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Round Rock/Pflugerville Impacts—Aug. 2011

2. Turquoise Grill Opened in early June at 2000 S. I-35, Ste. G-1, Round Rock. The restaurant serves Turkish and Mediterranean food. 248-8070

3. Goodwill Job Help Center opened June 27 next to the Goodwill store at 150 W. Palm Valley Blvd., Round Rock. At the center, residents can find out whether they qualify for one of Goodwill’s three programs that help people find jobs free of charge. If a person qualifies, he or she will work with a case manager to find employment and receive training on interviewing and building a resume. 388-1507, www.austingoodwill.org

4. Things Remembered opened July 15 at Round Rock Premium Outlets, 4401 N. I-35, Ste. 279, Round Rock. Things Remembered sells engravable gifts and engraves items purchased in the store or brought in. There are more than 600 store locations in 49 states. www.thingsremembered.com

5. D. Scott Heselmeyer left Heselmeyer, Zinda & Davis, PLLC to launch his own law practice July 1 at 211 Round Rock Ave., Round Rock. Heselmeyer said he focuses on general business representation, including formation, contracts and litigation. 310-1199

6. Great Nails opened June 30 in Stone Hill Town Center, 1512 Town Center Drive, Ste. 650, Pflugerville. The nail salon offers manicures, pedicures, waxing and facials. Owner Nick Truong said this is the business’ sixth location in the Austin-area. 251-4447

7. Antiques and Zebras , a resale store where everything is for sale, held its grand opening July 23 at 1906 N. Mays St., Round Rock. Owner Alec Nicholls said, “Everything is for sale. We’ll probably be wearing stuff that will be for sale, if someone wants to buy the clothes off our back.” Even the furniture on which products are displayed will have a price tag. 800-8229

8. Austin Bazaar opened June 24 at 2306 Howard Lane, Ste. C, Austin. From orchestral and wind instruments to guitars and amplifiers, the company has an extensive selection of music instruments. Austin Bazaar launched in 2005 as a strictly web-based company. This is its first retail store. 300-0487, www.austinbazaar.

Now You See It // The Blog of Author Cathy N. Davidson ...

I heard a story this past week about the famous late Harvard paleontologist, Stephen Jay Gould, one of the greatest thinkers and teachers in the world. Apparently he mainly taught one first-year class–to 1700 students. I’ve read comments by him joking that this was a way Harvard could boast that its most illustrious faculty were dedicated to beginning, undergraduate teaching.

Now, as a first-year student, I would have loved to take a class from Gould. That’s not the issue. The issue is in thinking that a great thinker lecturing weekly to 1700 students is somehow more “productive” than the same great thinker working in a difficult seminar with, say, fifteen brilliant biology undergrad or grad students. Gould has noted that, in terms, say, of final contribution, he might have “served” more students in those tiny select seminars, with real one-on-one mentoring than in the 1700 person extravaganzas, basically TED talks for Harvard students. Think about it: does one do more good inspiring a crowd than working hand-in-hand with future leaders in the field? There is no right answer to these questions. Both can be productive. To say one is or is not more productive than the other is simply false. And to assume that only the former–that 1700 person lecture–is productive is garbage. Worse than that. To see productivity in such narrow terms robs the educational system and our students.

The verdict of the good people who put together the Texas study is that “A significant proportion of the faculty is far less productive, with small teaching loads and little external research dollars generated.” That is so intensely and insanely backward. If “productivity” is measured in dollars, why not just put all the courses on line and let the faculty spend all their time raising research money from grants? In fact, Christopher Newfield and others have argued that the whole “outsourcing” of scientific research to universities by corporations that used to invest huge amounts of capital in R and D, is one reason why universities are in such bad shape. The supposed billions that come in from external funding often are earmarked and require buildings, equipment, and other investments that somehow never are part of the balance sheet belonging to those charged with measuring “productivity” but that, nonetheless, add to the 400%+ increase in tuition costs over the last decade at US universities of higher education.

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