Times are hard and any kind of money can help. THE BLAZE’s science and technology editor Liz Klimas posted a video this morning of Syracuse student Sam Morrison who did one back flip a day for $100 as part of a bet with his dad. Watch the video here . Klimas told me it’s not a bet she’d do personally, mostly because she can’t actually do a backflip. “I can’t even do a cartwheel. Ever,” she said. “I’ve tried, people have tried to coach me in my younger years…nothing. I can’t even do a back dive into a pool — it’s a back flop.” Poor Liz. She blames her lack of acrobatic skill on her height. “What it comes down to is the jump, I think. You have to jump high enough to give yourself enough room to launch backward. I don’t have much jump for being tall for a girl,” she said. Klimas says she’s 5’8″. I asked if she’d at least try to do a backflip every day for a year for $100. She said no because her “hospital bills would far exceed” $100 after she lands on her face. Darn. DISCLAIMER: As a full-time editor for THE BLAZE, Liz does have health insurance. But it’s probably not a good idea she try backflipping anyway. We try to promote a safe working environment. Follow Klimas on Twitter @lizklimas .
At the Los Angeles Times , ” Community College Makeover “: Until a few years ago, just about any Californian could attend a community college, and many did. The colleges offered a wide variety of options: They conferred two-year associate’s degrees; prepared students for junior-year transfer to a four-year college; provided vocational training and certification; offered remedial courses for high school grads who lacked college skills; taught English to immigrants and enrichment courses to the elderly; offered recreational classes; provided college-level education — and credits — for ambitious high school students; and were the leading source of lifelong learning and career retraining for the state’s adults. But at this point, open access to higher education in California is more theoretical than real. Budget cuts have drastically reduced course offerings, making it extremely difficult for students to reach their educational goals. In 2009-10, nearly 140,000 entering students couldn’t get into any classes because they had low priority in the registration system. Large numbers of students who are already attending community college are routinely shut out of courses they need to graduate or transfer. At the same time, other students meander through courses year after year, racking up far more credits than they need and taking up seats in classrooms. Many eventually drop out or never move out of the system at all. People who take courses for personal enrichment similarly fill classes that are needed by those aiming for degrees or specific training. Bravo to the many Californians who value and seek out some form of higher education. But with the state no longer able to provide for all of them, a state task force is calling for sweeping changes. Some of the recommendations would use public dollars more efficiently while providing students fairer access. Others go too far, threatening to turn the colleges into certificate-production machines rather than true institutions of higher learning. Continue reading . The reform initiative is here: ” California Community Colleges Student Success Task Force .” This was just sent out by my college Superintendent-President’s office, and I haven’t yet read all the proposals. It’s a program for rationing educational opportunity at the community colleges, which sounds harsh. But as it is, there’s so much waste and abuse in the system I can’t say this isn’t a step in the right direction. But I’ll have more after I look over some of the materials. California can’t do everything, and money’s tight. And so far Democrats haven’t done jack to get the economy humming again, so you do what you have to during slim times.
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Reforms Seek Transformation at California’s Community Colleges
New York University student Sara Ackerman rejected the Occupy Wall Street assignment of Professor Caitlin Zaloom . Pamela has the report, ” Professor Forced NYU Student to Go to #OWS Against Her Will for Class Requirement .” I have some questions about Ackerman. For example, was her course a requirement, and if not, why not just drop the class if she opposed the ethnography assignment on Occupy Wall Street? And her demand that Professor Zaloom be fired is a bit much. That said, it’s alleged that the university was ready to giver her an “A” in the course in exchange for her keeping quiet about the matter. That’d be hush money, if true, and obviously those offering such payments have something to hide (the administration denies it). See the original article, ” NYU Student Weaves Elaborate Email-Drama, Beefs With Administration Over OWS And Student Ethics .” (The e-mails are at the link, and Ackerman appears perfectly lucid to me.) Whatever happened, my hunch is that folks at NYU couldn’t believe Ackerman wasn’t down with the program — and you know how progressives react when conservatives deviate from the accepted narrative: KABOOM!! These f-kers bring down the hammer of PC totalitarianism and progressive hate and recrimination. They libel and smear dissenters as “unhinged” and “threatening” — Ackerman’s mental health was questioned — and the university threatened her with “disciplinary action.” And for what? Ackerman claimed that she wanted an alternative assignment for fear of her safety. As the report indicates: Sara says she refused to go down because of ethical disagreements and concerns about “the criminals, drug addicts, mentally ill people” that were there. Well, considering the dregs of society populating OWS, I can’t say I blame her. Either way, the reaction across the institutional leftosphere is a stark reminder of the deep divisions in society over the scope of decency and freedom of conscience. The progs practically want Ackerman’s scalp. See, for example Huffington Post, ” NYU’s Sara Ackerman Tries to Get Professor Fired Over Occupy Wall Street Assignment .” And Sydney Brownstone, at The L , rips into Ackerman for her evil representation of “the degree of segregation by economic status in which this country is currently steeped.” See: ” NYU Student Goes Apeshit Over OWS Assignment, Reaches Out to Lady Gaga, TV Talk Shows on Facebook .” And more over the top headlining at Gawker, ” The Crazy Department-Wide Emails That Everyone at NYU Is Talking About ,” and New York Magazine , ” NYU Student Flips Out Over Occupy Wall Street Assignment .”
