Who said it? God or Shakespeare?

Instead of one quote today I offer 17 quotes. Your task is to decide the source for each - the Bible or Shakespeare?

1.) Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
2.) Eat, drink and be merry.
3.) Nothing but skin and bones.
4.) To thine own self be true.
5.) Practice what you preach.
6.) The apple of my eye.
7.) You have to be cruel to be kind.
8.) Wear your heart on your sleeve.
9.) The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.
10.) By the sweat of your brow
11.) How the mighty have fallen!
12.) Forgive and forget.
13.) You can’t have too much of a good thing.
14.) He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
15.) Forever and a day.
16.) I escaped by the skin of my teeth.
17.) Like mother, like daughter.
Answers below.

Yesterday I mentioned things learned in High School like Cooking and Typing. But what high school student has not had to suffer Shakespeare; usually a different play each year: Romeo & Juliette, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, etc. Why do we spend so much time on Shakespeare? A 20-year-old girl named Becky from London offers a clue. She posted a page from her notebook on Tumblr which got featured on the English Muse blog, and went viral....

Shakespeare not only wrote great stories that are performed 400 years later, but he had a flair for inventing phrases that remain popular and in common usage. Few English authors can make this claim. (See Erasmus of Rotterdam and John Heywood for two other profligate quote makes who are not as well known as they should be.)

Bottom Line

Answers:

1.) Shakespeare. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.

2.) Bible. "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry" Luke 12:19

3.) Bible. "All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones." Job 19:19-20

4.) Shakespeare. "This above all: to thine own self be true" Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.

5.) Bible. "They do not practice what they preach" Matthew 23:3

6.) Bible. "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings" Psalm 17:8

7.) Shakespeare. "I must be cruel, only to be kind" Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 4.

8.) Shakespeare. "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve" Othello. Act i. Sc. 1.

9.) Bible. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." Matthew 6:3

10.) Bible. "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. Genesis 3:19

11.) Bible. "How the mighty have fallen!" 2 Samuel 1:19

12.) Shakespeare. "Pray you now, forget and forgive." King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 7

13.) Shakespeare. "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" As You Like It. Act iv. Sc. 1.

14.) Bible. Watch out for false prophets. "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Matthew 7:15

15.) Shakespeare. "For ever and a day." As You Like It. Act iv. Sc. 1.

16.) Bible. "All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth." Job 19:19-20

17.) Bible. "'Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: 'Like mother, like daughter.' " Ezekiel 16:4

Heather at "HeresWhatsLeft" provided the answers and offers this conclusion:

"So, how did you do? Not so good? If it makes you feel any better, the King James version of the Bible came out about 7 years after Shakespeare died. So they're basically written in the same vernacular, meaning that for phrases with words like "thine" it can be easy to get confused."

Comparing Apples to Oranges

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
- John F. Kennedy

I've been closely following events in Wisconsin regarding Governor Walker vs the Public Sector Unions (notably Teachers) but have resisted blogging about it because it's a hot button topic for many people. What did catch my eye that I would like to share is the battle over statistics. Both sides have their talking points and "facts" to back them up. And when "facts" are challenged, neither side is eager to cede the point and admit error. So bad "facts" persist and keep being used in arguments.

A blog post by IowaHawk takes to task Paul Krugman, Nobel Winning Economist, who writes for The New York Times. Krugman wrote,

Only 5 states do not have collective bargaining for educators and have deemed it illegal. Those states and their ranking on ACT/SAT scores are as follows:
South Carolina – 50th
North Carolina – 49th
Georgia – 48th
Texas – 47th
Virginia – 44th

This is very damming evidence and a popular statistic used by pro-Union teachers. But IowaHawk dives deeper into the numbers. He notes that a student's race is a bigger factor on SAT scores than teacher performance.

A state's "average ACT/SAT" is, for all intents and purposes, a proxy for the percent of white people who live there.

