Blog 3 Columns

How statistics are twisted to obscure public understanding 0
- Education
- August 10, 2016
Mark Twain attributed to Benjamin Disraeli the famous remark: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ In every industry, from education to healthcare to travel, the generation of quantitative data is considered important to maintain quality through competition. Yet statistics rarely show what they seem. If you look at recent airline
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Can You Compete with an 1899 American Civics Student?0
- Culture
- August 10, 2016
Jay Leno’s Jaywalking segments are notorious for providing multiple facepalm moments. Leno’s classic 4th of July segment is no disappointment in that respect, for it shows multiple interviewees stymied by simple American civics questions. Jay Walking: citizens show no knowledge of… by TalkerOne The fact that the grandfather of the last family in Leno’s interview
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Why media should give the guy with the silly haircut a fair shake 0
- Culture
- August 9, 2016
The latest superhero extravaganza, Suicide Squad, comes from the DC Comics universe. It’s an updated Dirty Dozen: gather half a dozen psycho crims with superhuman powers and promise them a reprieve from death row in exchange for carrying out black ops. There are lots of explosions, violence, a saucy female lead in hot pants, and deadpan humour.
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Today’s graduates are missing this one ‘common’ thing 1
- Culture
- August 9, 2016
In the years since the 2008 Recession, gallons of ink have been spilled giving advice to young people on how to land a decent paying job. It seems that a young person must do nothing less than have a hefty volunteer record, a perfect GPA from an ivy league school, and three to four internships
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Teacher: Embrace Books, Ditch Technology 0
- Culture
- August 9, 2016
Late last week, The Washington Post ran a piece written by high school English teacher Giles Scott. According to Scott, the coming school year will find his classroom laptop free. Scott’s resolve to remove technology from the reach of his students does not stem from secret Luddite tendencies. Instead, he argues that students need time
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Professor: University Students Behave Like Infants 0
- Culture
- August 9, 2016
In June 1962, 59 student activists met in Port Huron, Michigan to draft a manifesto of their core principles. They condemned racism in the United States and the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Most of all, though, they indicted their own institution, the modern US university, for ignoring and suppressing their voice. Students
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Nikola Tesla: 5 Things Most People Don’t Know About Him 0
- History
- August 9, 2016
Nikola Tesla, the beloved inventor, engineer, and physicist, had his birthday just a couple weeks ago on July 10th, which makes him 160 years old! Tesla is revered around the world for his contributions to modern society, including the alternating current electricity system, which is used by most residential homes and commercial business spaces today.
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Is Playing Powerball More Rational than Voting for President?0
- Culture
- August 9, 2016
Those who agree have scoffed at the hullabaloo over the Powerball of February this year, with its $1.6 billion jackpot and 1 in 292 million odds. After the drawing, such skeptics smirked at amusing news stories about lottery losers doubling down on their innumerate antics. There was Cinnamon Nicole, a Tennessee woman who had spent
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Harvard study: Women struggle with reconciliation after conflict more than men 0
- Education
- August 9, 2016
Anyone else a bit surprised by this lead via the Harvard Gazette? It’s not exactly front-page news that when it comes to conflict, men and women usually behave very differently. The way they resolve those conflicts also tends to differ. While men can be aggressive and combative, a new study shows that, from the tennis
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How statistics are twisted to obscure public understanding 0