June 1, 2012

Not the kind of record I would like to report on but it is 107 degrees today setting a record here in Tucson for heat this day.   That is just one reason I am glad I don't teach a summer course.

The week is finishing up on an interesting note.   Today I got a call from Associated Press with Mr. Feltman stating he was doing an article on whether a Triple Crown winner would have any lasting positive impact for racing.   Not sure by his line of questioning if that will be the main focus of the story?   It shall be interesting to look for the results.   He was more interested in the current state of racing, NYRA, regulatory agencies and the current bad news racing is receiving.  

We also have a meeting today to plan a course for the fall semester for students in the RTIP and the School of Information, Science, Technology and the Arts (SISTA.)  Last year was the first time this course was taught and I think it was a success.   It gave students from two disciplines the opportunity to work jointly on real world applications, combining new technologies and racing.  A number of those applications were either utilized at the Symposium or their ideas were presented as possible applications for racetracks.  The QR code was the focus of the class last fall and a number of good ideas were developed.  If you missed it last year, I hope the class this fall has some new ideas worth presenting at this year's conference.  Hopefully as the fall semester evolves I can hint at some of the developments in this blog.

We also tended to a lot of Symposium planning this week.  Faculty and staff continued the development of topics, new events and changes for this year.  I got my first look at a work in progress at the Westin La Paloma.  The host hotel is going through major renovations this summer and I saw the first two rooms that have been re-modeled.   It will be nice to see the progress this summer and hopefully the Symposium attendees enjoy the new make-over for the resort.

Next week I will be busy with revamping a significant portion of my curriculum materials for my fall semester courses and brainstorming for good topics for the Symposium.  I always welcome suggestions for content at the Symposium so if you have an idea of interest, I hope you will email or call me.