Banner
The Notion Of Nations: Does A Nationalist Pol Know What A Nation Is?

Our outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is due to...

To MAGAs, The Constitution Isn’t The Point

1.     January 6 was a shocking aberration. ...

Resilience: Debunking The Debunker

Sarah Green Carmichael, in a Bloomberg News item titled “You don’t need more resilience, you...

There’s DEI, And Then There’s DEI

A job interview, some years back, at No Name University (NNU). I was the candidate. The diversity...

User picture.
picture for Hank Campbellpicture for Hontas Farmerpicture for Wes Sturdevantpicture for Helen Barrattpicture for Steve Donaldsonpicture for Patrick Lockerby
Fred PhillipsRSS Feed of this column.

After a dozen years as a market research executive, Fred Phillips was professor, dean, and vice provost at a variety of universities in the US, Europe, and South America. He is now Visiting Professor... Read More »

 Blogroll
Yucky Science

Yucky Science

Sep 23 2009 | comment(s)

I had occasion last week to tell the story of my high school friend Allen (name changed to protect his by now certainly stellar career). We had met again back in Evanston, before starting our sophomore years in college. I’d just finished a summer job as camp counselor in Wisconsin’s north woods; Allen had worked for Searle laboratories in Skokie.

Crossing Over: How To Use And Misuse The Fisher-Pry Curve

Crossing Over: How To Use And Misuse The Fisher-Pry Curve

Sep 19 2009 | comment(s)

The Economist reported that in early 2007, for the first time in history, more humans lived in cities than in the countryside. We are now a different species, in terms of the environmental niche we inhabit.  One thinks of Isaac Asimov’s Trantor, the planet that was completely covered by buildings.  Is Earth headed for a similar future?

2004 was the first year Amazon.com moved more dollar volume in consumer electronics than in

Sustainability: Gladly Pay You Tuesday For A Hamburger Today

Sustainability: Gladly Pay You Tuesday For A Hamburger Today

Sep 10 2009 | comment(s)

(This continues a discussion of the topic I started here, in Spanish, and in §5.4 of this published paper, in English. Not necessary to read those first; this blog stands on its own.)

There are many definitions of sustainability.

Intention

Intention

Sep 03 2009 | comment(s)

What was it that my late aikido and Zen sensei asked me to do, on that day twenty-some years ago?  I do remember his request struck me as difficult to carry out, and perhaps not really necessary. I recall with great clarity the short exchange that followed the request:

“I’ll try,” I waffled.

Sensei just stared at me.

“OK, I get it.  There is no try, only do or don’t do.”  I weakly attempted to mollify Sensei with a line from the new film, Karate Kid.

Sex Change And Corn Flakes Stress The Review Board

Sex Change And Corn Flakes Stress The Review Board

Aug 27 2009 | comment(s)

Years back, conversing with a now long-retired dean, I happened to let slip the words “common sense.” He replied, “It’s been a long time since I heard that phrase uttered on this campus, much less seen it practiced.”

He had a point.

As The Actress Said To The Bishop, Or, The Professional Practice University

As The Actress Said To The Bishop, Or, The Professional Practice University

Aug 21 2009 | comment(s)

We management professors are very conscious of the "professional school" label given to colleges of business, law, medicine, engineering, nursing, and education in diversified universities – universities in which some clinical fields, like psychology, may be part of the college of Arts&Sciences, and thereby on the other side of the divide. (At my alma mater, clinical psych is in A&S, and counseling psych is in the College of Education.)

Though a few verbal grenades are tossed over the divide each semester, schools on both sides generally co-exist tolerably well. What are the differences between them?