And a wrong way -- to teach. I guess I was fortunate (and smart) to attend a university where the purpose is to teach. Some of the more "upper-tier" universities, it appears, are more interested in name recognition then whether or not the students are learning. Don Luskin publishes a letter from a former student […]
to handle the issue of free speech on campus. The wrong way is how Cal Poly has done it with regard to Steve Hinkle who is getting the book thrown at him for posting a non-offensive flier. The right way is illustrated by UC San Diego, which determined that a far more offensive publication was […]
But I predicted this. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Thursday he plans to ask the California Supreme Court to ease the state's budget gridlock and free up money for schools by ruling that a simple majority of lawmakers can pass a spending plan. The petition, expected to be filed early next week […]
California's Prop. 13, along with having the effect of reducing property taxes, also required a 2/3 majority in order to pass a state budget. This requirement is one fo the primary causes of the state budget stalemate because, even in this Democrat-dominated state, there are enough Republicans in the legislature that a few of them […]
Princeton University professor Peter Singer, who is famous for suggesting that monkeys have more intrinsic value than humans with disabilities and children, has won an ethics award. Only in academia can a man whose views on the value of human life parallel that of the Nazis be lauded and showered with awards.
Talk about stereotypes. (I would argue that liberal white males are more likely to be racist in the way they treat minorities as barely competent children who somehow need a helping hand from the more privilged.) But the comment that prompts this post has to do with my alma mater, Cal Poly SLO. It seems […]
Well, it seems, once again, that religion is in the crossfire of our increasingly secular society. The latest victim is a teacher's aide in Pennsylvania who has run afoul of a 1895 anti-Catholic law that prohibits the display of "religious garb" in public schools. The religious garb in this case is an approximately 1-inch-long gold […]
In the midst of my moving/home-improvement distraction, I missed the news that Secretary of Education Rod Paige caused a brouhaha among the East Coast elite by mentioning religion. What Paige said, in response to a question from the Baptist Press (the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention) about whether secular or religious colleges and […]
I've been in the journalism business for more than a decade (if I count my student-journalism days at Cal Poly SLO) and I've always been happy to help student journalists, aspiring writers and even talk about journalism to schoolkids. So, when asked, I often volunteer to share what I've learned. It usually comes down to […]
Author John Irving has a solid and persuasive critique of the implementation of Title IX -- the implementation that has vastly reduced the number of minor mens sports at universities across the nation. How many days will it take before the militant feminist lobby turns on Irving, the longtime abortion-rights supporter? I predict a press […]