The old media decayed over time. Some things were remastered to digital or restored other ways, but based on some value. (Not inexpensive, when considering the volume of older tapes and films. Some universities were undertaking this for their libraries, too.)
Maybe you have to find what production company it was and contact them.
Interesting. Apparently solving the rubiks cube can be done in 20 moves or less. Perhaps many of the successful cubers know that you can solve the solution in 20 moves or less. I remember hearing about it being solved via colors but instead I found this:
As Erno Rubik put it in a [this question is “connected with the mathematical problems of the cube.”
Amazingly, it took 36 years after the invention of the toy to come up with an answer. In 2010, a [group of mathematicians and computer programmers proved]that any Rubik’s Cube can be solved in, at most, 20 moves.
One reason it took so long to answer such an apparently straightforward question is the surprising complexity of the Rubik’s Cube. An [analysis of all the possible permutations]) of where the smaller constituent cubes (often called “cubies”) can end up shows that there are about 43 quintillion — 43,000,000,000,000,000,000 — possible configurations of the Rubik’s Cube.
What is Rubik’s Cube competition about? One’s dexterity? Memorization? Discovery or application of new and more efficient algorithm/recipe? The underlying mathematical solution (based on group theory) has been shown long ago.
A combination of dexterity and memorization of the algorithms, I expect. Netflix has a documentary called “The Speed Cubers” that may be of interest to some. A friends’ kid is briefly in it, they have traveled the world for competitions.
“The majority on the list are schools where students have figured out their passions early, but there’re also 2 LACs (Swarthmore and Amherst) on the list.”
That’s pretty misleading, one is that Swarthmore’s last Nobel was in 1968, John Mather, and second, probably the most famous alum that won the Nobel from Amherst, Joseph Stiglitz, got his Phd from MIT, where he said "that the particular style of MIT economics suited him well, describing it as “simple and concrete models, directed at answering important and relevant questions.”
Also both of these alums won their nobel’s while teaching at Columbia, so guess what, Columbia and MIT will also claim credit for the Nobel.
And one of the events in Cubing competitions is FM, Fewest Moves. You have an hour and a dead silent auditorium (or damp middle school basemen, let’s be honest here) and everyone gets the same scramble and you have to write out the fewest moves to solve it. Fewer than 30 moves is considered quite good.
Ernö Rubik was at Worlds in Paris a few years ago and you should have seen all the kids fanboying. Speedcubing is an a world unto itseIf - I just wish more girls were into it. My daughter is super science-y but has no interest in cubing.
My kid is in it a few times, wearing the red hat like 30 sec into it, haha.
The last Nobel laureate from Swarthmore (in 1976) is actually David Baltimore, who was a former president of Caltech (currently a professor emeritus of biology there).
All affiliated institutions get to claim credits for Nobel Prizes, and the rational is valid, if you think about it. Nobel Prizes (at lease in sciences and economics) are almost always awarded for works done post graduation (typically after graduate school). Both undergraduate and graduate education contribute to the development of a Nobel laureate., as well as the institution where s/he did the research that earn her/him the accolade.
But does anyone really think the calibre of any school is measured by its noble laureates? Really? With such a narrow field, there is a small likelihood of anyone winning the prize. History of the prize also indicates that politics, sexism and downright dishonesty has colored who has won the awards. Many winners have made outstanding contributions to the human race but many have not and stand as examples of how messed up things can be in races with a single prize. This goes for awards from many years ago up until today. It’s fascinating frankly who wins.
I’d give almost zero credence to the college/university being a factor.
@littlerobot That’s awesome.
What are you talking about? I hope you aren’t talking about Nobel Prizes in sciences.
Yes, I am. You need to read some history of science pieces. Wow, There are some great stories ( yes, including STEM subjects as well as others). The usual suspects are peace and economics.
But if you look on wikipedia there’s a laundry list. And many are very recent. My kid was doing a project on Nobel and was telling me some of the stories. Kid was particularly interested in one man/woman doing the work and another taking credit (mainly in STEM fields).
Didn’t happen to Madame Curie ( who won 2! nobels). Apparently, she was very hard core. But it did happen to many. A great read in every subject as it’s the pinnacle for so many.
There are so great books on these controversies as well.
I just read the Wikipedia page on the Nobel controversies as you suggested. At least in sciences, I don’t see any laureate who isn’t deserving. The controversies were almost always about whether others should also have been awarded (Nobel rule dictates that no more than 3 persons for a single award). Nobel peace prizes and literature prizes are always highly subjective, of course. Ecnomics prizes are somewhere in-beween.
