NBA Finals 2015, Statistics and Luck

The NBA Finals this year has proved more riveting than other years because of the ‘cruel’ and colorful history of the protagonists. Golden State Warriors, led by Rick Barry, last won the championship 40 years ago, in 1975. Cleveland Cavaliers … well, the Cavs have never won the NBA title. The last time Cleveland won a major championship was when the Browns, led by running back Jim Brown, who carried the ball 27 times and gained 114 yards, won the NFL title in 1964. That was 51 years ago!

And now the whole country (and many other countries where basketball is the real ‘beautiful’ game) is abuzz with the match-up between two of NBA’s biggest stars: Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Cavaliers’ LeBron James.

Curry burst on the NBA scene in the 2014-15 season, an intriguing and captivating MVP whose meteoric rise has fueled the passions of Bay Area fans, even more than the unpredictable but lovable characters of the San Francisco Giants who won the World Series three times in the last five years.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors

And LeBron James? Only that the he is the best basketball player in the world, considered by many to be the best ever, even better than Michael Jordan. When he left Cleveland for Miami Heat in 2010, he was labeled a Judas who had sold his soul for lucre. What time has wrought! All has been forgiven. Cleveland has again embraced James as its redeemer, one who will lead the long-suffering city to the Promised Land of sports.

Of the first two games played in Oakland, California, neither team played to its full potential, although LeBron showed with his statistics why he is the best. In the first game, the Warriors trailed for most of the game and only pulled out a win in overtime when the Cavs suddenly went cold. Simply put, the Warriors got lucky.

It is almost a given that a team can get lucky several times in a 7-game series but rarely consecutively. That’s what happened when James and company pulled out a win in the second game that could easily have gone to the Warriors as well. The two games have been sliced and diced in every conceivable data-driven way but after all the data have been analyzed, it is still luck- mysterious, unquantifiable luck - that held sway.

For the Cavs, the goal was simple: snatch at least one game from the lion’s den. That’s what the team did. For the Warriors, losing home court advantage would open up Pandora’s Box. That’s what unfortunately happened.

So what now?

From the perspective of statistics: If the claim is that the Cavaliers will win, and the significance level is set at the usual 5 percent (0.05), then there is a 5 percent probability that a Type I error is made, and the Warriors will triumph.

But as any statistician will affirm, improbable events happen. And they happen with more regularity than we think. There may be 1 in a million chance that someone will win the lottery, but it is still 1 in a million, especially for the person who ends up winning the lottery!

If the Warriors can win either the third (6/9/15) or the fourth game (6/11/15) in Cleveland, the team will win the NBA title in 7 games and send Bay Area fans to frenzy, removing the lingering heartbreak inflicted annually by the hapless San Jose Sharks on the loyalists. It will perhaps also mitigate the pain of the physical drought California is suffering through now, even if for a week or so!

But how probable is that? All statistics point to the distressing truth for Bay Area fans: The probability is low. To win in King James’s court will be a monumental challenge for Curry and his crew, even though statistics show that Curry is at his best on the road.

If the Cavs take the next two games, King James will likely deliver the title to Cleveland in six games, ending a drought for the city that has lasted over half a century.

But what about the improbable happening? Consider this fact dug up by Mark Purdy, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News (6/9/15 edition): It turns out that Stephen Curry was born in the same maternity ward of Summa Akron City Hospital in Akron, Ohio, in March 1988, where James LeBron was born 4 years earlier, in December 1984.

Is that a fluke, a random quirk, a pure happenstance? Maybe, maybe not. The point is, there are improbables, and imponderables, that cannot be quantified completely, that lie outside the reach of super-rigorous data analysis and blazingly efficient algorithms.

Warriors or Cavaliers? The New Kid on the Block or the King?

The heart says Warriors. The head says Cavaliers.

As much as it breaks the heart of a Bay Area fan, here is the prediction: Cavs in 6, with a margin of error of plus/minus 5 percent.

Big Money Undermines Higher Education

Education and business isn’t quite the pair as, say, horse and carriage or love and marriage, but the association seems to be getting stronger every semester.

Consider the business perspective and the logic of its exponents.

Education, a $1 trillion business according to the Education Industry Association, is the only 'enterprise' that hasn’t changed in a fundamental way in the last hundred years. A teacher walks into a classroom, the undisputed source of knowledge and wisdom, and lectures to a captive audience. The hope is that some of that knowledge and wisdom may hold and help students attain the goals they aspire to.

But it’s a hit-or-miss game because there is no accountability and no rigorous method for measuring whether or not the students have learned anything.

So why not apply business principles to enforce accountability and measure scientifically the ‘product’ (education) being delivered to the ‘clients’, that is, the students? If there are ‘dead woods,’ incompetent teachers, in the system, replace them with competent ones. After all, there is a huge pool of available teachers, particularly technologically-savvy young and idealistic shapers of minds, adept at delivering lessons in the native media of digital-age learners.

Successful corporations are ruthless pruners. They incessantly demand accountability from their employees who must earn their wings every day by contributing to the ‘bottom line’ in some tangible and measureable ways. Fail and you are out. Succeed and your incremental raise is more or less guaranteed when evaluation time comes around.

