody can just do what they want," she said.

But, "Do I think people out here are making a difference? No, and that's being honest," Sparago said. "I don't think it changes anybody's mind."

Lest anyone forget how much the Left hated Reagan, this says it all. I also like that line about the whole thing being "therapeutic." It pretty much sums up the entire political program of the Democrats and the Left.

On the other hand, maybe this article wasn't such a good idea. If the Kerry people read it, they may realize that this isn't such a battleground state after all, and we won't get to see them waste their money here.

Perhaps with too much time on their hands, and not enough light, the postwar Japanese developed these things called candlestick charts for stock analysis. The idea is that you look for one of about 300 different patterns, and that, along with the shape of the clouds and the color of the tea leaves, will tell you which way a stock is liable to go. These patterns have names like Morning Star, Three White Soldiers, Dragonfly Doji, Double Reverse Screaming Baby, and Inverse Engulfing Sushi. OK, I made those last two up, but you get the idea.

This is all part of something called Technical Analysis, also known as Stock Market Witchcraft, or, as Bush 41 would have said, back in his pre-VP days, "Voodoo Market Analysis." It's actually fairly respectable now, but there was a time, even as recently as 15 years ago, when mere mention of technical analysis would have brought and end to conversation and a beginning to the icy stares.

Louis Rukeyser, of the late, lamented Wall $treet Week, used to have a set of 10 technical indicators he called "The Elves," and every week he would tell you how many were pointed which way. It took about 30 seconds, and they were never referred to elsewhere in the program. Later, perhaps reflecting the growing respectability of chartists (no, not The Chartists), he eventually replaced them with 10 real people.

Nowadays, this stuff is actually taught in respectable business schools.

Because I read so much news, I've had to give out my email address to just about every surviving newspaper in the western world. They make you do this by emailing you your secret password, or your session id, or some URL hidden so deeply within the bowels of the site that the Minotaur would be left dazed in admiration.

So I get newspaper spam. Usually junk, from the Strib or the Post or even the LA Times. Today, though, this:

Play Telegraph Fantasy Euro 2004

Wow! A chance to tell the Telegraph your fantasy about how Britain and New Europe defeat the EU Constitution. Be detailed. The writer of the best fantasy will win a chance to personally receive Chirac's surrender.

Or maybe it's kind of a continental Price is Right. Pick the value of the Euro against these 5 currencies, and tell us how much a hamburger, a 1-liter Vichy Water, and a Belgian bureaucrat cost in Euros. Then price your Showdown Showcase in Euros without going over, and you win a Newly-Freed Country!

No. It's about metric football, a sport about which I care even less than auto racing (see below). What's worse, the Brits are playing Fantasy European metric football. I don't suppose there's such a thing as Fantasy Cricket (although maybe the fantasy there is that the match ends). Still, they play plenty of metric football on the islands. The only teams most Americans have heard of are Manchester United and Arsenal. Maybe the Telegraph really is going all Euro-enthusiast on us.

I'm not such a big racing fan. The only way to tell the cars apart is by color, and there are only so many colors. Plus, while it may be exciting in person, there's not a whole lot of payoff in watching guys go around in a circle.

Fox has gotten pretty inventive in its NASCAR coverage (I'm one of the few who liked the glowing puck), but ABC is still pretty much stuck in the Jackie Stewart era when it comes to race technology. But their announcers do a great job explaining what's going on.

Still, I love the Indy 500. I'm old enough to remember when it was on Memorial Day itself, and was broadcast tape delay in the evening, so the network wasn't at risk for all the time lost to the spring rains. Now, they do it on Sunday and they show it live.