Category Archives: Navy

The Place to Be

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Success!

The rough headcount for the Open House was about 9,000 visitors. This was the first one I had worked (there hadn’t been one of these since 2001) and the expectation from the earlier events was that we could get “a few thousand” people, so I’d have to say that we exceeded expectations. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for early April — mid 60s and literally no clouds. There was some wind early in the afternoon, but even that minor annoyance died down.

We got a lot of traffic at the geocaching table. A fellow geocacher helped out (and a few others came to visit and nab the “puzzle” geocache located at the Observatory); we chatted with people and explained the activity to the adults. For the kids, it was more interactive — I handed them a GPS receiver and walked them through the cache finds: a fake rock and a film container, with log books in them. The areas open to the public weren’t conducive to larger caches, and there was no budget for trade items (or give-aways, in this case). But with the response we got from this event, maybe there will be an opportunity for a more elaborate activity next year.

I didn’t get a chance to check out the other presentations (though I had seen several of the posters; a network issue prevented several people from “seeing” our plotter, so they sent me files and had me print them) I know the lines were long for the “big” telescopes, and there were more than a dozen amateur astronomers who set up scopes (some more than one) for viewing. The sun (sans spots) during the day, and then whatever was up at night. I arrived at 1 for some setup work and left around 9, which is when they were going to close the gates, and there was still a considerable line of people waiting to get in. Not sure if they stayed open later than the planned 10 PM. It would have been disappointing to close down before everyone got a chance to look through a few telescopes, but security makes the call on things like that.

The best part about all of this was the kids. You could tell that some had been dragged there, but for the most part they were very engaged and enthusiastic. The ones who did the geocache finds were, and I heard some very positive, spontaneous comments from them in the area where the telescopes were set up. When I was returning some GPS receivers to Geoff, the PAO, the youngster stepping down from the telescope shouted out a very sincere, “I saw the MOON!” That’s worth the price of admission right there.

Here’s the view of the lawn where the small telescopes were set up.

oh

Things got busier as it got dark, but flash photography tends to annoy people who want their eyes to be dark-adjusted, so I don’t have any pictures.

Chain of Fools

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I don’t really partake of April Fool’s Day; I find it too confining. It’s always open season, as far as I’m concerned.

Here’s one from my days in khaki, with me on the giving end (I was the recipient of several good ones, too). One of my shipmates, let’s call him Brian, was teaching Chemistry, Materials and Radiological fundamentals (CMR), and I was teaching Reactor Principles (RP), and one class section I was teaching was near the CMR office, so it wasn’t at unusual for me to drop in to say hi to him or his better-looking and (more importantly to me, single and female) colleagues. But I digress … Brian hails from Idaho, and one of his classes had given him a Mr. Potato Head, which he proudly displayed on his desk. So I swiped it one day, and an unidentified co-conspirator hid it in a security locker (teaching notes were classified and had to be locked up when not in use or in any way unsupervised, so there several security lockers in the office). Brian came back during the short break between classes (we usually taught two consecutive 50-minute periods, with a 5 or 10-minute break between them, to each section, and taught two sections), freaked out when he noticed his pet spud was missing, searched frantically, but had to go back to teach. He made a huge error at that point, as I recall — he asked me if I had his Mr. Potato Head, and since I didn’t (it was in the locker) I was able to truthfully tell him “no,” rather than give him a sarcastic (but also truthful) “Yeah, right, I took it,” had he asked me the appropriate question*. I came back later and collected the booty, so when Brian had time to search the lockers, the tuber toy was gone.

In Phase II I procured my own Mr. Potato Head and baked him briefly

mrpotato

After about a week of the empty spot being on the desk (but before there was time for any “Have You Seen Me” posters showing up in the produce section of the local Publix markets) I put Mr. Baked Potato on his desk. Brian was devastated. We played bridge pretty regularly, and I remember him repeatedly bemoaning his damaged Mr. Potato head at some game; I’m sure it was partly because he suspected me and wanted me to feel guilty. But I have a guideline for pranks: no actual damage — that crosses the line into vandalism. (Though that would have been ironic, because his alma mater’s nickname was the Vandals) So I was reveling in his torment, because I knew the original was safe and sound.

I think I let his anguish simmer for a few weeks before I returned the original to him.

*As I recall, for my major pranks, I never lied about doing it when confronted. I sometimes was able to avoid answering or be very pedantic about the answer when the question was poorly worded. I don’t have an ethical problem with loopholes in this area.

Bring a Stranger to Work Day

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U.S. Naval Observatory IYA 2009 Open House

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope, the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO have declared 2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009). As part of a world-wide celebration of this event, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) will be sponsoring a free-admission Open House on Saturday, 4 April, from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. During that time the Observatory’s telescopes will be open for inspection, scientists will explain the mission of USNO’s Master Clock, exhibits will display the Observatory’s history and present work, and local amateur astronomers will share views through their telescopes.

The event is planned regardless of weather, although predominantly cloudy conditions may limit observing activities. Additionally, heavy or persistent rain may result in cancellation. Be sure to watch the website for updates.

