A well-intentioned query and the Halloween Problem
Abstract: The author’s description of the Halloween Problem demonstrates the role of cautionary tales in the history of computing. The Halloween Problem emerged in the context of structured query language optimization in relational database research. Normally, a query optimizer works by measuring system calls and paging requests and applying heuristics to the entire access path tree. Query optimization was one of the most challenging tasks facing System R researchers at IBM. These experiments with query optimization form the milieu in which the Halloween Problem emerged.
The Halloween Problem arose in early database systems when an operation changed the very data being used to determine what should happen next, allowing altered records to re-enter the decision process. The problem offers a useful analogy for increasingly capable artificial intelligence. An autonomous system may observe its environment, act upon it, change the conditions it subsequently observes and then act again. At the frontier lies recursive self-improvement: systems capable of modifying their own software, tools or decision processes. The enduring engineering question is deceptively simple: What happens when a system can change the conditions governing its own decisions?
Relata:
National Center for Health Statistics: Birth Data Files
From Cheerleader & Footballer To Pregnant at 15
Jordan Peterson: Accidental Childlessness, The Epidemic That Dare Not Speak Its Name
REDDIT: An estimated 1/3 of all GenZ were aborted
Today we break down the stack of regulations, codes, standards and open-source literature governing the safety and sustainability of university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery facilities. Because of the complexity of the topic we break down our coverage:
Health 200. Survey of all relevant codes, standards, guidelines and recommended practices for healthcare settings.
Health 400. All of the above with special consideration needed for obstetrics, gynecological and neonatal clinical practice and research.
We limit our interest to systems — water, power, telecommunication and security; for example — that are unique to campus-configured, city-within-city risk aggregations. Electrotechnologies (voltage stability, static electricity control, radio-interference, etc.) in these enterprises are subtle, complex and high risk. Sample titles from legacy best practice literature in this domain are listed below:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Levels of Maternal Care
Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services standards for maternal safety
Since our interest lies in the habitable spaces for these enterprises we usually start with a scan of the following titles:
International Building Code Section 407 (Institutional Group I-2) identifies requirements specific to healthcare settings, covering aspects such as fire safety, means of egress, and smoke compartments. Maternity and obstetric facilities within hospitals fall under this classification.
K-TAG Matrix for Healthcare Facilities
NFPA 70 National Electrical Code Article 517
NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code
NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Chapters 18 & 19
ASHRAE 170 Ventilation of Healthcare Facilities
Relevant Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers research
Towards Deeper Neural Networks for Neonatal Seizure Detection
A System to Provide Primary Maternity Healthcare Services in Developing Countries
Deep Learning for Continuous Electronic Fetal Monitoring in Labor
Reorganizing of University Hospital of Oran’s operating theatre: Simulation approach
Finally, we collaborate with the IEEE E&H Committee on the following IEC committee projects from IEC/TC 62 Electrical equipment in medical practice:
– Common aspects of electrical equipment used in diagnostic imaging equipment
– Equipment for radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry
– Electromedical equipment for neonatal care
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A relatively new publisher of related standards is the Facility Guidelines Institute. We are monitoring its catalog and its processes. The healthcare facility industry is likely large enough for another non-profit but we have yet to see meaningful leading practice discovery and promulgation that is unrelated to the literature that is already out there.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Health care cost as percentage of Gross Domestic Product for six representative nations.
Association of Academic Health Centers
International Conference on Harmonization: The ICH guidelines provide guidance on the development of pharmaceuticals and related substances, including clinical trials, drug safety, and efficacy.
Animal Welfare Act and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
Good Laboratory Practice: GLP is a set of principles that ensure the quality and integrity of non-clinical laboratory studies. It ensures that data generated from non-clinical laboratory studies are reliable, valid, and accurate.
