Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher

Sunday Trivia

2009-11-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
KAR120C

And today we start Star Trek Week! But don't worry, the questions will be easy enough for non-Trek-fans to get.

Today's question is:
Who was the creator of Star Trek?

Swim Club Goes Bankrupt

2009-11-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

Remember that Pennsylvania swim club that kicked out some day care kids last summer, ostensibly because they were black? You don't? Then go here to read the CNN story from July, and here and here for some follow-up and commentary.

Now giggle because that club has gone bankrupt.

Teacher Sent To Anger Management Classes

2009-11-22T12:45:00.000-08:00

You'd better not turn your homework in late in this teacher's class:

Ellis, now a schoolteacher, denied all accusations against her, although she acknowledged in her Friday testimony that she touched another shopper's items on the conveyor belt.

She's denied all accusations against her, but accepted a plea bargain after her case went to a jury. What's the scoop?

Under the agreement -- reached after the jury received the case for deliberations -- Heather Ellis will plead guilty to disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. She will serve a year of unsupervised probation, attend an anger management course and serve four days in jail before the end of the year.

Uh oh. Disturbing the peace and resisting arrest? This is getting better. Let's read on.

Witnesses and police say Ellis cut in front of customers at a Wal-Mart in January 2007, pushed aside merchandise belonging to another customer to make room for hers on the conveyor belt and, after police were called to the scene, kicked one officer in the shin and split another's lip. The prosecution has also alleged the Ellis went "ballistic in a profane tirade" that continued when police officers arrived.

Like I said, you better not turn in your homework late in her class.

Culturally Responsive Math

2009-11-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Sigh.

I've addressed spittle like this before, specifically here and here, and you can read related posts in the Rethinking Schools link at left.

Note that the first link is published by Teachers College at Columbia University, which isn't exactly a place I'd be welcome. At all.

Wal*Mart Does Something I Don't Like

2009-11-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

If I'm a fan of Wal*Mart for any reason other than low prices and convenience, it's the joy I get from watching some people, usually lefties, careen into the fever swamp at the mere mention of the store. But I've said before, my preference for shopping at Wal*Mart is strictly utilitarian--if another store were to come along and offer me a greater value or convenience for my money, I'd drop Wal*Mart like a hot potato.

Well, Wal*Mart is in the process of trying something I absolutely do not like. Here's the email I sent them today:

I am unhappy with the decision not to have plastic shopping bags at Wal*Mart. I reuse all my shopping bags; providing them is no more "wasteful" than is toilet paper, which is only used once.

Getting rid of the bags creates an avoidable inconvenience for many of us, and for a number or reasons. First, having to purchase shopping bags is just silly. Second, impromptu stops at Walmart will be curtailed because people won't have bags with them and won't want to buy more. Third, people will bring in all sorts of bags or boxes, some of which might not fit on the "lazy susan" bag tables that currently exist, slowing down the entire checkout process. Fourth, those of us who won't bring bags at all will slow down the works when checkers will have to put the groceries back into a shopping cart as they do at Sam's Club.

Jumping on the "green" bandwagon this way is a shallow, feel-good, look-what-a-good-corporate-citizen-I-am, cheap attempt to appeal to a vocal section of our public, at the expense of customer convenience. I encourage you to reconsider.

I received a reply stating that this change is an experiment that will occur only for 30 days and only in 3 stores in Northern California, "after which time we will evaluate the test results to determine the next steps." I hope the next step is to recognize that they've made a mistake and then correct it. After all, their stated goal is to have "zero waste", and Wal*Mart already has bins in which people who do not reuse the bags can toss the bags for recycling.

I'm curious where the plastic bags are made, and where the reusable bags they're selling are made. I also note that paper bags, which Wal*Mart does not use, are made from a renewable resource.

Saturday Trivia

2009-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Oshkosh.

Today's question is:
In the 1960s British cult TV series The Prisoner, what was the license plate number of Patrick McGoohan's character's car before McGoohan was whisked off to The Village to become Number Six?

I'll bet you can't wait for tomorrow's Theme Week to start!

Carnival of Education

2009-11-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

This week's is here and includes my posts about our principal's stated purpose in visiting classrooms as well as my post about a local principal who was injured in a fight at school.

Climate Change

2009-11-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

Page 1, above the fold of our school's newspaper, was an article showing that climate change hysteria is alive and well at the school at which I teach. Read the article online, see for yourself if you agree with the author. That author is what's known as a "true believer" in the Church of Global Warming. (For the sake of professionalism, considering that this is the school at which I teach, I'll reserve further comment on this student's article--but you might guess what I'd say.)

