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Sesquipedalian #22
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To: gopher-quip
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Subject: Sesquipedalian #22
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From: Kyle Wohlmut <kyle@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
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Date: Thu, 6 Apr 95 13:08:36 PDT
the SESQUIPEDALIAN Volume V, No. 22
/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\
Sorry Charlie Day April 6, 1995
(in honor of all those who have been rejected
and lived through it)
THE BEST AND WORST EVER
Taken from the MIT Course Evaluation Guide, Fall, 1991
"This class was a religious experience for me...
I had to take it all on faith."
"Text makes a satisfying 'thud' when dropped on the floor."
"The class is worthwhile because I need it for the degree."
"His blackboard technique puts Rembrandt to shame."
"Textbook is confusing...
Someone with a knowledge of English should proofread it."
"Have you ever fell asleep in class and awoke in another?
That's the way I felt all term."
"In class I learn I can fudge answers and get away with it."
"Keep lecturer or tenure board will be shot."
"The recitation instructor would make a good parking lot attendant.
Tries to tell you where to go, but you can never understand him."
"Text is useless. I use it to kill roaches in my room."
"In class the syllabus is more important than you are."
"I am convinced that you can learn by osmosis by just sitting in his
class."
"Help! I've fallen asleep and I can't wake up!"
"Problem sets are a decoy to lure you away from potential exam
material."
"Recitation was great. It was so confusing that I forgot who I was,
where I was, and what I was doing -- it's a great stress reliever."
"He is one of the best teachers I have had... He is well-organized,
presents good lectures, and creates interest in the subject. I
hope my comments don't hurt his chances of getting tenure."
"I would sit in class and stare out the window at the squirrels.
They've got a cool nest in the tree."
"He teaches like Speedy Gonzalez on a caffeine high."
"This course kept me out of trouble from 2-4:30 on Tuesdays and
Thursdays."
"Most of us spent the 1st 3 weeks terrified of the class.
Then solidarity kicked in."
"Bogus number crunching. My HP is exhausted."
"The absolute value of the TA was less than epsilon."
"TA steadily improved throughout the course...
I think he started drinking and it really loosened him up."
"Information was presented like a ruptured fire hose --
spraying in all directions -- no way to stop it."
"I never bought the text. My $60 was better spent on the Led
Zeppelin tapes that I used more while doing the problem sets
that I would have used the text."
"What is the quality of the text? `Text is printed on high quality
paper.'"
^\^\^\ LOOK WHO'S TALKING /^/^/^
-- Cleo Condoravdi and Mark Gawron presented "The Context-Dependency
of Implicit Arguments" at the UC Berkeley Linguistics colloquium on
April 5.
-- LOOK WHO'S EARNING: Norma Mendoza-Denton has been awarded a highly
competitive dissertation fellowship from the Spencer Foundation.
Congratulations to Norma both for the recognition this award
represents, and for her initiative in getting funding beyond the
traditional sources for linguists, effectively increasing the total
funding available to linguists.
-- LOOK WHO'S WINNING: Cathy Haas has been chosen as Quota
International's West Area 'Deaf Woman of the Year.' She will be
honored at the West Area meeting in Reno Nevada, April 22-23, and she
is now in the running for the international competition.
Congratulations, Cathy.
^/^/^/ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM \^\^\^
Contrary to popular belief, there is NO COLLOQUIUM this week, in
deference to the CLRF conference. Martin Kay has graciously agreed to
postpone his colloq until next week (April 14). The title remains a
mystery.
