• what was the margin of victory between Bush and Gore in that state in 2000?
• what has been the growth in per capita personal disposable income (PDI) in the state?

Who paid for this ad anyway? ... Turns out, according to a reliable source, that the ad only cost about $11K, which is, almost, chump change.  In fact, by Eduwonk's rough estimate it's only about $733 per falsehood -- a real bargain in today's economy!

The faithful are still murmuring: Will she return? Who will be the next IA? How can we live without her? The woman has gone, but her site now highlights another aspect of the academic mindset, one that's not very becoming. You don't need the validation of your brethren; you don't need the validation of anyone. Stop lingering by the tomb. Take a risk. Ponder your options--but do it quickly--and go.

Children and families need more voices of hope.
And my work is filled with Hope.

In light of the Zayed Center's having promoted activities in evident conflict with the purposes of the gift, Harvard indicated to representatives of the donor that the University was seriously considering returning the gift funds.

I went through the web-site of each Ivy League English department and compiled the academic interests of the faculty as listed on the web-site.  I considered only full, associate and assistant professors; I did not include visiting professors, adjunct professors, or lecturers.  The interests tended to be quite varied, so I attempted to put them into broader categories, thirteen that I judged to be more or less traditional, and five that struck me as, well, non-traditional.  I broke down the information by school, by professorial rank (when available), and year of Ph.D. (when available).  While I was at it, I ran each professors name through http://www.tray.com/ to see how they donated money politically.   Most did not contribute any money at all, but 7.7% donated to John Kerry, another Democratic candidate, the DNC, or Emily’s list.  None showed up as having donated any money to Bush/Cheney or any other Republican or conservative group.

Number who contributed to Kerry, a Democrat, and or Democratic Party Related Group 25 (7.7%)

Kerry for president $16,500
Howard Dean $1,650
Wesley Clark$3,000
Dennis Kucinich $500
Joe Lieberman $2,000

DNC $4,713
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $250
Cohen of New Hampshire (Democrat U.S. Senate) $500
Patty Murray (Washington, Democrat, U.S. Senate)  $750
Barbara Boxer (California, Democrat, U.S. Senate) $800
Betty Castor  (Florida Democtrat, U.S. Senate) $300
Allyson Schwartz (Pennsylvania 13th, Democrat U.S. Congress)  $300
Emily’s List $3,850
Bush/Cheney or any other Republican candidate or organization 0

I had no idea that there was so much academic interest in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.  I didn’t make a count, but there were quite a few papers.

The war on terror continues to maintain a hold on our national psyche as we seem to be caught in a holding pattern -- not sure how, when or whether we should feel safe enough to return to the business of developing new markets and sustaining our role as the world's most dynamic economy.

"Consumer confidence has now increased for four consecutive months, and is at its highest level since June 2002 when it registered 106.3," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "The spring turnaround has been fueled by gains in employment, and unless the job market sours, consumer confidence should continue to post solid numbers."

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is going about establishing new markets and new economic alliances that will provide the competitive edge for the future.

Can the United States go on conducting these multiple wars at the expense of the most important part of our power base -- namely, our economy?

As our deficit continues to grow and our preoccupation with the war on terror dissipates our time, talent and treasure, we risk seeing our competitive advantage slip away.

A recent article in the New York Times discussed how China is gaining power and influence in Asia while the United States rapidly is losing its influence after more than 60 years in a dominant leadership role. Japan now imports more from China than is does from the United States. At its current rate of growth, China's economy will be more than double that of Germany by 2010, and China's economy is expected to surpass Japan as the second-largest economy in the world by 2020.

Add to this challenge the surging economy of India, which is working feverishly to close the gap between itself and the rest of the Asia.

Meanwhile, consider the growing European Union -- which constitutes the biggest consumer market in the world. Our traditional economic partners are quite willing to create new alliances with our challengers. Add it all up and you can start to appreciate the loss of influence and leadership our war efforts have cost us.

The United States cannot continue its economic expansion and at the same time spend on military ventures that threaten to suck up its financial resources.

The rest of his opinion is the usual laundry list of what we should and should not concentrate on, building ties. I ask, what kind of ties are built when you need to ask the permission of your neighbors to defend yourself?

The idea is that until such teachers "get" their students -- their distinct cultures, their languages, their home lives, their perceptions of the world and their place in it -- urban teachers will never effectively reach these students, whom much of national education reform is aimed at helping.

In a week of seminars, presentations and heartfelt discussions, perhaps the secret to "cultural competence" was really quite simple: to get to know the students and where they come from, and to care.

"Many teachers, especially at the higher levels, are scared of their students," said Jacob Mann, who helps run Community Teachers Institute, the advocacy group that sponsored the seminar. "All they know about their students' culture is what they see on TV, and they're intimidated."

In the end, Thomas, who now teaches government at Forestville Military Academy, a public school in Prince George's, doesn't have to like the rap music his students listen to, but he does need to know about it. And he does need to make sure that the way his classroom looks and the materials that he chooses include people and stories that his students can relate to.

