In her recent article at Intellectual Takeout, Annie Holmquist gives three reasons why college freshman can’t write, a problem that is the topic of constant complaint of college professors. Her reasons are good: They are not receiving good instruction in reasoning and in writing; they don’t receive constructive criticism in school; and they are the
READ MOREAsk any teacher, parent, or politician what’s wrong with today’s education system and they’ll all have a different answer. Some will say it’s the absurd amount of testing. Others will lay the blame at the feet of the teachers. Another group will argue that poor curriculum is the driver. Veteran teacher Martin Robinson may well
READ MOREThis last year has seen a number of university professors speak out and tell their students that it’s time to grow up. Likely spurred on by increasing student demands for sensitivity and security, these professors have stepped up and pointed out that real life is a lot harder and more uncomfortable than college. Students who
READ MOREVia the Daily Mail: Oxford University is encouraging students to use the gender-neutral pronoun ‘ze’ instead of ‘she and ‘he’. The students’ union wrote in a leaflet that the move was intended to reduce the risk of transgender students being offended. Students hope that the use of ‘ze’ will continue into university lectures and seminars,
READ MOREThe other day a friend of mine received some good-natured ribbing over the fact that he had to call a repairman to fix something at his house rather than do it on his own. The incident produced some laughs, but I came away thinking that he was completely justified in his need to call a
READ MOREVia Gallup: Americans’ support for keeping the Electoral College system for electing presidents has increased sharply. Weeks after the 2016 election, 47% of Americans say they want to keep the Electoral College, while 49% say they want to amend the Constitution to allow for a popular vote for president. In the past, a clear majority
READ MOREI am a woman, proudly so. I believe women are as smart as men, as capable as men, and ought not be satisfied if considered otherwise. I am one of those who would love to see that last and greatest of glass ceilings broken. I think there are a lot of smart women, and I
READ MOREAbout 10,000 years ago, humans in the Fertile Crescent began tilling soil and cultivating crops. Why they began doing this we’ll likely never know for certain. But compelling evidence suggests it was related to the discovery of the process of fermentation and, more specifically, beer. Nearly 30 years ago, Solomon Katz, a University of Pennsylvania
READ MOREUntil recently, Princeton University’s devotion to Woodrow Wilson was so pervasive and worshipful that visitors to campus might easily have mistaken the modernist parthenon housing the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs for a literal temple. If nothing else, the black students demanding that my alma mater strip the segregationist president’s name from
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