Up in Flames? Oh the Humanities!

Why are humanities not only valuable but freaking awesome?  You'd better figure it out on your own, because university presidents can't mount a substantive defense of the humanities.  Of course, I think most university presidents aren't worth the pixels it would take me to express my displeasure with most university presidents.  No wonder higher ed is in trouble: its putative leaders have no idea about education.

Nerd News: "Luxury College Dorms" Is A Debt-Ridden Oxymoron

Ridiculous.  A university is not a resort.

Nerd Notes: 3 Thoughts About Education

Take a look:

1. The high school achievements arms race
2. Kindergarten done horribly wrong
3. "My students don't know how to have a conversation."

Nerd News: 3 Thoughts

There are a few stories that crossed my path recently:

• Teacher training's favorite myths
• Taking aim at charter schools
• HERESY!  (It also happens to be the truth.)

Headline of the Day: Latest "Zero Tolerance" Idiocy

Here's the (gratifyingly snarky) headline: "6-year-old has Lego-sized toy gun on bus, everyone loses their minds."

You may recall my previous post about this sort of nonsense.

The Department of Education Fails Voltaire 101

Geez, I hate the DOE.  How many times do I have to say it?  YOU DON'T GIVE UP YOUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS WHEN YOU STEP ONTO CAMPUS.  Campus speech codes are evil, and this latest version even more evil than before.  Let the lawsuits begin!  

Quote of the Day: On "Zero Tolerance" Policies In Schools

Why, yes:

One of the problems with these policies is that they have this tough-sounding name (ZERO tolerance!), and enforcers of them somehow get it in their heads that their absurdly literal interpretations indicate discipline and seriousness. In reality, these actions trivialize the problem and make the administrators who enforce them look like buffoons. 

While “Zero Tolerance” does aptly describe such policies, it’s not the only name that fits. It would be just as meaningful to call them “Zero Discretion” policies, seeing as none is called for, or “Zero Responsibility” policies, since none is assumed. But clearly the best name for such rules would be “Zero Intelligence” policies, seeing as none is required or used.

I hate edu-crats.

Hello Kitty Monstrosity of the Day: 5-Year-Old Girl Criminal

I yield to nobody in my hatred of the mouthless cartoon cat, but this news item is insane.  The monstrosity this time isn't a Hello Kitty-themed object but the behavior of "adults" who should know better.  Headline: "Pennsylvania kindergartener uses Hello Kitty bubble-gun at school, suspended for 'terrorist threat.'"  

A threat? It's a pink plastic toy that makes soap bubbles, for goodness sake!  The little girl's parents are considering a lawsuit.

Ivy League Admissions and Asian American Students

*Sigh.*  

RELATED: Entrance exam issues at Stuy earlier this year.

Econ Prof: "Why Is Higher Ed So Expensive?"

Econ prof Daniel Lin explains why higher ed is so expensive and why government subsidies for it are so ultimately counter-productive:

"The First Thing We Do - We Kill All The ..."

Incredible silliness from a law dean, which is - now that I think of it - not a surprise.

UPDATE: Smackdown. Don't miss the link to responses by recent law school grads.

Nerd News: The Cost of Administrative Bloat

It's worse than ever. Here's a bit of it:

Administrative costs on college campuses are soaring, crowding out instruction at a time of skyrocketing tuition and $1 trillion in outstanding student loans. At Purdue and other U.S. college campuses, bureaucratic growth is pitting professors against administrators and sparking complaints that tight budgets could be spent more efficiently. 

“We’re a public university,” Robinson [J. Paul Robinson, chairman of Purdue University’s faculty senate and a 59-year-old professor of biomedical engineering] said. “We’re here to deliver a high-quality education at as low a price as possible. Why is it that we can’t find any money for more faculty, but there seems to be an almost unlimited budget for administrators?”

Nerd News: College Admission Bias and Asian-American Students

This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last.  When confronted with those "identify your race" survey questions, I always refuse to mark anything.

Nerd News: Florida's New Plan for Racially-Based Educational Goals

OK, how is this not both stupid and blatantly raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist?

The Florida State Board of Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based upon their race. On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

There's so much wrong with this that I don't even know where to start. The Florida State Board of Education sucks, and you can quote me on that.  

Nerd News: A Horrible Campus Speech Code

Unbelievable.  Comply or be expelled.  You know, you don't lose your constitutional rights when you step onto your campus.

Mandatory Mandarin Lessons in Georgia Public Schools?

What?  As usual, my objection is to the "mandatory."  Something else: it's involved with funding from the Chinese government.  Hmmmm.

Nerd News: Idiocy, Preschool Edition

Stupid school policy is stupid.  Do these people really have nothing better to do than harass a 3-year-old deaf boy about his name?  SUE THESE MORONS, STAT.

Quote of the Day: Olympics and Achievement

Heh:

The Olympics were an unapologetic festival of competitiveness, pursuit of individual excellence, almost superhuman self-discipline, and uncompromising reward for merit. They were, in other words, a celebration of all those aspects of the human condition which the political fashion and educational ideology of the past 40 years has attempted to denigrate. And the country loved it. Indeed, it was ecstatically untroubled by the fact that some people – who were exceptionally talented and phenomenally dedicated – won, and some other people, with considerable courage and no dishonour, lost.

Nerd News: Academic Conservatism by Liberal Instructors 1, Mushy Programs 0?

What do you think?

Nerd News: Too Much Cheering at Graduation = No Diploma

Oh, come on!  This is stupid.