Ishmail Conway, a former professor at the University of Virginia who is working with the summer institute, put it this way: "It doesn't change 1+1=2. It doesn't change H 2 O being water. It just possibly changes how you get that message across on a day-to-day basis," he said. "Show me the evidence that we don't need this. There's more evidence that says we need to understand each other better. Because something's not working."

[f]or one thing, the arrangement appears to allow the management of outside money, something Harvard Management's board rejected in 1998. For another, it may expose Harvard to a big tax bill - including interest and penalties - on the fee income it receives from these money managers.

The real issue here, as my friend and accountant Chris points out to me in an email, is that Harvard Management is engaged in a business practice that is unrelated to the reason it is tax-exempt and therefore should be taxed. But it happens all the time, be it the use of a gym by middle-class adults at the YMCA (whose tax-exempt status is to minister to poor children) or by a theater that sells advertising in its program. What's likely to happen, he and I agree, is that Congress will tighten the law to prevent Harvard from continuing this practice, and in the crossfire all these other "unrelated income streams" will become taxable, lowering the amount of social services provided by private charities.

Do you remember the episode on ER where a patient was rushed into the hospital with severe head trauma and Doctor Green had to go to a quiet room to think about what to do? No, me neither.

...About the only saving grace in these stories is that the underlying assumption is usually wrong. Fact is, there just aren't that many slow geniuses. Speed and quality of thought are correlated.

But one must wonder if this week's Kerry Party and last night's Sox Party are just part of the Summer Wind. There's only 99 days to the November election, and I still have that feeling that Kerry and his Sox (in contrast to Sandy Berger's socks and Bill Clinton's Socks) are headed for the same Fall Fate.

“It costs the Government a lot of money to send our students overseas. The foreign countries choose the best among our overseas graduates to work in their land.

"They should pay us for having taken away our graduates to work, since by right, their training and knowledge should be called intellectual property and we had paid for it.”

• I have no carpentry, electrical, or other househusband-type skills, and you ask me to fix things at your peril;
• shopping is an input, not an activity -- I shop to buy something and leave, and returning things is a sign of failure, and failure is not an option.

A lawyer for St. Cloud Christian School, which made the highest offer for Jefferson at $815,000, sent a letter to St. Cloud school district arguing that it is legally required to take the highest offer. The letter from Minneapolis lawyer David Lillehaug, a former U.S. attorney, wrote that if the board sold to a lower bidder the school would be forced to consider "whether the board discriminated against a religious school."

My daughter read a lot of social issues books -- she must have read a dozen about dyslexia -- in her youth, but they were lighter than this: The homeless girl would be a friend, not the main character. The crazy mother would be offstage after the first chapter, replaced by the difficult but basically decent grandmother.
She also read Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden and the like. Anne is an orphan sent to live with strangers who want a boy to work on their farm. Mary is a neglected child who's orphaned; her cousin is a neglected invalid. In Little Women, the father is away fighting the Civil War. Beth dies. Yet these books aren't grim.

Philip Pullman and Lemony Snicket are dark in the way that C.S. Lewis or Roald Dahl are dark, in an inventive, fantastical, even anarchical way that takes root and sprouts in the child’s imagination. Whereas Doing It and the forthcoming Julie Burchill book, Sugar Rush, which I am told is a joyful exploration of the sunlit teenage world of drugs and lezzies, sound unquestionably grim and narrowly grotty.

Artists and Activists United for Peace, a black and Latino public-action group, plans to express its displeasure with the First Daughter [Jenna Bush] at a rally on Sept. 2, during the Republican National Convention.
"We don't think she is of a high enough moral character to teach school, considering her past adventures," said group organizer John Penley. "Her taking this job is keeping a black person from getting the job. We think she and her sister should enlist in the military."

I heard your interview yesterday with Dave Bischoff and just had to write to inform you of another dangerous game of chance being played at an entertainment facility that helps increase food and drink sales, with nominal prizes awarded and at no cost to enter:  Twingo sponsored by Papa Murphy's Pizza at the Twins game.  Instead of bingo numbers, the card has various plays based on how to keep score.  If a Twin flies out to left and your card has     "F-7", you fill in that square.

Really, this is just ludicrous.  Poker may be a game of chance for us rubes in the midwest, but in California, poker is officially considered a game of skill.

So please have the authorities conduct an armed raid at the Metrodome and apply the lack of real law equally.

Some board members are concerned about selling the schools to an organization that might compete with the district for students. St. Cloud school district is expected to lose students for an eighth straight year. ...

Board member Carol Lewis said the board has to decide if the decision should be purely financial or whether it makes more sense to take a lower bid that serves a greater community purpose and won't make it easier for someone to compete with public schools.

"I think we have to look at all of those," Lewis said.

A toilet, out of which came a sunflower.  The tank behind was a planter with what looked like impatiens.  (What, you don't know what flowers were there? --ed.  Hey ed., it's not like I'm Our House or something!)  I did not dare get closer to this thing, so I took this shot from the car with the cameraphone.  But if there is a chance for a better picture, I think it has to go on the template.

Desperately busy and working at a different site, so don’t expect much today unless I get a review or two written tonight after work.

Not that anyone expects anything out of this site, or even checks it… (except you, King, thanks!)

