Cornell Blog: An unofficial blog about Cornell University

A coworker sent me a photo today of a printed sign for a restaurant in Halifax that had, as its subtitle, the infamous lorem ipsum dolorem placeholder text. If you don’t know what it is, check out the lipsum.com generator, which will produce on demand a paragraph like so:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Vestibulum bibendum. Nulla rutrum commodo ante. Phasellus sed eros a quam adipiscing interdum. Nullam malesuada suscipit diam. Mauris condimentum, augue vitae ullamcorper tincidunt, mauris tellus volutpat quam, eget ullamcorper ligula pede vel nunc. Donec molestie placerat lectus. Nunc lacinia malesuada elit. Ut quis risus. Phasellus elementum ullamcorper erat. Morbi cursus, velit in malesuada mollis, leo justo porttitor lorem, eu tempor nisl orci eu leo. Cras congue lacus a lectus.

This got me wondering what the Ivy League latin mottos were, so here they are:

Harvard University

Harvard’s motto is the latin “Veritas” or in English, “Truth.” Simple, but elegant, it’s represented in their university logo.

University of Pennsylvania

Upenn’s latin motto has had an interesting history. It was first “Sine Moribus Vanae” but a troublesome student translated it as “Loose women without morals,” so it was changed to its current “Leges sine moribus vanae” which means in English, “Laws–without moral character–are in vain.”

Princeton University

I don’t like their latin, “Dei sub numine viget” which indicates that “Under the power of God, She flourishes.” I’d hoped for something grander.

Yale University

“Lux et veritas” which means “Light and truth” is my favorite latin motto in the Ivy League. It’s glorious and beautiful, without invoking religious ideals. It should be the motto of intellectuals and educators everywhere.

Brown University

With “In deo speramus” or “In God we Hope” Brown continues the religious downward spiral.

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth’s latin motto is “Vox clamantis in deserto” a biblical reference to the prophet of god as “A voice crying out in the wilderness.”

Columbia University

Sounding a bit like a cult, “In lumine tuo videbimus lumen” is often translated “In Thy light shall we see the light.”

Cornell University

Last but not least, our motto used to be the lame, non-latin “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study” but recently it’s been abbreviated to “Any person … Any study.” In latin, that would be “Quisquam qui ars.”

According to a CNN article, New Zealand high school students may now use “text speak” on their national exams:

New Zealand’s Qualifications Authority said Friday that it still strongly discourages students from using anything other than full English, but that credit will be given if the answer “clearly shows the required understanding,” even if it contains text-speak.

That means now, for a question like “Describe Pythagoras’ theorem” the answer wouldn’t be “a² + b² = c²,” but rather:

CU jus take the shawt sides xx2 + = big side xx2

This is a sad day indeed for the country of New Zealand, which has totally diluted its educational standards. Why do we learn English language, grammar, and syntax? Why do we learn the proper pronunciation and spelling of words? Why are rich etymologies important?

The idea that language is just a “vehicle to facilitate the exchange of information” is a dangerous misconception. In reality, language is a complicated system of expression, the mastery of which recursively allows greater expression. Language itself is the information it tries to convey. When you speak and write well, your ideas are enriched by your vocabulary and style. An impoverished language proficiency is the same as an ill-trained mind.

I was on the DC++ hub chat when I noticed a very unusual search term:

[21:05] <kiwiii> someone just searched the hub for "god"
[21:06] <kiwiii> they’re looking for him
[21:06] <kiwiii> where is he?
[21:06] <ATM> is he here?
[21:06] <God> I’m always here

Christians believe that you can find God in everything.  Can you find God in peer-to-peer?