Chuck Pearson (he/him/etc.)

@shorterpearson.com

951 Followers 280 Following

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Assistant Dean of Math and Science at Tusculum University. All sorts of other nerdy things.

Headline from Food & Wine: “Florida Barbecue Is Having a Moment”
Hunter Biden, speaking on Lindsey Graham’s death on X: “When I heard about Senator Graham’s death last night, the first thing I thought of was not all the things he said and did in service of Donald Trump. I thought of the time before Donald Trump when he was a brother to Senator John McCain. “A time when senators from different parties could fight about politics and still be friends. A time when a conservative Republican from South Carolina could say of my father: ‘If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you’ve got a problem. He’s the nicest man I’ve ever met in politics, as good man as God ever created.’ “That is the Senator Graham I choose to remember today. Not because I have forgotten what came after. But because in that memory there is hope. Hope for a country where brothers can fight like hell over policy and still share a meal, and a laugh, and the loss of the people they love. “I will choose to remember the time before Trump. Because I believe in an America after Trump.”
Signage in front of Castlewood High School.
“In The Weights” output for Chuck Pearson. “Kimi K2 0905 says ‘longtime college baseball coach, primarily at Tusculum University, with over 900 career wins.’” (I do work at Tusculum University. I never have been a baseball coach.)
Promo image for late-80’s television show Sledge Hammer!. The protagonist is in the center of the frame, wearing sunglasses with a coat and tie, and holding a gun. He is flanked by a man and a woman on either side.
The instructor up front, a tremendous class of sophomores and juniors behind him.
Carter DelSorbo is a TICUA Young Alumni for 2026. He says to TICUA "Through mentorship from faculty like Dr. Chuck Pearson and the support of the Trustee Honors Scholarship, I was able to focus on my calling without the burden of financial stress. That foundation continues to guide me as I work to serve others through medicine."
Corporate clip-art cartoon with the caption "Canvas is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance; check back soon"
Justification for a $34.24 donation to New American Pathways in the 2026 Charity Bowl: "Jacksonville State needs to pass Liberty in the standings, so what better basis than the 34-24 result in the Jacksonville State-Liberty game? (Plus fees.)"
Memed reply text from an unknown user: "I ain't reading all that" "I'm happy for u tho" "or sorry that happened"
An advertisement that suggests "Chuck, you might like to follow Pearson". My name is Chuck Pearson. I'm no relation.
A lamented website’s campaign to name Bill Connelly as College Football Commissioner.
A person wearing a shirt with the logo of Virginia Intermont College.
The cover to U2's album Rattle and Hum.
The cover to Amy Grant's album Lead Me On.
A bunch of different animals in a field, all looking at the camera. Lots of fur and pronounced manes. Oddballs. I identify with oddballs.
Guardian minute-by-minute post, 89 min: "Crystal Palace are 11 minutes away from their first major trophy. Yep, there are going to be 10 added minutes."
ESPN FC post, with Instagram quotes and a photo of David Beckham: “David Beckham called on Minnesota United to ‘show a little respect’ after a series of Instagram posts following Inter Miami’s 4-1 MLS defeat on Saturday.”
Email from PhET Interactive Simulations. Subject line: "NSF Terminates $1.5M PhET Grant." Text: "On April 25, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) terminated PhET's Pathways to Open Source Ecosystems (POSE) Phase II grant, which had $1M in unused funds remaining. Our grant was one of over 1,000 grants abruptly terminated by NSF, affecting vital research, education, and open science efforts across the country. NSF has been a critical partner in fueling the PhET team's innovations and growth - from seeding PhET's start in 2004 to expanding our work from physics to chemistry, undergraduate to middle school, and science to mathematics education. WITHOUT NSF'S HISTORIC INVESTMENTS, PhET WOULD NOT EXIST, and would not be supporting learners with 250 million simulation runs per year. Grant and donation funding currently accounts for 85% of the PhET team's $4M annual budget."
Proposal eliminating federal TRiO and GEAR UP programs for first-generation college students, with the following justification: "TRIO and GEAR UP are a relic of the past when financial incentives were needed to motivate Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to engage with low-income students and increase access. The lack of action by IHEs also meant that States and local school districts needed additional support to prepare low-income students for college. Today, the pendulum has swung and access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means. IHEs should be using their own resources to engage with K-12 schools in their communities to recruit students, and then once those students are on campus, aid in their success through to graduation. A renewed focus on academics and scholastic accomplishment by IHEs, rather than engaging in woke ideology with Federal taxpayer subsidies, would be a welcome change for students and the future of the Nation."
