Blog 3 Columns

Study: It’s Not Your Imagination, Modern Kindergarten is More Demanding 0
- Education
- January 8, 2016
It’s a question that’s been raised a number of times in recent months: are schools demanding more of young children these days? According to news out this morning, we no longer have to rack our brains to recall our own kindergarten experience for comparison’s sake. Research shows that today’s 5 year-olds are required to perform
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Philadelphia Cop Shot: Clash of Civilizations Continues 0
- Culture
- January 8, 2016
On the same night that President Obama held a televised, town hall meeting on gun control, a man shot a police officer in the name of Islam with a stolen police gun. Reuters reported the following: “A gunman claiming to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants shot and seriously wounded a Philadelphia police officer
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Penetrating Wisdom from Marcus Aurelius 0
- History
- January 8, 2016
1. “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” 2. “Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.” 3. “Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” 4. “There
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Keynes in 1930: Americans Will Have 15-Hour Work Week by 2030 (Ha!)0
- Economics
- January 8, 2016
In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by 2030 the American economy would be so productive as to allow for a 15-hour work week, according to a recent story in The Atlantic. As The Atlantic reminds us, three quarters of the way there, we’re not even close. For a while it appeared that Keynes’s
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Do LGBT kids need school choice?0
- Culture
- January 8, 2016
To much national acclaim, a new school for LGBT kids is opening in Atlanta called “Pride School”. According to the school’s website, its mission is the following: “To provide LGBTQQIAA students, families and educators a safe, fun and rigorous learning environment free of homophobia and transphobia – a place that honors their identities so they
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Democracy, Greed, and the Perils of Equality 10
- History
- January 8, 2016
If there are two things that one is likely to hear from college faculty today, they are that 1. Students are too careerist, and 2. We need a more democratic society. They worry about the growing utilitarian cast of education in general, as well as the remnants of hierarchy, authority, paternalism, and inequality in today’s
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British Educator: Student Success Comes from “Quiet, sensible, matter-of-fact parents”0
- Culture
- January 8, 2016
Last month, students at Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota were shocked when two students assaulted a teacher and administrator who were trying to break up a lunchroom spat: “The older student is accused of slamming a teacher against a wall, choking him and then slamming him onto the floor after the teacher tried
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Are Thank-You Notes Becoming a Thing of the Past?0
- Culture
- January 8, 2016
Several years ago, my grandmother received a note from one of my young cousins which made her cry. If I recall correctly, the tears were of delight rather than sadness, for the note graciously thanked her for a trifle which many would have normally overlooked. Unfortunately, receiving a handwritten thank-you note seems to be increasingly
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9 Timeless Strategies from Sun-tzu’s ‘Art of War’0
- History
- January 8, 2016
Sun-tzu’s Art of War is a highly influential text from the 5th century B.C. Its lessons have been applied in both the East and West not only to war, but also to business, politics, law, sports, and even life. After all, as Plato reminds us in the Gorgias, life is the “great combat… greater than
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Study: It’s Not Your Imagination, Modern Kindergarten is More Demanding 0