The Professor's Notes

A colleague of mine is a great friend. He would do anything for me, or for anyone for that matter. He honestly (and rightly) believes that we should do unto our neighbors as we would want them to do for us. My friend is a great man. I truly admire him and the heart he has for those around him.

He is also a self-professed liberal. This is not surprising. He believes that we need to look out for our neighbors, and his view of neighbor is expansive. So understandably (I hop) I found myself pondering if I am missing something. Is there something “great” about liberalism as we know it today? And if it is “great” does that mean conservatism somehow misses the boat?

After much reflection, I realized that we have two problems facing us. First, the liberal ideal of caring for those around you is not only a good one, it’s Biblical. We are called on by Christ to love our neighbors. And Christ didn’t draw any neighborhood boundaries, either. On the other hand, we are faced with an ever-enlarging government that, despite all the best intentions and heartfelt goodwill, never seems to deliver on the “big promises.”

My conclusion? Liberalism doesn’t scale–and it wasn’t ever intended to. For us to love our neighbor we must be in contact with our neighbors. We can care best for those we touch. I suspect this was designed into our nature.

There have been many articles and books written, speeches given, and studies done, identifying that we respond more positively, and give more freely, to concerns closer to home. So we are hard-wired to care for those around us. This “local giving” may not be motivated from a pure heart, but at least we know it happens. Superfreakonomics gives us a perspective on this altruism: ‘Most giving is, as economists call it, impure altruism or warm-glow altruism. You give not only because you want to help but because it makes you look good, or feel good, or perhaps feel less bad.”]

So we, for whatever reasons or motivations, generally want to help our neighbors. Surely that extends to those we cannot see, correct? Well, the authors of the book SuperFreakonomics would perhaps argue no. Not only do they essentially argue that liberalism doesn’t scale, they go a step further and discusses research that indicates that, when given an opportunity, people will not only fail to behave benevolently towards their neighbor, they will in fact, cheat them. But what is most interesting here, is that, in the research they discussed, the cheating occurred most often between people who were not neighbors. “In the data, List found an interesting split: the out-of-town dealers cheated more often than the locals.”

So here is where I believe liberalism, or altruism, fails. When we ask the government to step in and perform altruistic acts, we ask the government to do a few things on our behalf:
1. We want an non-person to demonstrate humanity. We ask that the government “care.”
2. We want the government to make the “right” choices about what and whom to care for. Of course, we find that often that means bringing the “bacon” (or “Pork”) back to our own districts, where we “see the need.”
3. We want the government to do all this, without actually requiring that we pay for it, and simultaneously wanting the government to make sure someone else pays for it (“raise the taxes on the wealthy.”)

So over time, we find that government is called on less to be altruistic on a grand scale, and becomes for nearly all a way to force others to give money to causes and people they otherwise might not support, while simultaneously bringing resources to bear on my own local problems. Government then takes on the roll of proxy for the same local concerns we used to care for ourselves!

This is, of course, simply a blog. I make no pretense of conducting large scale research myself on this topic. I am simply tying together my readings, and my observations of the world around me. It seems to me that most people want to help those close to them, and most when presented with true and compelling need or tragedy, will give. But when we rely on our government to function on our behalf we become disconnected. We no longer have those “feel good” moments that cause us to practice “warm glow altruism.” Government

And then, over time, we stop caring.

CV THON was a great success, raising $61,792.02 For The Kids and the Four Diamonds Fund.
As is the tradition at THONs the kids at CV put together their line-dance, combining their message, with a summary of their school year, with exercises to keep them awake through THON.

Here is a video of the first of the linedances of the night.

Oh–and it’s never too late to donate to THON and the Four Diamonds Fund.

Donations can be sent to:
CV Four Diamonds Fund
Cumberland Valley High School
6746 Carlisle Pike
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Attn: Elizabeth Rimpfel

The first video I will post comes really from the pride of a parent. They had a dance off between the sports teams (football, soccer, field hockey, and water polo) and water polo won! Just listen to the crowd go wild as my son introduces “his” team!

Enjoy!

As I write this Cumberland Valley High school’s THON starts in a little less than 3 hours. For the next 15+ hours hundreds of High School kids, teachers, administrators and adult volunteers will me dancing the night away, and continuing to raise money as they all join hands and hearts in their fight against pediatric Cancer.

I have written about this all week, and I wanted to take another couple of minutes to remind you, dear reader, why they are doing this.

(Paraphrased from the Four Diamonds site “About us“) CV HS joins many other schools, and Penn State, in helping raise money for the Four Diamonds Fund. This fund was started in 1972 by Charles and Irma Millard soon after their son, Christopher, died of cancer at 14 years of age. They named the fund after a story their son wrote while battling cancer. In that story, he wrote about a knight that had to find the four diamonds of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty, and Strength. You can read his story, by visiting the Four Diamonds Fund site.

The students at Cumberland Valley HS have worked tirelessly through this year raising funds, and they have been doing this for 4 years (according to the Four Diamonds site) and last year, they raised $55,500 for the Four Diamonds Fund–the second largest school mini-thon amount!

Let’s give credit where it’s due. CVHS isn’t alone. Central Dauphin HS (15 yrs running a mini thon) raised $68,612 in 2009. All told, for the 2008-09 school year 38 schools (from elementary schools through HS) raised over 3/4 of a MILLION dollars for the Fund.

Please, consider a donation to CV THON. Visit their website at http://CVSCHOOLS.ORG/THON and go to “Donors” (or, simply Click Here!)

All the schools unite with one hope, one dream, one cause–to stop Childhood cancer. And they do it for one reason: FOR THE KIDS.

So in the spirit of unity, today, I will include a Central Dauphin THON Dodgeball Video.

