What's your biggest fear?

I didn't get a salaried position until somewhat late in life. As such I have not accumulated as much wealth as most people my age. My fear is that something will go wrong fiscally and I will be forced into an impoverished retirement.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

A number of years ago Donna and I were teaching the web class. One day several of the web students failed to log off from the web account which left the computers vulnerable.

Deciding that the entire class needed a stern warning, I walked into class on the following day and chewed them out for being so remiss in failing to log out. They all started to laugh including Donna.

So I demanded "What's so funny?"

And they replied "This isn't the web class."

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?

Where and when I would like to live is in ancient Athens, Greece. Generally speaking they are regarded as one of the most enlightened cultures ever. When you consider that the population of classical Athens was approximately 40,000 people, it's hard to imagine that most of the worlds math, science and philosophy originated there. This was truly a unique time and place.

What is the craziest moment you've seen during Upward Bound this year?

A couple of the guys in the TRIO sites class where imitating chickens while they were working. I guess that I just don't get it.

What sea animal would you want to be?

When I was in the Navy we took the USS Swordfish, the submarine where I was stationed, to Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Since there were no piers long enough to accommodate us, we were anchored out approximately one half of a mile from shore. The first day in port I put on the watch rotation and as such was required to remain on board.

At nightfall I decided to go topside for some fresh air and I saw the ships lights attract the seagoing minnows which in turn attracted barracudas and other predatory fish. The last to show up were the dolphins who preyed upon the barracudas.

It should be noted that barracudas are fast, much faster than dolphins. So how do the dolphins successfully catch these fish? As I observed them I saw the dolphins work in concert to outsmart the barracudas. For example, one of the dolphins drove the barracudas to where another dolphin was waiting. Throughout the evening and to my amazement, I watched the dolphins tactfully maneuver the fish to where the dolphins wanted them to be.

Without a doubt, the dolphins have my admiration. So, if I lived in the sea I'd be a dolphin.