From the "When It Rains It Pours" Department:  BUS 1700 Spreadsheets Returns to SBE

In late-summer I was asked to consider teaching BUS 2700 Statistics for Business and Economics but with an added concentration in spreadsheets.  I agreed, and the first section of this hybrid course will be offered this coming September.  But at the first Undergraduate Committee meeting this month, I learned that the Computer Science department was anxious to give back the 1-credit spreadsheet course that they had taken over from SBE (actually from me) in Autumn 2007.

Dr. Ross Stewart, our interim committee chair, asked if I was willing to teach it again.  I assured the committee that I'd be happy to take back "my" course.  Between 2000 and 2007 I taught it 45 times, and began teaching it in the mid-1990's.  Both my dad and Annie were students of mine.  (Dad got a B in it in 1998 and an A in CSC 1121 Internet and Email that I also taught that same summer.)

Dr. Downing told Dr. Stewart to tell Prof. Weltz in Computer Science that we'd take the course back if it was really necessary.  ("Don't seem too eager.")  I do a more rigorous job with Spreadsheets and our faculty wanted me to teach it again.  This tiny course is huge for business people.  (It was said of VisiCalc, "You made accounting fun.") 

One of my annual big jobs is to construct the time schedule for the school.  With the help of the associate deans, I schedule the courses for three majors and three graduate degrees with 25 faculty plus adjuncts.  It was nice after six years to see my name in the schedule.  I'm down for Statistics in the fall and two sections of Spreadsheets in both Winter and Spring.  Now I have to decide if I'll offer it this coming summer.

Farewell to Jeff Van Duzer

On January 31st, the School of Business and Economics faculty and staff and many spouses and friends gathered at the Steelhead Diner at Pike Place Market (95 Pine St.)  We had a reception for our beloved dean, the night before he stepped into his new position as SPU's provost. 

It's certainly odd to have a wine and cheese type event with this crowd.  SPU, of course, did not fund our farewell event.

Dr. Ross Stewart started off the program part of the evening with a roast of Jeff's faculty meeting agendas, which always had a series of very interesting topics from current events as the final item, which we never got to in twelve years of meetings.  I added my thoughts about when we hired Jeff. 
He asked me at Alec Hill's farewell event in 2001, what kind of dean the school was looking for, and I had answered, "Someone like you."   

Kathy Stegman, Jeff's administrative assistant, prepared a photo book which all of us signed.  I had taken most of the photos in it.  Even at this event, I was busily chronicling the history of the school with my camera. 

Jeff remarked on the amazing sense of community we had developed over his tenure in SBE.  New faculty (Don Lee and Grant Learned), old faculty (Jon Deming and others), and staff (Elizabeth Gordon and I) added our thoughts.  Jeff told me he expected to invite me up to his office from time to time.  He has come to depend on my technical assistance.  I told him I wouldn't be as nervous in the President's suite with him there.

Even so, I'll miss him.  The "ceiling effect" says, when you have a top performer, his or her replacement is not likely to be as good.

 Heartfelt prayer from our whole body commissioned Jeff and Margie for their new life leading SPU at the next level.

The Headline on the Web Read, "Can They Be Stopped?"

The 2012-13 season for the Seattle Seahawks ended with an amazing 30-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on January 13th.  With 3:00 on the clock in the 4th quarter, Seahawks' rookie quarterback Russell Wilson (#3) led the team for one final drive, trailing 27-21.  They had battled back from being down 20-0 at halftime. The drive was successful and the team led 27-28 with just seconds to play.  There was brief EXTASY in Puget Sound!  But alas, there was just enough time left (0:31) for Atlanta to make two good pass plays to reach field goal range, and a 49 yard field goal ended the Seahawks' season.

The week before, the Seahawks dominated the Washington Redskins.  Washington took a quick 14-0 lead, but then Seattle scored 24 unanswered points and demolished the Redskins in the nations' capital, winning 14-24.  It was the first playoff road victory the Seahawks had won since 1983 in Miami.  (Nancy and I watched that game in Kansas City, MO, in a hotel room with students from Seattle who were -- except for that game -- attending "KC '83," the national Campus Crusade for Christ winter conference.) 

It doesn't happen often, but often enough to keep us all dreaming of a Super Bowl title for Seattle.

Who Needs Another Gun?

I wasn't really following the political maneuvering that led President Obama to act on gun control on January 16th, at least not until I had done some shopping.

For some reason, I'd become uneasy just having a five-shot .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 36 (called a "Chief's Special" until 1957) for home defense (mine is pictured at left).  This model was given to me by my dad, and it had been given to him by the widow of our Lincoln Park neighbor Mr. Postler.  I cherish the gun (being a classic Smith & Wesson "wheel gun.")  But the .38 Special cartridge was developed in 1898 and lacks the stopping power of more modern loads. 

I started to do my homework.  My first decision was to settle on the 9mm Lugar or Parabellum (or 9x19).  It is the most common cartridge in the world as the .38 was before it (not counting the .22 LR of course.)  The name Parabellum is derived from the Latin: Si vis pacem, para bellum ("If you seek peace, prepare for war.")  The 9x19 was actually developed way back in 1902!  But it is the NATO standard issue for side arms.  And as an economics major, it makes sense to shoot the 9mm because of its lower cost of ammunition compared with less common calibers.