^/^/^/ PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP \^\^\^
The Phonology Workshop series for Spring begins TONIGHT:
Date: 6th April 1995, 7:30pm
Place: Seminar Room, Linguistics Dept, Margaret Jacks Hall
The Phonological Analysis of Greek Pitch Accent
Gary Lutes
Stanford University
The word accent of Classical Greek has submitted to detailed
description since the ancient grammarians, yet continues to defy
linguistic explanation. The fundamental facts to be accounted for
include the Law of Limitiation, which restricts the accent to the last
three syllables when the ultima is light, and to the last two
syllables when the ultima is heavy. Also, the Law of Penult Intonation
requires that penultimate accent be expressed as circumflex when the
ultima is light, and as acute when the ultima is heavy. Only the
ultima can express morphologically significant variation between the
circumflex and acute intonations, and this too must be accounted for.
The most complex set of facts involves the accentuation of enclitics.
In this workshop I would like to continue the elusive search for an
elegant yet comprehensive phonological analysis of Greek accent.
^/^/^/ CALL FOR PAPERS \^\^\^
-- GALA (University of Groningen, The Netherlands, 7-9 September
1995): This message is to remind you that the deadline for abstract
submissions is APRIL 15, 1995. Also, please note that the name of our
FTP server has been changed to
gala.let.rug.nl
Full information on the conference, including pre-registration
forms and lodging information, can be retrieved by anonymous FTP
from the directory
/pub/Linguistics/events/gala
or from the World Wibe Web home page
http://www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/events/gala/
Surface mail address:
GALA 1995 Coordinators
University of Groningen
Department of Linguistics
P.O. Box 716
9700 AS Groningen, The NETHERLANDS
E-mail: GALA95@let.rug.nl.
-- THE TENTH AMSTERDAM COLLOQUIUM (December 18-21, 1995): The Tenth
Amsterdam Colloquium will be held from Monday 18 until Thursday 21,
December 1995, at the University of Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Colloquia
focus on the interdisciplinary study of semantics (broadly conceived)
and aim at bringing together logicians, philosophers, linguists and
computer scientists who share an interest in semantics. The spectrum
of topics covered ranges from descriptive (semantic analyses of all
kinds of expressions), to theoretical (logical and computational
properties of semantic theories, philosophical foundations). The
Amsterdam Colloquia are organized every two years under the auspices
of the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), in which
the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science and the Department of Computational Linguistics of
the University of Amsterdam cooperate to stimulate and coordinate
interdisciplinary research. To give this tenth installment a special
touch, an evening session will be devoted to the past and the future
of the field of semantics. The Colloquium has room for 40 contributed
talks of approximately 40 minutes. People who want to contribute a
paper are requested to send in SIX copies of an ANONYMOUS ABSTRACT of
two pages (at most 1000 words). The abstract must include a short, 10
line, SUMMARY clearly indicating subject matter and conclusions. A
SEPARATE leaflet should specify the author's name, affiliation, postal
address, e-mail address plus the title of the contribution.
Submission by e-mail is possible, provided that the abstract, summary
and personal details are in ASCII. The DEADLINE for submission of
abstracts is September 1, 1995. The abstracts will be refereed by the
program committee consisting of Renate Bartsch, Johan van Benthem,
Peter van Emde Boas, and the invited speakers. Authors will be
notified of acceptance by October 15. The 10 line summaries of the
accepted papers will be included in the program. For further
information, contact
Organizing Committee Ninth Amsterdam Colloquium
ILLC/Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 15, 1012 CP Amsterdam, The Netherlands
tel: +31 20 5254541
fax: +31 20 5254503
email: AcTen@illc.uva.nl
-- LAST CALL FOR PAPERS: FORMAL GRAMMAR (Barcelona, August 12-13,
1995, in conjunction with the European Summer School in Logic,
Language and Information). In 1995 the Seventh European Summer School
in Logic, Language and Information is to be held in Barcelona. As on
previous occasions this meeting will serve as a forum for areas
including computational linguistics, formal linguistics, and the role
of logic in grammar formalisms. This year the programme includes a
conference on formal grammar open to all participants to present
contemporary research in this domain. Themes of interest include
formal and computational phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics;
logical methods in linguistics; and foundational, methodological and
architectural issues in grammar. Ten copies of anonymous abstracts of
not more than 800 words (on one two-sided sheet) should be sent to the
address below to arrive not later than April 21st, 1995. Please
provide a separate sheet detailing title, author(s) and
institution(s), and address, e-mail, telephone and fax of one author
for communication purposes. Indicate on both the abstract and the
identification sheet whether you require 20 minutes or 40 minutes for
presentation. Notification of acceptance will be by May 22nd. Final
versions of papers are to be received by 7th July for inclusion in a
proceedings to be distributed at the time of the Summer School.
