Why is this woman smiling?

When I first came to work at MCC, I encountered a strange and delightful creature I'd never been exposed to before: the math professor. These people turned any gathering into a wild and crazy math-fest. Oddest of all, they obviously loved math; they ate, drank and slept it. Two of these rare animals--faculty member Laurel Clifford and Academic Chair Eric Aurand, a math Ph.D.--shared some of this crazy-crazy-math-love with about three dozen school teachers recently when they facilitated a professional development training workshop. Many of the teachers were as math-o-phobic as I am, having never taken a college-level math course. I have no doubt they came out of the week-long workshop not only knowing more about math but also appreciating something of its beauty. You can read more about the training on the Mohave Wire.

Thanks for your patience

It's four weeks until the start of the fall semester and the rush is on. I dropped by our Student Services area earlier this morning and it was jam-packed. If there was an available chair, it was an endangered species. The sight of lots of people registering for classes is a beautiful one to us, but it may not be that welcomed by our customers (a.k.a new and returing students). I'm happy to report everyone seemed mellow and we appreciate their patience. Thanks, everybody.

Officially summer

In case folks haven't noticed, it's hot. Really hot at last. And the humidity is starting to creep up, signalling the approach of the dreaded monsoon season. (When it's 113 degrees, even 20-percent humidity is uncomfortable and 35-percent humidity is downright unbearable.) Sounds like a good time to get out of town, which is what a lot of people around here are doing, including me. I'm headed out on a 10-day vacation in the mountains in the extreme southwest corner of the state. It's supposed to be in the mid-80s down there, so I'd better take a sweater.

Go ahead, have some fun

After the heavy information contained in my last post, I feel like lightening the mood and having some fun, especially heading into the long Fourth of July weekend. For many people Lake Havasu is synonymous with fun, and it's quite a sight to see the way people let their hair down, shall we say, on a summer holiday weekend. The lake is a great recruiting tool for me -- thus the title of this blog -- as long as students remember the time will come to get out of the water, pop a couple aspirin, smear aloe on the sunburn and hit the books. But for now Happy Birthday, America and Happy Party, Havasu. See you July 6, when on-campus registration for fall classes begins.