Selecting winners among candidates are inherently subjective, not unlike holistic college admission. But in sciences nearly all scientists seem to accept the Nobel process and the results from that process, and celebrate the successes of their colleagues who won.
This has been an interesting and random threat to follow 
I personally love the rubik’s cube kid story and would think admissions people would also be intrigued. My accounting/finance major son spent the summer after freshman year doing demolition work, which paid well and exposed him to a group of people from other walks of life (even some ex-cons thrown in there); it was a good experience for him to recognize what a privileged path he is on, but the reason I bring it up is that it’s been one of the most asked-about things on his resume ever since.
@rbc2018
Love your S’s story. I had a similar experience as a much younger man. I worked in construction for 5 years immediately after high school to help my mother pay the bills. Eventually I got tired of the harsh conditions, I enrolled in community college, then transferred to a T20 college and earned an accounting degree. Several years later I received an MBA from a well known Boston business school. After all that, the part of my background that I get asked about most is the construction. Your S will remember his experience forever.
BTW, I drag my kids to Habitat for Humanity projects whenever possible. More great memories.
@STEM2017 Aww that’s awesome. It’s always good for people to interact with others who are different from themselves whether that be socioeconomically, politically, whatever. Connecting as humans is so important regardless of categories.
Interesting thread! I haven’t yet read all of the posts and thus probably shouldn’t reply, but today is ED decision day for my son, and it’s all just hitting so close.
I don’t doubt in any way what Michael Short argues in his original post. That’s why I was surprised when my son checked “undecided” on his common app.
My son has some very deep interests and clear paths he might take. In fact, his “why this school” essay for his second-choice school is about a conversation he had with the dept head of a major he’s considering. Why not check that major? I asked.
My son says it’s because he’s interested in other things too. And he knows he wants to go to law school or grad school, but he doesn’t know which yet. Or it could be both.
It doesn’t matter, I said. You’re not required to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year. Both schools you’re applying to promote that fact, saying it encourages curiosity. This is just for the application.
Ultimately, my son didn’t care. He’s not interested in selling himself or branding himself. He knows he will thrive at his highly selective ED choice if he gets in, and if he doesn’t get in, he knows he will thrive at his second choice, a vastly cheaper public university that graduated several of the very successful adults in his life. So he won that debate. The application went in with everything possible marked “undecided.” He feels his application accurately represents him, and that’s important to him.
And now, I am going to go make cupcakes in case we have something to celebrate tonight. Good luck to everyone receiving decisions this week.
@rbc2018 I focused on one key concept in my OP, and you’re hitting a second: Texture.
Writing about demo-crew work with excons is about as compelling of a textural topic I can imagine.
Some of my favorite essays were on toilets flushing in B-flat; working at an Oakland barbershop; a line-cook at Applebees. That kind of texture–novel, quriky, gritty, interesting things about you–is one thing colleges mean when they say “be yourself.”
Texture like that is what really wins an admission over from judge to personal advocate. From this kid should get in, to I want this kid to get in. The big key (IMO) is to “intellectualize” these novel topics–to show how smart you are by finding something insightful to say about them. And you know my cornerstone: connecting them to an academic idea you care about.
I always push kids towards intellectual moves because too often they’re way too heavy on personal qualities that don’t register points.
Because remember: these essays are graded–according to specific ratings in Admission Officer handbooks. Anyone offering authoritative essay advice has to ground their philosophy in this fundamental fact: Your writing must focus on demonstrating the qualities you’re getting rated on. Not some random topic and theme that nails “who you are.”
–MCS
@MichaelCShort I understand what you are saying about texture and it makes sense. But this also seems like another one of those ‘unwritten rules’ that college coaches and counselors at elite high schools would know about but a student without those resources would not. If the essay prompt is vague and the general free advice is about letting a college know who you are/ hear your voice/ etc., then it becomes like a secret code that only some students are privy to (give a vague prompt, but grade it on very specific things). I went to a highly ranked flagship university, and so far my kids have focused on similar schools. But the more I learn about highly selective private schools through these forums, the more I realize that it is a totally different world that for the most part is not accessible to students without those knowledgeable connections and resources. This isn’t a criticism of you personally, you were part of a process that you didn’t create. It isn’t enough to be an amazing student with great stats and interesting extra curriculars and achievements. You also have to crack the code of what elite schools are looking for in essays (which, as I’ve said before, we don’t even know who wrote). Sigh.
Not that I disagree that there is insider knowledge, but to be fair, “know your audience” is a cornerstone directive in any writing pursuit. There are tons of books in the library, blogs and internet boards that can help someone learn what AOs want. The info is out there. Is it easier for some to get than others? Sure. But it is still pretty easy to get for people who want it.