Address for correspondence:
Committee of the ESSLLI Conference on Formal Grammar
c/o Glyn Morrill
Departament de Llenguatges i Sistemes Informatics
Facultat d'Informatica de Barcelona
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
Pau Gargallo, 5
08028 BARCELONA
e-mail: morrill@lsi.upc.es
-- COMPUTATIONAL LOGIC FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING: A Joint
COMPULOGNET/ELSNET/EAGLES Workshop (Edinburgh, Scotland) 3-5 April
1995. CALL FOR PARTICIPATION.
ftp.let.ruu.nl:/pub/colibri/nlp/general/clnlp95.12-1995
mail mail-server@let.ruu.nl: send colibri/nlp/general/clnlp95.12-1995
-- SLRF 95: Second Language Research Forum. Abstracts Deadline
Extended to April 15-- Conference Rescheduled to September 29-October
1, 1995. CALL FOR PAPERS & POSTERS. Abstracts are invited for 30
minute talks on any area of second language research. Each talk will
be followed by a ten minute discussion period. The poster session is
designed to provide more exposure to work in progress. The posters,
which consist of a summary and display of the research will be
exhibited for the first two days of the conference. Authors of
accepted posters will be given further instructions regarding the
preparation of materials. We will give special consideration to poster
submissions from graduate students. Send six copies of an anonymous
300-400 word abstract. Abstracts should be clearly titled and indicate
whether submitted for a poster or a paper. Send two copies of a
100-150 word abstract for inclusion in the conference program if you
are selected. This should also be titled and indude your name.
Include a 3x5 card with this information: 1. name, 2. paper/poster
title, 3. affiliation, 4. mailing address, 5. e-mail address, 6. phone
number, 7. audiovisual needs (for papers only). Authors may submit a
maximum of one individual and one joint abstract. Mail all abstract
materials to
SLRF 1995: Nuria Lopez Ortega, Abstracts Committee
Cornell University
Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics
Morrill Hall
Ithaca,NY 14853-4701
e-mail: SLRF95@cornell.edu
^\^\^\ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS /^/^/^
-- ALLAN COX MEDAL NOMINATIONS SOLICITED: Members of the Stanford
community are invited to nominate faculty for the Allan Cox Medal for
Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research. The Cox Medal is
awarded annually to a faculty person who has established a record of
excellence directing undergraduate research over a number of years. It
may also go to a faculty member who has done an especially outstanding
job with just one or two undergraduates whose work is unusually
superior. Faculty nominees may be from any school in the University.
In addition to the bronze medal traditionally presented to the faculty
recipient, this year's winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize made
possible by a gift from the Amoco Foundation. Letters of nomination
should be sent to Laura Selznick, Director of Undergraduate Research
Opportunities, 122 Sweet Hall (or send e-mail to
Laura.Selznick@Forsythe) by Friday, May 5, 1995. The Medal will be
presented at the Firestone/Golden Medal Award Ceremony on Saturday,
June 17, 1995.
The Cox Medal was established in memory of Allan Cox who was a
Professor of Geophysics and Dean of the School of Earth Sciences. In
the late 1970's and early 1980's it was Allan Cox, more than any other
faculty person at Stanford, who described the virtues of the research
programs at MIT and elsewhere and stimulated Stanford faculty to
provide such opportunities to its undergraduates. Cox provided the
energy which led to increased funding and support for faculty-student
collaboration in research. Allan Cox was world renowned as the
co-discoverer of magnetic field reversals. He was also a strong
advocate of student participation in individual scholarship. He was a
friend and leader of undergraduates, a contributor to undergraduate
theatre in dormitories, and a gentle and humane person who was a
teacher to students, faculty and administrators.