We have been bracing here on the North-Eastern seaboard of the United States for what some have taken to labeling the “Snowicane” that is coming which some said would make our previous Snowmageddon pale in comparison. The true “blizzard of ‘10″ is said to bring large amounts of snow to many areas, and extremely high winds creating near blizzard conditions for even areas with limited snow accumulations.

The THON Team at Cumberland Valley >are not afraid. They have been planning and working, and fund-raising, year round, anticipating their “big event.” They apparently also have an “in” with God. In looking at the weather maps, and they way the storm will swirl about Pennsylvania, it appears our portion of South-Central PA will emerge relatively unscathed and, more importantly, with no school cancellations that would have a negating effect on CV THON.

So I am left with two requests: Pray for “no snow.” And, when it comes to donations, “Pray for Rain.” Pray, that our community will continue to reach out, and touch hundreds of lives through the love and dedication of these high school kids!

I am posting a triple video threat today. First, I wanted to share a video from Penn State’s THON in 2009, entitled “Where are They Now.” A powerful testimony to the love and devotion the THON has, and the impact the Four Diamonds Fund has had on children 10 15, or 20 years after they were diagnosed with pediatric cancer.

The second video shows just home much fun CV THON students have, as they find creative ways to not only raise money For The Kids, but to do it while having fun with each other (This time–dodge-ball.) Check the schedule. They have this Dodge Ball TOURNAMENT scheduled DURING CV THON! According to Matthew, they have about 30 teams — “It’s EPIC.”

Finally, no plea for you, dear readers, to “Pray for Rain” would be complete without including the song from PFR.

FOR THE KIDS!

Where are They Now

DODGEBALL

PFR

I wanted to share the LIVE streaming video from Penn State’s THON Dance Marathon.

Every year at Penn State the largest student-run philanthropic organization pulls together with the Dance Marathon called THON that culminates a year-long effort at fund raising. The funds raised go to the Four Diamonds Foundation providing support to children with cancer and their families.  From THON.org:

In 1973, a small group of dedicated Penn State students held our first Dance Marathon. That year, 34 dancers participated and raised $2,000. Since then, THON’s presence in the Penn State community has grown exponentially. THON now has 15,000 student volunteers, 700 dancers, and has raised more than $61 million, benefiting The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Children’s Hospital.

Last year, THON helped raise 7.4 MILLION dollars for the Four Diamonds Foundation.

To learn more about THON and to make your donation to help fight pediatric cancer, watch the streaming vide, and visit THON.org.

FOR THE KIDS!

Free Videos by Ustream.TV

UPDATE: I had to update the video, editing out someone who requested to not be included in the video.  There is no truth to the rumor that he (or she) is part of the witness protection program.

Matthew made the big decision today.  He went back and forth, considering a Droid from Verizon, or upgrading his iPhone to a 3Gs.  (If you follow @scmprofessor or @spreadhdgfx on twitter you know the questions we were asking.)

After much consideration, he decided on the 3Gs.  Part of the decision was based on the fact that AT&T agreed to waive the activation fee.  This was no small thing–Verizon was willing to wave it if we switched to them, so it made AT&T competitive.

We did learn one other interesting tidbit–AT&T will be getting their own Motorola Android-based phone, as well as their own rebranded HTC Hero (again, Android based.) later this year.  While waiting until March (or later) wasn’t going to meet Matt’s immediate need (remember his video about the damaged 1st Gen iPhone), this is good news for those of us leaving AT&T to get to a Droid.

(On the other hand, if the Droid is a viable alternative to the iPhone, so that you can leave AT&T, well, that’s a different story.)

As we drive the route to and from State College, PA along Rt 322 we pass this rock formation, cut recently as they expanded the road. This is a nice view, and I am sure we won’t get to enjoy it for too many more years before erosion takes it’s toll.

Thanks to @gugnheim for tweeting this:

As you should know, I am a child of the space age, and a fan of space anythings for a long time.  Heck, my research areas have included Space Logistics, and Interplanetary Supply Chain Management.  So this REALLY caught my eye!

This website gives you plans to build your own paper model of the Space Shuttle!

From their site:

If you are a Space Shuttle model builder, this site is for you. Build a 1:144 scale Space Shuttle papermodel in several versions: Full Stack version with External tank and boosters or a single Orbiter with either a closed or open payload bay, for FREE! Also, Shuttle Payloads for every mission are available via PAYPAL. Check this site for new models every month.

Check it out–and if you make any of these, send me a picture that I can upload to the blog to share!

The most popular post here on my blog has been the one where I wrote about the Magic Pan restaurant and the way they made their crepes. I decided to help out a bit here, then, and share some resources that you can use to actually make crepes at home! (Yes, in a sense this is crass commercialization of my blog. But to be honest, the crepe maker below has been on my wishlist since last Christmas! I LOVE crepes!)

First, you need a pan.  While many “crepe pans” have you cook the crepe inside the pan, that’s not how the Magic Pan did it–they cooked the crepes on the bottom of the pan.  I have scoured the universe (okay, searched online) and found a crepe pan that does the same thing.  It’s the VillaWare V5225 Crepe Maker and I think you will find it does a great job at giving you that Magic Pan consistency. Remember, what made it work for them was not only the standard speed of the rotisserie, but also the evenness of the batter–which was achieved by having the pan upside down!

Once you get the pan, you might want to also then have some recipes. I have posted several “near authentic” recipes on my blog.  We start with the basic crepe recipe, followed by the Chantilly Crepes here, and the Chicken Elegante.  With the Potage St Germaine Soup recipe also included.

If that’s not enough, check out these cookbooks for recipes!

Finally, if you don’t want to mix your own batter, either because you don’t have the time, or want the hassle, try either of these crepe batter mixes!