Can anyone argue with this line of thinking? Why not bring the pressure of the market to bear on a moribund educational system and infuse it with vigor and excellence? Why not put in place a rigorous system of checks and balances to extract value from the billions of dollars the government spends annually on public education, instead of letting it disappear down the black hole of unaccountability?

The logic is flawless.

And there’s the rub: Flawless is theoretical and rarely practical.

The major business practices applied to education so far has had no significant impact on the state of education in general and on the performance of students in particular. In many cases, it has made things worse.

Here’s a partial list of such practices, and their impact, or lack thereof.

1. Hire name-brand CEOs, preferably charismatic fundraisers, to transform educational institutions into profit centers. Stellar student performances are bound to flow.

The diagnosis is in and it is grim. Escalating salaries of University presidents, extensively documented and available online, is turning institutions of higher learning into corporations with even less accountability than before. Only to the willfully blind is it not clear that Wall Street principles and educational principles are incompatible. Education comes from the word ‘educere,’ which means to draw out or unfold the powers of the mind. Well-connected presidents can raise endowments that reach the stratosphere, giving bragging rights to ivory towers and their lesser brethren but it does nothing to unfold the power of the mind, the raison d’etre for institutions of higher learning.

One side-effect of turning colleges and universities into mini or full-fledged corporation-like entities is the hiring of administrators at the expense of teachers. A significant portion of the state and federal funding for schools go to pay for these administrators whose impact on student performances is negligible.

Another is the insidious effect of ideologues and political operators on higher education. As big money pours in from influential donors who have no interest in the power of the mind (in fact, they would like it to remain dormant as it suits their agenda) but everything to do with influencing administrators, faculty and students to promote corporate interests and vote for their hand-picked candidates. No doubt about it: The financial elite is subverting the purpose of higher education for their personal interests.

Between 2005 and 2013, for instance, the billionaire Koch brothers have invested at least $68 million on college and university campuses, paying for faculty, research and publications. You can check if your school is receiving Koch funding here.

When the focus is on profit rather than on truth, ‘higher education’ degenerates into dogma and despotism flourishes at the expense of democracy.

2. Tenure is a prescription for failure, since it is virtually impossible to fire incompetent but tenured teachers. Hire full-time teachers only when compelled to. Appoint as many part-time and adjunct faculties as possible. Let them do the bulk of teaching. Since part-timers have hardly any overhead (including such mundane stuff as health coverage), in glaring contrast to full-timers, the savings can add up and profit soars.

But what are the facts on the ground?  Students are more frustrated than ever before. They are not getting the education they deserve since part-time faculty cannot give them ‘office hours’ (difficult, since they have no offices) as they travel from campus to campus (‘freeway fliers’) to teach, hoping to somehow cobble together enough cash to pay for basic necessities. Demanding part-timers to become primary education-givers makes all the sense in the world from a corporate perspective but it does nothing to promote the well-being of either part-timers or students.

3. Include as many Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as possible in the curricula. That eliminates the need for maintaining in-house resources and faculty for critical courses, leading, again, to ‘massive’ savings.

Well, MOOCs were supposed to liberate students from the limitations of their own institutions, allowing unfettered access to instructions from the best and the brightest stars in the firmament of higher education. The business model is compelling: For the price of a fast Internet connection, institutions can offer students top-quality education while eliminating the need for teachers in some of the core and critical subjects. The savings could then be applied to help students attain their goals.

It turns out that the savings, if any, have not resulted in improving the lots of students, such as offering more required classes during more flexible hours. MOOCs are not what they have been touted to be. At their best, they can act as supplemental instruction to traditional classroom teaching but it is clear by now that ‘MOOCotopia’ is not going to lead to ‘edutopia.’

4. Technology can save education by cutting costs and empowering students to take responsibility for their own education. Technologists and ‘educational entrepreneurs’ would like to eliminate the middleman, that is, the teachers, and let students learn what they want to, when they want to and how they want to, by using the magic of technology, each new iteration promising faster and better education. To paraphrase Thoreau, ‘In technology is the preservation, that is, the fulfillment, of students.’

We have been down this road before. Technology has made access to information easier and data crunching faster but in terms of enhancing critical thinking and improving performance, the needle hasn’t budged a bit. No technology can replace thinking, doing and making connections between insights and ideas.

5. Invest heavily in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) courses because that’s where the demand is and that’s what can guarantee the employability of students. If STEM can guarantee the maximum Return on Investment (ROI), why not put all the efforts there? The implication, of course, is that such subjects as English, philosophy, history, and in general  what we may call ‘The Arts’, may bring students personal satisfaction but no living wage in the fiercely competitive global market. Interdisciplinary studies? What benefit can they possibly have when specialization is the key to survival?

Much has already been written about the fundamental purpose of education and the
short-sightedness of putting all educational eggs in the STEM basket. The Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria, author of In Defense of a Liberal Education, has pointed out why America’s obsession with STEM is bad for the nation’s future: ‘A broad general education helps foster critical thinking and creativity. Exposure to a variety of fields produces synergy and cross fertilization. Yes, science and technology are crucial components of this education, but so are English and philosophy.’ 

