Telephone Interview and Dinner

The telephone interview went well with Kent State University. It was weird speaking to five people at once on the telephone, but I quickly got used to it. Before the interview started, I kept telling myself not to say anything ‘funny’ since it’s harder to tell jokes on the phone. Well, the interview began by everyone introducing themselves, with one person mentioning she wasn’t from the math department. After she said this, I immediately replied “Oh don’t worry, I won’t hold that against you.” Thank God everyone laughed. It would have been down-hill from there if there was some awkward silence.

Every time I mentioned to someone in the department that I was interviewing Kent State, they always said “Wasn’t there a shooting there in the 70’s?.” Apparently, one of Kent State’s claim to fame was as an incident involving the National Guard shooting a few students during a protest (see article). It caused a big, nationwide uproar among campuses in the US. Naomi and Lubkin got into an argument about how big the incident was. I left the math lounge with Naomi saying that every university’s final exam schedule was affected, and Lubkin disagreeing by saying he didn’t reschedule his final exam at that time.

I spent a week organizing a departmental dinner which happened yesterday. I felt that the graduate students, in particular the newer ones, should occasionally meet and talk with the professors in an informal setting. On Monday night, the Indian restaurant Thali of India has a great dinner buffet. I invited all the grad students and professors to join me for the buffet. The gathering was very successful with about 25 people showing up. More would have come but the timing was not entirely optimal. Many thought it was a great idea, and a lot of people said the had fun afterwards. Maybe at the end of the semester, I’ll plan another departmental dinner where more people could make it.