back in graduate school...

no - i'm not "back in graduate school".
this is a reflection on my grad school experience.

Statistics Department, Purdue University, 1984-1988.
My office-mates included mainland (communist) Chinese & Taiwanese.
Other fellow-students: a Palestinian, an Iraeli, several Indians, a Pakistani... more than one evangelical Christian.

We managed to get along just fine, even collaborating on homework!
Department parties were potential opportunities for World War III, but everyone attended, and all seemed to enjoy themselves... even engaging in conversation with "THE OTHER".

So why is the world so fucked-up? - if you get just plain folks together, we somehow manage.

[then again, maybe it's just that statisticians are so much more... reasonable than other folks!]