The New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, author of Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania, quoted his English teacher about the purpose of higher education: ‘It is for developing the muscle of thoughtfulness, the use of which will be the greatest pleasure in life and will also show what it means to be fully human.’

STEM courses can develop such muscles but so can anthropology and art history and English. And it is interdisciplinary studies that have led to some of our most remarkable and serendipitous discoveries since antiquity.

The intertwining of education and Big Money creates a highway that leads to nowhere. Colleges and universities must rethink the purpose of higher education and ward off any attempt by agenda-driven, wealthy ideologues to subvert this purpose.

Tom Hanks and Community Colleges, Part 2

Actor Tom Hanks wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times titled, “I Owe It All to Community Colleges.” It caused a stir among community college students. They compared their experiences to that of the actor’s and reflected on areas where their colleges fell short and ways to overcome those deficiencies. This is the final part 2 of the article. You can read part 1 here.

Much like Tom Hanks, Tyrone couldn't afford to pay tuition at a 4-year university. “In high school I missed out on an opportunity to earn a full scholarship to continue playing sports and further my education. Community college was the best option for me for a variety of reasons. I was accepted into CSULA and CSUNY, but wasn't ready to stop playing basketball, a game I loved. I carefully weighed all of my options and decided to attend San Jose City College (SJCC). Along with a good education, SJCC also offered an excellent basketball program, funneling athletes to big-time programs for sports. I was determined to accomplish my goals, although frustration set in during the freshman year. I didn't think I was going to accomplish my goals. But I stayed humble and refused to let doubt set in. I finished my freshman year with a high GPA. I will be receiving my AA-T in communications, graduating, and transferring to a 4-year university as a student-athlete. My experience at SJCC has been amazing! I haven't had a single teacher who didn’t want the best for me and for my fellow classmates. All my teachers not only taught me subjects but also how to live a meaningful life.”

Lisette believes that by attending a community college, she has fared better than her school mates who moved to 4-year institutions right after high school. “They constantly complain of noise and round-the-clock parties in their dorms. On average, freshman change their majors four times, wasting time and money. I have faced no such distractions at my community college. There is no time to waste. I am taking classes that will help me transfer to a 4-year institution. As Tom Hanks said, taking general ed classes give students an idea of courses they may like or dislike. After my first semester at SJCC, I realized I enjoy business and a bit of law. Taking these classes has given me insight into my purpose in life.” One area in which SJCC is lacking is in counseling. “To begin with, it is almost impossible to make an appointment with a counselor at a time that is convenient for the student, let alone a specific counselor the student desires to see. And when an appointment is scheduled, they are doled out in 30-minute slots. Every time I see a counselor, the appointment is rushed. At times it feels as though the counselors do not take the student seriously. I would like all the counselors to be evaluated on their performances, based on student feedback.  Those who score highly should continue; the rest should be terminated.”

This Fall 2015 semester is the last at SJCC for Naomi. “I am sad to be leaving, but also excited to be moving on to a state university. I loved attending City College, the same college my sister attended!” She is grateful that her parents encouraged her to attend SJCC. She started at SJCC as a junior in high school in the Fall of 2012. She took an American Sign Language class for two consecutive semesters. The following year, her senior year, she was able to attend SJCC full time because she had taken the California High School Proficiency Exam. That meant she was able to complete her senior year of high school and her freshman year of college at the same time. “This allowed me to jump a year ahead of most people my age, which thrilled me. This could not have happened had I not gone to a community college. Community college is also where I met my boyfriend in a history class! Additionally, I have had the opportunity to take some really interesting classes as well as some fun PE classes. I met some awesome people, and connected with some really great teachers. Tom Hanks says of the community college that he attended: ‘That place made me what I am today.’ I completely agree. I have learned valuable lessons and life skills from my psychology classes. I am also sure I will see more benefits, although it may be later in my life.”

Regarding improving SJCC, Naomi thinks that adding more sections of interesting and elective classes, as well as a wider selection of classes, would be a start. “That will give students a more well-rounded education, beyond just the required GE classes. When I register for classes each semester, I see a lot of classes that look very interesting, but often there is only one or two sections of that class and they are at a time that does not work into my schedule. This is true for many students. If there were more sections of these classes, and if they were promoted better, classes would fill up and more students could get a broader education. This can become a reality if full-time teachers at SJCC consider teaching some new classes. If there is a wider selection of classes, then there is more opportunity for students to try new subjects, have more job opportunities, and make SJCC a more appealing school.”

Feminism and Far From the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature for almost twenty years in a row in the early 1900s but like Tolstoy, he never won it. Yet his novels continue to be read and made into movies, while those honored by the Swedish Academy during that period remain mostly unknown. (Rabindranath Tagore, the 1913 laureate, is an exception.) Can anyone name a book by the Spanish writer Jacinto Bonavente, winner in 1922 when Hardy was also a nominee?

Exactly.

The movie version of Far From the Madding Crowd playing in theaters now offers a hint to Hardy’s relevance. Written in 1874, the novel is about an audacious, free-thinking young woman named Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), an anomaly in her time who tells her shepherd suitor Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), “I don’t want to be another man’s property.” This is her response to Gabriel after he tries to win her over with, “I have 100 acres and 200 sheep.”

