Exams - the kids' and mine

I hope I've done enough for the kids despite the mad rush. The SA1 practice papers & answer keys, the Revision Tests and the worksheets came thick and fast. I never like to rush, but there really was no time. And now I have to rush the non-core stuff during my marriage leave, after going through the SA1 papers and the files.

That aside, I completed my first UniSIM exam paper for Introduction to Humanitites I. I somehow could not get going over the weekend only really studied today, the day of the exam. No wonder they call it study leave - MOE knows we're gonna study at the last minute! By God's grace, I studied selectively, spotting certain questions I knew would emerge - painting evaluation, Colosseum/gladiators/Roman games, and the study of history. Drawing mind maps really helped with the memorising part, together with desperate kinesthetic memory techniques. I remembered whatever I wanted myself to remember in a few hours, with naps in between. I had never felt so lethargic! And so I finished my paper with 15 minutes to spare, enabling me to catch a cab with three others headed to the northeast. I overestimated the cost, so as I got off last, I paid only $2.

Thanks, God. =]

The South African petri dish: The sexist culture thrives

Sexism is well and truly alive in the world. If you want to find the hotbed of it, look no further than the sunny climes of South Africa, previously home to apartheid and now the breeding ground of worryingly sexist behaviour.

Apparently, South African women have had enough, with hundreds of them marching through Johannesburg with signs declaring "We Love Our Miniskirts!". The spark that lit the tinder was an incident at a taxi stand where a young woman was unceremonially disrobed by taxi drivers and hawkers, apparently for showing too much skin. They went on to touch her private parts, taunting her while pouring alcohol on her head. The alcohol, of course, is another problem for another article that probably fuelled this disparate reaction.

What's even more shocking than this is the prevailing apathy and narrow-minded view that the high incidence of rape in South Africa (50,000 reported annually, with some activists claiming as many as 1,000,000) is the fault of women who express themselves over-zealously through fashion. That is to say, mini-skirts.

One such idiot is taxi driver Thulani Nhlapho, 21. "If you are wearing a mini-skirt, you give the impression you want to be raped. You respect yourself when you wear a longer skirt. We respect women who respect themselves."

Going by his flawed reasoning, men in running shorts and little else better watch out or they are really asking for it.

Another such Neanderthal is car guard Edwin Ndlovu, 29. "We laugh because they are naked. As a person, you have to control your feelings. It is difficult when women are naked. That's how some men end up raping women."

I really hope he isn't speaking from experience, because it really is a poor excuse. Maybe jewellers should stop displaying their wares because robbers can't control their feelings? Made-up excuses aside, he really needs to check the dictionary to distinguish between underdressed and naked.

I am shocked that such blatant sexism still exists in the 21st century, but there you go. If there's one country that needs sex education, South Africa should be right at the head of the queue.
Source: The New Paper, 6 Mar 2008, p. 22

Splitting the cab fare

Came across some interesting mathematical articles on the fairest way of sharing a cab.

Take a look at these links:
http://www.tagxe.com/How.jsp
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=739831
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113279169439805647-jP1H4pfk3i2ACypy26ghtvTlJ30_20061207.html