Professor Pitney weighs in on Palin's resignation for NPR.
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Here's a part of the story that many commentaries have missed. Trig may need help for the rest of his life. To provide for it, Palin has to set aside a great deal of money. Right now she is a unique position to do so, as she can get top dollar in speaking fees. Whether or not this consideration drove her decision, expect her to focus on building financial security before launching a bid for office.
Pitney's right to think about Palin's decision in the context of her family, which has suffered tremendously by the lack of class displayed by the Lettermans and SNLs of the world. But somehow I see Palin looking more for a Mike Huckabee spot on Fox than for a presidential bid. Forgive me for bucking Republican wisdom, but I don't see her as a credible candidate in 2012 or ever, really. It's time to get on the bus for Mitt Romney, Republican leadership that exudes competence and hard-headed thinking.
In my view as a new member of curriculum committee, Claremont McKenna should really consider taking up Harvey Mudd Professor Arthur Benjamin's idea of making the switch from calculus to statistics as a general education requirement. Listen to his very brief (three minutes max) Ted talk about what he would do were he to be named czar of mathematics.
I think he misses a very important selling point. Insofar as I can tell, no one did any harm to our entire society through the misuse of calculus. If you need examples of the harm done with statistics, I suggest Freakonomics for you stat!
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