^\^\^\ TRUE LINGUISTICS /^/^/^
'Disappointment, loss, threat, danger, frustration, anger, and
hopelessness are but a few of the adjectives that can be placed upon
such uncomfortable experiences.'
From Scott Monroe & Sheri Johnson (1990): 'The dimensions of
life stress and the specificity of disorder.' Journal of Applied
Social Psychology, volume 20, pp. 1678-1694
'Finally, as usual, I apologize in advance for slighting all the work
out there that I should have cited but didn't.'
--Ray Jackendoff
^/^/^/ JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS \^\^\^
(REDUNDANCY NOTICE: For fuller listings of these and other jobs, don't
forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the file
'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
-- Dublin City University: School of Computer Applications,
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer positions Computational Linguistics.
ftp.let.ruu.nl:/pub/colibri/nlp/general/job_dublin.12-1995
mail mail-server@let.ruu.nl: " send colibri/nlp/general/job_dublin.12-1995 "
-- Guildford (England): Canon Research Centre Europe Ltd. JOB
OPPORTUNITIES IN NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING.
ftp.let.ruu.nl:/pub/colibri/nlp/general/jobs_canon.12-1995
mail mail-server@let.ruu.nl: " send colibri/nlp/general/jobs_canon.12-1995 "
-- London (UK): City University, School of Informatics, Dept. of CS.
Research positions in Computational Logic [Training and Mobility of
Researchers, Framework 4].
ftp.let.ruu.nl:/pub/colibri/logic/general/tmr.12-1995
mail mail-server@let.ruu.nl: " send colibri/logic/general/tmr.12-1995 "
-- POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTS: At least one
position is available for computational linguists on a machine
translation project. The positions will be located either at Simon
Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia or at TCC
Communications Corporation in Victoria, British Columbia. In either
case, the positions will involve close interaction between the Natural
Language Laboratory at SFU and TCC. Tenure is for 1 year and is
renewable subject to funding. Salary is commensurate with experience.
Closing date for receipt of applications is April 18, 1995.
Inquiries can be made to:
Paul McFetridge
mcfet@cs.sfu.ca
Applications with names and contact addresses of at least three people for
letters of reference should be sent to:
Mr. John Grayson
TCC Communications Corporation
Box 2400, Sidney,
British Columbia,
Canada V8L 3Y3
Phone: 604-655-2060
Fax: 604-656-9942
-- Dept of English Language and Literature at the National University
of Singapore has positions available in Computational Linguistics,
Semantics and Sociolinguistics (with particular reference for the
latter to South East Asia). In principle appointments can be made at
any level, depending on experience. However, we are more interested in
making appointments which are initially for a three year period.
Details as regards applications can be obtained by email
PERSDEPT@NUS.SG
Appointments are for 1995-96.
-- PHILIPS: Join the Speech Recognition Team at Philips. Philips is
entering a new stage after a restructuring phase, and is now ready to
identify and exploit new chances of growth. This yields excellent
opportunities for young, creative, and motivated colleagues wishing to
take up responsibility soon. Participate actively in building the
bright future of our company. Lay the basis for your career with
Philips! The Philips Research Laboratory in Aachen, Germany, wishes
to recruit Electrical Engineers, Computer Scientists, Physicists, and
Mathematicians with an excellent masters or doctoral degree for our
research projects in the field of automatic speech recognition and
application development, especially in the areas of acoustic modelling
and system design. If you like to work in a young and creative team,
please send your application including a CV (on paper) to
Philips GmbH Forschungslaboratorien
Personal- und Sozialwesen
Weisshausstr. 2
52066 Aachen
Germany
-- Memorial University of Newfoundland: Position Announcement Term
Appointments (8 & 12 months). The Linguistics Department, Memorial
University of Newfoundland, is seeking to make two term appointments,
effective 1 September 1995, subject to budgetary approval. One
appointment is an eight-month teaching term appointment at the rank of
Lecturer; the other is a twelve month regular term appointment.
