Graduate finals, or "Undergrads"

UPDATE 12/13/2011: I have searched for several days now for a new place to settle in and convert to a dystopian Man Cave. My criteria are simple: a comfortable seat, a large space to lay out my dozens of papers and books (so that I can look at them all simultaneously, if need be), some mellow and indistinguishable background white noise, a large drawing space for erasable markers, and a stark absence of undergraduate students. I do not include this final criterion out of any sense of blind prejudice or hypocritical elitism (though I guess that last part is debatable...), but rather out of an earnest effort to avoid conflict during those manic periods of finals at around 7-9pm, 11:30-12pm, 2-4am and 1 hour after dawn  - when the beauty has worn off and you realize that it is indeed very, very early and you didn't get to sleep and your marginal productivity is slipping again.

P.S. The study rooms are not for drinking Diet Dr. Pepper and Malibu while playing a harmonica. Why are you even awake?! Go home!

Subjective Well-Being, or "Measuring Happiness and Opportunity as a Benchmark for Policy"

“When we think about policy then I think we need to make some normative choices about what versions of happiness societies care about… I certainly think that the US, which has the pursuit of happiness in the declaration, and has traditionally emphasized opportunities over outcomes, would opt for an Aristotelian definition [of life-fulfillment]. If we went as far as to say that happiness is a benchmark for policy and we have an Aristotelian definition allowing citizens to lead fulfilling lives, then promising happiness in that sense as a policy objective requires providing all citizens with the agency to pursue it.”

In recent years, a number of countries have begun to incorporate measures of subjective well-being – or “happiness” – into their benchmarks for development and national progress. Even in the United States, policymakers and academics are beginning to consider the merits of measuring happiness and its role in public discourse. This is great part because of the work of Carol Graham and her colleagues.