Gwyneth Paltrow and the Missing Yearbook

Monday, July 23, 2018

I closed last week defending the single-test admission policy for Stuyvesant High School, which also applies to two other schools.  Because of questions raised in a New York Times article about the validity of the test, I said that I want the "right" test, but I was not ready to substitute a more holistic selection method.  America's Favorite Epidemiologist, far more knowledgeable about statistics and test design than I, maintains that there is no "right" test, results will skew whether by design or not.

While not in the field of high school or college admissions, I have had very successful experience with a single gateway test.  Back in 1968, I applied for a job as a computer programmer trainee at one of the industry giants upon the recommendation of a dear friend employed there.  The first step was an aptitude test designed by Science Research Associates (SRA), a publisher of educational materials.  At the time, IBM owned SRA, although it was not the company that I was interviewing with.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Research_Associates

I aced the test I later learned, and was invited to interview with the manager of the company's New York office, a big cheese.  Not only was he a big cheese, he was a straight arrow and my test score wasn't sufficient to overcome my non-corporate background (and the hint of non-corporate values), although I was smart enough to wear a blue suit, white shirt and tie.  Ironically, a large number of the personnel of the company's New York office were about to defect to a newly-formed competitor and I was invited to join them, partly as a rebuke to Mr. Cheese-Arrow and partly in recognition of my raw aptitude. 

I did very well at this new venture and, within one year, I was given responsibility for hiring new programmers in New York and later in Los Angeles.  The hardware and software that we worked with was unique, not in the mold of the dominant IBM architecture.  Identifying programmers likely to succeed proved elusive.  Success at other companies with other hardware and software did not readily translate to us.

Once in charge, I turned to the SRA test that had kick-started my career, in spite of the detour.  A coherent cover letter and a résumé not written on a brown paper bag were sufficient to receive my invitation to take the SRA test.  I set no degree or technical requirements.  I tested musicians, factory workers, teachers of many different subjects, office workers and the unemployed (I was unemployed for five months before getting the job).  90th percentile and I loved you. 

It would be uncharacteristically immodest of me to tell you how well my reconstituted programming staff did, hired on the basis of one test.  However, my view on Stuyvesant admissions relies upon more than chauvinism.
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Over time, I have presented different sets of facts and figures on real estate, typically the most and least expensive locations and the relationship between earnings and the cost of occupancy.  A new survey, however, looks at space as the variable.  How much space does $200,000 buy you in major American markets?   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/realestate/how-many-square-feet-does-200000-buy-you.html

Where the San Francisco Bay Area and California usually top these real estate lists, this analysis elevates (??) the Holy Land.  We New Yorkers can't even expect to get a bang for our buck when purchasing real estate.  It's more like a pathetic whimper when $200,000 buys you 126 square feet of Manhattan residential property.  That's $1,587 per square foot, making this page worth some good bucks. 

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

We are thinking of Nate and Meredith today.
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I went downtown to eat lunch today, guided by Grub Street's list of lower East Side and East Village Chinese restaurants.  http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/07/the-best-cheap-eats-in-the-east-villages-chinatown-north.html

I chose Han Dynasty, 90 Third Avenue.  While most of these downtown joints are standalone, Han Dynasty is one of 3 local outlets, with another half dozen in the Philadelphia area.  I had been to the Upper West Side restaurant, 215 West 85th Street, and had been impressed by the grand setting, apparently once a ballroom, and the very spicy food.  By contrast, the downtown physical premises were a dump.  There were round tables, square tables and rectangular tables, all in a very dark brown finish.  Lighting was random, a string of bulbs here, a fixture there.  A bar ran along one wall, looking left over from a 1930s Warner Bros. film.

Service was attentive; an antique-style cast iron tea pot and a glass of water came promptly.  The food was good; I ordered cold sesame noodles ($7.95) and scallion beef ($11.95 as a lunch special, $18.95 as a regular main course).  The noodles were slightly sweet and slightly hot.  The portion was generous, unlike the beef, stir fried with oyster sauce, onions, green peppers, red peppers and scallions, the size scaled down with the price.  Together, I had plenty to eat, not consciously avoiding some of the really hot and spicy items on the menu, which are rated 1 to 10, skipping the use of those red peppers on the side.  