Land and sheep were the quintessential symbols of affluence in 19^th-century England but they made no impression on a feminist determined to chart her own course.

How inspired would people around the world be if an Afghan woman could use the same words to a proposal by a wealthy landlord in 21^st-century Afghanistan!

This is the second time Far From the Madding Crowd is getting the cinematic treatment. The first was in 1967, directed by John Schlesinger and featuring Julie Christie, Terrence Stamp and Alan Bates. Christie’s Bathsheba was more fiery and temperamental although the movie was slower-paced, but Mulligan’s is closer to the book, no less fiery but tempered by a touch of the vulnerable and the tragic.

When penniless Bathsheba inherits a farm from her deceased uncle, she becomes wealthy and free from the daily grinds of earning a living. Gabriel, on the other hand, loses his sheep after a catastrophe hits his farm and ends up as the manager of Bathsheba’s estate. He still nurtures his love for her but Bathsheba is indifferent. “I am too independent for you,” she informs him. All commerce and purpose, she is determined to take her inherited fortune to the next level, and declares to her farm hands, “It is my intention to astonish you all.”

Dependable Gabriel throws himself into his work, grazing sheep, growing grain and keeping the farm not merely solvent but profitable. (Schoenaerts’s brooding Gabriel reminds one of Alain Delon and Steve McQueen but it will require years of honing before he reaches their level.)
 

Bathsheba is in control of her destiny, or so she thinks. As she gallops across the plains of Wessex on her horse, she evokes the image of her kindred spirit, Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, separated by a mere half century. From Wessex in England to Tara in Georgia is but a single leap of imagination.

A Valentine’s Day prank Bathsheba plays on her wealthy neighbor reduces the proud William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) into a whining lover. “I can offer you shelter and comfort,” he tells her but Bathsheba is both candid and ruthless in her response: “I have no need for a husband.” “You have to admire my persistence,” Boldwood insists. “If you will marry me out of guilt and pity … I don’t mind!”

Lovelorn Boldwood is losing his senses. “I seem to cry a lot these days, someone who has never cried before!” he laments.

Something unexpected has to happen.

Enter Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge), a vain and shallow Sergeant whose scarlet uniform is as revealing of his superficiality as his lust for gambling and pleasure. (It is easy to dislike Sturridge the moment he shows up in the story. Whether it is due to good acting or bad is difficult to tell.)

Bathsheba melts as he tells her she is the most beautiful woman he ever saw, raising that ancient question: Why do bright and beautiful women fall for rogues and lowlifes? Hardy is suggesting perhaps that virtue is inevitably drawn to vice, as moth to flame.

Gabriel warns Bathsheba. Troy is not worthy of you. He will ruin you. It will be a terrible mistake if you marry him.

But that tryst with the sergeant in the fern-filled woods and his passionate kiss has turned Bathsheba irrational.

Disillusionment comes soon after the hasty marriage. Troy gambles most of Bathsheba’s money away. He has become used to her charms and is bored. One day he finds his former love begging at a village fair. He was set to marry her but the wedding came asunder when Fanny Robin ended up at the wrong church on the day of the wedding. (Make a mistake in finding your church and your life falls apart? Surely a weakness in the plot.)
 

Troy deserts Bathsheba.

Gabriel nurses his sorrow in silence even as he occasionally smolders but Boldwood is devastated by Bathsheba’s impetuous, reckless decisions.

The moment of truth arrives for Bathsheba when Gabriel saves the farm almost single-handedly before a storm can destroy it. As the scales fall from her eyes, she begins
to understand the value of loyalty and the meaning of love.

When Troy suddenly reappears in Bathsheba’s life, Boldwood takes the law into his hand and does what he must to save the woman for whose love he is willing to sacrifice everything.

Bathsheba is a changed woman by now, battered by a love rectangle created by forces beyond her control. She has seen too much and suffered too much, yet she knows this:
She will not let the man whose love for her never wavered leave for distant shores. She is determined to redeem herself.

And so she does.

Director Thomas Vinterberg has done a fine enough job with his cast but his best claim to fame may lie in the guts he has shown in bringing a 19^th-century classic yet again to the screen, knowing full-well it will never be a blockbuster. It is worth retelling a great story, the Director seems to be telling the Hollywood hit-hunters, even if the box office returns merely cover the expenses. For this principled stand, he deserves our thanks.

A Man With No Plan - Manny Pacquiao!

The oft-repeated saying in boxing is that a boxer has a plan … until he gets hit. That’s why it was so disappointing to see Manny Pacquiao abandon any semblance of a plan that could secure him a win against the wily Floyd Mayweather, even though he was not hit.

Where was the dynamo who was supposed to swarm Mayweather with punches too rapid for the eye to see? Manny is no Ali but the huge disparity in the sheer number of punches thrown and connected by Mayweather made this an embarrassing no-contest, no matter what the pundits may say.

Pacquiao is known to throw hundred punches per round. That boxer was nowhere in evidence in tonight’s PPV extravaganza that is expected to generate about a billion dollars in revenue, after every cent is counted.

