Blog 3 Columns

‘I’ll Never Be the Same’: My Ukrainian Wife’s First Trip to the United States 0
- Culture
- November 5, 2018
KYIV, Ukraine—How do you measure America’s greatness? By the size of its economy, or the strength of its military? By the height of its city skylines, or the audacity of the moon landings? Perhaps, by the heroism of the Marines who landed on Iwo Jima, or of the Army soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach?
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When Laws Are Not Enforced, Anarchy Follows 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2018
What makes citizens obey the law is not always their sterling character. Instead, fear of punishment—the shame of arrest, fines or imprisonment—more often makes us comply with laws. Law enforcement is not just a way to deal with individual violators but also a way to remind society at large that there can be no civilization
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Two for the Price of One: Why More Schools Should Offer College Degrees in High School 2
- Education
- November 2, 2018
The New York Times recently caught my eye with the following article title: “A High School Education and College Degree All in One.” Such a promise sounds almost too good to be true, like one of those “work from home for $40 an hour” signs plastered everywhere. Yet, the promise is real, and students taking
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How to Avoid Becoming a Self-Righteous Virtue Signaler 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2018
Here is an online proponent for gun control, a man ignorant of the difference between a shotgun and a .22 rifle, decrying millions of gun owners as Nazis. There sits the woman who makes a point of telling her dinner companions, some of whom are eating the café’s steak special, that she’s a vegan. At
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Here’s Why Trump’s Constant Criticism of the Media Resonates With Americans 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2018
Americans aren’t fans of their media. A recent poll shows that while many Americans find President Donald Trump divisive, even more find the media to be divisive. A Politico/Morning Consult poll showed that 56 percent of Americans think Trump has done more to divide the country, while 64 percent of Americans think the media has
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7 Ways to Teach Civil Discourse to Students 0
- Culture
- November 2, 2018
If young people are to engage in democracy and society, young people need to learn how to respectfully disagree. Yet, educators often find it challenging to lead discussions on contentious issues. Based on my experience as a middle school social studies educator, I’ve discovered that there are ways teachers and others who work with young
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When It Comes to Gender, Science and Political Correctness Don’t Mix 0
- Culture
- November 1, 2018
In my junior high and high school science courses we were taught that whether you were a male or female depended on your chromosomal make-up. Females had two X chromosomes (XX) and males had an X and a Y chromosome (XY). There were exceptions to this rule, we were told. Those with Turner’s Syndrome had
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Think You’re Bad at Math? You May Suffer from ‘Math Trauma’1
- November 1, 2018
I teach people how to teach math, and I’ve been working in this field for 30 years. Across those decades, I’ve met many people who suffer from varying degrees of math trauma – a form of debilitating mental shutdown when it comes to doing mathematics. When people share their stories with me, there are common
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The Despair of Stephen Hawking’s Inconsistencies 1
- Religion
- November 1, 2018
Stephen Hawking’s own personal brief history of time is up. But he left as he lived, feisty, modern and… depressing. And without finding the Grand Unified theory he was famous for being about to discover. Hawking was once equivocal about the meaning of life or lack thereof. In his popular 1988 book A Brief History of
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‘I’ll Never Be the Same’: My Ukrainian Wife’s First Trip to the United States 0