Here we go again. First large-scale formal quantitative test confirms Darwin’s theory of universal common ancestry. … Until now, the theory that makes ladybugs, oak trees, champagne yeast and humans distant relatives has remained beyond the scope of a formal test. Now, a Brandeis biochemist reports in Nature the results of the first large scale, quantitative test of the famous theory that underpins modern evolutionary … Continue reading Uh oh! Darwin was right?!
Stranger in a Strange Land, former President Bush attorney John Yoo at home in Berkeley CA, despite calls for his ouster. “I think of myself as being West Berlin during the Cold War, a shining beacon of capitalism and democracy surrounded by a sea of Marxism,” Yoo observes, sipping iced tea in the faculty club lounge, a wan smile registering the discomfort of colleagues walking … Continue reading Profile in Sanity
Rush Limbaugh referred to this survey , “The Shaping of the American Mind: The Diverging Influences of the College Degree and Civic Learning on American Beliefs,” today during the second hour of his show today. Its hard to believe some of the findings: Here are a few frightening figures certain to keep you up at night: 71% of Americans failed the civics knowledge test; 51% … Continue reading Survey of college students and civics
There’s some evidence that thinking makes it so—not in the obvious sense that thinking makes you smarter, but in the sense that thinking you’re getting smarter actually makes you smarter. Positive thinking really does have power. I hesitate to endorse this, because I’ve known plenty of people who thought they were smarter than they really were. But I suspect there’s something to it nevertheless. Your … Continue reading How to Get Smart
Wretchard (in his new home in Pajamas Media!) writes of the political correctness of academia, with some optimism that it is now around halfway through its life-cycle. Picking up on his theme that higher education functions primarily to sort students by IQ, a commenter remarks that the growth of higher education stems from Griggs v. Duke Power, the case in which the Supreme Court held … Continue reading Wretchard on Higher Education
Inside Higher Education publishes figures on expenditures in higher education, confirming what those of us on the inside have known for a long time: the far-above-inflation increases in tuition over the past twenty years have not gone to faculty or anything else involving instruction. Median Spending Per Full-time Enrolled Student, 2005, by Sector Sector Direct Instructional Costs Other Educational Costs Non-Educational Costs Total Private research … Continue reading Where Your Tuition Money Goes
when it sounds as if it should be the other way around. “Worst professor ever”—well confirmed. What on earth is going on at Dartmouth? Consider her qualifications for a position at Dartmouth Medical School: After obtaining a BA from Dartmouth College, I have an MS in Genetics from UC Davis and a PhD in Literature from UC San Diego. Literature! And the sentence is only … Continue reading Professor Sues Students…
How can one make those dull academic colloquies fun? Brian Hollar has a suggestion. I just wish he had come up with this at the beginning of the semester; I’ve had to go to an average of two a week. Continue reading Seminar Bingo!
Good luck with that. There’s plenty of drama to tenure decisions, but it plays out slowly—though I guess the months involved an writing an article and the months it takes to hear a journal’s decision can be glossed in an 80s-style montage with bouncy music in the background. Continue reading Tenure, the Movie?
The View from Alexandria 