The AP and the IRS

For the first time I am worried about taxes. My concern is not that the Internal Revenue Service will audit me or place a lien on my ramen stash. My concern is that years from now the press will find that I entered the sales tax on Amazon purchases on the wrong line and therefore conclude that I’m unqualified to advise the government on economic matters. My 1098-T form is no morass of complexity, but the numbers on it are counterintuitive. If my university has erred, the IRS probably would understand, but recent nomination controversy shows no tax issue is too obscure for public judgment. One of Timothy Geitner’s main indiscretion was failure to pay the employer’s portion of his Social Security Tax when the IMF classified him as a contractor. As an inveterate skimmer of Human Resources memoranda, I can cast no blame. The Associated Press, however, quoted critics questioning his competence because of this.

I remember one of my friends admitting that in elementary school she assumed mathematicians add and subtract really big numbers all day. A similar misconception seems at the root of why many link mastery of tax trivia with the ability to manage the Treasury Department. Fearing that those around me are unwilling to differentiate accounting and IO theory, I likely always will self-prepare my taxes lest I lose credibility with my neighbors. Are other fields subject to similar expectations? Are astronomers expected to recite mythological stories about the constellations? Are landscape architects shamed into mowing their own lawns? Are historians expected to know their genealogy?

More New Staff

Our younger brother will soon join us here at Temiandu Kuera, so a full generation of us will be writing. It will be like the Romney Five Brothers Blog, except we’ve dispatched ourselves to tier 1 research universities instead of early primary states and our father is not squandering millions on attack ads. Still, we'll share childhood stories and try to convince the world of our family’s honor.

By way of introduction, SA is now an astronomy undergrad. In high school, he was a Salutatorian, an All-Conference tennis player, and a national medalist in science competitions. Also, his Cantonese is mightily impressive for someone of his ethnicity.

Cabinet Diversity

Save one New Mexico governor (edited to add: and one former South Dakota Senator), it appears all of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet selections will be confirmed. The Cabinet is more racially diverse than the United States as a whole and far more diverse than the Senate that confirms it, but by some measures not as racially diverse as past Cabinets.

At least two advantages have led recent Presidents to consider demographics in the appointments. First, having a representative in the Cabinet helps a constituency to feel included in the government and in the nation. Second, a diversity of individuals might give rise to a diversity of ideas, something valuable to large organizations solving new problems.

For the latter purpose, I think educational backgrounds and work experiences are the most relevant forms of diversity. In a government full of JDs, among the Cabinet nominees are recipients of masters’ degrees in East Asian studies and international economics, English, architecture, and public administration. Two nominees have (non-jurisprudence) doctoral degrees: Robert Gates in Russian history and Stephen Chu in physics. Three nominees finished with BAs. The nominees’ work experiences are varied, and sometimes quixotic. Timothy Geithner has worked at the Treasury Department, the IMF, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Arne Duncan played professional basketball in Australia before becoming the head of the Chicago Public Schools. Eric Shinseki was a general in the Army and Steven Chu a researcher at Bell Labs and Stanford. (Gen. Shinseki has a Purple Heart, Dr. Chu a Nobel Prize.) Ken Salazar has a law degree from Michigan, but also owned a Dairy Queen and a ranch. Senators and governors are overrepresented, but other nominees are new to government.

The Cabinet lacks a Southerner, a MBA recipient, a naturalized citizen, a Native American, a male librarian, a Libertarian, and proponents of countless perspectives. Still, if this pattern of real diversity extends into sub-Cabinet positions, the federal government could become an innovative and interesting workplace.

Sociologists win this time...

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday on the latest occupational ratings. The methodology included many subjective indices weighted by arbitrary coefficients. Average salary was an important factor and frequency of bending over also seemed important to CareerCast rankers. We here at Temiandu Kuera were nevertheless amused by the results: Sociologist rated 8th out of the 200 jobs ranked. Economist placed 11th, weighed down by a high Stress score. (Peculiarities in the work environment were not considered.) Astronomer was back at number 20, still in the top decile but below both Parole Officer (#14) and Paralegal Assistant (#17).

Scholarly occupations rated highly with Mathematician at #1, Biologist at #4, Historian at #7, and Sociologist, Economist, Philosopher, and Physicist all in the top 15. Academics rarely lift heavy objects and usually enjoy a safe work environment despite how toxic dry erase markers are. To those at CareerCast that seems like paradise.

Year in Review: 2008

Wrote thesis.
Cried.
Finished thesis.
Cried.
Defended thesis.
(Note-- no crying here)
Moved.
Cried.
Started another grad program.
(Results pending)

Trivial Pursuit

Question (difficulty level: hard): Which South American country speaks and spends Guarani?

Oh, the irony.

Four Ambitious New Year’s Resolutions

1. Go running before leaving for campus in the morning.
2. Earn the chili pepper on RateMyProfessors.com.
3. Compliment my classmates daily.
4. Resist whispering “Heresy!” when I hear false doctrine in church.