I saw the fight with a group of Filipino friends (no mystery who I was rooting for!) and a pall of gloom descended after the fourth round – Manny’s best round – when it began to dawn on us that Pacquiao was being outclassed by the unpopular Mayweather, who slipped punches with an ease that was painful for Manny’s fans, both at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and outside.

“I thought I won the fight,” said Manny after the fight. “He’s moving around. It’s not easy to throw punches when he’s moving around so much.”

Really? You didn’t know that, Manny, even though all the boxing fans around the world knew? What about Freddie Roach, your coach?

That’s another thing.

At the corner, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., Mayweather’s coach, was infuriated with his son for his supposed lack of action. That’s what motivates fighters. What are you doing, the dad scolded the son between rounds, disgust and anger written all over his face. This, when Mayweather was clearly ahead on points!

Freddie Roach, on the other hand, seemed hardly engaged with his charge. There was no emotion, no anguish, no sense of a loss looming to inspire a spirited and furious attack by Manny. If the origin plan fell by the wayside for whatever reason, weren’t you supposed to come up with another, Freddie?

If Pacquiao could convincingly carry the last two rounds, rounds 11 and 12, he would still have a chance but Mayweather handily won both, extinguishing any flickering hope his opponent may have harbored.

The highest-grossing fight in history was billed as a fight between good and evil but in the end it came down to a contest between superior skills against merely good skills. Floyd Mayweather will never win any popularity contest, given his record of domestic violence and reckless personal life, but in the ring he proved to be the more nuanced and effective boxer in every department, and for that he deserves recognition as one of the best ever.

Tom Hanks and Community Colleges, Part 1

Actor Tom Hanks wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times titled, “I Owe It All to Community Colleges.” It caused a stir among community college students. They compared their experiences to that of the actor’s and reflected on areas where their colleges fell short and ways to overcome those deficiencies.

Ly returned to civilian life after serving over five years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He dreamed of opening a business while attending college part-time and helping his aging parents. The problem was that he did not have any money. Everyone was struggling in the weak economy. He took a job as a security guard but left because it was unsatisfying. That’s when it dawned on him that without a college education, the possibility of a good life will be elusive. The solution: enroll in a community college full-time and get an associate’s degree as soon as possible. It was the only affordable solution and it turned out to be all that he needed. 

“College has helped me realize how much my family supports me and my educational decisions. My parents, who have no formal education, always encouraged me to go to school and pursue higher education. In the past, I ignored them, saying it was a waste of time. Now I am a full-time student. Although I cannot help them financially, they don’t mind. They just want me to get a proper education because they know that is the only way I can get ahead in this society.”

Ly’s experience at the community college he attends has exceeded his expectations. “I'm lucky to have great professors as my teachers and instructors. Also, our school has many resources to help students, for example, free tutoring center. However, there isn't enough support for military veterans. There are counselors for veterans but that is not enough. The college can offer veterans discount on textbooks and lower tuition fees.”

Jessica was burdened with a huge loan when she attended the National Hispanic University (NHU). When NHU shut its doors, she decided that her best option was to attend San Jose City College (SJCC). “At SJCC I have come to appreciate many things - the interaction among students and teachers, the importance of keeping books and class materials at a reasonable price, sometimes even at zero costs, along with the determination of professors to challenge students to develop their mind. Also helpful is having access to a bookstore and centers like the Transfer Center and METAS center.” What Jessica has problems with is the counseling department. “It is extremely hard to get an appointment. The counselors rarely call back. They also give wrong advice because they don’t know. They misled me about transferable courses that caused me to waste a semester of taking classes I did not need to. If the counseling department is staffed with knowledgeable counselors, SJCC would become an ideal place for anyone to purse excellent education after high school.”

Jazmin is clear about the role of the community college in her life. “I returned to college almost ten year after graduating from high school. The first semester at SJCC was the scariest because I had forgotten many of the things I learned in high school. But once I finished the first semester, I felt confident. Even though I am not good at it, math has become my favorite subject. It now feels like I can do anything if I work and study hard. I am able to help my middle-school daughter with her homework. I am also able to help my third and fourth-graders with their math and English homework. Community college has changed the way I think. I don’t want to attend college only to get a better job. I now want to attend college to become more educated. I want to be a role model for my kids.”

However, for Jazmin, San Jose City College falls short in a few areas like security. “There is hardly any police patrol. Cars are often vandalized, scaring students. The college should hire more policemen and install more surveillance cameras on campus.”

Natasha finds community college the ideal educational institution “because it allows me to try different things. I have taken classes I never would have even thought of. They broadened my perspective. The college has made clear many strengths and weaknesses I hadn't seen in me before. It has shown me how to stay goal-oriented and manage time better. It has helped me find subjects I enjoy, as well as subjects I am not interested in. This helps me decide which career is right for me. I have discovered new passions and reignited old ones. One area where my college falls short is in its website. It is hard to navigate. Registering and paying for classes online sometimes doesn't work. It also looks outdated. One way to fix this will be to clearly identify all the wonderful services and workshops the college offers and display it on the website in a friendly and easy-to-navigate style.”

