Why can't statisticians do statistics (on tv)?

I remember when the tv show "Numbers" first premiered and all of us "math nerds" got excited to be seeing mathematics on tv. Technically, I am more of a "stat nerd", so I was always a little suspicious of that show. I know posting about the inaccuracies of "Numbers" is a little late. That show seethed with the ego of a mathematician who thinks that they can work at an expert level in every field that has some basis in mathematics - without years of work and good collaborators showing them sub-discplines ins and outs. Statisticians, physicists, computer scientists, architects, biologists beware, if a mathematician wants to do research in your area, it will only take them a few days to be at the cutting edge, have working computer software, and publishing a paper in your area. I laughed at how infrequently the show actually used pure or applied mathematics to solve their problems. It was neat to see many neat scientific methods being employed and being smart respected on tv (all too rare as well), but the lack of accurate context for many of the ideas, the professor dating his student, and other things that either wouldn't or shouldn't happen in academia made me tire of the show pretty quickly.

In a recent episode of "Castle", that I was watching while recovering from a recent cold, the same stereotype was propagated. A woman with a PhD in applied mathematics was killed. Unfortunately, she was fitting statistical models for climate change. I am not saying you couldn't do this with an applied math background, but why can't applied mathematicians do applied math on tv and statisticians do statistics? The people doing this modeling often aren't trained in either mathematics or statistics, but that is a different issue. Why couldn't she have had a statistics PhD?

Being in academia, I frequently struggle with the portrayal of academia on tv. First, faculty members do not have their own classrooms. Some have meeting rooms in their suite of labs/offices, but classrooms are too high a priority to have someone control it all day as their office. Second, the story line involving faculty members dating students is overused. This is unethical behavior and almost never happens - it certainly never happens without ramifications. Third, we are all very busy and do not have time for adventures during the semester - we are just trying to survive our classes and grading and get a little research done. Fourth, there is a very distinct process for moving through the hierarchy from student to faculty member and the tenure process. You can not just jump from a no-where position with no research or teaching experience into a full faculty position on a whim. Some adjuncts/ affiliated faculty do have more varied backgrounds but that is never the way it works for full tenure-track positions. And saying that someone was hired as an adjunct - say what had to happen on "How I Met Your Mother", it is a little bit of a push to give the instructor the title of Professor. And teaching one class would not pay the bills in Bozeman, MT let alone New York. Students in the universities are confused about how the process works, probably some of this is because of how inaccurately academia is portrayed on the average tv show. Maybe the writers should ask someone who knows about it next time they try to write an "episode" that steps into a realm they are unfamiliar with.

My voice is my instrument

Every year or two, I seem to get a cold, keep teaching, and then lose my voice. I am going through one of these right now. When I think about the skills required to be a professor, I rarely list having a voice but it is pretty important. As a statistician, my research is collaborative. To help students with research, you need to talk about their progress. And, of course, to teach you need to be able to talk. I remember watching one of my high school science teachers struggle with long term vocal chord issues and it always is in the back of your mind. What would you do without a voice?

So I cancelled my classes for today. I had an idea of doing a silent teaching day (like a silent movie) and see how the students react to jestures and subtitles. Maybe using software that does text to speech to fill in some of the gaps that I could prepare in advance. Instead I just cancelled classes. For one class, I am providing them scanned copies of my notes to read and then they will have an easy quiz over the material. I would have done the quiz anyway, but this way I can make sure they got some comprehension out of reading it. The other class will just be getting a homework assignment to start working on. I will sort of make up that class later this week trying to meet with them about their projects outside of class.

I had gone a year without getting fully sick - probably the longest stretch of my life. I knew working with 50 undergrads would expose me to all kinds of evil. Last week when I first got sick, I just kept working. I had deadlines at the end of the week and managed to meet them. And earlier in the week hopped into an interesting NSF grant proposal and made some progress on work on another project. And had to write some new materials up for both classes. I managed all that but didn't make any progress on my grading pile.

But I did overdo it (especially on Thursday and Friday when I should have been resting) and am now suffering the ramifications of working too much. I haven't spoken above a whisper in three days and am almost getting used to the silence. Hopefully that silence will be short-lived.

70% recovered

I guess I should not be too surprised but I got a little busy during the semester. I actually felt like I was behind all semester. I think having construction going on at home, teaching a new class, and continuing the rehab process kept me from fully concentrating on "work" although quite a bit got done. The kitchen project is done, my rehab is pretty much done, and the class seemed to work out fine.

There are things that always remind me of the fun I had this summer and how I was generally lucky with my injury. One of my colleagues fell skiing and got to visit the same surgeon to have his ankle repaired. I have heard stories of broken legs leading to infections and eventually amputation and gotten quick glimpses into other people's similar but worse suffering. I saw someone at PT the last time I was there that had walking boots on both legs. Rehabing both legs at the same time or during the icy part of the year, while trying to teach, would be much worse than what I had to deal with. I was lucky to have my rupture during the summer and when Teresa had the flexibility to take care of me almost every day. No worrying about using crutches on ice and snow or having to lecture on crutches or even in a walking boot. And I am getting back to 100% or at least sort of close. I guess it is important to remember that even when things seem bad, there is always someone who has it worse.

As the fall rolled along, I started running. I have been slowly able to increase the frequency of running and pace. I had hoped to use cross-country skiing to complete my rehab, but the ski season has so far been spotty (the reports are that the snow is decent in the mountains but that isn't quite what I am looking for). I cross-country skied a couple of times up Sourdough during the fall semester, but discovered that I was really scared of falling. I am not the most brave skier normally but this was at another level of trepidation. On soft snow descending the slightly steep and wide trail was fine but that was my upper limit. Our in town snow has been poor this year. Once we get skiable snow in town, I will start skiing again.

But for now, I have been going to the gym. I have never liked gyms, but am enjoying what I can do there. I am now running a couple of miles around 10 minute mile pace. Then Teresa and I lift weights and do some stretching. It has been fun so far. In doing that, I have been able to really see my current limits. Past the six month point, I am still struggling to get my weaker leg to catch up with the stronger. After running, I tried to work both sides to exhaustion on a leg press sled with the same number of reps. The difference in weight settings was 50 versus 70. It really isn't a 70% difference because the real weight I was moving was heavier than that. But it is still a difference and the two sides don't look the same. I still have a dimple at the top of the incision. But my achilles is actually coming back to normal in size and shape. So now I just get to keep working.