Author Archives: Robert Basil

Counter

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Robert Basil

I have had truly unpleasant interactions with people I’ve known for years – including with those in academia – during these Olympics. Their loathsome disdain for transgenderism made them attack a non-transgendered woman, a boxer from Algeria, in giddy displays … Continue reading →

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The speaking body

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Robert Basil

There has always been an oral-communication component in my upper-level business communications classes. I used to justify this to my students this way: In my own professional life, no matter how beautifully clear and researched the documents my clients pay … Continue reading →

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“Time is of the essence.”

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Robert Basil

This story is from the online news publication “Jolt: The Journal of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater” [in Washington State]: Starting Monday, June 17, Intercity Transit will cease posting rider alerts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).  This decision comes in response … Continue reading →

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Balance and scale

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Robert Basil
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ChatGPT and email

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Robert Basil

As a university prof, I both teach and, to some extent, accommodate AI platforms in the classroom. This has been a daunting, trying, and humbling experience that requires continual adjustment and correction. But there is no way around it. The … Continue reading →

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Posted on April 4, 2024 by Robert Basil

West End murder of crows (2010).

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An old-fashioned take-down

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Robert Basil

Becca Rothfeld’s book review “Lauren Oyler thinks she is better than you” is a thorough evisceration of Oyler’s book No Judgment. You don’t see many reviews like this these days. Critics that attack books typically go after the author’s political … Continue reading →

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Learning but slowly

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Robert Basil

Apropos the use of AI in academia, a student asked me, “We want to work more quickly in the workplace, but do we really want to LEARN more quickly? Is that even possible?” To the latter question, I would say … Continue reading →

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Autofilling the Data Gaps

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Robert Basil

My macroeconomics professor at The University at Buffalo told our class, at semester’s end, that people in his profession “had a lot to be humble about.” I loved that line and have used it hundreds of times since, to describe … Continue reading →

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The work international students must do in B.C.

Posted on January 16, 2024 by Robert Basil

Several years ago my late Kwantlen colleague Arley McNeney organized a class project in which her students presented research on the challenges international students at our school face. I was embarrassed when I read their report; I had been so … Continue reading →

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