Qualifications for both positions: Ph.D. in Linguistics and a
demonstrated record of effective teaching and research publications.
Duties to include teaching a variety of linguistics courses at the
undergraduate and graduate levels as well as research guidance. The
department anticipates that one of the two postitions will be in
syntax. Applicants should indicate whether they are willing to be
considered for both positions. Deadline for receipt of applications:
30 April 1995. In accordance with Canadian immigration regulations,
this advertisement is directed to Canadian citizens and permanent
residents of Canada. Memorial University is committed to employment
equity. Please arrange to send a curriculum vitae, a letter of
application and supporting documents, and letters from three referees,
to
Dr. J. Black, Head
Department of Linguistics
Memorial University of Newfoundland
ST. JOHN'S, NF, A1B 3X9, Canada
-- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS: The English as a Second Language
Program has possible openings for part-time lecturer positions in
Fall, Winter and Spring quarters, 1995/96. (Contingent upon funding).
M.A. in TESL, TEFL, Linguistics or English and experience teaching
composition at the post-secondary level preferred. Anticipated
courses available: Linguistics 20 (Oral English for Undergraduate ESL
Students), Linguistics 21 (Introduction to Reading and Composition in
ESL), Linguistics 22 (Reading and Composition in ESL), Linguistics 23
(Advanced Reading and Writing in ESL), Linguistics 25 (English for
International Students), Linguistics 26 (Graduate ESL Writing) and
Linguistics 391 (Oral English for ESL Students). Dependent upon
candidate's training and experience. Review of applications will
begin on May 1, 1995 and the positions will remain open until filled.
Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, and list of references
to
ESL Search Committee
English as a Second Language
Linguistics Program
University of California
Davis, CA 95616-8625
-- UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA (Twin Cities Campus): The Program in
Linguistics of the Institute of Linguistics and Asian and Slavic
Languages and Literatures (ILASLL) at the University of Minnesota
invites applications for a full-time temporary (non-tenure track)
position for a specialist in syntactic theory (any leading framework)
at the Assistant Professor level for the 1995-96 academic year. The
position load will be five courses over three quarters, beginning 16
September 1995. Specific teaching responsibilities include a
two-quarter introductory sequence in syntax; an undergraduate
introduction to linguistics; one graduate seminar in the syntax on a
topic of choice; and a second graduate course in an area of choice
(morphological or phonological theory, semantics/pragmatics, or
historical linguistics being preferred). Other responsibilities
include maintaining research activities, advising of graduate
students, and service on departmental committees. Essential
qualifications include the Ph.D. in Linguistics and university-level
teaching experience; applicants with scholarly publications and/or
presentations are preferred. The Linguistics program at the Twin
Cities campus of the University of Minnesota offers the B.A., M.A.,
and Ph.D. degrees in linguistics and maintains strong ties to graduate
programs and research centers in cognitive science, communication
disorders, and language acquisition. Applicants should send a resume,
letter of application describing current research and teaching
interests, and three letters of reference to
Chair, Linguistics Search Committee
Program in Linguistics, ILASLL
192 Klaeber Court
University of Minnesota
320 - 16th Avenue SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
All materials must be received by 14 April l995. Further information
can be obtained by letter to the above address or e-mail directed to
bdowning@maroon.tc.umn.edu. The University of Minnesota is committed
to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its
programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color,
creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status,
disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual
orientation.
-- CUNY: Queens College, School of Education, anticipates an opening
for tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professor in Teaching English
(TESOL) starting September 1995, subject to financial ability.