Statistically, on average, white students get higher ACT/SAT scores.This has nothing to do with innate ability or genetics or aptitude of individuals. Instead economic differences (poverty), racism, family environment, and other society biases are to blame.

Wisconsin is 4% Black and 4% Hispanic. Texas is 12% black and 30% Hispanic. Since race influences average ACT/SAT scores, to make a fair comparison, students in the two states should be compared by race.

Here are numbers from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), an annual standardized test given to 4th and 8th graders around the country to measure proficiency in math, science, and reading.

2009 8th Grade Math
White students: Texas 301, Wisconsin 294 (national 294)
Black students: Texas 272, Wisconsin 254 (national 260)
Hispanic students: Texas 277, Wisconsin 268 (national 260)

There are more stats at IowaHawk for 4th grade & 8th grade Math, Reading and Science but the numbers displayed here are typical. Within racial groups, all Texas students are above the national average and score better than Wisconsin. In Wisconsin the White students perform at or slightly above the national average, Hispanics above the average, and Black students below the average.

So instead of showing that Union Teachers are better, a nationalized 4th/8th grade test shows that Wisconsin produces average White students and poorly scoring Black students. Is this the final answer? Perhaps not. Perhaps a better Statistician will analyze the scores a different way to show something new and revealing.

For example other blogs point out another interesting difference in the SAT scores for Wisconsin vs Texas.
In 2010 Wisconsin placed 3rd in the nation on SAT scores. But only 4% of Wisconsin students took the SAT. This is known as selection bias. When only the best take a test, of course they perform better. 67% of Wisconsin students took the ACT and this dropped Wisconsin to 13th place. Still very, very good but it shows the difference that can occur in ranking depending on which students are tested.  In Texas 53% of all students took the SAT and 30% took the ACT.

Katherine Levin, a College Board spokeswoman for SAT calls comparisons between states "invalid" since the students taking the test are self-selected.

Levin, Feb. 25: Media and others often rank states, districts and schools on the basis of SAT scores despite repeated warnings that such rankings are invalid. The SAT is a strong indicator of trends in the college-bound population, but it should never be used alone for such comparisons because demographics and other nonschool factors can have a strong effect on scores. If ranked, schools and states that encourage students to apply to college may be penalized because scores tend to decline with a rise in percentage of test-takers.

Yet another factor to consider is poverty. Texas ranks 8th in most residents living below the poverty line. Wisconsin is 38th. So instead of saying Union teachers produce better college scores, we could use WI vs TX to prove that rich kids score better than poor kids.

Bottom Line

Beware of any argument based upon comparing "averages" without knowing the population mix behind the average. For example I could compare two colleges and show that students at A are on average shorter than B; so B must be biased against short people. What I don't reveal is that A is an all-girl school and B is not. Since girls are shorter on average than boys, this will pull down the total height average for school A.

Suppose the Ivy League schools argued that they had the most talented professors because their students (on average) get more of the most prestigious and well-paying jobs. The professors would be ignoring the fact that many of the brightest students, and students from the richest and best socially connected families, attend Harvard & Yale. So teaching ability could be just average and yet selection bias and social advantages give the students a preference in hiring. Some Wall Street firms hire ONLY from the Ivy League and look what resulted - a near collapse of the Financial System in 2008.

Update

A report showing it's the student, not the college, that determines success.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/03/more-evidence-going-fancy-college-doesnt-pay

Better Study Habits

“Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor”

- William Cowper (English Poet, 1731-1800)


Everyone, young and old, sometimes needs to study. It may be homework, learning a language or work rules and regulations. And most of us are doing it wrong according to the New York Times.

According to the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, we are not limited to specific learning styles. The concepts that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; or some are “left-brain” students while others are “right-brain” is bunk they say. Research has not found evidence of this. The same journal also claims that there is no perfect teaching style - students learn successfully from a variety of teaching styles.
Personally I disagree. I am much more perceptive of visual information than I am with audible instructions.

