Talking about math...

Here in Boston our public radio station wbur WBUR Boston I listen to them during the day and always enjoy the conversations, and information I get from the station. At 3:00pm they have an hour long show on local issues, called Radio Boston. Today's show was about the need to increase the amount of math taught in local schools . From the required two years to four years. Many people called in to say four years was to much, me I called in to say four years was not enough.

Just before I got on the air the host of the show Meghna Chakrabarti was talking to a high school student, who felt even two years was more than he needed. He was taking a course called "Business Math" to fill his math requirement. He said "when am I going to need math in my daily life. So when I started talking the first thing I said was "Hang on a second I just have to use the quadratic equation and put on my eye glasses!" She tried to say the quadratic equation and could not remember it! I giggled and said my piece, and the professor being interviewed at the station told her what it was. And, to be honest I can no longer do the equation in my head, I need to put pencil to paper. SIGH....

Well WBUR is doing it's fund raising drive, and for the next few station breaks everyone was teasing her, not knowing the formula and wondering how good her math skills were. I felt so bad that she was being teased, because I felt at fault. Had I not been a bit of a wise ass, she would not have been made to look foolish.

She has a twitter account, and I sent her a tweet telling her I was sorry for putting her on the spot like that my twitter feed She wrote back and told me that her not knowing the formula actually proved my point that it was important to teach and make the teaching stick. I felt a lot better. I sent her a message back letting her know that I have a few holes in my education as well. I said that in history or literature I am quite sure she knows far more than I do.

Only me people, only me!

I got my parking pass for the garage, my car is now parked in secure parking under the building. It will make me feel a lot safer coming home late at night.