Wall Drug Store, Wall, SD.
Crowd at football game, with a single fan towards the lower-left holding up a yellow sign that simply says "SPORTS".
"My Next Move is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, and developed by the National Center for O*NET Development."
Tools exist that can take increasingly complex input and generate coherent and accurate responses to that input; ChatGPT is the vanguard of these tools, but other tools from other major technology providers exist. Collectively, these tools are known as “generative artificial intelligence” or “generative AI” because they use language models to generate their responses. They are not intelligent; they are essentially complex text-prediction tools. That said, the text-prediction (primarily because of questionable use of copyright to train those tools) is incredibly effective. There are two statements I feel compelled to make about generative AI use in your student work in general chemistry: I do not approve of the use of generative AI, for a host of ethical and pedagogical reasons. (I actually have a full statement about the dangers of generative AI, not only to your learning but to the world at large.) I have no means at present to detect your use of generative AI outside of the classroom. I have made substantial changes to my grading scale of my freshman- and sophomore-level coursework specifically with the knowledge that students are using generative AI cynically to complete homework assignments and the understanding that course grades where assessment is based heavily on homework do not represent the reality of student understanding. You are on your honor to resist generative AI and, in those instances where you do use generative AI, to use that tool critically, to aid with the development of your understanding instead of simply generating solutions that you can copy answers from. I also have ethical issues with surveilling student work to ensure compliance. My desire is to develop a classroom environment where the students trust the reliability of the work the professor assigns and the professor trusts the students’ fairest efforts to understand and effectively perform that work. Your resistance of generative AI helps to support that kind of environment.
direct message from Instagram saying "all the homies hate AI!!!!!"
On the one hand, to what extent is this the 21st century version of “why do I need to learn multiplication tables when I have a calculator”? On the other hand, 30 years on, the biggest thing I’ve taken away from a rigorous engineering curriculum in college isn’t any specific technical knowledge, it’s knowledge about how to solve problems, and even more importantly, the knowledge that I’m a person who can solve a multitude of hard problems through hard work and brainpower. If Chat GPT prevents students from learning those lessons, what are students taking away from the college experience?
A picture of four sheep.
Dr. Nancy Moody, the 27th president and first woman to serve as president of what was then Tusculum College.
“Folding the World Cup — long the final bastion of free-to-view soccer — into a subscription service could limit viewership and curb the number of public watch parties that are a staple of American sports culture in addition to harming the overall accessibility of the sport. Additionally, it risks gatekeeping domestic fans’ ability to watch the nation’s most competitive soccer team of any gender.”
Email in Outlook from "Fred Morlan, IQBT". Subject: "The Latest From International Quiz Bowl Tournaments". Email header: "There's a cute cat picture at the bottom, if that helps."
Pearson’s refusal to participate in Spotify Wrapped for 2024. You’ll get a list and you’ll like it. | The year’s most heavily played:
 | This Conversation Is Over - Acceptance | Forever Mercy - Altar Boys | Godspeed - Anberlin | Mudhouse - Black Eyed Sceva | In The Falling Dark - Bruce Cockburn | Harbor Lights - Bruce Hornsby | Violent Blue - Chagall Guevara | The Way That You Are - The Classic Crime | Are You Out There - Dar Williams | Flame - The Echoing Green | Snowbirds and Townies - Further Seems Forever | You Are Free - Jimmy Eat World | Real Men - Joe Jackson | Pushing Me Away - Linkin Park | Communication - mae | Temporary Nite - Maxwell | Something Real (Inside Me, Inside You) - Mr. Mister | Writing On The Wall - Paper Route | Shadows Of The Night - Pat Benatar | Flaming Red - Patty Griffin | Take A Message - Remy Shand | The Other Side Of The World - Rich Mullins | The Look - Roxette | Island - The Starting Line | The Warbler - Steve Hindalong | A Decade Under The Influence - Taking Back Sunday | Goodbye, Goodbye - Tegan and Sara | Factory Belt - Uncle Tupelo | Ritual Day - Velour 100 | Miracle - Vertical Horizon
and that’s a Coach Nutt guarantee
Foreground: a parking lot with signs for a Quality Inn and a Huddle House. Background: late stages of sunset with a mountain range silhouette.
Mock campaign bumper sticker. "Sackcloth/Ashes 2024: Lest we get what we REALLY deserve."
2nd quarter score: Northwestern 7, Iowa 5. Northwestern scored 0 points in the 1st quarter, 7 points in the second; Iowa scored 3 points in the first quarter, 2 points in the second.
