I'm kinda hoping my provost isn't reading this (Hi, Patrick!)...
Students Still No Closer to Knowing What the Heck a Provost Is
While a leading Washington think tank maintains that its recent survey of college provosts offered fresh insights into the role of these decision makers in academia today, some students across the country remain puzzled at its implications and, even, just what a provost does anyway.
*snip*
Jody Day of Wilson Community College whipped out her cell phone and hit a few keys. "Aha. I know that the origin of the word means 'keeper of a prison.' Therefore, I'm sure the provost is the person who orders uniforms for cleaning staff, security and maybe even the sports team. Maybe the provost makes the parking rules, too."
More like this
Peter Suber reports:
An important change: UCL is reinstating Colquhoun's blog on its servers and has announced that it "continues strongly to support and uphold Professor Colquhoun's expression of uncompromising opinions as to the claims made for the effect
There's something puzzling about black holes, if you stop to consider it. On the one hand, they're objects so massive and dense -- compacted into such a small region of space -- that nothing can escape from it, not even light.
From today's Boston Globe: