Posts Tagged ‘Education’

There’s little doubt that sexism is pervasive in most spheres of life. But I’d like to think, in modern western societies, that we’re (at least gesturing at) moving towards knocking these biases down. That belief took a shot earlier this week when I read this story. Terence Kealey, vice chancellor at Buckingham University in the UK, said that when female students ask male professors for help they should “Enjoy her! She’s a perk.” He continues: “She doesn’t yet know that you are only Casaubon to her Dorothea, Howard Kirk to her Felicity Phee, and she will flaunt you her curves. Which you should admire daily to spice up your sex, nightly, with the wife.” People were in an uproar when Larry Summers, former Harvard President, made comments to the effect that women didn’t have the intrinsic ability to work at the highest levels of science. His comments were surely wrongheaded. But Kealey’s are not only sexist, but in an indirect way, condones predatory behavior in male professors towards their female students.

If you’re reading this, well, then you can read. You were probably sufficiently motivated as a kid to get into reading that you were able to develop the requisite skills and perhaps even developed an interest in actively reading on your own. But this isn’t the case for everyone. In poor, urban areas, where schools simply don’t have books or children aren’t encouraged to read, illiteracy is a big problem.

My friend, E., is collecting donations for Read for the Record. She says, “Jumpstart is entering its annual to get books to children who need them. As some of you know, each year we choose a flagship book that will be read to children in schools across the United States. This year I am happy to say we will be reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar! If you are in the Atlanta area, I’d be happy to host you as a volunteer reader in the morning on October 8th at one of my three preschool site partners. It is lots of fun, and the sites are very easy to get to.”

So, if you’d like to donate to this cause, visit this site. She adds “It costs $10 to donate one book ($8.99 for the book plus shipping). Because I deliver these books every year, I know that each and every book is donated is delivered to a child who has few to no books in his or her home library.”

Most of you spend–”even in this ‘economic climate’”–more than $10 a night drinking. I think you can afford to donate at least one book to this worthwhile cause.

Conservatives are perturbed over President Obama’s education talk planned for this coming Tuesday. The planned fifteen to twenty minute speech is said to be about personal responsibility, staying at, and succeeding in school. Considering our current reverse brain drain, and the pitiful amount of science and math majors in our universities, it seems like a good idea. But conservatives are more than a little upset. The claim is that the President is trying to “indoctrinate” their youth and push a “socialist agenda.” The only problem is the national media have once again taken the bait. The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, AP, and others ran stories this morning about the “issue.” This outrage has been especially bad in Texas where several large school districts have opted out of the speech.

The White House has tried to make concessions by making the speech available in text on Monday morning and editing some of the supplemental materials that some found objectionable. It doesn’t matter. I think Conservatives just don’t want their children acutely exposed to Obama. Let’s also not forget the fact Ronald Regan did the same thing in ‘88, and so did Bush ‘91. What did Regan talk about that day you ask? Tax cuts for gods sake! The Republican party needs to take a long look in the mirror and stop allowing idiots to be the face of their party.

What’s funny about this whole debacle is that the White House saw it coming. President Obama perhaps figured that the kids who were not allowed to watch his speech would later be pulled in by this sweet Nascar PSA.