Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Speed Vs. Armor, Academic Style

One of the classic tradeoffs in building weapons is the tradeoff between speed and armor.  The more protection a ship or tank or plane has, the slower it will go.  Put on a belt of armor on a ship and it will be able to take more punishment but will be less likely to evade attacks.  This was nicely illustrated in the Viper vs. the Mountain battle in last season's Game of Thrones. 
Why is this relevant today?  Because I am trying to figure out what I would be doing if I had remained at Texas Tech.  With students now being allowed to carry weapons in the classroom, the question for professors will become: do I wear armor or will that slow down my ability to dodge, dip, duck, dive and/or DRAW?  That is, should one practice a speed draw so that one can shoot students who reach for their pens phones gun? 

I guess profs will have to figure out their strengths and weaknesses.  If they do not have quick reflexes, then armoring up is probably the way to go. I do wonder if infrastructure grants will allow one to spend money on kevlar podiums.

Another lecturing conundrum: should one stand behind the podium or move around?  I tend to move around as I lecture, which means I wouldn't have the protection of a podium.  On the other hand, hitting a moving target is more difficult.  However, many of these students may have some hunting experience, and I would not be moving that fast.  

Hmmm, difficult choices.  Perhaps not letting folks walk around with guns might have been a better option?

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Texas Women Fight Back

This picture is just amazing:
Yep, they are using hangars as their symbol, that the efforts to essentially eliminate legal abortion in Texas will return the state to the dark days.  Oh my.  And, no, they cannot count on the US Supreme Court to make sure that states do not pass unconstitutional laws as we can never tell how Anthony Kennedy will swing his vote.  Lovely.

Anyhow, I do think that this woman might be right--that the Texas legislators may have unleashed something pretty powerful. It may not win the day today or tomorrow, but Texas's future is going to be mighty interesting.