Do You Support Lowering
the Drinking Age?

I was simply stunned to read about a news report a couple of days ago, that some nuts who happen to be US college presidents and chancellors, and who belong to a group called Amethyst Initiative, have actually proposed to the US law makers to lower the national drinking age from 21 years to 18 years.

As soon as I read the report my blood started boiling. I was going to head straight to my online diary to write a piece about it, blasting these college presidents for their stupidity. But I had to control myself because I figured that I was so angry, if I wrote right then my piece would be full of all kinds of profanities which is certainly not desirable, though I still want to call those college presidents at least SOB’s.

The college presidents are supposed to be responsible people. They are shaping the future of the country by correctly shaping our college going young generation and guiding them to the right direction.

Underage drinking, binge drinking, drinking and driving, these are known problems in our American society, especially amongst students. To stop young people from drinking, the legislators have clearly specified the minimum drinking age as 21 years in the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Obviously, young college students break the law all the time and indulge in drinking, often binge drinking. It is upto the colleges and universities to enforce the law, and punish those who break the law. This policing is not easy. It takes a lot of initiative, man-power, and money to keep things the way it should be. Obviously the college presidents are seeking the easy way out. Since most college students are at least 18 years, the college presidents think if they can lower the drinking age to 18, there will be no problem with the law if the college students drink. They are clearly trying to avoid their responsibilities of enforcing the law. (This will probably motivate the high school principals to demand that legal drinking age should be lowered to 16 years!)

I hope the college presidents who signed this petition of lowering the drinking age, do not have children of their own who are under 21. Because if they do, there is a good chance that they will lose their children in car crashes due to drinking and driving, if their petition is approved.

I know many young people, who might read this piece, will curse me, shower profanity at me. I don’t care. If it were left to me, I would have raised the drinking age to 30 years. Nobody should be allowed to drink until he/she is matured, because responsibility comes only with maturity. And in my opinion maturity does not really come until one is at least 30.

I also know that the above opinion of mine is too strict and most people will not agree with me. And since I shall never be the deciding authority, I am willing to adhere to the current law – you have to be at least 21 to drink. But 18? No way!

Underage drinking is irresponsible, it is against the law, it is a crime, and it often results in fatality. Filing for officially lowering the drinking age is also equally irresponsible. No right thinking person should support it.

For the record, the initative has been criticized by several groups and government and industry officials, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Mothers Against Drunk Driving said in a press release that lowering the drinking age would result in greater numbers of fatal automobile accidents, and that the presidents are "misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem." I cannot agree more with MADD.

 Cuil is Not Cool

The search engine called Cuil (pronounced cool) is not cool at all. The coolness is only in its name. It is not hot either. In one word, it is a disappointment, at least so far.

Cuil made its appearance to public on July 28. There was much hype in the press at the time of its launching. The reports said Cuil, headed by Tom Costello, Anna Patterson et al (former Google employees), is likely to beat Google and be the leader in search engine business soon. Cuil is advertised to have 120 billion Web pages in its index. Cuil itself says its mission is to index all, not some or most, of the Web pages that are out there. It boasts of its new and different kind of technology with which it will be possible for them to do so and do so economically.

As a Webmaster and regular user of search engines (mostly Google), I have a bad user experience with Cuil so far. The following are just some of my unfavorable experiences with Cuil:

1. When searching in Cuil using the same search words/phrases as I used in Google, I could not find at all the Web pages which appeared in Google’s first page of search results.

2. For a search term, Cuil often returns the same Web page(s) on consecutive pages of its search results, meaning it repeats the same info on different pages of search results. It is really irritating.

3. Cuil often puts a small picture next to a site’s name on its search results pages. Cuil claims that it finds a relevant picture from the site concerned and puts that in its results page(s). Not true. Often, a totally irrelevant picture is shown which does not even exist in that site.

4. If after trying several different keywords/keyphrases, and double checking spellings etc, you still cannot find the site you are looking for (and which you know exists, because Google can correctly point to it), Cuil gives you an option of reporting it to them via e-mail at noresults@cuil.com. I have already reported at least a half a dozen times of missing sites from their database since July 28. The sites are still not listed in Cuil’s search results!

5. Cuil says, “If you would like Cuil to crawl your site and have it included in our index, please let us know. Be sure to include the URL you’d like us to index in your email.” I have already contacted them several times about this since the time they came into business. I am sorry to say, I have had no luck so far.

