Caution: Frog Crossing Ahead

by Madeleine Kando

During my latest visit to the Netherlands, as I was driving on a small but busy road to one of the many beaches, I saw an attention-grabbing sign warning drivers of frogs crossing the road. ‘They must have forgotten to post the ant crossing sign’, I said to my Dutch co-passenger, convinced that the sign was meant as a joke. But he explained to me that this was toad breeding season. I knew he was right because two weeks later, the sign was gone. This led me to wonder why we don’t do a better job protecting our local wildlife back in the US. I know, Americans are used to 'road kill'. This is a BIG country with a lot of space, a lot of roads and a lot more wildlife than in Holland. But wouldn’t that be all the more reason to design, implement and maintain our road infrastructure in a more intelligent way?

Black and White

By Tom Kando

Patrick Buchanan’s famous/notorious statement about  “The White Side of the Story of Negroes” is a couple of years old, but it is being discussed (and supported, I am afraid) on the Internet a great deal at this time.

I don’t want to rehash too many details of this screed, except to say that we see frequent statements like this, coming from various “white men’s rights” groups, organizations like  the KKK, the John Birch Society, etc.

Are Mean Reviewers More Competent?

By Tom Kando

 Here is the research question: Is there a relationship between competence and meanness?  Now you are supposed to laugh. This is called humor, although I have seen a lot more nonsensical sociological projects!

Most of us in the academic world are familiar with the peer review process. We submit a manuscript for a paper or a book for publication, or for conference presentation. It is reviewed and either rejected, or accepted, or accepted provisionally. In any of these three scenarios, the author usually receives feedback from the referees.  During the late1990s, I peddled a manuscript for a new textbook in Social Psychology (a re-write of my Social Interaction, which was first published in 1977, St. Louis: Times-Mosby). The various publishers obtained a total of 17 reviews over three rounds of reviews. Incidentally, I did finally get a contract and a modest advance payment, from Holt-Rinehart.

Paris, Mon Amour

by Madeleine Kando

Paris has been waiting for me all these years, keeping herself beautiful till my return. Even on this grey and rainy day the freshly applied gold leaf on the monuments and palaces shines brightly. I take a taxi to my hotel on the Rive Gauche. Fountains zoom by, spouting water from elaborately carved fishlike creatures or from jugs held by half-naked maidens. We pass the Jardin des Tuileries, the royal gardens near the Louvre, where in past centuries the gentlemen took their ladies to meet each other and gossip. This royal garden with perfectly manicured trees and bushes became a public park after the French Revolution.

PROGNOSTICATIONS ABOUT THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By Tom Kando

We know that (1) Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to vote for Obama, whereas whites are not, (2) women are more likely to vote for Obama whereas men are not, (3) young people are more likely to vote for Obama whereas old people are not and (4) low-income people are more likely to vote for Obama whereas upper-income people are not.

How would the election turn out if the different ethnic, gender, age and economic groups  voted the way we are told that they are likely to vote?   Here are some calculations I did to answer this question. My numbers are very rough, and some may be  off, but the differences are all true.