The Balance between Research and Teaching

Faculty have many responsibilities that include teaching, volunteer work, and research. A paper by Dan Worrell (2009), talks about the differences between teaching and research in universities. He indicates that research universities have an advantage in the market but may not be focused on the more important aspects of teaching. The focus is based primarily in the way schools are ranked by outside organizations but this may not be the best use of professor's time. 

According to the authors, U.S. News and World Report, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal often rank schools based upon their research capabilities. This creates emphasis to engage professors in research to move their rankings upward. These rankings naturally have influence on student choice and other financial benefits. 

As professors engage more in research they have reduced teaching loads and higher levels of autonomy. Their research activities are often rewarded within universities with higher salaries and greater prestige. The more times a university is published the higher its overall ranking in the public. When research is significant the research reaps additional benefits but does cost students.

There are two issues that should be considered.  These issues include teaching as an important track to faculty development and research that is considered most important to society. Teaching should be the primary goal of the university with research being an augmentation to that teaching to further the body of knowledge in a particular subject area. 

The author further moves on to discuss the concept that a considerable percentage of research is not focused on what matters to society. Some of research should lean toward societal problems and the potential solutions to those problems. Research should be practical and applied in nature to help the greatest amount of people. 

There is a balance to be played between research and teaching. It would seem that all teachers should be engaged in some level of research but should not forget the primary goal of widening student’s perspectives. This is likely the most difficult aspect of managing a university through the varying political and economic pressures they face. Teaching and scholarship go together but should do so at appropriate levels. Teaching tracks should be rewarded as an important alternative to research.

Worrell, D. (2009). Assessing business scholarship: the difficulties in moving beyond the rigor-relevance paradigm trap. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8 (1).

Google Acquires New Robotic Technology

Google is making moves to acquire robotics firms to develop higher capabilities and products. Their purchase of Boston Dynamics and seven other companies indicate that they have made their way into the military market (1). The program is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that seeks to create a new generation of robots. Combining the knowledge of multiple agencies through acquisition raises Google’s stature in this field.

The goal for the time being is to develop robots that mimic things in nature. It is likely that someday they will try and put different capabilities into the same robot. At present some of the interesting stuff includes a 28 mph running cheetah, SquishBot which changes shape to get in tight areas, and Petman which mimics human abilities (2). Each of these robots takes significant research, designing, and software. 

 Google has developed the Android service, plenty of applications, and has satellites that map the world. They are in a unique position to incorporate the knowledge and abilities of other companies to create new functional uses (3). As a strategy it is likely that Google will obtain additional military contracts and use their wide breadth of knowledge to converge to fast developing new civilian and military products. 

There are other applications outside of military that delve into supply chain management, search and rescue, industrial automation, and space flight. Such robots have high capabilities and are not subject to environmental constraints that humans are. As these robots develop we are likely to officially enter the second industrial revolution as this technology becomes sold to other industries.

Art: Poppy Flowers by Vincent van Gogh

Some of Vincent van Gogh’s works were in sequence with each slightly different from the next, but also very much tied together in theme (1). As new paints and other tools become improved in the 19^th Century they also reflect differently on canvas. He did not paint what he saw but tried to paint how he felt about the images (2). This led to some of the most unique paintings in the world. Some of this work comes from the poverty and personality of the painter who sought to recreate a world on canvas.

Van Gogh painted flowers on a regular basis. He didn’t have much money to pay models so he would paint inanimate objects instead. It is believed that many of his poppy flower paintings came from images of fields in Southern France. Vincent lived much of his life relatively poor and had to stretch to buy supplies and other items needed to keep his work going. 

He states, “And now for what regards what I myself have been doing, I have lacked money for paying models else I had entirely given myself to figure painting. But I have made a series of colour studies in painting, simply flowers, red poppies, blue corn flowers and myosotys, white and rose roses, yellow chrysanthemums-seeking oppositions of blue with orange, red and green, yellow and violet seeking les tons rompus et neutres to harmonize brutal extremes. Trying to render intense colour and not a grey harmony. Now alter these gymnastics I lately did two heads which I dare say are better in light and colour than those I did before (3)

The painting has been stolen twice from Cairo's Mahmoud Khalil Museum. The first time, the painting disappeared in 1978 and recovered in Kuwait (4). It was believed at the time the first theft occurred security was lax. The same problem occurred again in 2010 and is still missing. Authorities thought they found the painting when a couple was boarding a plane to Italy (5). As of today, it is still missing without a trace. Perhaps someday it will show up and we will see the original again.

2013 La Mesa Christmas in the Village Pictures

La Mesa Christmas in the Village is an annual event only on December 13^th and 14^th with activities starting around 5:00 P.M. From parades to street entertainment there are a lot of things to do. The Victorian style stores are quaint and host specials during this popular event. Shopping, music, food, rides, puppet shows and even Santa come to La Mesa during this time. 

The event is approximately three to five blocks long and many of the frequenters move their way to the entertainment and to the wine bars. Most people will find something that interests them. The atmosphere is focused more on children and family than anything else. Street side parking is easy to find and if you do not feel like walking a few blocks public parking is available for two dollars for a couple of hours. 

Enjoy the pictures.

La Mesa Merchant’s Association

San Diego Coast Life

Is Time and Choice the Fundamental Components of Economic Development?

Development of financial success rests in part in the psychological functioning of individuals engaged within the market. A paper by Raines and Leathers (2011) helps understand how and why markets have under defined psychological components and how these components influence the economic system. They base their analysis on post-Keynesian economics, group experimental psychology, and the works of John Galbraith. At the very core of economic development may be the concept of choice?

Economic markets are not perfectly predictable as history has shown that even some of the best analysis has failed at one time or another. Mathematical explanations alone are not yet sufficient for the overall understanding and prediction of markets. Keynes observed that even though mathematics is helpful many economic choices are made on the micro level based upon alternatives. Sometimes people may rely only on wishful thinking.

If we think of a large economic system we might be surprised that it is really made up of the people, individual dollars, businesses, governmental systems, culture as it influences choice, and many other small components. At its most basic level, people use their options to make hundreds and thousands of small choices every day that impact the market. For example, a person buying a toaster from China or one from the U.S. has made an evaluation and determination. The more people make a determination one way or another more the economic system is impacted and pushed down certain paths.

The psychological factors have been discussed by economists for some time. For example John Galbraith stated “it can be said with some assurance that in economic, social and political matters, if the controlling circumstances are the same or similar, then so will be at least some of the consequences” (1988, p.xi; see also 1987, p.62). The development of markets doesn’t rest in economic conditions alone but also within social and political spheres. Economic development must therefore be seen as something wider than finance and when circumstances are similar it can be repeated.

These systems are not stagnant and continue to develop as an entire entity. Galbraith further went on to state, “economic life is in a process of continuous transformation, and, in consequence is an uncertain guide to the present or the future” (1993, p. 105). These markets develop and continue to develop over time. Because they are always changing and developing it can be difficult to predict and measure them accurately.

Snap shots through economic measurements are only a particular time and place. Moving beyond the study we can see that multiple snap shots create trends and assuming that additional pressures in the wider market do not change their trajectories the market will continue to develop on a basic course. At its most basic level the market is not made up of finance but the fundamental choices that lead to financial selection. It is the neuro-economic choices of hundreds of thousands of participants that create the right atmosphere that leads to economic development. Without changing the fundamental thought processes you cannot change the system.

Galbraith, J (1988). The Great Crash. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Raines, J. & Leathers, C. (2011). Behavioral finance and Post Keynesian–institutionalist
theories of financial markets. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 33 (4).