6. New Web pages are being born everyday in big numbers. So one would expect that a search engine with a mission to index the whole Worldwide Web and not only a part of it, will have more and more Web pages listed in their index everyday. In other words, their index should have larger number of Web pages everyday. Right? Probably not. If I am not mistaken, I am seeing the same number below its search box from Day 1. It says, “Search 121,617,892,992 web pages”. This number is not increasing!

7. Another drawback of Cuil is no provision for exclusive “image search”. Google is way better in this department.

I don’t know what will happen in future. But for now, I am going to stick with Google. And I don’t think Google needs to worry much about the search engine Cuil created by defectors from their company. Cuil is not a threat to Google - at least it won't be anytime soon.

 India’s Independence Day

India became independent from the British rule on August 15, 1947. So today is India’s 61^st Independence Day.

India already celebrated its 61^st Independence Day several hours ago, because of the time difference between India and USA – where I live. I was reading in the Indian online newspapers about the celebrations and festivities that took place in India today. The Prime Minister as usual “lectured” and talked about big things. But I was more interested in reading the feelings of the public. Thanks to the Internet. Feelings of Indians living in and out of India have filled the newspaper’s Comments section. As expected, opinions and views differ widely. But somebody has almost voiced my opinion about being an Indian, and the progress made by the country in the last 61 years. So I am quoting below his opinion:

Amit, Pune, says: Proud?? Of what?? Poor infrastructure, lack of planning, no vision, corrupt politicians, high inflation, being ruled like a monarchy by one family for decades? Or one gold medal that India won at Olympics after 61 years of independence? There is nothing to be proud of. Look at countries like China achieving and scaling great heights and emerging as a true super power. They have proved that in spite of communist rule, they are a far better nation and a highly advanced and superior nation than India. Where does India stand today? Answer:  No where!! The grave is already dug; it’s just a matter of time [when] we all fall into it.
[15 Aug 2008, 2105 hrs IST] – Quoted from The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/idayopinion/msid-3368191,curpg-4.cms)

Amit, I totally agree with you. Add to it India’s total failure of population control, India’s still prevalent caste system, dowry system, high percentage of illiteracy, lack of enough electricity to support even urban population, lack of clean drinking water for all villagers, etc. and you get the full picture. Three (or is it four?) Indians have been named in this year’s list of 10 richest people in the world. On the other hand, about 30% of Indians live on an income of less than one dollar a day. This is the progress India made in 61 years after Independence. And some people are actually proud to be Indian? I think these people are responsible for India’s plight and standing in the world today.

Shopping for colors

Food recommendations are changing - and they are changing rather rapidly. The way we look at health, nutrition, and foods are quite different today than what it was when I was a child - oh, about 60 years ago. In my childhood days, we used to hear recommendations like "Always eat a balanced diet." That meant make sure your diet contains a little bit of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals every day. It is quite easy to understand because we all know each of these nutrients are required by our body - carbohydrates for energy, proteins to build and repair body tissues, vitamins to build resistance against diseases, and so forth. For colon health the recommendation was to eat plenty of "roughage". And the fruit of choice used to be apples. We were always told, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away."

Then came the concept of Food Guide Pyramid (commonly known as the Food Pyramid), and we all know what that is. But that too was later changed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and My Pyramid was introduced to us.

Still later surfaced the slogan, "At least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits everyday." Separate recommendations about carbohydrates for energy, proteins for building/repairing tissues, fats for energy as well as to keep some vital organs in our body (like brain, heart, eyes, and lungs) work properly, vitamins to fight diseases, etc. vanished. The phrase "Balanced Diet" has now become obsolete. Vegetables and fruits are now the only things that seem to guarantee a disease free long life, eternal youth, ever-lasting beauty, etc. Staunch believers recommend 5 to 7 servings, lunatics and those who prefer not to shave their underarms recommend 9 servings of vegetables and fruits everyday!

We do not talk about meat, poultry, eggs, butter, and cheese anymore. Correction: we do talk about these, only to say, "No, no."

