Between 1990 and 2000, the over-all mean G.P.A. of high-school students increased from 2.68 to 2.94, which is attributable in part to grade inflation and in part to the fact that students are working harder. Last year, more than a million students took at least one A.P. course. During the nineteen-nineties, the percentage of students…
Researchers and educators blame the gap between books and boys on everything from a built-in fidgetiness to low expectations to a lifelong association of reading with their mothers, teachers, librarians — all female role models. But now more are suggesting that the problem may not lie entirely within the boys themselves. Some educators believe that…
Something important is happening in the world of journalism:. It’s an evolution from the lecture model, to which we in mass media have become accustomed in the past century, to something closer to a conversation. The shift stems from the collision of technology with media. This evolution is having an effect on all three major…
Rogers’ Predator is one of more than 1,200 UAVs in the US military arsenal; three years ago, there were fewer than 100 in the field. Today drones as small as a crow and as big as a Cessna are searching for roadside bombs, seeking out insurgents, and watching the backs of US troops. They’re cheap,…
—Top 100 Speeches (American Rhetoric) Full-text of all, and audio versions of most. Part of a good collection of rhetoric links on Metafilter. Similar:Google Pledges $300 Million to Clean Up False NewsThis is a welcome step, but we cannot tr…CultureLoved part 1 of Alec Silverblatt's Mon Valley Medium. Part 2 tomorrow at 7. #pptplayt…CultureTreasure peaceful moments…
Between 4 and 4:45 p.m., the father gives you a great interview. His descriptions of his son are colorful, specific, and heartfelt. His overarching theme is the pride he feels for his son, and his stories all express this theme. In particular the father relates: A) How his son was searching for a purpose in…
Maybe when Joe and Mary Sixpack compare the real world they live in with the consistently troubled, violent, sensationalized world the news media present to them day after day, they notice the obvious discrepancies. A perfect example is crime coverage. If you relied only on newspaper front pages and TV news — as so many…
The retraction set off a firestorm in the blogosphere and on talk radio. The Bush Administration piled on too. White House press secretary Scott McClellan urged the magazine to help undo the damage to the U.S.’s image by pointing out ways in which “our United States military personnel go out of their way to make…
Chess provided one of the safety valves that kept the lid on the cold war. But how did chess come to play this role: both symbol of the war and its antithesis? And how does chess illuminate the process by which the west triumphed over communism? —Daniel Johnson —Cold War Chess (Prospect) Check it out, mate.…
But while the goal of rewarding good teachers is laudable, the awards can sap the morale and productivity of faculty members who try too hard to receive them. For young professors in particular, paying too much attention to teaching awards is dangerous. […] A professor whose goal is to win a teaching award can be…
Six in ten among the public feel the media show bias in reporting the news, and 22% say the government should be allowed to censor the press. More than 7 in 10 journalists believe the media does a good or excellent job on accuracy–but only 4 in 10 among the public feel that way. And…
Newsweek magazine on Sunday said it erred in a May 9 report that said U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, and apologized to the victims of deadly Muslim protests sparked by the article. “We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence…
How many other American journalists, perhaps not as secure in their position as I, have thought to do a story and decided that it’s too close to the bone, too questioning of the American government or its actions? How many times was the risk that our own government might come in and rifle through our…
What will be the contributions of a large bunch of people, who could have blogged on their own if they wanted to, but were motivated to do so by the Arianna Huffington brand name? I briefly checked out The Huffington Post today. I was never too impressed by the collective achievements of the celebrity intellectuals…
Put bluntly, failure attracts more money than success. Politically, failure becomes a reason to demand more money, smaller classes, and more trendy courses and programs, ranging from “black English” to bilingualism and “self-esteem.” Politicians who want to look compassionate and concerned know that voting money for such projects accomplishes that purpose for them and voting…
College administrators have been enthusiastic supporters Eve Ensler‘splay The Vagina Monologues and schools across the nation celebrate ?V-Day? (short for Vagina Day) every year. But when the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island rained on the celebrations of V-Day by inaugurating Penis Day and staging a satire called The Penis Monologues, the…
Professors see the world in terms of experts and students: “We are smart; you are dumb.” That’s the Infantile American Principle in a nutshell. Now go play with your toys and don’t bother me. —David Gelernter —The ‘We’re Smart, You’re Dumb’ Principle (LA Times (will expire)) The article is really a critique of Democratic philosophy, but…
Professor Ernesto wants to talk about plagiarism in student papers. Floor open.Questions: Is there really a problem here? (Smythe)Professor Ernesto: What‘sthe percentage of student work that‘ssuspect? Really, that high? Why don’t we just castrate their damn laptops? That‘s obviously where it‘s coming from.Professor Dale notes that the act of appropriation may sometimes be an homage.Professor…
And there is no doubt that there are profits to be made in the reconstruction business. There are massive engineering and supplies contracts ($10 billion to Halliburton in Iraq and Afghanistan alone); “democracy building” has exploded into a $2 billion industry; and times have never been better for public-sector consultants–the private firms that advise governments…
“Just think about it,” I would tell them with as straight a face as I could muster, “next Tuesday the Royal Shakespeare Company will be on campus to give their rendition of King Lear.” I left time for that news to sink in, and then added: “I’m told that their production is absolutely world class.”…