Guests:
Obama’s trip
@West Wing Report: Independent White House journalist. Paul’s bio: 5 yrs Moscow, 5 yrs network TV, 5 yrs Wall St.; foreign correspondent, private investor. 53 countries & counting
We’ll talk about the threat from Pakistan, Pentagon/CIA, birth certificates/college transcripts/SAT scores. What about Trump’s FICO score??
Affirmative Inaction
Are Asians held to a higher standard for college admissions? What does the research show? Are there some groups affected more than others? What is the purpose of college admissions? Can schools choose who to admit without any government interference? What about legacy admissions? What about girls performing better than boys?
Sam Museus, Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston:
“My personal perspective is that if institutions are using race to keep Asian-American students out, it’s based on a fear [among non-minorities] that these ‘other’ students are taking over our institutions or taking ‘our spots’ at the best institutions.” Competitive disadvantage: High-achieving Asian-American students are being shut out of top schools around the country. Is this what diversity looks like now?, Boston Globe, April 17, 2011
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Guest:
Were you bullied? Did you bully?
Were your parents into spanking? hitting? crazy yelling?
Turns out there’s a correlation. In a recent study conducted by the federal government in Massachusetts:
The report found that students who said they had been involved in bullying, as both a perpetrator and a victim, were five times more likely to report they had been hurt physically by a family member, compared to those who said they were neither a victim nor a bully. And they were substantially more likely to have witnessed violence against other family members. “1 in 4 report bullying at Mass. schools: Federal study sees link with family violence,” Boston Globe, April 22, 2011
Can we eliminate bullying through legislation? Should we try? Is it fair to expect teachers to manage this?
Do adults bully? Are the adults opposed to bullying legislation and ‘sensitivity’ training bullies?
Is rape an extreme form of bullying?
A 2007 National Institute of Justice study found that about one in five women are victims of sexual assault in college; almost all of those incidents go unreported. It also noted that fraternity men—who tend to drink more heavily and frequently than nonmembers—are more likely to perpetrate sexual assault than nonfraternity men, according to previous studies. Over a quarter of sexual-assault victims who were incapacitated reported that the assailant was a fraternity member. Shutter Fraternities for Young Women’s Good, WSJ April 23, 2011
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Should we require everyone who is resident in America to speak English? What about citizens? What services should we offer to make that happen?
Why are some communities less likely to learn/speak English than others? Why are Americans less likely to learn/speak multiple languages than other nationalities? Is it possible that both are true for the same reasons???
Should taxes pay for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes? Should legal documents be translated? Should we have ESL charter schools?
Will facilitating the learning of English make America stronger or waste precious resources?
You tell me…
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Government shut down. Bogus stories about abortion funding and the budget. Wikileaks. Net neutrality. 14,000 votes in an access database on a personal computer. All important stories.
Yet, what do we get in the media? Sensationalist ambulance stories. Incendiary flaming talk shows. Reality shows. What’s the problem??
The media is supposed to be watching power – the government, the corporations, and yes, the people. How free is the media? How accurate? How thorough? How unbiased? Does it matter?
The founding fathers thought the media was pretty important for our republic. How is it doing?