Every year, the San Jose Mercury News runs photos and a profile of the valedictorians of local high schools. I'd guess the majority come from immigrant families, mostly Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Iranian and Russian. It's rare to see a Spanish name. Here's the most recent "best and brightest" page. (It takes all summer to do all the schools, many of which have multiple valedictorians.) The names are: Hsu, Bhople, May, Lin, Lai, Tran, Allen and Doan. Maybe not representative. Let's try another one: Slagle, Lee, Zhang, Gottipatti, Harper, Avila, Claus, Dao, Jebens, Koval, Johnson, Kapulkin, Sato, Jhatakia, Decena, Ashe, Tran, Nguyen, Pham, Dick.

a.  "Ah, here's a place for reasoned discussion, just why I came to SCSU."
b.  "I guess I don't have to watch what I say in here."
c.  "So that's how you spell that!  I thought it was two words."
d.  "Better hide my Bush/Cheney button."

Textbooks are expensive because publishers inflate prices by adding "bells and whistles" that professors don't want and students don't use, an official of a student-advocacy group told the U.S. House of Representatives' principal subcommittee on higher education on Tuesday.

"The high cost of textbooks has perplexed and frustrated students, parents, and faculty for many years," said Merriah Fairchild, higher-education director of the California Student Public Interest Research Group. She also argued that publishers too often needlessly issue new editions of textbooks to prevent students from buying cheaper, used copies.

..."I believe that the costs of textbooks are too high and are one of the many factors jeopardizing our efforts to keep college affordable," said Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon, the California Republican who heads the panel, a subcommittee of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Holding colleges accountable for cost increases without over-burdensome federal intrusion: The primary federal investment in higher education, ringing in at more than $70 billion in FY2003 alone, is direct financial assistance to students - and the cornerstone of increasing access for low-income students is the Pell Grant. However, despite the ever-increasing federal financial commitment and record spending for Pell Grants under President Bush, rapidly increasing college costs are depleting the purchasing power of the Pell Grant and putting college out of reach for many needy students. Republicans will seek to make information about cost increases more available to parents and students, and to hold colleges accountable for their cost increases without imposing an inappropriate federal role.

The program even makes a profit, according to Virgil Monroe, the university's manager of textbook services.
"The textbook-rental system also has the effect of bringing total college costs down to a more manageable level," he told the committee, "and this makes college more accessible, especially for poorer students."

One book really bothers me, though, and that is Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. First, I am bothered because of Ehrenreich's blantant socialism and the fact that having students read this book--particularly since there is nothing else on the reading list to balance it out--may constitute an endorsement of Ehrenreich's position.

Second I am bothered because she is really no kinder to the working class than their employers are, and has indeed profited from them to an even greater extent than their employers; she is, in all respects, a limousine liberal, and as someone who comes from a working class family, I find the attitude of the limousine liberal extremely abhorrent.

Finally, I am bothered by the fact that her book contains glaring inaccuracies as well as simply solutions that do not take into account the complexity of the problem she wishes to solve; the institution at which I am employed and other institutions which use this book as part of their initial indoctrination efforts generally fail to address these concerns in their lesson plans.

American authors or scientists are prone to consider the wealthy businessman as a barbarian, as a man exclusively intent upon making money.  The professor despises the alumni who are more interested in the university’s football team than in its scholastic achievements.  He feels insulted if he learns that the coach gets a higher salary than an eminent profes­sor of philosophy.  The men whose research has given rise to new methods of production hate the businessmen who are merely interested in the cash value of their research work.  It is very significant that such a large number of American research physicists sympathize with socialism or communism.  As they are ignorant of economics and realize that the university teachers of economics are also opposed to what they disparagingly call the profit system, no other attitude can be expected from them.

Compare America today with earlier times or other nations, and one fact stands out: We live better.
Give most of the credit to productivity. Through it, we get more goods and services from each bit of work effort. Through it, we secure economic progress and earn bigger paychecks. The power of productivity has made the United States the world’s richest nation.
America has prospered by doing things a better way.
We’ve become more productive by building our capital stock—adding more machinery, factories, offices and research facilities.
We’ve become more productive by upgrading workers’ skills, whether through formal schooling, on-the-job experience or retraining. We’ve become more productive by introducing new technologies that increase output, improve efficiency and lower costs.

Another summer, and I'm in the same spot. I earned my Ph.D. at 25, got a tenure-track job, published two books, made full professor. I teach at Very Respectable U. with excellent research grants and teaching opportunities, and I've won fellowships and awards. But there's not much intellectual stimulation here.

My dream is to teach at a first-rate, liberal-arts college, though I'd settle for decent grad students. I'm also, right now, socially isolated. I have no partner, am older than the interesting new hires, and have a rather pathetic tendency to answer simple questions with, "Let me explain why it works that way ... in the early 1990s ... then at the end of the decade ... and the latest innovation ...." I make people's eyes glaze over.

Most jobs advertised at my level are for administrators, but I'm somewhat disorganized, less socially adept than many, and don't have a mentor. Things aren't awful, but I've been here 15 years and I'm afraid if I stay, I'll feel more and more trapped. Is there any way to improve my job mobility?