Faith in computer science?

I've been applying for faculty positions in computer science all over the country.  I've applied to several Christian colleges and none of them seemed to care whether I'm a believing Christian or not; I guess they prefer that I be a good computer scientist.  But recently I came across a job ad that requested that I send, along with the usual documents (cover letter, CV, research statement, teaching philosophy statement, reference letters), a "statement of Christian faith and service".  Then another ad read, "Faculty, who must be born-again Christians, must agree with our doctrinal statement, Community Covenant, . . ."  Yet another ad read, "To be considered for employment, however, applicants must complete an application for employment and a questionnaire giving evidence of a Christian testimony and of a willingness to support the beliefs and practices of the campus community."  And the application does indeed ask as much about Christian beliefs as about professional qualifications.

While I wouldn't mind teaching at a Christian university, and I hate to pass up a possible faculty job, I couldn't apply to any of those positions in good faith.

Juno

This weekend I finally found time to see Juno.  I love good movies, the kind full of realistic, complex characters that generally mean well and almost make me feel what it's like to be someone else.  They shake me up a bit from my routine of being me, even make me think about who I am and (even subtle) ways I might easily be different.  The first scene has two characters trading impossibly clever lines, and I worried that everyone in the movie would talk like that, but each character turned out to have their own style.  Lots of great dialogue from a first-time screenwriter.  According to Wikipedia, director Jason Reitman's influences are Stanley Kubrick, Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Alexander Payne and Paul Thomas Anderson.  Can't do much better than that!  I think we're living in a golden age of cinema.

I also watched Superman III.  Superman III deeply offends me as a computer scientist, but it sure is stupid fun.  Christopher Reeve's dignified performance is remarkable in such a silly movie.

RP finishes second

Predictably, the Mormon Mitt Romney romped in Nevada, but Ron Paul came in second:

	Iowa	N.H.	Mich.	Nev.	total
Mitt Romney	29949	75546	337847	22649	465991
John McCain	15559	88571	257521	5651	367302
Mike Huckabee	40841	26859	139699	3616	211015
Ron Paul	11817	18308	54434	6087	90646
Fred Thompson	15904	2890	32135	3521	54450
Rudy Giuliani	4097	20439	24706	1910	51152
Duncan Hunter	524	1217	2823	890	5454

As I write this, the votes are still coming in for South Carolina, but it looks like the favored Huckabee will only finish second.  This may be shaping up as a race between Romney and McCain.  On the other hand, if straw polls mean much of anything, Paul may still have a good chance. . . .  Either way, he's getting the message of limited government out to more Americans than any candidate in history.  And who'd have guessed he'd be so far ahead of projected contenders Thompson and Giuliani at this stage?

No real surprise

The votes for Michigan are in:

	Iowa	N.H.	Mich.	total
Mitt Romney	29949	75546	337847	443342
John McCain	15559	88571	257521	361651
Mike Huckabee	40841	26859	139699	207399
Ron Paul	11817	18308	54434	84559
Fred Thompson	15904	2890	32135	50929
Rudy Giuliani	4097	20439	24706	49242
Duncan Hunter	524	1217	2823	4564

Romney wins his first primary and extends his overall vote lead; Paul extends his lead over Thompson and Giuliani.  Things are starting to settle, but there's a long way to go.

No clear leader yet

Interesting.  Huckabee won Iowa and McCain won New Hampshire, but Romney has the most votes overall:

	Iowa	N.H.	total
Mitt Romney	29949	75546	105495
John McCain	15559	88571	104130
Mike Huckabee	40841	26859	67700
Ron Paul	11817	18308	30125
Rudy Giuliani	4097	20439	24536
Fred Thompson	15904	2890	18794
Duncan Hunter	524	1217	1741

It's nice to see Paul ahead of Giuliani and Thompson.  Michigan's next . . .