More details in the press release

I’ll be there, helping out, meetin’ and greetin’. I announced this on the local geocaching bulletin board, since USNO time supports GPS, so I hope to hang out with fellow geocachers for a while (there’s actually a geocache at the Observatory, which normally requires you to take the public tour), and then I’ll probably be helping out with the Time Service display. If you’re in the area, come on by. If you can’t make it, you can still commemorate your nonvisit with a Navel Observatory shirt

navel

Grade Entitlement

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Entitled, which points to an article in the NY Times

I have an inbox filled with student email saying “I studied really hard for the quiz..” (so why didn’t I get an A?).

This post might sound cynical, but I must not be completely cynical because this surprised me:

Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if they explained to a professor that they were trying hard, that should be taken into account in their grade.

Ah, yes, I remember it well when I was TA-ing in grad school. I was somewhat desensitized to the problem by my time in the navy, because there was simply no room for changing grades. Student feedback (aka whining) was irrelevant on that point — you were judged by how much knowledge you demonstrated on test day, and that was about it. If you were borderline, you might buy some extra time by passing a verbal grilling in an academic review board, but that didn’t actually change your grade; it merely gave you additional time to pass some tests and raise your average.

In grad school I was a TA the modern physics class, which included a lot of students trying to get into the engineering program. When I passed out the first set of graded labs, there was howling and gnashing of teeth. “A 7? I can’t have a 7! I need to get accepted into the engineering program!” My answer was, “Do better next time.” I had pointed out the shortcomings in the lab reports, so there was ample information how to get a better grade. The funny thing was that my evaluations came back as being a really tough TA, while the other TA for the course remarked how easygoing and laid-back he was (literally a surfer-dude). But the also professor told me that grades from my section were actually higher than his. Tough love wins in the end.

From the article

At Vanderbilt, there is an emphasis on what Dean Hogge calls “the locus of control.” The goal is to put the academic burden on the student.

“Instead of getting an A, they make an A,” he said. “Similarly, if they make a lesser grade, it is not the teacher’s fault. Attributing the outcome of a failure to someone else is a common problem.”

As I’ve noted before, in the students’ view, good grades are earned by the student, while poor ones are given by the professor. Looks like Vanderbilt is pushing to change that concept.

Worst Nightmare

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Russia: 20 dead from poisoning in sub accident

The fire safety system on a new Russian nuclear-powered submarine malfunctioned on a test run in the Sea of Japan, spewing chemicals that killed at least 20 people and injured 21 others, officials said Sunday.

The majority of the students I taught were destined to serve aboard submarines, and several of the friends I had when I was in the navy were submariners; I have a lot of respect for the job they do. Years ago I spent a day on the Will Rogers, but any insight I have here is primarily from observation rather than direct experience.

Fire, and the repercussions of it, rate pretty highly on the list of things of which submariners are covertly or overtly scared. You have a limited oxygen supply, and cramped spaces making it tough to navigate. So you drill incessantly to make responses (to this and other potential problems) instinctive.

If you’ve ever wondered why folks in the military carry out orders without question, and why the people giving the orders expect you to, this is it. You do as your told because if you don’t people can die. There may not be the time or practicality to explain why or when lives might hang in the balance, or be able to discern it yourself, so it’s best if you operate under the assumption that it’s always the case.

The article raises the possibility that this was human error, and if it was, it shows the awful repercussions of not following procedure or some other kind of scewup.

Add Grad Student and Shake Well. Ingredients for TA-ing

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How to be a good TA over at Built on Facts.

Disclaimer: I never did recitations as a TA in grad school, though I did tutor students (for a whopping 8 bucks an hour). I had just gotten out of the navy, where I had logged somewhere around 2500-3000 classroom teaching hours, so it’s not like I needed to acquire any lecturing skills. I did labs, which involved only a few minutes of lecture time, and then a lot of Q&A. I didn’t want the repetition of six or so recitation sections, and I knew (from being a student and having done undergraduate TA-ing as well) that labs didn’t always go the full three hours. So, does any of my advice or criticism really apply?

But what do my students say in their confidential evaluations? My scores are always pretty high, but the single most common good thing they have to say about me is this:

He speaks English.

Yeah, I got that a lot, too, as a TA. Which just goes to point out that student evaluations more-or-less follow Sturgeon’s law. 90% of them are crap. The student’s judgments are not always objective, nor do they usually give constructive feedback. They can like or dislike you, and give evaluations accordingly, based on criteria other than teaching quality. And that’s what many of them are — statements of whether the student like you, rather than your effectiveness. I remember one teaching evaluation in which the student complained about how I blocked the board some of the time and he couldn’t read it. He sat near the front in the left-hand row (as viewed from the back of the classroom). I’m right-handed and bigger than a breadbox. It’s physically impossible for me to not block part of the board, and the part I will block will affect those on that side of the class a little more. Basic geometry, really. But it didn’t stop the student from whining about it mentioning it.