(Closing date: 5/16/95) Duties: To teach undergraduate and graduate
courses in teaching ESL through content areas such as Social Studies,
Mathematics and Science; advise and supervise ESL student teachers for
elementary, middle schools and high schools; participate in program
develop of a K-12 state approved certification program; engage in
research; and serve the School of Education, the College, and
community. Qualifications: Doctorate in ESL required; classroom
experience in teaching language minority students; and native fluency
in a second language. For assistant professor, commitment to a defined
research agenda; for associate professor, evidence of achievement in
research. Send curriculum vitae and three letters of reference to
Dean Roland K. Yoshida
School of Education
Queens College -- CUNY
Flushing, NY 11367-1597
(REDUNDANCY NOTICE: For fuller listings of these and other jobs, don't
forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the file
'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
^/^/^/ INSTA-PRIZE \^\^\^
THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT: Deep in a tropical jungle, there is a
hospital where three surgeons-- Smith, Jones, and Livingstone-- are on
staff. The local tribal leader is suspected of having a rare, highly
contagious infection. The three surgeons must operate on him, one at
a time. To complicate matters, any one of the three doctors may have
caught the infection while examining him. While preparing for the
surgery, Nurse Kleene ran in and announced that the hospital had only
two pairs of sterile gloves left-- one blue and one white pair.
Dr Smith suggested a solution: 'I'll wear both pairs of
gloves, the blue on top of the white. One side of each pair might get
infected, but each pair would still have one side that remains
sterile. Then Dr Jones can wear the blue pair, sterile side in, while
he operates, and finally Dr Livingstone can wear the white pair,
sterile side in. None of us will run the risk of catching the disease
from the chief or each other.'
Nurse Kleene spoke up. 'That's fine for you doctors, but what
about the chief? If he's not infected already, but one of you is, he
will catch the disease.'
The surgeons were flabbergasted. It seemed impossible to
proceed, but a moment later Nurse Kleene had a solution. What was it?
Solution to HOW MANY MORE SIGNS: I found eleven solutions, thus:
123 - 45 - 67 + 89 = 100 123 + 4 - 5 + 67 - 89 = 100
123 + 45 - 67 + 8 - 9 = 100 123 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 + 8 - 9 = 100
12 - 3 - 4 + 5 - 6 + 7 + 89 = 100 12 + 3 + 4 + 5 - 6 - 7 + 89 = 100
12 + 3 - 4 + 5 + 67 + 8 + 9 = 100 1 + 23 - 4 + 56 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 100
1 + 23 - 4 + 5 + 6 + 78 - 9 = 100 1 + 2 + 34 - 5 + 67 - 8 + 9 = 100
1 + 2 + 3 - 4 + 5 + 6 + 78 + 9 = 100
and one more if you allow a negative sign in front of the first
number: -1 + 2 - 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 78 + 9 = 100
So, if there are any other solutions, I would like to know about it...
\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/
^\^\^\ CONSERVE DISK SPACE /^/^/^
So you may delete your copy after you've read it (or better yet,
before you've read it), the Sesquipedalian Weekly Herald is stored
online at Stanford (in directory /user/linguistics/Sesquip/93-94), and
at Berkeley (in the directory /usr/pub.) The most current issue of
the Herald can be found by typing 'help quip'.
Neither Stanford University nor the Linguistics Department, nor any of
their employees, makes any warranty, whatsoever, implied, or assumes
any legal liability or responsibility regarding any information,
disclosed, in this publication, or represents that its use would not
infringe privately owned rights. No specific reference constitutes or
implies endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Stanford
University or the Linguistics Department, or their employees. Any
similarity to actual linguists, living or dead, is purely
coincidental. The views and opinions expressed herein do not
necessarily reflect those of Stanford University or the Linguistics
Department, or their employees, and shall not be used for advertising
or product endorsement purposes.
Patent #17654716 (after 6 pm. #17654727)
/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\^/^\