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

"I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here."  The schmatte business's loss is America's gain.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

I imagine that one might still like Gwyneth Paltrow the actress even after reading about Gwyneth Paltrow the brand.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/164d6a97f346cf49?compose=164d8197fc2267d2

Her fiancé is named Brad Falchuk, a piece of information I probably could have learned from the cover of magazines stacked at the Rite-Aid checkout counter, instead of wading through the goop of the long feature story in The New York Times.  Falchuk.  Odd name.  Ken Falchuk?  Stuyvesant?  Pull out Indicator 1958, the Stuyvesant yearbook; there he is.  At first, I thought that Ken Falchuk was in my homeroom, but he didn't sign my yearbook.  Everybody in my homeroom signed my yearbook, even Gary Medows, who had just changed his name from Medzowitz, taking aim at a good medical school.  

Google: "Dr. Kenneth H. Falchuk, of Newton, MA, peacefully passed away on May 3, 2018, . . . attended Stuyvesant High School, Dartmouth college and Harvard Medical School."  The obituary said that he was devoted to, among others, "his son Brad and his fiancé Gwyneth."  Condolences to the family. 

Which brings me to my everlasting animosity towards Andrew L. and Adam G., president and vice president, respectively, of Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School's Student Bar Association, 2000-2001.  Besides sponsoring frequent drinking parties, the SBA was responsible for production of the yearbook, such a convenient way to confirm or augment memories.  But, not for the Cardozo Class of 2001.  Andrew and Adam must have lingered at one of their beer busts too long, because no yearbook was ever published for us.  Pictures were taken, bios were submitted, but nothing surfaced.  Nada!  Rien!!  Bupkis!!!  

After graduation, I worked for about 14 years in the New York State court system, meeting dozens of lawyers weekly in several courtrooms.  Occasionally, I was greeted with more than a polite nod (handshakes, air kisses and bro hugs were out of line), leaving me wondering if I am supposed to know this person from before.  Where's my damn yearbook?

Friday, July 27, 2018

The New York Times really serves up a treat for us political junkies with a report on the 2016 presidential election at the precinct level.  Previously, the tightest focus was at the county level.  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/25/upshot/precinct-map-highlights.html 

This uncovers some surprising information.  "More than one in five voters lived in a precinct where 80 percent of the two-party vote went to Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton."  Of particular note to our Jewish friends: "Neighborhoods like Borough Park, [Brooklyn] home to one of the largest Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish populations in the United States, were about as red as precincts in the rural white South."  Must be the Ivanka Effect.

Now, you can ask for the returns by local address, your own, your in-laws, your childhood home (you've come a long way, baby).   https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/26/upshot/voting-precinct-bubbles-of-your-life.html  

. . .

I continued my tour of lower East Side/East Village Chinese restaurants at Dun Huang, 300 East 12th Street.  Like Han Dynasty, it has branches uptown and at other locations.  Unlike Han Dynasty, the physical premises were quite attractive.  The double storefront was all glass, floor to ceiling, and mirrors covered some interior walls, making for a very bright interior.  The white wallpaper had pictures of animals and vegetables, the same figures cut out and pasted on the mirrored surfaces.  The dozen large tables easily seated six people; a picture of a gargantuan feast was printed on their wooden surface.  

However, almost no one was taking advantage of this colorful setting.  I was the only customer just before one o'clock; our total number never exceeded six.  A four-day closure for repairs may have kept people away and it left Dun Huang unable to serve some of the dishes on its menu for lack of ingredients.  The relatively short menu features a half dozen noodle dishes ($11-14), a half dozen dozen main courses of fish, beef, lamb and mutton ($15-34) and a variety of small dishes, hot and cold ($6-9).  At dinner, grilled animal and vegetable skewers are added ($2.50-8.50).

I ordered lamb rice pilaf ($15), described inaccurately as "covered in a fragrant sheen of fat, onion, raisin and carrot."  It really resembled a spicy lamb biryani, which was OK because I'm a fusion guy.  I should have ordered the noodles, though.