The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

MAY 2007 EDITION 

Weight change in May, 201.5 to     


My Decision NOT to Teach
 
Rather than remain in limbo about possible adjunct teaching opportunities next year, I made a formal (emailed)announcement this month that I would not be available to teach for the Math or Computer Science departments.  Beginning in 2007-08, "my two courses" move to those departments and the business school will no longer be responsible for staffing them.  My dean had made it clear that it was my decision and I made it sooner rather than later.  Since I am very reluctant to work more that a 40-hour week, I had to take myself out of the pool of potential adjunct instructors.  Sure, I still love to teach.  But I need to reclaim the uncompensated time I give away to my employer when I do teach.   It means giving something up: the classroom experience, but also getting something back: time.

Knowing that it was quite possible that I might never lecture again to my own class, I asked Annie to pop in and snap these pictures.  What a shock to see what an old over-weight fellow I've become.  (Annie should have at least made me fix my hair.)  The shots from behind are even worse -- showing that growing bald spot.  I wore my MacKenzie tie since I was teaching in McKenna Hall (a sept).  It ought to be the official school of business tie and tartan!

 To me, May 31st was a significant date as I taught my last class (final exams don't count.).  I may fill in for others from time to time -- but for now I'm going to be just a staff guy.

But I will still serve on committees, do "faculty" advising, and answer to "Dr. Sleight." 

I still love many aspects of teaching.  I didn't pull out an old final exam to give to my two sections of BUS 1700 on June 6th.  Even if it's to be my last one, I think the new final exam I wrote this week is one of my best.
Another School Year Ends
 
On May 31st I taught my last class of BUS 1700 Spreadsheets.  I've taught this class two or three times each term since about 1996. I will not miss the hundreds of emailed assignments I had to print out and mark up. 

As AUSBE advisor I enjoyed giving the introduction, recognizing the incoming and outgoing student officers, and giving the invocation at the SBE undergraduate graduation banquet at Salty's on Alki.  Here are some of my remarks and my invocation prayer.

Every university awards credentials.  (I have some Internet links to some where you could have acquired a degree a whole lot quicker – and cheaper!)  And many universities will ensure that their graduates are turned out into the “real world” with more-or-less marketable sets of skills and competencies.  But, alas, a very few universities still strive to promote character in their graduates. 

We hope we’ve done our best to offer you graduates a complete education – where your credential represents both a growing competence and a deepening character.  Credentials will get you an interview.  Competencies will get you a job. But your good character will keep that job – and make your work life and personal life a joy to experience.

- - - - -

And before I give you directions for dinner -- I have one other person to thank for getting us all here tonight.  Will you please pray with me?

Our gracious Heavenly Father,

God of our past, our present and our future. 

Thank you for making tonight’s celebration possible in your care for each of us individually and as a business school community.

You know what it is -- to feel a father’s pride in a Son’s mission accomplished. 

And perhaps these students can understand just a hint of the joy behind our Lord’s cry from the cross, “It is finished!” -- when He passed His last exam.  (And what a wonder to know that His perfect grades go on our transcripts – if He is our teacher and friend.)

Thank you for this time to celebrate and for this meal and the fellowship we will enjoy around it.

We say thank you in Jesus name.  Because He gave us His permission.

Amen.

Before driving up to the Tri-District Track and Field Championships I also advised new students entering SPU this fall.

My Quote from April

Psalm 24:3-4

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place? 
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. 

"This expression (to lift up one's soul to an idol) means to "nurse an appetite" for something." ― from The IVP Background Bible Commentary - Old Testament.  This particular commentary has been perhaps my most used resource as I prepare my notes for each Saturday lesson.

Jeannie Beth Shows Her Potential
 
I managed to make it to two of Jeannie's meets this year, including the "league championships."

Her races were mostly of the 100m, 200m, and 400m variety. She has an elegant stride but she'll need to develop and capitalize on her endurance, because, at lest for now, she lacks the muscles to be a successful sprinter. She needs miles on her legs and lungs. And perhaps another year or two of training.  The 10th grade Jeannie will wow 'em.

 

Nathanael's Junior Year Concludes with Track
  
Nathanael and his BCS Viking teammates finished the season strong.  His best times were at these races:

■  800m    2:02.65 Emerald City League Championships (3rd Place)

■  1600m  4:43.43 King's Invitational (6th place)

■  3200m 10:39.49 ECL Meet, March 22 (2nd place)
    (I lacked his upper body muscle at that age, but it's
    not likely he'll ever eclipse my 9:52 in the two mile in
   1973.)

