Graduate admissions

Is there anything more embarrassing for all concerned than the personal statements that students write, and faculty read, as part of graduate admissions?

I have often thought that a most entertaining addition to skit night would consist of reading selected excerpts from the personal statements of our graduate students currently on the job market.  [I suspect that this violates some sort of federal law and/or university regulation - oh well.]

On the other hand, the over-selling in personal statements is probably good practice for writing grant proposals.

Oh, and enough with the behavioral economics already.

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James Buchanan, RIP

I was sad to learn yesterday that Nobel laureate economist James Buchanan, co-founder with Gordon Tullock of the "public choice" sub-field of economics, has passed on.

Reading Buchanan and Tullock's book The Calculus of Consent in my undergraduate days had a big effect on my thinking about constitutions, what one might call the mechanism design of government. It remains well worth reading today. I also enjoyed Buchanan's memoir Better than Plowing.

Back in my Maryland days, I drove down to Virginia and gave a seminar at George Mason. The seminar took place in an old house that had been converted essentially into a shrine to James Buchanan (advice: win your Nobel at a school where you are the only one). He was kind enough to show up and ask questions at the seminar even though it was a paper on college quality and thus pretty far from his own interests.

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Assorted links

1. Organic food causes autism (or, the dangers of univariate regression, yet again)

2. Ann Arbor predictions for 2013.

3. The Ark - the famous folk music venue in Ann Arbor - has bought its building. I think this is great news. Hopefully we get to the Ark more often in the coming year.

4. An excellent product warning label.

5. Trying and failing to join the "mile high club".

#4 via the Agitator and #5 via instapundit

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Oh Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?

Alabama, well, rolls over Notre Dame in the BCS national championship game.

Much as I dislike saying it, Alabama versus Oregon would have been a much better game.

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Becker and Murphy on drugs

You know what I mean ... their quite sober piece in the WSJ lays out the case for relatively modest reform, mainly just decriminalization of possession.

Though the competition is fierce, the war on drugs would surely be on most short lists of "worst policy disaster ever".

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BBQ in walking distance of campus

RUB has opened at State and Packard.

I am looking foward to giving it a try.

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Outback Bowl: South Carolina 33, Michigan 28

An excellent game with a disappointing outcome.

Annarbor.com coverage here.

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