International Code Council Representation of Interests
In the early to mid-1900s, some US colleges used orphaned babies in home economics programs to teach child-rearing skills
These children were referred to as "practice babies" pic.twitter.com/FZCkeu0p2m
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) August 17, 2023
👩⚕️👩🎓 Warmest congratulations to UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems’ Higher Diploma in Midwifery group (2022-2024), who have officially completed their 18-month programme to become registered midwives 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/hixD1gT1no
— University College Dublin (@ucddublin) March 7, 2024
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Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra | Susanna Cervantes, Graduate Conductor
Recorded Nov. 10, 2018 at the Haugh Performing Arts Center, Glendora CA
Copland wrote the score to the film version of Thornton Wilder’s play in 1940. Comparable to Copland’s other orchestral suite, Appalachian Spring, Our Town is smaller in scale, but holds the same traditional Copland characteristics: the sunrise wake up call in the beginning, the call and response, exploiting the reflective quality of the woodwinds, brass chorales, and the desperately aching sounds of the strings.
He explained, “For the film version, they were counting on the music to translate the transcendental aspects of the story. I tried for clean and clear sounds and in general used straight-forward harmonies and rhythms that would project the serenity and sense of security of the story.” It is dedicated to Leonard Bernstein.
Su Jin Susanna Cervantes is professional freelancer actively working in the greater Los Angeles area. As a cellist, Susanna has played in multiple ensembles such as Hollywood Youth Orchestra, USC Thornton Symphony, and APU Symphony Orchestra.
She has also performed in multiple chamber groups performing works by Barber, Brahms, Borodin, Franck, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, and many more. She has performed in masterclasses with Daniel Hoffman, Lynn Harrell, and Alisa Weilerstein. In addition, she frequents in collaboration with singer-songwriters such as Sleeping At Last, whose hits are featured on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy; grammy-nominated artist, Michelle Bloom; British Christian singer-songwriter, Matt Redman; and singer/actress, Jackie Tohn.
Susanna is an academic instructor at Orange County School of Arts, teaching String Literature and Music History. She is also a strings coach for the Symphony Orchestra at San Marino High School. Since 2011, Susanna has been a pianist and a music associate at First Baptist Church of Glendale, facilitating services and contracting musicians for the church. Susanna has been teaching cello privately throughout Southern California since 2010.
Susanna has received her BM in Cello Performance from Azusa Pacific University, and is currently studying with Professor Christopher Russell at Azusa Pacific University and will receive her MM in Instrumental Conducting in May of 2019.
Iowa State University
“Postcard from Campus: Carillon Concert”@IowaStateUhttps://t.co/bSSO3LggR4 pic.twitter.com/RAWeBFEuds— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) September 15, 2023
Beaumont Tower Carillon Performance
Michigan State University@michiganstateu
print(“Lunch Hour 1600 UTC”)\n weekday(2)https://t.co/tQJ3E0XWtv pic.twitter.com/3MChsvOWxo— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) October 18, 2023
Brigham Young University Centennial Carillon@BYUhttps://t.co/UK2KOQT6Rd pic.twitter.com/jqeblP8w7K
— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) June 12, 2021
Roger Scruton — The True, the Good and the Beautiful
In contemporary America, beauty sometimes arrives in the dock accused of carrying an old accomplice: power.
The argument has a history. Standards called beautiful — in faces, bodies, buildings, painting and language — were often established when Western institutions were overwhelmingly European. What one generation
called proportion, harmony or refinement, another may therefore suspect of being merely preference hardened into authority.
But this leaves a larger question unanswered. Abuse of a standard does not prove that standards are impossible. Nor does the history of exclusion establish that beauty itself excludes.
A cathedral, a garden, a melody or a well-made room can move people who share neither ancestry nor politics.
Perhaps beauty is troublesome precisely because it makes a larger claim: that amid our differences, some things may still be worth admiring together.

