What most schools don’t teach
"Learn about a new 'superpower' that isn't being taught in in 90% of US schools." Continue reading →
"Learn about a new 'superpower' that isn't being taught in in 90% of US schools." Continue reading →
"The time tradeoff (TTO) method is popular in medical decision making for valuing health states. We use it to elicit economists’ preferences for publishing in top economic journals and for living without limbs. The economists value journal publications highly and have a clear preference among them, with the American Economic Review (AER) the most preferred. Their responses imply they would sacrifice more than half a thumb for an AER publication. These TTO results are consistent with ranking and willingness to pay results, and indicate that journal preferences are not entirely determined by impact factors or by expectations of a salary increase." Continue reading →
"Total student debt was the only type of household debt that continued to rise throughout the recent recession while most households were de-leveraging, and is now second only to mortgage debt. You’ve probably heard the 'trillion dollar' number in the news. I think the most worrying stat is the increasing rate of defaults. Actual delinquency rates are often understated because almost half of these loans are currently in deferment or in grace periods and therefore are not in the repayment cycle. Among loans that are actually subject to repayment, delinquency rates are over 30% overall and rising." Continue reading →
"A student in a class in the academically peripheral Florida Atlantic University was told by the instructor to stomp on the name of Jesus. Do it, or flunk. The student refused. He then protested to the administration. Result: the student has been told not to attend the class, not to talk to other students, and shut up. This has hit the press. Now there will be a huge stink. Some administrative bureaucrat has defended this action. My guess: if the instructor were white, he would not have his contract renewed. But now the administration is caught between a rock and a hard place. Either it gets accused of racism or it gets accused of blatant stupidity. I love it." Continue reading →
"A school has banned triangular flapjacks after a pupil was injured by one. Dinner staff at Castle View school in Canvey Island, Essex, were told to cut the treat into squares or rectangles following the incident. It is understood that the triangular version was banned after one was thrown, hitting a boy in the face." Continue reading →
"A typical Tuesday morning for 42-year-old Michael Di Marzo quickly became a citywide multi-jurisdictional manhunt for him and what witnesses thought was a assault rifle in his hand. Three schools were locked down and delayed as police scoured the area by ground and air, looking for a man described by a teenage tipster as wearing black clothes and a ski mask. It wasn’t realized until hours later what was believed to be something along the lines of an AR-15 or AK-47 was more of a AU-15: a 15-inch compact 'assault umbrella.' The 'ski mask' was a pulled-up black turtle neck sweater paired with a black watch cap." Continue reading →
"A police officer in Maryland has had his 'police powers' suspended after he was accused of installing a camera in the boy’s restroom at Glen Burnie High School. A spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Police on Thursday confirmed that the 14-year veteran had installed the camera, according to WJZ. Details of what had been recorded and why were being investigated. Police said that a boy discovered the hand-held camera in the top corner of the restroom and reported it to school officials on Wednesday morning. 'We do not know that the officer’s intentions were,' Lt. T.J. Smith explained." Continue reading →
"Last week, Casey Fountain’s third-grade son had a birthday party at his school in Caro. His wife decided to whip up 30 cupcakes for the boy’s classmates. She topped the treats with plastic army guys like the ones countless boys and girls have played with for decades. Fountain says he never thought his innocent act of party planning would lead to controversy. Fountain says the principal of Schall Elementary School called him personally and told him that dressing the cupcakes with soldiers was, in the principal’s words, 'insensitive' considering recent gun-related tragedies. The school is standing by its decision to remove the Army soldiers from the cupcakes." Continue reading →
"A Phoenix Police officer has been suspended after tackling a 15-year-old girl. The video, posted on YouTube, made national headlines two years ago. Monday, that officer appealed, saying his punishment is too harsh, fighting the 5-day suspension at a hearing. That hearing is closed to the public at his request, so we won't get to hear why he believes his punishment was too harsh." Continue reading →
"In their suit, the plaintiffs claimed they were arrested on Sept. 17, 2010, in North Highlands for no reason and taken to the district police station, where one officer allegedly choked three of them. They were all eventually jailed, but the District Attorney's Office declined to file any charges against them. The suit also accused the district's top managers of fostering a toxic climate within its police force, which has drawn widespread community criticism for its enforcement tactics and became the focus of a grand jury investigation." Continue reading →