A friend in the Saturday Bible study, Wayne Pommer, spoke well of his Glock.  But after my online study, I had picked out a half-dozen models to consider.  On Saturday, the 5th, I walked over to Discount Gun Sales on NE 8th Street near our house.  The salesman Ryan was pleasant but the Glock 19 Gen 3 he offered for $699 looked used and I didn't like the feel of it.  I said I needed to get back for the second half of the football game and wished him a good day.  The news of skyrocketing gun sales across the country led me to expect premium prices, but I was not interested in paying more than list for anything.  A few days later I visited West Coast Armory near Factoria which has a gun shop associated with their popular shooting range.  A number of the semi-automatic 9mm guns on my list were in stock.  I tried a Glock 17 Gen 3 but had hoped for a Gen 4 (newer "generation") with its adjustable grips.  I was told the Gen 4's on sale had sold out in just a few days.  I tried the CZ P-07 Duty. I'd liked what I'd seen about it on YouTube.  But again, I did not like the grips.  Finally, I tried the full sized Smith & Wesson M&P9 (right).  It was actually on the top of my list coming in.  I clearly liked its feel the best.  And its price of $499 was below its list price of $569.  For a 17+1 top quality American-made semi-automatic, it was a good deal.  The 17+1 represents the maximum 18 rounds it can hold.  It came with two 17 round magazines.  (This type of magazine is on back order for months at every online retailer I've visited.)  States like California, New York, Hawaii and a few others restrict magazines to 10 rounds (or even 7 now in New York.)  But what's the difference for someone who can just carry many extra easily loaded magazines or even multiple firearms?  There is little logic to limiting magazine size. 

Speaking of prices, I stopped in at Wade's Gun Shop and they offered me an M&P40 Shield for $599.  That gun's list price is $449.  Jason at LowPriceGuns.com here in Bellevue said they could get me an M&P9c for $589.  That would be an acceptable deal at $489.  I'd love a 9mm Shield or 9c (compact) even at list price in these days of inflated prices and frenzied buying.  But I won't pay above list price and I don't need another gun so much that I can't wait for months or years (or ever).  I understand the passion for guns since it's not unlike a passion for cameras and lenses.  Right now there are about 9 firearms for every 10 persons in the United States.  (I have 8 for my family of 5, my four and four I inherited.)  We are by far the most armed nation.  War-torn Yemen is a distant second at about half our rate of ownership.  But politics produces unintended consequences.  Hint about a ban or major restrictions and prices skyrocket, and gun stores face a dwindling supply, even as gun makers are running 24/7 to meet demand.

I did manage a small but noisy experiment.  I shot one round from the S&W Model 36 (on the left - larger brass with deformed lead bullet) and one FMJ (full metal jacket) target round from the 9mm.  The smaller "J frame" wheel gun was louder and had more recoil than the bigger semi-automatic.  I did remember to wear ear protection.  The slower lead slug split, but did not pass completely through a piece of 2"x6" treated lumber.  The FMJ 9mm bullet (right) hardly deformed at all after passing through a piece of 2"x6" standard lumber and two inches into a piece of solid oak!  (Nancy was not happy that I'd shot her piece of scrap oak from the building of our oak stair handrail.)  One man's garbage is another woman's  treasure, indeed.  But at least I deemed it a very valuable test.  The new firearm proved to be both more capable and more powerful. 

I ordered some "Uncle Mike's" grips for the .38 Special to make it safer and easier to shoot.  However, when they arrived, I decided to keep the thinner, longer wood grips on the gun.  They provide room for one more finger. EBay is the place to buy holsters (and most everything else.) I got this Safariland leather holster from someone who got it from a State of California surplus auction.  I paid $17.49 including shipping.  Amazon sells the same "Level III" holster new for $160.  It fit the new S&W M&P9 amazingly well.

I've also joined smith-wessonforum.com so I can learn from other S&W owners.  My alias there is dr_slate. 

As a political statement, I renewed my long-lapsed membership in the NRA.  And because it's difficult to carry any guns to anywhere off my property without violating some law, I obtained what the Bellevue Police Department calls a concealed pistol license (CPL).  I had just about decided to wait on the CPL because it was so hard to get to Bellevue City Hall during their 8:00 to 5:00, M-F open hours.  But Nancy called needing me to put money into her checking account so she could pay a large bill to get Annie's car out of the repair shop.  After I put $2000 in Nancy's account, I went to City Hall four blocks south of the bank.  It was 4:20 p.m. when I got there and I was their only late Friday afternoon client.  I had a concealed carry license back in my mid-20s when Officer Ed Haynes and I would go shooting.  The big change I saw this time was that they took my fingerprints digitally.  And it only took 30 seconds for me to pass the Washington State Patrol online background check.  All in all, guns can be a passion (as they are for my friend Wayne Pommer), but Smith & Wesson is not likely to upstage Nikon in my life any time soon.  And what does Nancy say about all this?  She wishes her father's guns had come to her, but they were given to "Uncle Joe the Eskimo," a family friend.  She says she'd like to go target shooting with me, "when she gets caught up."  Who would have thought?  But then, both her parents were in the military during World War II.

If I Get What I Want, It's Only Fair that Nancy Gets What She Wants

I wish our family room were as tidy as the pictures below.  When Nancy discovered that COSTCO lowered their price on this chaise sofa by $120, she had to get it.  She had wanted it at the higher price, but I had objected.  We charged up the old van that had sat all winter.  I drove it to COSTCO and we loaded it up with the two large boxes that contained our new sofa.  It's two feet wider than the love seat we've had in front of the 50" LG TV.  But she promised to clean out her piles in the family room.  If that really happens, then this unique piece of furniture will be quite welcome by me.

BCS Wrestling

It was strange to see Bellevue Christian vs. Cascade Christian in near identical uniforms (left).  The week earlier, BCS vs. Eatonville (right) was nearly as bad.  I wish the Vikings were still the Men in Black.