Brigham Young University Utah
Michigan Volleyball Team 54@umichvballhttps://t.co/NJQuhq9mTG pic.twitter.com/kKH3ppO90u
— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) September 3, 2026
University of Minnesota Extension | Standards Minnesota
2020 Minnesota State Building Codes
When kids join @MN4H, they open a whole new door to hands-on learning. Youth from 13 #Minnesota counties at the #UMNProud St. Paul campus for crop scouting. #STEM pic.twitter.com/g8VOyk8Bly
— U of MN Extension (@UMNExt) July 20, 2022
Regents of the University of Minnesota: General Obligation Refunding Bonds
The term “lively arts” is attributed to American writer and poet James Thurber. It was popularized in the mid-20th century as a way to describe various forms of performing arts, such as theater, dance, music, and other creative expressions.
Standards Michigan Lively Art Catalog
“What art is, in reality, is this missing link, not the links which exist.
It’s not what you see that is art; art is the gap”
— Marcel Duchamp
Today we refresh our understanding of the literature that guides the safety and sustainability goals of lively art events in educational settlements. Consortia have evolved quickly in recent years, leading and lagging changes in the content creation and delivery domain. With this evolution a professional discipline has emerged that requires training and certification in the electrotechnologies that contribute to “event safety”; among them:
ASHRAE International
Standard 62.1: This standard establishes minimum ventilation rates and indoor air quality requirements for commercial buildings, including theaters and auditoriums.
Standard 55: This standard specifies thermal comfort conditions for occupants in indoor environments, which can have an impact on air quality.
Audio Visual and Experience Association
Entertainment Services and Technology Association
Set design model for Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello, created for a Paris production in 1895@GallicaBnF
print(“Lively Arts”)https://t.co/93JWrmLwPh pic.twitter.com/RRxuzmGT4r— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) December 10, 2021
The Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film commits to the philosophy that students of the lively arts must be provided w/ practical skills for employment in industry &
educational settings.https://t.co/DRe7qWJKgW@NebCarsonSchool
Print(“Lively”) #StandardsNebraska pic.twitter.com/7K8zfXYlZj— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) February 4, 2022
International Code Council
International Building Code: Section 303.2 Assembly Group A-1
Illumination Engineering Society
RP-16-17 Lighting for Theatrical Productions: This standard provides guidance on the design and implementation of lighting systems for theatrical productions. It includes information on the use of color, light direction, and light intensity to create different moods and effects.
RP-30-15 Recommended Practice for the Design of Theatres and Auditoriums: This standard provides guidance on the design of theaters and auditoriums, including lighting systems. It covers topics such as seating layout, stage design, and acoustics, as well as lighting design considerations.
DG-24-19 Design Guide for Color and Illumination: This guide provides information on the use of color in lighting design, including color temperature, color rendering, and color mixing. It is relevant to theater lighting design as well as other applications.
National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security
National Fire Protection Association
Life Safety Code
National Electrical Code
Articles 518-540: Arenas, Lecture Halls & Theaters
Society of Motion Picture Technology Engineers
Professional Lighting and Sound Association
Dance and Athletic Floor Product Standards: ASTM F2118, EN 14904, DIN 18032-2
Incumbent standards-setting organizations such as ASHRAE, ASTM, ICC, IEEE, NFPA have also discovered, integrated and promulgated event safety and sustainability concepts into their catalog of best practice titles; many already incorporated by reference into public safety law. We explore relevant research on crowd management and spectator safety.
“Art is anything you can get away with” — Marshall McLuhan
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International Code Council (N.B. Changes to its Code Development Process)
International Building Code: Entertainment Occupancies
Section 410: Stages, Platforms and Technical Production Areas
National Electrical Code: Articles 518 – 540
Code-Making Panel 15 (NEC-P15): Public Input Report 10/1/2020
Code-Making Panel 15 (NEC-P15): Public Comment Report 11/18/2021
ASHRAE 62.1 Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
Princeton University: Set Design & Construction
Building the Virtual Stage: A System for Enabling Mixed Reality Theatre
University of California: Special Effects Safety and Loss Prevention
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
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