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As my father would say:

“We laugh so we may not cry.”

ric

Absolutely hilarious (and disturbingly valid) column by John Tierney at the NY Times. Some of my favorite questions for John Roberts to throw him off-balance:

If Roe v. Wade were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?

From your analysis of constitutional history, would you classify James Madison as a dog person or a cat person?

Would Thomas Jefferson have preferred the Beatles or the Stones?

If Judge Judy isn’t afraid of television cameras in her courtroom, why is the Supreme Court so chicken?

Ashley or Mary-Kate?

ric

Piece written for Bentley’s Vanguard.

Recently Bentley migrated from Monstertrak to eRecruiting for its career and job listing platform. It was nice to see many things changed—easier interface, linking with other sites, more accessible calendar, etc. This is a welcome change for all us who are either looking for post-graduation jobs or current internships.

Unfortunately, the most significant portions have not changed: the actual jobs it contains. Bentley currently offers 18 majors, according to Academic Services’ website. (Many more are under consideration, we are told) The most popular majors at Bentley are probably Accounting, Finance and Economics/Finance. These 3 majors, despite their popularity, do not account for 90% of the undergraduate body at Bentley.
If so, then why do over 90% of the jobs in the interview schedule on eRecruiting are for Finance and Accounting positions? Why, of the 15 open information sessions listed on eRecruiting, 14 of them are for finance and accounting? What are students of the other 15 majors supposed to do?

As I searched for internships, and now jobs, I was able to interview and/or be hired by companies as diverse as SAP, BCG, and Reuters, for equally diverse positions in technology, marketing, consulting and analytics. None of these interviews were arranged through our career center, yet these were all for positions which would have been a perfect fit for a Bentley student. What shocked me was not that these specific positions weren’t listed in Monstertrak/eRecruiting, but that almost no other non-Finance Accounting jobs were.

While many companies openly seek Bentley graduates and come to campus of their own accord, our career center is supposed to promote all our students and bring all relevant companies to campus. But that is not the case. Our career center, unfortunately, is still biased and blinded by our own reputation as a school for Accounting and Finance. Other majors are left with no options. Unless of course, I count the Mystery Shopper Network.

You either love him or hate him.

That appears to be the non-consensus about Philip Glass, an American composer of somewhat-classical music in a somewhat-minimalist fashion.

This is what got me started on him. One late night at IFC, I was feeling particularly “artsy-fartsy” as Rafael would call it, and decided to watch this no-narration, visuals-and-music-only movie. It wasn’t bad at all. In fact, for some 20 minutes, I was absolutely mesmerized.

While the sequels to Koyaanisqatsi, the equally spelling challenging Powaqqatsi – Life in Transformation and Naqoyqatsi are said to have been not up to the original, aren’t all sequels? Well maybe except for Return of the Jedi, but that’s another post.

What really shocked me though (and “sold me”, per se) was that I found out Glass had done the soundtracks to three movies and shows during which I consciously stopped and noted the soundtrack as being exceptional: Errol Morris’ A Brief History of Time (one of my first VHS tapes and as fascinating now as when I watched it when I was 10–I guess the video helps understand the physics) and The Fog of War (a movie which made bawl like a little girl afterwards–quite possibly compounded by the score), and Battlestar Galactica (The first science fiction series to stand on its own two feet without the help of William Shatner’s dramatic pauses, Patrick Stewart’s sexy accent and bald head and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s producer) All of these have been directly scored or have had significant contributions by Philip Glass.

His music is repetitive. As well as repetitive, his music is repetitive. Oh, but it’s tonal too, prompting one blog to comment on his music through poetry:

While repetitive, I actually enjoy Philip Glass.
While repetitive, I actually enjoy Philip Glass.
While repetitive, I actually enjoy Philip Glass.
While repetitive, I actually enjoy Philip Glass.
While repetitive, I enjoy Philip Glass’ music. And it evolves.
While repetitive, I enjoy Philip Glass’ music. And it evolves.
While repetitive, I enjoy Philip Glass’ music. And it evolves.
While repetitive, I enjoy Philip Glass’ music. And it evolves.
It’s tonal, while repetitive, and it evolves, so I enjoy Philip Glass’ music.
It’s tonal, while repetitive, and it evolves, so I enjoy Philip Glass’ music.
It’s tonal, while repetitive, and it evolves, so I enjoy Philip Glass’ music.
It’s tonal, while repetitive, and it evolves, so I enjoy Philip Glass’ music.

I had on loan from the Kasinski Family Library three of his records: Fifth Symphony (his, not Beethoven’s), “Heroes” and “Low” (both derived from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno). His music is, in essence, a visit to a Coca-Cola factory when you’re a 8-year old. Once you get there, you’ll chug down all the coke bottles they give you. By the time you’re on your 3rd crate, you’ll feel it’s just one more coke–no more special than water. From Koyaanisqatsi, “Resource” is just like Glasswork’s “Floe” which is just like “Rubric” which is just like Heroes’ title track, which is just like “Sons of the Silent Age”. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam

Minimalism is not an excuse for repetitiveness

ric