Soon after I enrolled as a graduate student at Cambridge University in 1964, I encountered a fellow student, two years ahead of me in his studies, who was unsteady on his feet and spoke with great difficulty. This was Stephen Hawking. He had recently been diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and it was thought that
READ MORESeeking advice about the qualities he should look for in a mate, an unmarried man in his 30s posted at the online sports forum of my alma mater. He invited comments on his list of top attributes: looks, camaraderie, cooking ability, love of the alma mater (this man attends every game), and patience. He thought
READ MORECompared to general life expectancy standards, my paternal grandfather died at quite a young age. I was only four when cancer took him down in a matter of weeks, so I don’t remember much about him. Yet in spite of this limited time, he did one thing which, in retrospect, was quite influential on my
READ MOREAt a cost of $100,000, the city of Baltimore plans to provide 60 free buses to take students from its schools to planned anti-gun demonstrations in Washington, D.C. later this month. Many things could be said against this decision. For instance, it openly breaks with the notional political neutrality of public schools so as to
READ MORECollege campuses have long been strongholds of free speech in all shapes and forms. That stance has seemed to shift in recent years, however, and because of many outbursts against speakers and students alike, the general public is beginning to believe that free speech is most threatened within the sacred halls of learning. A recent
READ MORELegislators in New Mexico are pushing a bill that would make students apply to at least one college while they are still juniors in high school. This legislation reflects the powerful belief that college should be the norm for students after they graduate from high school. That belief, however, is mistaken and this bill, should
READ MOREThe Girls in Science and Engineering (GISE) summer camp at the University of Michigan (UM) was created as an “exciting one-week, day program for girls who have completed the 7th or 8th grade,” as the top part of the graphic above explains. The annual program’s main sponsor is the University of Michigan’s Women in Science
READ MOREHaving failed last year to pass legislation undoing Obamacare’s damage, congressional Republicans now are reportedly looking to spend billions of additional tax dollars bailing out insurers offering Obamacare coverage, rather than dealing with the real problems that are driving up costs. The money would be added to a government funding bill that Congress plans to take
READ MOREA grocery chain in the United Kingdom has drawn media attention for selling gender-neutral Mother’s Day cards to make the day more “transgender inclusive.” Waitrose, an upscale grocery, stocked transgender-friendly cards among its selection for Mother’s Day, which was March 11 in the U.K. Some examples of gender-inclusive card slogans and greetings include: “Happy You
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