GQ headline: “V-necks are in, turtlenecks are out: your official guide to sweater season”
Hurricane Milton 500 PM EDT advisory. Current location: 21.8 N 90.8 W. Maximum sustained wind: 180 mph. Movement: E at 10 mph. Newly issued hurricane warnings for the west coast of Florida from Bonita Beach northward to the mouth of the Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay.
Attempt to connect with the National Hurricane Center website giving a "503 Service Temporarily Unavailable" error on Safari.
Hurricane Milton, intermediate advisory graphic from the National Hurricane Center from 200 PM EDT. Center location 21.7 N 91.3 W, maximum sustained wind 175 mph (!!!), movement E at 9 MPH. Still forecast for Florida Gulf Coast landfall north of Tampa Bay on Wednesday at 700 PM.
Hurricane Milton forecast track from the National Weather Service, indicating landfall as a major hurricane somewhat north of Tampa Bay about 700 PM Wednesday. Current location 21.7 N 91.7 W, maximum sustained wind 155 mph, movement ESE at 9 mph.
Water running from a faucet - a rare sight in Greene County, TN for the last week.
TDOT Helene Recovery infographic: "100 HOUR UPDATE: 5 destroyed bridges; 7 of 8 closed state bridges now open; all (310) state bridges inspected; 47 routes assessed, 25 repaired and reopened; prioritizing connectivity and infrastructure repairs."
Slide deck from General Chemistry 1 teaching - the hydrogen spectrum, and the Rydberg equation behaving where the lines in the hydrogen spectrum come from.
Tusculum news release from the noon hour, September 29: "Last night, the Greeneville Water Commission announced that the water supply was down to less than 24 hours. The agency is working to have emergency pumps delivered and water restored. It does not have a firm estimate for how long it will take to restore water. As a result, Tusculum University will make several adjustments. All classes will switch to an online format until Wednesday, Oct. 16, the day we return from fall break. Students should check Canvas for course assignments and other instructions from their professors. Students should be patient with their professors as some might be experiencing challenges with their electricity and internet connections. Students who are experiencing similar issues should convey that information to their professors as soon as possible."
A statement from the American Athletic Conference, as published on Facebook. Key paragraph: "While we acknowledge receiving interest in our institutions from other conferences, we firmly believe that it is in our individual and collective best interests to uphold our commitment to each other." Memphis, South Florida, UTSA and Tulane appear to be committing to a future in the American Athletic Conference - not the Pac-12.
Superman poster from the 1950's: "...And remember, boys and girls, your school - like our country - is made up of Americans of MANY different races, religions and national origins. So...if YOU hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or anyone else because of his religion, race, or national origin - don't wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN."
@shorterpearson.bsky.social was Bluesky user #384,771.
Caleigh Greene, Malachi Ledford, and AnnaLee Simpson of the Tusculum University quizbowl team, circa September 14, 2024.
Post from X from When We Were Young (@WWWYFest) declaring “brat summer is over. it’s time for grand theft autumn” An early picture of the band Fall Out Boy is enclosed
Quote from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, July 18: "What I will say is what upsets me is [Democrats] saying we will lose. For me, to a certain extent, I don't care what name is on there. We are not losing. I don't know about you, but my community does not have the option to lose. My community does not have the luxury of accepting loss in July of an election year. My people are the first ones deported. They're the first ones put in Rikers. They're the first ones whose families are killed by war."
Wearing a shirt with the logo of the now-defunct Virginia Intermont College.
Harris/Walz press release, "for planning purposes--reluctantly". Headline: "TODAY: Donald Trump To Ramble Incoherently and Spread Dangerous Lies in Public, but at Different Home." Lede: "TODAY at 4:30 PM, Donald J. Trump, loser of the 2020 election by 7 million votes, will hold another public meltdown in Bedminster, New Jersey."
Closeup of French bulldog half in and half out of bed
Cat standing on two hind feet. Caption: “i be like dang.”
Uncredited cartoon of a group of zombies staring at smartphones. (If you know the credit for this cartoon, I'd love to share it.)
From the AP: “West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party earlier this year to become an independent, is considering reregistering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president…”
From the AP: “The Tennessee Democratic Party posted on X that its delegation voted during a meeting Sunday to back Harris after Biden’s departure from the campaign.”
On The Media’s “Breaking News Consumer Handbook.” It starts with “In the immediate aftermath, news outlets will get it wrong.” I wish I could type the whole thing up but holy wow it’s late for me.
"DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: Academia isn't nearly as much fun as people think it is, but it's nice being on the other side of the tenure process." Seriously, I think this is a personal attack on me.