Another interesting claim is that it's better to study in different locations. Otherwise the information you learn becomes imprinted with the background colors, noise, lights, etc of your study area and those clues won't match the test room making the information harder to retrieve. Memory is made stronger when acquired under different backgrounds.

Another new trick - mix up your study material. The brain becomes lazy with repetition so mix English with Math or studying verbs with reading and speaking practice. "Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work."

While cramming may help for a test the next day, information quickly obtained is quickly lost. For longer retention review the material an hour of study tonight, an hour on the weekend, another session a week from now, then a month out, etc. Dozens of studies have found such spacing improves later recall.

Bottom Line

It pays to learn good learning habits.

Good Jobs With Two-Year Degrees

“Some people think that doctors and nurses can put scrambled eggs back into the shell”-Dorothy Canfield Fisher


What's a decent hourly wage? I know consultants who get from $100 to $200 an hour, mechanics who bill for $80-$90 per hour. So when I first saw a list from Yahoo of jobs that pay $30 with just a two-year certificate I was not initially impressed. But being a mathematician I punched numbers into a calculator and found that if you work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks at $30/hour you can earn over $62,000.

Her are some of the jobs suggested by Yahoo...

*Loan officer ($30.39)


*Diagnostic medical sonography ($30.60) -- I was talking to a fellow church member on Sunday who just finished her two year training and is now a medical assistant at a Women's Health Care clinic. She does sonograms.

*Nursing ($31.99) -- The market for nurses is expected to grow by 22 percent in the next 8 years.

*Nuclear technician ($32.07) -- Work alongside Homer Simpson.

Bottom Line
 
Visit your local community college and see if they offer night classes for certification programs.

Trade Schools

“College is like a fountain of knowledge - and the students are there to drink”

A Washington Post story notes that More college-educated jump tracks to become skilled manual laborers.

"They started out studying aerospace engineering, creative writing and urban planning. But somewhere on the path to accumulating academic credentials, they decided that working with their hands sounded more pleasant -- and lucrative -- than a lot of white-collar work. So bye-bye to term papers and graduate theses, and hello to apprenticeships to become plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics
and carpenters."

The poor economy has been a boon for trade schools. The electricians' union program in Washington D.C. has 2,500 applications for 100 slots. And nearly 4,000 are competing for the 300 slots at a plumbers and pipe fitters school.

Pay for trade jobs is good. Apprentices start out at half salary with raises every six months. After five years licensed journeymen can expect to be paid $65,000 to $85,000 a year, depending on the amount of overtime. That beats four+ years of college, graduating deep in debt, and with no job.

In Europe many students begin an apprenticeship at age 18 right out of high school. But in the US, high school counselors rarely recommend trade school (except for their worst students). So American youth try college first and then switch to blue collar. The average age for beginning apprentices in the US is 25.

Bottom Line

This weekend my wife and I bumped into an old friend who is moving in the opposite direction - from blue collar to white collar. He was a long-time union employee at a TV station. However with better technology and greater automation, the station was able to layoff 38 technicians. Now my friend is completing a BS degree in Labor Relations and then plans to study law so he can go back and sue the pants off big companies.

There is merit in having some real-world experience before graduating from college.

Webcams

“I've always wanted to be a spy, and frankly I'm a little surprised that British intelligence has never approached me.”
-Elizabeth Hurley (British actress)

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
-song lyrics by Police

Now here is a scary story if it proves true. A family in Pennsylvania has accused their son's school district of installing spyware on school-issued laptops that students take home. Each laptop includes a built-in web-camera. The family claims in their lawsuit that,

...the School District in fact has the ability to remotely activate the webcam contained in a students' [sic] personal laptop computer issued by the School District at any time it chose and to view and capture whatever images were in front of the webcam, all without the knowledge, permission or authorization of any persons then and there using the laptop computer.

Bottom Line

Personally I avoid buying any computer with a built-in webcam. I've read stories of computer hacks that can turn these on remotely so you have no idea you are being watched. So I use a webcam via a USB port that I can unplug when not in use.

