After careful consideration, Brill has taken the initiative of designing a typeface. Named “the Brill”, the new typeface presents complete coverage of the Latin script with the full range of diacritics and linguistics (IPA) characters used to display any language from any period correctly, and Greek and Cyrillic are also covered. There are over 5,100 characters in total, some of which are combining characters, and by using these, myriads of other characters with diacritics can be generated. This indispensable tool for scholars is now freely available for non-commercial use. You can download the font package on brill.nl/brill-typeface after agreeing to the EndUser License Agreement. “The Brill” is available now in roman and italic styles, and bold and bold italic will be released at a later stage. The typeface contains all necessary punctuation marks and a wide assortment of symbols. It will be especially welcomed by humanities scholars quoting from texts in any language, ancient or modern.

“”The Brill” complies with all international and web standards, the most important of which is the Unicode Standard.”

John Hudson of Tiro Typeworks, well-known for his multilingual fonts, is “the Brill”‘s designer.

You can download the font on our website brill.nl/brill-typeface

 

“One can’t be de-baptized,” says Rev. Robert Kaslyn, dean of the School of Canon Law at the Catholic University of America.

Kaslyn says baptism changes one permanently before the church and God.

“One could refuse the grace offered by God, the grace offered by the sacrament, refuse to participate,” he says, “but we would believe the individual has still been marked for God through the sacrament, and that individual at any point could return to the church.”

I am sure my protestant and Catholic friends will debate this far more eloquently than I. If one can “refuse the grace offered by God” then what is the permanent change that Kaslyn believes in? Would this be the case for purgatory, that such an individual is now and forever “marked as one of Christ’s own forever” whether they like it or not? The benefit of baptism would be that they get eternity to “work out their salvation”? Or what? I am beginning to think that I really am more ignorant than I realized regarding the theology of baptism…

 

Dear Member:

This is a friendly reminder that the call for papers period for the 2012 International Meeting will end February 1, 2012. Remember to submit your proposals to the program units listed here. Please note the details about participation, registration, and membership for the meeting, which are available here.

The Universiteit van Amsterdam will host the meeting July 22-26.  SBL will organize this meeting in conjunction with the 2012 annual conference of the European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS) and the triennial joint meeting of the Oudtestamentish Werkgezelschap in Nederland en België (OTW) and the Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS). With delight the organizations herald this congress as a unique opportunity to advance biblical scholarship, to facilitate broad and open dialogue, and to demonstrate the strength of global collegiality.

 

Joseph Vincent Paterno

1926-2012

 

This has been an emotional weekend for everyone here in the Valley. Former PSU player, current Oakland Raider, and Schreyer Scholar Stefen Wisniewski spoke eloquently at the vigil last night about the humanity of Coach Paterno, that he was, like all of us, a human who did things requiring forgiveness and redemption, but he was also a man who provided incredibly positive influence in the lives of thousands.

 

The circumstances of the last few months are not what anyone would have wanted, but I do not believe they will define his career and certainly not his life. Coach often said he lived a full, happy life doing what he loved best with a wonderful family and friends. He transformed the lives of thousands of young men for the better. He reminded us all to be gracious in defeat and when we are successful, to act like we have been there before and will be there again. That, I am convinced, will be his legacy.

At Mr. Schreyer’s funeral Joe said Bill was like a brother to him and that his passing marked the end of a great era. I am sure Mr. Schreyer would say the same.

This evening’s 9 pm mass in the worship hall at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center will be offered for Mr. Schreyer and I am sure Coach Paterno will be remembered as well.

“May light perpetual shine upon him.”

Joe Paterno 1926-2012

 

First, I do not “take off” points. You earn them. The difference is not merely rhetorical, nor is it trivial. In other words, you start with zero points and earn your way to a grade. You earn a grade in (say) Econ 100 for demonstrating that you have gained a degree of competence in economics ranging from being able to articulate the basic principles (enough to earn a C) to mastery and the ability to apply these principles to day-to-day affairs (which will earn an A). I’ve hurt my own grades before by confusing my own incompetence with competence and my own (bare) competence with mastery, so trust me: I’ve been there, and I understand.

…In this light, consider this: the fact that you “don’t understand” why you didn’t earn full points for a particular question might itself help explain why you didn’t earn full points. Don’t take this personally or interpret it as a sneer. See it as a learning opportunity. If you understood the material-and do note that there is a large difference between really understanding the material and being able to reproduce a graph or definition you might remember from class-you would have answered the question flawlessly. I recommend (as I have recommended to many others) that you go back, take another crack at it, and see if you can find where you have gone wrong. Then bring it by my office, and we will talk.

Then the responses, particularly to the second paragraph I shared (but do read the whole thing).

[Username] room101  1 day ago

“In this light, consider this: the fact that you “don’t understand” why you didn’t earn full points for a particular question might itself help explain why you didn’t earn full points.”

This is absurd. The student doesn’t understand why she didn’t earn full points and she is asking … but the teacher refuses to tell her why. She should just know.

No, she shouldn’t. She is a student. A part of your job as a teacher is to teach.

1. If I ask why I got 90 instead of 100 or 80 instead of 100, it is because I want to do better in the future. If you can’t be bothered to explain why I missed points, it indicates one or more of a few things:

2. You don’t care if I understand the material. Otherwise, you would at least say, “To understand the correct answer, review ch. 11.”

3. You don’t care if I do better in the future. Otherwise, you say, “In my essays, I am looking for students to use more primary sources.”

4. Your grading system is completely subjective and based on your feelings. You have no idea why you gave me a 93 rather than 100.

You are hoping I don’t continue asking you because you can’t be bothered to teach.

I go through this with most teachers. I’m a 4.0. When a teacher gives me a 93% on an essay, with no comment except “Excellent” I go up to her after class and say, “Thank you so much for taking the time to review my work. I am happy with my grade and not complaining, but I’m wondering what I could do in the future to earn a full 100.”

Most times, teachers do not tell me. But going forward, they give higher grades (they realize I will ask why they arbitrarily marked me down and they realize they have no explanation).

 

I am protesting SOPA and PIPA not because I think that information wants to be free (in fact, I spoke with Information and it hates being personified and has no volition or wishes) or that I think stealing others’ works is acceptable in any sense. Rather the acts as currently written are too vague, do not give opportunity for due process, and will do nothing to stop piracy, the intended goal of the acts. Pirates Thieves will find a way around the restrictions and the only ones affected will be the average user like you and me.

So if this sort of activism annoys you, relax. It will all be back to normal tomorrow and you can blissfully ignore the issue again. Until you can’t.

 

1. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) | Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.