Chris, who is from Texas and who has moved to California to attend SJCC on a football scholarship, has found that the college has helped him grow up faster. “I was forced to take responsibility and create closer bonds not only with my professors, but also with students from different cultures and backgrounds. This has broadened my perspective on life. The college has also helped me learn how to better manage my finances and work harder in my classes. The only negative I can think of is that the college does not provide dormitories and food plans like a four-year college does. However, the classes are cheaper and smaller than a four-year college. This allows students to create better relationships with their professors. Most importantly, people who attend a junior college are able to figure out what they want to do in their lives faster.”

Jared went to work right after high school, working at low-paying jobs and thinking that with hard work, he will be able to rise to a management position. “As I continued the degrading job as a janitor or as a low sales associate, working as hard as I could, I expected higher pay and promotions to come my way. I was wrong, because for any promotion, I needed an AA or a BA. That’s when I realized I would have to attend a college. College is necessary because the opportunities with an associate degree are endless. That’s why I am at SJCC. I have promised to myself that I will complete my degree in two years and move on with my life.”

Jared echoes Jessica’s sentiment about the counseling department needing a major overhaul. “Counselors don’t take the time to sit down and talk to students in depth. They are always in a rush, finishing a meeting in ten minutes or less. I remember meeting with my counselor and she listed all these classes that weren’t even necessary for my major and career path. I think with more orderly scheduled appointments and services, students, especially new students, will stress less and will not end up taking unnecessary classes, wasting valuable time.”

Community college has helped Jose in multiple ways. “When I had just graduated from high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. One of my options was joining the Marines but I couldn’t make it. So I signed up with the Evergreen Valley College. The college has helped me because with every completed semester I am moving toward my goal of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business. I see some of my friends wasting their time and dropping classes but staying in school keeps me focused and on the right track. One of the areas where community college falls short is not having enough required classes for students who need them. For students working full time, it is difficult to attend classes that start in the mid-afternoon. A huge improvement would be to offer more evening classes. Cost is another negative factor. Per unit cost of classes keep going up. Unless this stops, only wealthy kids can attend colleges. That’s why making tuition free for community colleges is such an attractive and democratic idea. Another problem is that teachers keep changing textbooks from semester to semester. This is an unbearable burden for students. Keeping the same textbook for several semesters will help. Even better would be to pick high-quality but free textbooks available on the Internet.”

Community College has opened up a world of possibilities for Jamie. He always had a love for learning but after high school, his family did not have the resources to send him to school, especially during the recession. Still Jamie persisted and enrolled in a community college. “The college has helped me grow as an adult and, between work and financial aid, I am able to afford life as a college student. It took me ten years to finally get the courage to go back to school. The community college environment has made getting an education less intimidating. Each semester I become more confident in my ability to do well in classes that initially seemed intimidating before. I am now confident enough to get my associate degree at my college and soon apply to a California State College to receive a four year degree in communication.” 

One challenge for Jamie, as with Jose, is the outrageous cost of textbooks. “The cost to rent is almost as expensive as to buy. The system for selling text is also ridiculous. A book that may cost $100 may sell for $20 at most at the end of the semester, and that also if the edition is still useful. If a new edition is required, the old edition immediately becomes obsolete and you get nothing for it.” Another flaw in the system is that high school students are not made aware of the advantages of studying at a community college. With good results, it becomes easier to transfer to a 4-year university. “This was one of the main reasons why I felt I couldn’t get my degree along with my friends who transferred to a university right out of high school. Community college representatives should be more aggressive in informing high schools students the benefits that await them if they enroll in their colleges.”

Daisy has been a student at a community college for only two semesters but it has already been a life-changing experience for her. “San Jose City College has helped me meet professors who have taken the time and the care to steer me in the right direction. When I am done with my General Ed, I am confident I will find a job. The writing and tutoring centers offer help to struggling students. The clinic is staffed with friendly nurses and physicians. What I would change is the parking. I would try to make the parking lots bigger so that all students could get park their cars faster. The college should also promote more student government and create more clubs for students.”

Of Deer and Humans

Deer roam with some freedom in The Villages, a gated 4000-strong senior community in a 1200-acre land at the foothills of East San Jose, about a mile west of the Evergreen Valley College (EVC).

While the sight of the photogenic animals indeed “makes the whole world a kin,” it wasn’t so simple in the beginning when the herd was blamed for destroying lawns, shrubbery and property and even scaring residents with their aggressive behavior.

The threat was unfounded, of course, but the initial plan for thinning the herd called for using archers and killing the deer with bows and arrows, reminiscent of frontier America. Only when the Villagers angrily protested the cruel plan was it abandoned.

Controlling the deer population, however, gained urgency in 2012. The three Village Boards (Association, Club and Homeowners) of Directors contracted “White Buffalo” (WB), an organization with 20 years of experience in reducing deer herds using lethal techniques. The Board preferred not to “cull the herd”, and so hired WB to tag and sterilize all female deer inside the Villages. WB applied for, and was granted, an “experimental permit” (SCP 12522) from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to perform this task.

