Law School Dean Fired for Plagiarism

He taught ethics classes in California! LA Times —Law School Dean Fired for Plagiarism Similar:Galaxy’s Child (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 16) LaForge meets the enginee… Rewatching ST:TNG LaForge is surprise…EthicsEssay on how much a professor learned about teaching from his mentorI had a similar experience, with a mento…CultureFacebook exec erroneously cites The Lord…

The Write Stuff

“Handwriting is a basic skill that serves us all our lives. Unfortunately, a problem that primarily affects boys is rarely on anyone’s list of educational priorities.” Christina Hoff Summers —The Write Stuff Similar:All those fights over late-ar­riv­ing mail bal­lots were much ado about very lit­tleJust in case you haven’t been thinking l…CultureMinneapolis protest cleanup: Did…

The Other in literary criticism

“[O]nce you have observed that the other is typically portrayed as lazy, dirty, stupid, crafty, womanly, passive, rebellious, sexually rapacious, childlike, enigmatic and a number of other mutually contradictory epithets, it is hard to know what to do next apart from reaching for yet another textual illustration of the fact.” London Review of Books  —The…

Data Smog

Too much information?  “[T] this weed in our informational landscape has just sprouted–it is only about 50 years old. Up until then, more information was almost always a good thing.” David Shenk —Data Smog Similar:dungeon.jpg (JPEG Image, 2535×1616 pixels)Great Zork map.AestheticsHow Will Historians of the Future Run MS Word 97? How Can We Save It…

What Do the US News Rankings Measure?

“Log onto almost any college Web site and you’ll see the same beautiful students talking about their beautiful campuses and how much they learn. But there are no numbers, no studies, no objective measurements.” —Wash. Monthly —What Do the US News Rankings Measure? Similar:Journalist Nellie Bly Began her Around the World in 72 Days Tour…

Velma Rules — Jinkies!

“Hey, all you crafty, capable women wearing chunky, horn-rimmed glasses (this year) and doing your brainy chick thing…” Hank Stuever, Wash. Post —Velma Rules — Jinkies! Similar:Lies about history in Texas can be traced to the Lone Star State's own Big Lie: The AlamoYet many Texans feel they need&nbsp…Culture5 of the Fiercest One-Liners in HistoryYes, the…

Industry Standard

Failed to Practise What It Preached The magazine that chronicled the excesses of the dot.com revolution did not spot the extravagances that led to its own downfall. Mark Tran —Industry Standard Similar:Body Parts #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 25) Quark announces he's dying; Kira …Rewatching ST:DS9 In Ops, O’Brien frets…AmusingWhy Hoboken is Throwing Away…

Real Headlines

Include Your Children when Baking Cookies New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half —Real Headlines Similar:Seton Hill University's New Media Journalism Program Named One of Pittsburgh Magazine's "1… Journalism — New Media » It’s the i…AcademiaJournalists prefer plain language.AestheticsRascals (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 7)…

E-Books Solving a Problem Consumers Don't Have.

Despite the technological hoopla, nobody’s paying attention to e-books but the courts.  “Digitizing the printed page has put the very nature of books up for grabs, unleashing heated battles among writers, readers, librarians and technologists over who should control electronic books.” Chicago Tribune —E-Books Solving a Problem Consumers Don’t Have. Similar:19 Book Cover ClichésThis one…

CNN Should be Named the Crappy News

Not-Work: “CNN acts like they’re the network of record in Millennial America, just because of their award-winning Gulf War coverage. That was so 10 years ago, and people only watched because there was no MSNBC back then.” The Onion —CNN Should be Named the Crappy News Similar:Interface (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 3) LaForge,…

A New Read on Huck Finn's Distinctive Voice

At first, Huck Finn said “as if” instead of “like,” “wasn’t” and not “warn’t,” and described a night sky “sprinkled”–not “speckled”–with stars. A new edition of the American classic traces Mark Twain’s efforts to refine the speech of his most famous character. LA Times —A New Read on Huck Finn’s Distinctive Voice Similar:Why our future…

First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Your Readers.

  (Watch them instead.) “Create a few alternative designs, show them to a group of users, and ask which one they prefer. Wrong. If the users have not actually tried to use the designs, they’ll base their comments on surface features.” Jakob Nielsen —First Rule of Usability? Don’t Listen to Your Readers. Similar:Snarky Error Message…

But what about Jemima Puddle-Duck?

At a graveyard near where Beatrix Potter (author of the “Peter Rabbit” stories) spent her youth: “Names on headstones included Mr Nutkin, Mr McGregor, Jeremiah Fisher, Tommy Brock – and even a Peter Rabbett.” BBC —But what about Jemima Puddle-Duck? Similar:Shakespeare’s Choose-Your-Own AdventureIf meeting three strange ladies in the s…AmusingAnthony Weiner, Reality Star of Sorts,…

A modern language changes when we change it

“A modern language changes when we change it, and the metaphor that makes it autonomous only obscures our real task, which is to consider just how and why we change it.” Mark Halpern Similar:The Myth of the Unemployed Humanities MajorStudents who work their way up to leader…AcademiaLooking forward to Part 2 of #PPTPlaytime’s production “The…

Sci-Tech Web Awards 2001

That said, we’ve decided to acknowledge our very favorite Web sites—five each in 10 subject areas—with the Scientific American.com Sci/Tech Web Award. It is an eclectic mix—from the practical to the academic to the downright silly. Among this year’s winners are sites that decode computer acronyms, explain group theory, unravel the genome, track chemistry in…

Violent video games encourage violent behavior (Contemporary Pediatrics)

The second most popular form of entertainment after television, video games have rapidly become the largest segment of the entertainment industry. Mounting evidence lends support to what parents have suspected all along — violent videogames encourage violent behavior. Contemporary Pediatrics Similar:This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca.…

Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio

.  Painfully funny small-town satire from The Onion. —Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio Similar:Just finished a good literature class discussion on this powerful play.Would love to teach it to healthcare stu…AcademiaCoined by Shakespeare? Think againFor years, Shakespeare has been thought …Academia15 Times "Filler Text" Became a Journalist's Worst EnemyIt doesn’t happen often but when…

What Good is Literature?

“If anything, the recent expansion of literacy and educational opportunities has increased our access to literature and our enjoyment of it.” J. Peder Zane —What Good is Literature? Similar:College student makes masks for the deaf & hard of hearing Other than one trip to the grocery sto…Current_EventsAnyone capitalized in a standard how way without no…