Now read this summary of the emails that were (illegally?) hacked from some prominent global warming enthusiasts/scientists in England. They don't sound very enthused with the data they're getting, do they?

And they can't be very happy that their charades have been exposed to public scrutiny, either.

I find it hilariously coincidental that the first article and these emails were released at about the same time. :-)

Update: One blogger refers to the Climate Research Unit email release as the biggest scientific scandal since Piltdown Man.

Update #2: This post compares what's in the emails with what those same scientists were contemporaneously saying publicly. It doesn't make the CRU scientists look very good.

Update #3: So what about all that consensus? There's some information in the CRU emails about that, too:

And, perhaps most reprehensibly, a long series of communications discussing how best to squeeze dissenting scientists out of the peer review process. How, in other words, to create a scientific climate in which anyone who disagrees with AGW can be written off as a crank, whose views do not have a scrap of authority.

Global warming adherents, your Church has been exposed as a sham.

Update #4, 11/22/09: Here's a pretty good summary of what's going on:

But, at least on this first look, it appears that the three scandals are:

* First, a real attempt by a small group of scientists to subvert the peer-review process and suppress dissenting voices. (For another look at this, by a respected climate scientist who was one of the targets, see these posts on Roger Pielke Sr.’s blog.) This is at best massively unethical.
* Second, a willingness to manipulate the data to make a political case. This is certainly misconduct and possibly scientific fraud. This, if it proves true, should make these scientists subject to strong disciplinary action, even termination of their tenured positions.
* Third, what gives every appearance of an actual conspiracy to prevent data from being released as required by the Freedom of Information Acts in the US and UK. If this is proven true, that is a federal crime.

These emails and the data associated, taken together, raise really important questions about the whole scientific structure of AGW. Is the data really valid? Has the data been effectively peer reviewed and have attempts to falsify been fairly treated? Is CO2-forced AGW really the best hypothesis?Until these questions are answered, the various attempts to “deal with the climate change crisis” have no acceptable scientific basis.

No acceptable scientific basis.

Update #5, 11/22/09: When in doubt, delete.

These emails appear to show that, when faced with a legitimate request under Britain's Freedom of Information Act, these global warming alarmists preferred to delete their emails with one another about the crucially important IPCC report--the main basis for the purported "consensus" in favor of anthropogenic global warming--rather than allow them to come to light. This is one of many instances in the East Anglia documents where the global warming alarmists act like a gang of co-conspirators rather than respectable scientists.

Update #6, 11/22/09: It just keeps getting better.

Al Gore's award-winning global warming film "An Inconvenient Truth," socked two years ago by a British court ruling that found several errors, is facing additional scrutiny with the release of a new documentary that seeks to rebut many of Gore's claims.

UC Students Protest a 32% Increase In Fees

2009-11-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

So when you're doing something on the government dime--something like working, or going to school--you must expect that money will be tight for you when money is tight for the government. Here in California that means furloughs for state workers, cuts in services, and a 32% fee hike at our University of California campuses.

Note, that's not a tuition hike--tuition is still a bargain relative to schools in the rest of the country, although tuition, too, has been going up at a rate faster than inflation. No, this is a fee increase, from about $7500/year to about $10,000/year.

Of course, there have been some protests, most notably at UCLA and Berkeley. And while I'm sympathetic to arguments on both sides of this issue, I cannot help but agree with this one:

First and foremost, the protests are about privileged kids demanding subsidies from working people. The UC system will continue to be heavily subsidized by taxpayers, and the students who attend are among the most naturally gifted, with the highest future earning potential, in the country. This is especially true at the system's flagship schools of Berkeley and UCLA, where the protests have been most intense. Narcissism and self-absorption are the norm on college campuses, but it really is pushing the limits to throw such a tantrum at the idea that you will be getting a smaller amount of free money taken out of the paychecks of strapped taxpayers, most of whom could never dream of the advantages and opportunities you enjoy.

On the other hand, California determined long ago that it was a valid state interest to have an affordable higher education system accessible to all. Accordingly, California has a 3-tiered higher education system: community/junior colleges, the 23-campus California State University system, and the 10-campus premier University of California system. Tuition in these systems, as throughout all of higher education, has risen faster than wages and inflation, taking them further out of reach for some students. Still, I highly doubt tuition covers the cost of education; the state is bringing in less money, and somehow the difference must be made up in increased costs to students, cuts in services, or both.

