Sunday, December 7, 2008
Carolyn Kennedy when she wasn't considering a Senate seat
Carolyn wrote this article in the New York Times last year in support of Obama's presidential candidacy.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Roland Fryer
About a year ago, I read this article about Roland Fryer's efforts to improve educational achievement for black children in the New York City public school system. His research indicated that black children did not do as well in school as children of other races. Relying on his economics background, he helped institute a program that pays children a certain amount of money every few weeks for maintaining a certain grade in each class.
Mr. Fryer cited the fact that these children have no tangible examples of successful people who look like them to motivate them academically. I wonder if this is as relevant now that we have a black President-elect.
I have no doubt that in the short term, the results of an initiative like this will be very promising. Every child likes to have spending money, and a little bit of focus to earn it is doable. But in the long term, the effect is that a generation of children is growing up expecting a large reward for a little effort on a regular basis. This is not the value system that grows businesses, composes beautiful works of art, or forges scientific advancement.
It might be that this student population's achievement is so far behind that it needs to be jump started with an economic incentive. But this can only really be of use to these students if it is coupled with a drastic change in how they perceive success, and what they think they can achieve.
The Seed Foundation addresses this problem using a more holistic approach. The SEED boarding schools help children from an urban environment shape their priorities and develop a value system that includes education and learning. We will only know the answer to this question in a decade, but I hope we can find a way to pass on a love of learning to these children. After all, test scores say nothing about what children will do with what they have learned once the test is over.
Mr. Fryer cited the fact that these children have no tangible examples of successful people who look like them to motivate them academically. I wonder if this is as relevant now that we have a black President-elect.
I have no doubt that in the short term, the results of an initiative like this will be very promising. Every child likes to have spending money, and a little bit of focus to earn it is doable. But in the long term, the effect is that a generation of children is growing up expecting a large reward for a little effort on a regular basis. This is not the value system that grows businesses, composes beautiful works of art, or forges scientific advancement.
It might be that this student population's achievement is so far behind that it needs to be jump started with an economic incentive. But this can only really be of use to these students if it is coupled with a drastic change in how they perceive success, and what they think they can achieve.
The Seed Foundation addresses this problem using a more holistic approach. The SEED boarding schools help children from an urban environment shape their priorities and develop a value system that includes education and learning. We will only know the answer to this question in a decade, but I hope we can find a way to pass on a love of learning to these children. After all, test scores say nothing about what children will do with what they have learned once the test is over.
There's a Holiday Card Company for the Non-Religious!
This was featured on the Colbert Report. I have not spent time on the site, so I have no idea if they are any good.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Israeli and Indian solidarity
I joined the facebook group in memory of the Mumbai massacre. The message boards are full of messages from all sorts of people, but the one that interested me the most was the one about Israeli and Indian solidarity. This was quite a controversial post because the opponents of this notion contested it due to the disparate histories of the two nations. I have some major issues with the way that Israel was formed. It was stupid. It was a recipe for disaster. If anything, the Jews should have been able to anex a portion of Germany to call their own. That would have made a lot more sense.
But I am baffled by how people insist on looking back. The world is not the same. Alliances have changed. India has emerged as the world's largest democracy and embraced capitalism and Western culture. Israel is the only stable democracy in the Middle East. Modern American values have forged a new international meritocracy for commerce, culture, and science. Even in these nations where the cultural ethos is steeped in religious traditions, religion necessarily becomes irrelevant in normal life. Yet the doctors, bankers, and lawyers who benefit from this egalitarianism still turn to the darker side of history to shape their political views.
They insist on hating Jews because of the UN's decision over 50 years ago. They remain paralyzed in an outdated Eastern block state of mind long after the fall of the USSR. They benefit from the stability and comfort of democracy, but suffer from inexplicable guilt at the thought of openly defending this foundation of their daily lives. Very frustrating.
But I am baffled by how people insist on looking back. The world is not the same. Alliances have changed. India has emerged as the world's largest democracy and embraced capitalism and Western culture. Israel is the only stable democracy in the Middle East. Modern American values have forged a new international meritocracy for commerce, culture, and science. Even in these nations where the cultural ethos is steeped in religious traditions, religion necessarily becomes irrelevant in normal life. Yet the doctors, bankers, and lawyers who benefit from this egalitarianism still turn to the darker side of history to shape their political views.
They insist on hating Jews because of the UN's decision over 50 years ago. They remain paralyzed in an outdated Eastern block state of mind long after the fall of the USSR. They benefit from the stability and comfort of democracy, but suffer from inexplicable guilt at the thought of openly defending this foundation of their daily lives. Very frustrating.
The Beginning of Ending Well
I suddenly realized over the last month or two that I have a lot to say. The past few years I have been haunted by a fear of scorching my thoughts down in the blogosphere section of the annals of history. What if I find that concepts I have churned over and over in my mind like meat on a rotisserie are judged irrelevant or infantile by people who have not even been born yet? And then it occurred to me, that at the very worst I would be completely ordinary. I have read the utter rubbish that lurks along this path, and I have decided to throw in my hat. My friends will no longer have to endure ranting e-mails about an inane political issue with which they are vaguely connected. If they want to see my thoughts, they can choose to type in a short URL and poof, they are immediately connected with my inner narrative - for better or for worse. So here, dear reader, we begin this journey together. This can only end well.
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