I am an avid web statistics viewer. Recently, an inbound link to my post on Line Rider Badminton caught my eye.

A teacher at Lisgar Collegiate Institute had linked to my Line Rider blog post on a wikispaces.com site for an advanced function math course. My post is listed as a resource for determining where the Line Rider .sol file is located. What a nifty way of teaching math. Create your own Line Rider track.

Here’s a snapshot of the Line Rider assignment for Mr. Tang’s math class:

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I’m a big fan of the Common Craft Show. They take complicated concepts and translate them into “plain English”. I was perusing the Common Craft site yesterday when I noticed that they provide links to subtitled versions of their videos via dotSUB.

Here’s an entertaining and accessible (for people with auditory impairments) video called “Zombies in plain English”:

Another benefit of dotSUB is that they provide a transcript of the subtitled text in plain text. This plain text is extremely useful for users who want to access the Common Craft Show content using a screenreader like JAWS or Window-Eyes.

SEM in this context stands for “Strategic Enrollment Management“. A recent article on strategic enrollment management in the Shepherd University enrollment management newsletter provides insight into the structure of strategic enrollment management components:

Revenue is an important part of the SEM strategy building. The institution must determine its Optimum Revenue, defined as the sum of appropriations and tuition revenue. Like Optimum Enrollment, (benchmark enrollment figure that indicates revenues and expenditures are in balance) Optimal Revenue is a benchmark that fluctuates and is impossible to calculate with absolute precision. An institution’s Optimum Tuition rate may actually be lower or significantly higher that the tuition currently charged. Current Revenue is then compared to Optimum Revenue. The difference becomes the SEM Revenue Goal.

• Current Enrollment x Current Tuition = Current Revenue
• Optimum Enrollment x Optimum Tuition = Optimum Revenue
• Optimum Revenue - Current Revenue = SEM Revenue Goal

Strategic Reinvestment, a key economic model of SEM, is a function of the SEM Revenue Goal rather than an absolute dollar figure. This refers to allocating resources saved from existing revenue streams, or allocating new revenues generated by SEM strategies to further the success of the SEM program. An example of this is setting financial aid levels as a function of revenue. The flexibility of this reinvestment provides unexpected control in bringing in the class at or above numerical and quality expectations until optimum levels are achieved. Such an approach eliminates important opportunities through miscalculating yields on financial aid offerings or putting continuing students in competition with new students for limited financial resources.

Shepherd University Enrollment Management Newsletter:
http://www.shepherd.edu/university/enrollment/

Additional information on strategic enrollment management:
http://consulting.aacrao.org/tag/strategic-enrollment-management/

http://www.imeem.com/transsiberian - Two of my favorite tunes…regardless of the season. I think there should be more rock orchestras…

Christmas Eve - Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

A Mad Russians Christmas - trans-siberian orchestra

My friends, whose numbers are in my cellphone, almost always receive a text message from me on laundry day. It’s sort of a laundry ritual. Here’s a horribly grainy video that I captured with my cellphone. I think it conveys my laundry experience from today.

Laundry from Eric Stoller on Vimeo.

I love it when an individual commenter attempts to comment with multiple identities. Silly comment trolls. I can see your IP address. Moderated, first-time comments go into the moderation queue. When commenter “A” responds to a comment that “B” just left and both comments are in the queue, klaxons go off in my inner-thought-o-sphere. How could “A” know what “B” just said when “B’s” comment is still hidden from public viewing.

Silly comment trolls. Keep trying to comment with as many false names as you want. You will not be fed.

Listen to “Feels Like Home”

I’ve been listening to the Nadas for quite a while. At least 12 years of auditory enjoyment. I remember seeing them perform at the OP in Cedar Falls, Iowa while I was a student at the University of Northern Iowa. I’ve seen them perform at venues in Iowa, in Chicago, IL and at a friends wedding in Minnesota. I’ve watched these guys grow up while I myself was maturing. When the inevitable occurs and the Nadas retire/break-up, I’m going to be bummed out. They have been a musical constant in my eclectic musical collection. I wonder if they’ll ever make it out to Oregon for a gig?

Listen to “Blue Lights”

Listen to “Coming Home”

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A fantastic version of this classic song. It was shared by a friend to my partner Wendy who in turn sent it to me. It’s a powerful and very moving rendition. This song always reminds me of those who have supported me along the way.

I’m one of 4 faculty members for the upcoming NACADA Technology Seminar in Clearwater, Florida. The seminar is geared toward academic advisors with varying technology skills. We’re expecting about 200 attendees at “NACADA Tech”. This should be a paradigm-changing event. We hope to have wi-fi access for all participants during our sessions. This sounds simple, but it turns out that free, in-session internet access is fairly rare in student affairs / academic affairs conferences. We want to ensure that participants have a hands-on experience with a lot of back channel conversations/connections.

I’ll be facilitating three sessions:
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I’m seriously late in getting this posted…I apologize for those of you who are allergic to blog dust. I encourage you to watch this video. 42 Japanese-Americans were expelled from Oregon State University during World War II. This is the video from the OSU commencement ceremony in June when these individuals were given honorary degrees. These degrees cannot undue what was done in the past, but they can encourage those of us today to prevent injustices like this so that they never ever happen again.