New SAT words: Declaration, of, Independence

Today College Board president David Coleman announced that the test prep overlord money-mill non-profit giant will be changing once again its venerable SAT.  It’s going back to a top score of 800, making the vocabulary better reflect college usage, and eliminating the penalty for incorrect answers, all in the hopes of making the test a […]

higher eduction: another pillar of plutocracy

We already know that over the past forty years, changes in tax policy, the conservative war against unions, attempts to dismantle the governmental safety net, the relaxing of campaign finance laws, and resistance to increasing the minimum wage have all contributed to plutocracy in America.  As Suzanne Mettler noted in the New York Times this past weekend, […]

Next challenge for higher edumacation: making this scalable for distance learning

As Boise State professor Greg Hampikian, tongue in cheek, asks the Idaho State Legislature in response to a proposal to allow packing on campuses in the Potato State, “When May I Shoot a Student?”  Here’s my question: how would this work in an online environment?  Feel free to suggest.  Best answer gets a coupon, in […]

I have no idea what to make of this… but I like it

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, featuring Tom Morello (formerly of Rage Against the Machine), with a string section straight out of Robert Palmer video, covering… wait for it… yes, that Stayin Alive, by the BeeGees.  Is this the equivalent of Dylan going electric, or Ray Charles doing country, or Nixon going to China?  Up […]

Stay thirsty, my framers

Stanton Peele recently posted noting the prodigious consumption of alcohol at a farewell party for George Washington, near the tail end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 1787.  Here’s a transcription of the bill for the evening, which is estimated at a 2011 equivalent of $15,400 for “55 gentleman,” thus $280 a head.  And those […]