> From: Brent Eades[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, October 05, 1998 7:45 AM
>
> On 5 Oct 98, Brett Lorenzen wrote:
> > and we'll hold the rant on how pathetic universities are
> > at web site stuff
>
>
> The Internet -- with its potential for instant access to vast stores
> of
> information and opinion -- threatens this classroom hegemony. When a
> teacher knows that his students can listen to a lecture/lesson, go
> home,
> and within minutes find 20 dissenting (and perhaps equally
> authoritative)
> views on a topic, then that teacher's authority is diminished. His
> curriculum becomes suspect, his omniscience questioned. Or so the
> teachers perceive it, many of them. There is, in the words of the
> study I
> mentioned above, "fear and resentment of the unknown".
>
>
This fear -- and potential for unsetting those "in power" -- is not
confined to academia, ya know.
OK -- here is a "lighten up" mail I just received this morning on this
*very* subject - forwarded to me by staff at UGA <g>:
---- begin forwarded message ---
New Chemical Element Discovered
The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by
investigators at a major U.S. research university. The element,
tentatively named administratium, has no protons or electrons and thus
has
an atomic number of 0. However, it does have a single neutron, 75 vice
neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, thus giving it an atomic mass
of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves
the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons.
It is also surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called
peons. Since it has no electrons, administratium is inert. However, it
can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in
contact with. According to its discoverers, a minute amount of
administratium has caused one reaction to take over four days to
complete when it would have normally occurred in less than a second.
Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years, at
which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in
which assistant neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places.
Some studies have shown that the atomic mass actually increases after
each such reorganization.
Research at other laboratories indicates that while administratium
occurs naturally in the atmosphere, it tends to concentrate at certain
points such as government agencies, large corporations, and
universities. It can usually be found in the newest, best appointed,
and best maintained buildings.
Scientists point out that administratium is known to be toxic at any
level of concentration, and can easily destroy any otherwise productive
reaction when it is allowed to accumulate. Attempts are being made to
determine how administratium can be controlled to prevent irreversible
damage, but results to date have not been promising. So, watch out.
--- End Forwarded Message ---
Couldn't resist! ;-)
kathy
> Kathy E. Gill
> DCAC/MRM Production Visibility Support -- 425.234.2004, pager
> 425.568.0195
> The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living
> at doing what they most enjoy. ~ Malcomb S. Forbes
> Microsoft Exchange: the perfect name for its users' greatest desire!
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