The first formal count of females took place in January of 2013, as part of the sterilization program. WB counted 175 deer comprising 105 tagged females and 70 males. The herd included 30 deer that were relocated to areas outside the Village but who quickly returned.

The sterilization effort was controversial for several reasons. One outcome of the controversy was that a group of determined residents (The Village Deer Counters) decided to maintain their own record of the herd size and composition. CDFW provided training for these residents who, in turn, shared their results with CDFW, the 3 board members and WB. The results of the deer counters and WB continue to be almost identical.

The group performed its own count in July and August of 2013, reporting 126 deer - 75 tagged females, 10 fawns, and estimated 41 males - to CDFW. The group counted again in August 2014, and is scheduled to count in May and November of 2015.

(Note: a deer with a yellow tag is a deer that has been relocated outside the fences. Part of WB’s experiment was to relocated 30 deer to rapidly reduce the population. Eighteen of the yellow-tagged deer returned quickly but the others have not been seen since. It is true that an overbreeding deer population can strip a region bare but the problem in the Villages may be too few deer!)

In September of 2013, WB used a statistical sampling method called Distance Sampling to estimate the deer density and population inside the Villages. Along a line - the transect - that in this case was 9 miles long, the number of deer sighted was counted, along with the size of the social group and the age and sex of each member, tagged or not. A detection function, representing probability of detection as a function of distance from the line - decrease of detectability with increasing distance - was used to estimate the abundance.

The WB estimate came to 143, with 88 adult females, 40 adult males and 15 fawns. A month later, WB revised the count down to 128.

In July and August of 2014, the Village Deer Counting Team reported a deer population count of 101. In November of that year, WB presented to the Board of Directors an estimate of 93-105 deer in The Villages.

The trend is ominous: If 20-24 deer die every year and zero immigration continues, the deer population will be at about 60 in about 18 months. At this rate, the deer population will simply die out in a few years, a situation as undesirable as it is cruel.

What is next for the Villages deer counters?

- Continue monitoring of the deer herd every six months for the influx of any untagged female and for population decrease, until the long-term consequences of WB’s practices are determined.

- If new and untagged does do venture inside the Villages, use robust statistical techniques to estimate the deer population, supplementing the count data.

- Continue researching local, sustainable and cost effective ways to maintain the Village deer population. These may include the use of injectable birth control compounds if approval is obtained from the State. Non-lethal compounds have been successfully applied to deer in other states and in California for wild mustangs and bison.

- Continue working with CDFW experts who maintain an ongoing interest, availability and desire for the success of the Villages deer management efforts, well beyond the scope of SCP 12522.

Many communities and organizations from around the country are watching this “non-lethal experiment” to maintain a healthy herd of deer by a committed group of Villagers.

The deer, the mountain lions and the wolves were here before we usurped their habitats. There is no turning back ‘human progress’ but unless tempered by respect for the original inhabitants of the land, we will only diminish, and eventually, destroy ourselves.

Lock your eyes with a doe as she stands by a row of oleanders in the Villages and you will feel as if she is seeing into your soul, as you into hers. Watch a herd in the afternoon enjoying its siesta under the shade of a pine grove and you will feel a dreamy peace descending on you. Behold a deer poised like a ballerina amid the clovers, the lupines and the honeysuckle and you will sense the truth of Thoreau’s insight: “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” Watch a herd bound away in slow, rhythmic motion and you will realize that the world would be a poorer place without them.

Finches in Frenzy: Teachable Moments

Goldfinches, purple finches, house finches, pine siskins and dark-eyes juncos find nyjer seeds magnetic. These bite-size morsels pack a punch with their high oil content. Hang a small feeder filled with these seeds in the backyard and you will never experience a dull moment as the wild songbirds alight on it from nearby trees and put on a breathtaking display of avian acrobatics.

It becomes clear after a while that the pine siskins are the feisty ones, thrusting their beaks at the goldfinches and purple finches to hog the seeds. The polite cousins put up with the bullying for a minute or two and then fight back, or at least, pretend to. That seems to be enough. A kind of a uneasy democracy settles in as the birds take turn feeding, flying away to rest on the nearby trees to catch their breath (and poop), and flying back again to begin the cycle.

The goldfinches win the beauty contest hands down. The flash of their yellow brightens up any gray, cloudy day. They keep clear of the siskins as much as possible and use their acrobatic skills to get at the nyjer seeds, often hanging upside down to avoid invading the siskins’ space.

The dark-eyed juncos are content to walk the ground beneath the feeder, avoiding any possibility of a skirmish with the other birds. Plenty of seeds fall from the feeder, enough to feast on. You can see them pause to look up, almost as if pitying the feisty ones for their foolishness.

Feeding frenzy reaches its climax when it’s raining. The joy of the songbirds is palpable. They seem to be filled with a mysterious energy as they flutter, swerve and hover, their jostling increasingly dramatically for the privilege of a peck or two at the seeds. Leaves tremble as water drips from the trees and squirrels frolic in the fresh green grass but it’s the raucous songbirds that own the world as they dart back and forth from nests to seeds in their ruffled, rain-soaked plumage through air translucent with raindrops.