Knives - friend or foe?

“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” - 2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV

It’s funny how topics of interest sometimes merge. I’ve been following two stories of upright students (both scouts) suspended for having a knife at school. The first is a six-year-old who likes to eat with a folding knife-fork-spoon he got from cub scouts. The other is an Eagle Scout who kept a 2-inch knife in his locked car’s emergency kit. Both were given maximum suspension sentences under “zero-tolerance” before the media made the school boards look foolish.

Completely unrelated is my current commuting lecture CD of Eastern Religions. Did you know that Sikhism is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world with 23 million adherents? Since they don’t proselytize for converts, little is know of them outside of Punjab in India. Sikhs are often confused with Hindus (because they come from India) and Muslims (because they wear turbans). The religion began in the early 1500’s when Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) could not decide whether to be Hindu or Muslim. The religion professor compared Nanak to Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Mormon faith. Both men prayed for insight to know which of the competing faiths was “the true church”. Both received revelation that it did not yet exist, and were inspired to create a new religion. For Guru Nanak it was the revelation that "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" but just one God and one faith.

The religion of Sikhism evolved under ten gurus from 1538 to 1708. It was the 10th and final guru, Guru Gobind Singh, who established the rule of the “Five K’s”, five items that all baptized Sihks must wear at all times:

kēs (uncut hair which is kept covered by a turban)
kanghā (a small hair comb)
karā (an iron bracelet)
kacchā (a special undergarment)
kirpān (a small dagger)

Now at last you see how the two topics in this post cross paths. In today’s paranoid world, dagger wielding Sikhs are not tolerated. Children are banned from schools. In New York City, a compromise was reached with the Board of Education; the kirpan is allowed IF the knife is impossible to draw by being glued to the sheath. Naturally, the kirpan causes alarm at airport security checkpoints. In 2008, Sikh leaders opted out of interfaith meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in DC because security insisted they remove their kirpans before entering.

Ironically, to Sikhs the kirpan is a symbol of "Ahimsa" or non-violence. The kirpan is a tool used to prevent violence against a defenseless person when all other means to do so have failed. The kirpan also represents the power of truth to cut through untruth. It is the cutting edge of the enlightened mind.

Bottom Line

As the apostle Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 3:6, the letter of the law can be a very bad thing. Laws without common sense “killeth” freedom and personal initiative. The NY Eagle Scout mentioned above said he was amazed that school officials freaked out over a tiny knife in his car emergency kit. He pointed out that baseball bats were easily available at school and far more lethal than his small knife.

On a flight (after 9/11), my wife & I were amazed to see metal knives given to first class passengers for their meal. A pair of knitting scissors and nail clips had to be surrendered but knives were handed out. What’s the common sense in that?

Common sense says that knife paranoia is bad for preparedness. One of the best survival tools is a good knife. Use it to make kindling and strike it with flint to start a fire. It can help build a shelter, prepare food, and so on. What a shame that all persons with knives must be treated as criminals.

Disasters during School Hours

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

When a sudden regional disaster (forest fire, chemical spill, nuclear power plant accident, etc) occurs during a school day, the natural instinct of parents is to rush to the schools to pick up their children. However this is NOT encouraged by most schools. A rush of incoming parents will block the roads and create confusion as the school attempts an orderly evacuation. Many school disaster plans call for all children to be taken by bus to a predetermined safe location outside the danger area. Do you know where that location is?

Bottom Line
Ask your school for a copy of its emergency plan and read it. Know what is expected of parents. Also ask yourself, "Is this plan realistic?" In Westchester county, NY there are only enough buses for one third of the school children (not counting those who walk to school!) During normal days, school buses make three trips to cover all schools - separate pickup and delivery for elementary, middle school and high schools. To evacuate everyone, the buses would have to return at lease twice into the danger zone for two additional loads of kids. This could fail on several grounds - drivers won't go back, returning buses are blocked with all lanes filled with outgoing traffic, buses are trapped in traffic trying to get out.