Additionally, so many students get some kind of financial aid, so the increase in tuition is really just shifting money from one part of government to the other, with taxpayers continuing to foot the bill.

Still, 32% is rather steep. But let's face it, students are part of the problem here. How many stories have we heard about universities building new state-of-the-art gymnasium complexes, complete with rock walls and such, or new restaurant complexes complete with coffee shops and wi-fi, to attract students. New dorms with luxurious common areas, private baths, etc. In other words, yuppie-to-be accommodations. Someone has to pay for those non-academic expenses, and it shouldn't be the taxpayer.

And let's not forget what some of those fees, those above-and-beyond-tuition expenses, cover: ASB membership, athletic program subsidies, student organizations and clubs (that a particular student may or may not ever use), etc.

There's plenty of fault here for this increase in fees, and not all of it rests on the shoulders of the UC Regents.

Friday Trivia

2009-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Jimmie Walker played JJ Evans on Good Times from 1973-1979.

Today's question is:
In what Wisconsin city does the Experimental Aircraft Association hold its annual air show?

FYI, this Sunday will be the start of another Theme Week! (You'll either love it or you'll hate it.)

Funky College Admissions Essays

2009-11-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

The tripe so many of the students write is bad enough, but could you imagine being given some of these topics on which to write?

Update: Link fixed now. Thanks!

Thursday Trivia

2009-11-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
1997.

Today's question is:
What was the name of the comedian, and the character he played on the 70s sitcom Good Times, whose signature exclamation was “Dy-no-miiiiite!”?

Live By The Computer, Die By The Computer

2009-11-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

Last night my son's mother, my son, and I went to one of the two high schools we're considering for him next year. It was Parent Information Night, and we were there to learn about their course offerings, their programs, and to see how the staff can present the school in its best light.

The presentation was dreadfully boring, and I understand why--all those staff members were there in the evening, not getting paid for it. I'm sure the thought process was something like, "I've got to be here, so I'm at least going to talk for a few minutes about my program/department." Some, of course, merely read their PowerPoint slides....

One of the things they touted was how technologically advanced the school is--after all, they have six interactive white boards! (Blah, give me an overhead and a whiteboard and I'll teach kids.) Several of the speakers mentioned technology and some of the courses built around it.

Of course there were several glitches, not only with the PowerPoint presentation, but also with the podium speaker system :-)

As I said, just give me an overhead and a whiteboard.

(PS Not to slam the event completely, I'm now much more comfortable with the school than I was going into that meeting, so in that regard they succeeded. But so many people got up and left during the "lecture"; I hope that tells the staff something for when they plan Parent Information Night next year.)

Taking Intellectual Property Rights Too Far

2009-11-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

In this post, and in comments on the linked post, I argued that teachers "own" the lesson plans they create in order to teach students, and that I could find no compelling reason to forbid them from making a buck by selling those lesson plans.

This, however, is a different facet of that topic:

Some Harvard professors are taking very seriously their "intellectual property rights" and have claimed copyright to the ideas that they spread in their classrooms. What prompted this was a website in which students posted their notes to help other students.

The professors have cracked down. It might have been enough to legislate against this behavior in particular. Instead, they wrapped their objection in the great fallacy of our age: the professor owns his ideas and they may not be spread without his permission...

Another approach is the one taken by Harvard and, most explicitly, by the University of Texas, which has suggested that professors make the following contract with students:

My lectures are protected by state common law and federal copyright law. They are my own original expression and I record them at the same time that I deliver them in order to secure protection. Whereas you are authorized to take notes in class thereby creating a derivative work from my lecture, the authorization extends only to making one set of notes for your own personal use and no other use. You are not authorized to record my lectures, to provide your notes to anyone else or to make any commercial use of them without express prior permission from me.

You can make "no other use" of what you learn? Really? That sort of smashes the whole point of education, doesn't it?

That's absurd, as it would rule out sharing your notes in a study group! I can see not wanting students to videotape your lectures and post them on the internet--I can understand a variety of reasons, not all of them academic, for prohibiting that. But part of education is sharing your knowledge, and the UT/Harvard statement above in effect prohibits students from sharing of the very knowledge they paid for!

I can see copyrighting your lecture notes if you hand them out, or any other documents you create, if you really want to go that far. But seriously, not being able to share your knowledge? No way.

Why College Financial Aid Might Be A Bad Idea

2009-11-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

From the Hartford (CT) Courant:

Not long ago I got into it with the YouTube investment wizard and U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff over college loans and the ever-increasing price of tuition.