Fish, especially cold water fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, and albacore tuna, is now the food of choice after vegetables and fruits, to avoid heart attacks and to have longer lives. "Omega-3 Fatty Acids" is the buzzword now among doctors, nutritionists, and health fanatics. Omega-3 Fatty Acids are supposed to prevent/delay formation of plaque and blood clots in the arteries. Vegetarian? No problem. Eat plenty of flaxseeds, raw walnuts, and tofu. They have Omega-3 Fatty Acids too (though less in quantity than fish fat).

Apple has suddenly fallen behind in the fruit of choice race. Blueberry is now the clear winner. Because blueberries contain things we cannot spell, pronounce, or remember that prevent a long list of diseases including several forms of cancer. So go ahead, indulge in blueberries - just do not eat too many blueberry muffins (because the 'muffin' part of blueberry muffins is not good for you!)

Certain terminology have changed over the years. The word "roughage" has been replaced by the word "fiber" (for colon health, of course). Doctors do not say "carbohydrates" anymore (unless you are diabetic). They advise us to take "whole grains" (as opposed to polished or refined or processed grains). Few people talk about vitamins these days. Antioxidants is the buzzword. In my childhood days we used to hear about B vitamins or vitamin B-complex. These days people are concerned only about beta-carotene.

So what's next after vegetables, fruits, fish, and whole grains? Surprise! Colors are the latest fad.

Yes, colorful vegetables and fruits are way better than vegetables and fruits that are not so colorful. The reason? The colors of vegetables and fruits are due to the presence of a thing in them called phytochemicals. And phytochemicals are - you guessed right - things that can make you immortal, keep that fountain of youth flowing, etc. etc. And the more vivid are the colors, the better it is for you. Because deeper/brighter colors indicate presence of more phytochemicals. Scientists are claiming that they have found that these phytochemicals prevent/cure a whole gamut of diseases including - you are right again - various forms cancer.

So eat more of colorful vegetables, and eat them raw whenever possble. They not only look good on your plate, they are good for you. Try to create a rainbow on your salad plate. Eat orange, yellow, red, purple, green, blue, black, white - as many colors as you can buy from the Produce Department of your grocery store.

I am thinking of heading straight to the local Art Supply store. I think that will be easier for me to pick up a whole lot of different colors quickly. Not a good idea? How about a large bag of M&M's? Those are edible colors, and tasty too!

 Hazy, lazy days of summer

Grandkids enjoying dinner on the deck.
(The beer bottles are for the adults, of course.)

Self Portrait

Me as math teacher (early career)

 Harvard Yard Getting Ready
for Commencement

June 5 is Harvard's 357th Commencement (Convocation) Day. It always happens on the first Thursday of June. The venue is Tercentenary Theater, an open air theater on the footsteps of the Memorial Church across from the Widener Library where I work. The whole area is buzzing with activities, and starting to look very festive. J.K. Rowling, author of the world-renowned “Harry Potter” novels, will be the principal speaker this year.

I took the following pictures during my lunch break today. The first picture shows Widener Libary dressed up with Harvard's banner showing its VE RI TAS (meaning Truth) logo. The second and third pictures are of the Tercentenary Theater where the actual function will be held. Tercentenary Theater is directly across from Widener Library. The rest of the pictures show sitting arrangements of graduating students and guests, and Harvard's banners for its different Schools and Houses. The arrangements and decorations are not complete yet. The commencement is still two days away. The pictures will give you an idea of what the things will look like on June 5.

Harvard is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the country.  And its $35 billion endowment makes Harvard the richest university in USA. But did you know that of all the universities of America, Harvard produced the maximum number of billionaires? The most recent Forbes list says that of 469 American billionaires, 50 received at least one degree from Harvard. Stanford University which is No. 2 in rank, produced only 30 billionaires. Check out this interesting link about The Billionaire Universities. I read this intersting article in Yahoo Finance today. I thought you might find it interesting. You can also see many more recent pictures of Harvard University taken by me by clicking here.

We are lucky that we all work for Harvard. My family is associated with Harvard since 1982.

 My place of work

My office is in this building.
I have a big window.

I see this view from my window.

This statue is about 50 yards
away from my office.

The city Square is just 2 short blocks
away where this famous news kiosk stands.

Can anybody say where do I work? If you need some hints, click here.

 Delhi-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri Photos
Slideshow

 Old is gold

This is how we (me and my wife) looked in 1966.
(Many of you were not even born then.)
Sitting in the front row are my parents.