■  4x400m relay 3:33:12 State Championships (prelims)

His 4x400m relay team however, captured the King's Invitational title with a time of  3:36:30 (Kyle Fremd, Peter Stearns, Nathanael Sleight, David Rowan).  The team of Kyle, Charles Blum, David and Nathanael (as anchor) set the Emerald City League record with a 3:37.24 in the ECL Championships.  Both the boys and girls BCS teams captured their respective Emerald City League championships.  My 12"x18" printable photo collage posted online at www.Bellevue1.net was a big hit with the athletes and their parents.  This was the first year since 1988 when both boys and girls BCS teams were league champs.

To earn a trip to the State Track & Field Championships, the team of Fremd, Sleight, Rowan and Stearns ran a 3:33:42 and captured 3rd place at the Tri-District Championships the week after Leagues.  Only the top four teams advance.

Nathanael ran a 2:02:71 in the 800m in the Tri-District preliminaries (finishing just behind Will Moseley of Seattle Academy, the defending State 1A champion, and 2nd in State this year).  However, his 2:06.69 the following day was only good enough for 7th place with only the top four advancing to State.  But by backing off on the 800m, Nate was more rested for the 4x400m relay.  He ran the fastest leg of the team as they earned a trip to Tacoma. 

So Nathanael was off to State again, his 6th time in eight tries.  His 4x400m relay team was one of 16 from across Washington to compete at Mount Tahoma High School on the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  Their good time on Friday (3:33.12) got them into the finals (top eight teams advance) as the 7th place team.  Their time of 3:34.65 in the finals earned them 6th place in State.  So in his 6th trip to a State competition, Nathanael could finally claim the status of "State Medalist."  One wonders how fast he will be as a 19 year old senior next year.

(Amazingly, all five BCS relay teams not only advanced to State, but also ran in the State finals on Saturday.  The 4x200m girls team repeated as State champs and the boys 4x100m team won State as well, winning by a mere three one-hundredths of a second.)

For the second year in a row I was sponsored by Northwest Runner Magazine as their official press photographer at the WIAA 1A & 2A Track & Filed Championships.  Not only did I get free admission and a free $5 program, but I also got unlimited access to the events.  I could sit inches from trackside and take all the photos I wanted.  (But I sat back a few feet and let other photographers crowd the track.)  I got amazing shots of all of the Bellevue Christian School athletes as well as the required distance races for the magazine.

In the end, the BCS boys took 3rd place in State and brought home a trophy (missing 2nd place by a single point.)  The BCS girls missed the 4th place trophy, also by one point.

The BCS coached paid for my hotel room and meals. And it only cost me $1.50 to take the bus (well, three busses) from the Bellevue Transit Center at 6:08AM Friday morning to the Mt. Tahoma High School in Lakewood by 8:30AM.  My SPU bus pass came in handy.  Nancy drove down with Jeannie each day and arrived just in time to see Nathanael's race late on Friday.  (Arriving that late, she also managed to get in free on Friday.)

The team also paid $50 toward my annual hosting cost of running www.Bellevue1.net.  Alas, when I got home from the State meet, I discovered that 128 of the over 1000 pictures I had taken could not be downloaded from the camera's picture card. However, for $49.90 I was able to purchase a utility program called "Restore my Photos" that reclaimed these very valuable shots. 

We'll see if the magazine will buy any of my photos this year.  I know that next week the BCS coaches have a thank you gift for me worth nearly $200 for all my work this season ― a 500GB external hard drive to back up my many precious photos.  It will also help back up Nancy's video clips that I've edited from the raw video footage she's shot during the season.  She deserves much credit for capturing the actual events in motion.

Mother's Day 2007
 
We drove to the Arboretum for these Mother's Day photos.  I bough Nancy a set of "relaxing" classical music on CD.  She really needs to relax.

The first full week of May, she went off to the NE corner of Washington on "State Trip" with two other parents and 10 BCS 8th graders.  She came back exhausted and in a foul mood. (For example, one mother "decided" that it was OK for the kids in her car to not wear their seatbelts! )  How does one train children when the parents are fools?

 

 

How will they survive summer?

Annie moves home in June but will work at her summer internship with Image magazine at SPU.

We may be doing a lot of bus riding together.  I'm happy the Fremont Bridge construction is over and the #31 bus will be running on June 2nd from the UW to SPU again.

 
Bits and Pieces...
  • Phil Voigt led the Men's Bible Study while I was off at two track meets at the end of May.  He has asked to continue this.  I'm delighted to hand the group back to him as long as he feels able. (Yet, the call on June 1 just came in and Phil says he is not up to it this week and would I take over again -- of course I will.)
  • I loved the movie Amazing Grace I saw in early May.  It often brought tears to my eyes.  It was also odd to be the only one in the theater for the matinee showing.
  • My music listening has been almost exclusively Andrew Lloyd Webber songs this month.  Thus my quote for May.
  • Nate takes his SAT test on June 2nd.
 

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