The impish Schiff — who predicted the current economic collapse — hit me with a simple explanation to a question I cannot find an answer for: It's the government's fault for handing out so much money through loans and grants.

No government bailout, Schiffian logic goes, no inflated tuition.

While it's not that easy, there's a significant amount of truth to what he says. Schools know that most students are going to get some kind of government financial aid, so they raise tuition--why not? They get the money!

In what areas of the economy have prices been rising significantly higher than the inflation rate for several years? Health care and higher education. In which two areas of the economy is government heavily involved, skewing the market? Health care and higher education.

The correlation is not coincidental.

More Regulation--So You Can Subsidize Internet Access For Others

2009-11-18T16:25:00.001-08:00

From the Wall Street Journal:

Federal regulators are considering whether the government should take greater control of the Internet and ask consumers to pay higher phone charges in order to provide all Americans with cheaper access to broadband Internet service.

Do you think internet access is a "utility" that everyone deserves to have, even if they can't afford it? Should the US government charge you more for phone use so that someone in Alturas, or Appalachia, can have cheaper broadband?

This is what happens when you don't enforce limits on your government. "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves", according to Edward R. Murrow.

Wednesday Trivia

2009-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Alexis de Tocqueville was from France.

Today's question is:
In what year did Princess Diana die?

Another "Bad Teacher" Story

2009-11-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

First off, unless you intend to ask someone out on a date, you have no business asking them their sexual orientation. And since you shouldn't be asking your students out, you shouldn't take them outside the class and ask if they're gay.

Second, you shouldn't get into a verbal altercation with a student that would cause you to threaten him physically.

Third, you shouldn't offer to pay another student to kill the first student.

Of course, all of this is just alleged at this point. If it turns out to be true, then termination is not the only appropriate consequence.

Tuesday Trivia

2009-11-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Article I.

Today's question is:
From which country was the the author of the book Democracy In America?

Monday Trivia

2009-11-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Jenny.

Today's question is:
Which article of the US Constitution deals with the Congress?

Teachers Selling Lesson Plans

2009-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Is it ethical for teachers to sell the lesson plans they create? Do school districts own the work teachers create under contract?

I fall on the side of the teachers in this debate. Besides the practical considerations (prove I didn't write this lesson plan at home last weekend), I can find no compelling reason for school districts to lay claim to my intellectual efforts.

Update, 11/20/09: My contract doesn't address the issue at all, but here are two statements I found in district policies:

Use of district computers, computer networks, and Internet services does not create any expectation of privacy. Work produced by any employee on a district computer shall be the property of the district.

District computers may not be used for personal commercial purposes, including offering or providing goods or services.

So as long as I don't use district equipment to create my lesson plans, or use district computers to advertise that they are for sale, I'm safe.

Now I just have to be creative enough to create lesson plans that people would want to buy.

Sunday Trivia

2009-11-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question, the last in Titanic Week, is:
2009. Millvina Dean died on May 31, 2009, in Southampton.

Today's question is:
Whose phone number was 867-5309?

Young Conservative Activist Speaks At College

2009-11-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times:

Giles credits the Young America's Foundation -- the group that put on the conference -- with inspiring much of her political action.

Two years ago, she said, she was just a laid-back surfer kid from Miami when a friend got her to attend a foundation event in Washington, D.C. That, she said, was where she converted to conservatism.

In her lecture Friday about how to take down liberal organizations and expose what she called media corruption, Giles sought to stir others to action. "Above all, attack, attack, attack," she said, quoting Republican consultant Roger Stone. "Never defend"...

According to spokesman Jason Mattera, the foundation aims to groom high school and college students to be future leaders by exposing them to the conservative philosophies that he said were missing from many classrooms.

Is it just me, or is she exceedingly attractive? But I digress.

I recently skimmed Goldwater's 1964 book Conscience of a Conservative again. Honestly, I don't know how anyone could read that book and not be a conservative. I wonder if those college students read it, or if they read only the modern Coulter/Levin/Beck/Ingraham/Goldberg books? Not that those books are necessarily bad, but they lack the intellectual underpinnings of Goldwater's seminal work.

Can Anyone But The Most Rabidly Partisan Take This Woman Seriously?

2009-11-15T12:25:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm talking about Nancy Pelosi.

Saturday Trivia

2009-11-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

The answer to yesterday's question is:
RMS Carpathia.

Today's question, the last for Titanic Week, is:
In what year did the last Titanic survivor die?