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Game Theory

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A side comment by Matt about quizzes triggered a thought (so many of these interactions are induced rather than spontaneous)

I have all my old lecture notes and materials so the only real thing I have to do is make up new quizzes. Students are good at nothing if not gaming the system and they’d notice repeated quizzes pretty quickly.

When I TA’d I did labs, but the same idea applied. It was assumed that the students had access to old lab reports and exams (especially if they were in a fraternity or sorority) so the one thing we could make different was a question or two tacked on to the end of the calculations. And that did trip up a couple of students, who had obviously just copied from some old report to which they had access. Professors had various strategies about re-using questions, but I think the use of computers has made it far easier to keep a large database and mix-and-match questions that simple memorization of old exams prohibitive for introductory classes.

When I was teaching in the navy it wasn’t an issue. Quizzes didn’t count toward your grade, so there was no real incentive to cheat, other than trying to get out of some extra problems to be worked because the instructor might assign them to people who failed several quizzes. There was no master file of exam questions because they were treated as restricted material — the students did not keep them, and they were strictly accounted for. But to cut down on the possibility of some “oral tradition” information flow between the different classes in session, questions were not re-used until the class that had taken that exam had graduated.

We had one incident that occurred just before I had transferred into one division — an exam went missing. The most likely explanation is someone miscounted, but what was recorded was that there were 126 exams (and they were numbered) and after the exam was administered #126 was nowhere to be found. So the exam was assumed to have been compromised for future tests, and all of the questions on the exam had to be removed from the exam bank. As it turned out, I inherited the job of writing that particular exam, so it fell to me to repopulate the stockpile — two brand spankin’ new questions per exam for the next year, so I got a lot of practice coming up with new material. Which isn’t that hard, because an old question with new numbers and solving for a different variable is a “new” question. The use of old questions wasn’t laziness, though — we didn’t grade on a curve, and the goal was to test each class the same, so you kept statistics, and made tests that had a predicted result of between a 3.1 and 3.2 on a 4.0 scale. A venerable question was well-trusted, and a new or changed question could throw the result off. If a class got an unexpectedly high or low score (usually low), an audit was initiated to try and ensure that there was nothing hinky going on. This was especially odious for the early exams, before the class had a chance establish itself as being above- or below-average. If a class had underperformed on earlier exams, tanking a later exam didn’t raise eyebrows. But at least once the conclusion was that it was the Russian judge a new question or two were harder than had been predicted, and had shaved a few tenths off the score.

But even within that strict paradigm, an exam-writer could game the system a little. No matter how much you’d drill it into the students’ heads to skip a tough question and go back to it later, there were those who didn’t. They’d invariably leave an easy question or two blank because they took too much time on another question that they still got mostly wrong. So putting tougher questions toward the front would tend to lower scores a little bit.

But Why is it so Hot in the Okefenokee?

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Evaporative (Swamp) Coolers

I was discussing this with our resident mechanical systems guru just a few days ago — really hot, humid weather had some of the HVAC systems gasping, and if you can’t reject heat anymore, the system stops cooling (a basic bit of thermodynamics lost on some people). He was reminiscing about when he could use swamp coolers, in the southwest part of the US.

Evaporation works as a cooling mechanism, which is why we sweat when we get hot, because the molecules that go to the gas phase take more than their share of energy with them — somewhere around 2300 J/g, depending on the temperature. And the energy to change that one gram of water’s temperature by a single degree is 4.18 J, so if I have 100g of water and lose one gram to evaporation, the remaining water will cool by 5.5ºC! (Assuming, of course, no other heat transfer to warm it back up. But hey, we’re physicists. Our cows are spherical and inclined planes frictionless)

You can use this cool things off without ice — put the beverages in a canvas bag and hose it down and let evaporation do the work (the canvas holds on to the water, so it doesn’t just run off). It won’t make the beer frosty, but as long as the water can evaporate, it’ll cool it off some. (rule of thumb — if your cold beverage containers tend to “sweat,” then this probably isn’t going to work very well. But here’s another trick for you, from my navy days aboard the USS Disneyworld — to keep that pitcher cold, fill a tall glass or cup with ice and let it float in the pitcher. Cold but no dilution.)

Did You Look Under the Sofa Cushions?

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“I’ve Lost My RIO”

I told the Captain that after the G-awareness maneuver, we would do a quick inverted check to verify cockpit security. Looking back, I should have recognized his anxiety when he mocked me and said, “Just a quick inverted check?” then laughed. I didn’t realize hanging upside down with nothing but glass and 11,000 feet of air separating you from the desert floor might not be the most comfortable situation in the world for a surface-warfare officer.
[. . .]
After we completed the checks, I asked him, “Are you ready for the inverted check? Do you have everything stowed?”

“All set” was the last thing I heard him say.

I wonder if “Can we do that again?” came up in later conversation.

Jargon help:
Black shoe – “Terrestrial” Navy
Brown shoe – Naval Air
NVG – Night Vision Goggles

h/t to RTS

Oh, and another ejection story