College campuses teem with birdlife. Jays, sparrows, robins, juncos, finches, swallows, buntings, bushtits, bluebirds, towhees, red-winged blackbirds, doves, warblers, hummingbirds and many other kinds enrich campuses in their ineffable ways, offering teachable moments to students as they hurry between classes or meet up with tutors and friends.

These moments are unfortunately rarely recognized. Birds connect us to the natural world in ways unmatched by other species. We become keen observers ourselves by observing them. These symbols of freedom tune us to the rhythm of the seasons. As they swoop and hover and descend from trees like autumn leaves, they kindle our sense of wonder and remind us that there is more to life than jobs and commerce.

So when you take a walk in that familiar campus, observe the junco as it seems to appear from nowhere in front of you to stroll the ground and acknowledge its fleeting grace. Pause for a moment to follow the movement of the towhee as it searches for worms beneath the sprawling oak and marvel at its dexterity. Whatever you do, don’t go around campus with blank faces plugged into ear buds. Open your eyes and ears. When from that evergreen pear tree emanates the trill of a red-winged blackbird, ask yourself, have you heard any song as lyrical?

The joy that birds communicate can perhaps translate to joy of learning. A sensitive soul can even conjure life’s meaning from birds. Whatever one’s disposition, taking the time to reflect on the beauty of birds can help any life take wing.

Lessons from the Chapel Hill Tragedy

A deranged American, a ticking time bomb by any definition, kills three bright, young Americans in cold blood in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is not clear if the killings are due to a
long-simmering parking dispute or to the killer’s antipathy toward the “otherness” of
his victims.

What is clear is that when Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, shot dead Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, in their home, it sent a tremor through Muslim communities throughout America. Hicks’s victims were Muslim.

American Muslims are experiencing the same combination of shock, fear, frustration, anger and grief as they did in the aftermath of 9/11.

Events have a way of juxtaposing themselves. On February 2, the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, got underway. On the same day as the Chapel Hill murders, the terrorist organization ISIS confirmed that the 26-year-old American Kayla Mueller it had abducted months ago was dead. In Peshawar, in the same city where the Taliban had killed 145 people, including 132 schoolchildren, last year, the same group killed at least 20 worshipers in a Shiite mosque on February 12. And on Valentine’s Day, one or more terrorists attacked a cultural center and a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, perhaps copying the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris on January 7.

Some Americans have unfortunately conflated the atrocities of these terrorists with the religion of Islam. What makes the situation even scarier for Muslims is that the conflation is fueled by media personalities and public officials with impunity.

Television host and comic Bill Maher often speaks of a “Muslim problem,” and has suggested that “the Muslim world … has too much in common with ISIS.” The neuroscientist Sam Harris is convinced that Islam is “the mother lode of bad ideas.” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a GOP Presidential hopeful, has concluded that “Islam has a problem,” and called the immigration of Muslims to the U.S. an “invasion” and a “colonization.” Oklahoma state representative John Bennett recently declared to applause that Muslims in America were a cancer that needed to be cut out of the country.

The list goes on, despite the unequivocal condemnation by Muslims of terrorist acts that occur in their name.

Anti-Muslim bigotry seems to have gained a firm foothold in America. Is it any wonder that American Muslims feel besieged?

Yet there are reasons for hope. Anyone watching the funeral of the three slain Americans must have noticed the inspiring mix of attendees representing all creeds and color. Their presence spoke far louder than what we read in the media and hear from some of our public officials. As the pastors of the United Church of Chapel Hill said in a statement: "As leaders of faith communities in Chapel Hill, we deplore the senseless killing of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, and we share in the profound grief of their families. An attack on any of God’s children, our sisters and brothers, is an attack on us all. We renew our pledge to continue the vital work of fostering mutual understanding and respect that cross all lines of difference."

President Obama condemned “the brutal and outrageous murders,” adding that no one in America should be targeted “because of who they are, what they look like or how they worship.” The President was echoing what Yusor recently said of her life in America: “Growing up in America has been such a blessing. It doesn’t matter where you come from. There are so many different people from so many different places, of different backgrounds and religions – but here, we’re all one."

At the somber Friday congregational prayers in mosques throughout America following the murders, Imams emphasized the need for patience and faith in the due process of law. At the South Bay Islamic Association’s mosque in San Jose that I attend, Imam Tahir Anwar reminded congregants that when any calamity befalls them, believers are instructed by the Quran to say, “To God we belong, and to Him shall we return.”

One way we American Muslims can remove the fear of the “Other” from among our fellow-Americans is by getting to know our neighbors. Instead of offering a perfunctory “hi,” as many of us often do when we run into them, we should introduce ourselves and lend a helping hand whenever there is a need. Woe to the worshipers, the Quran warns, who do not heed the needs of their neighbors.

There is a lesson that, particularly the youth, can draw from this tragedy as well. Barakat and his wife Yusor often volunteered to help the homeless in their college town. They were also active in raising money to help Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Setting aside a part of our busy lives to help those in need is perhaps the best way to honor and remember these selfless Americans.

As for Craig Stephen Hicks, we pray that God’s grace will find its way into his heart. And when the time comes for society to judge him, we pray that society will temper justice with mercy.