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Progressive Heads Explode at the Audacity of NYU Student Sara Ackerman
Big Brother is here. How the feds are tracking your kid: ◼ Student privacy at risk from Feds – NY Post Would it bother you to know that the federal Centers for Disease Control had been shown your daughter’s health records to see how she responded to an STD/teen-pregnancy-prevention program? How about if the federal Department of
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What are ‘cradle to career data systems’? And why should you care?
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Photo Credit: Denim Express
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Brigham Young University Office Allegedly Bans ‘Skinny Jeans’ — Then Overturns the Decision
Some activists take their causes to the extreme. Case in point: A principal at Ansford Academy (pictured above with students) in Castle Cary, England decided that the best way to teach students how to lower their “carbon footprint” and save the planet would be to simply turn off the classroom radiators…while temperatures dipped to a not-so-balmy 34°F outside. Needless to say some faculty and parents — whose children were shivering in gloves, coats and boots and who could barely even grip their pencils — blasted Head Teacher Robert Benzie’s “barbaric” idea. One teacher calling it “beyond stupid” and “absolutely ridiculous.” The Sun adds: “I’ve never worked in such cold. I’m all for saving the planet but this was barbaric. “Nobody could work properly and kids could not even grip a pen through their gloves.” The mum of a 12-year-old at Ansford Academy in Castle Cary, Somerset, said: “She was shaking when she came home. I was absolutely furious.” A dad added: “Turning the heating off in December is just mental. “I can’t believe the kids learnt anything. I’m very angry with the school.” But the 52-year-old Benzie defended the “successful” endeavor on Friday — which, according to The Sun, was the town’s coldest recorded day of winter so far — vowing to stage regular “eco-days” in the future. To justify his actions, Benzie said the idea was actually “thought up by a small number of pupils from our student eco-group,” adding, “we cut the heat to see if we can lower our carbon footprint. We let pupils wear as many jumpers as they liked.” “Everyone seemed happy enough although it did get pretty chilly. We sent letters to parents telling them of the plan. We had only one complaint and that was from a member of staff. But in the end they just got on with it.” “I’d like it to be a regular event,” Benzie said. “We have too much heating — sometimes I have to turn it down as it can make students fall asleep.” Clearly, Mr. Benzie intends for all 640 of his students to remain wide, wide awake.
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British Principal Cuts Off Classrooms’ Heat Amid Near-Freezing Temperatures to Lower Carbon Footprint
EAST LANSING, Mich. (The Blaze/AP) — A Michigan State University associate professor’s nude photographs that show him posing with students — both clothed and nude — have prompted questions about art and ethics among some associated with the school.
Danny Guthrie in front of one of his photographs. (Photo: Justin Wan/ The State News)
As the nationwide Rage-fest gets underway tomorrow to mark the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement and its devolution into a lice-infested, criminal-attracting, craptacular Molotov cocktail party, where, oh where, are the civility police? The speech monitors? The White House? Just a few weeks ago, the president’s staff rushed to the side of the Occupiers. Now? Not so much. I noted tonight at the end of my segment on the Hannity show that silence = complicity. Maxine Waters shrugs at dead bodies and rapes and child molesters infesting the Occupier camps: “[T]hat’s life and it happens.” The nutball who threatened to bomb Macy’s with Molotov cocktails has been arrested , by the way. Spin from Occupier apologists: All those troublesome violent agitators are just “infiltrators.” Comment from White House flacks? Bueller? Bueller? Here’s some lowdown on the “#N17″ festivities . Banks will be targeted again. NYC thugs will aim to shut down Wall Street for real. D.C. hoodlums plan to shut down traffic. Other Occupiers will shut down bridges. You can monitor Occupier livestreams here or here . Conservative Daily News is holding an alternative “National Day of Doing Crap That Matters.” How sympathetic describe the planned chaos: “a combination of envelope-pushing direct actions and mass demonstrations.” Update: 1:00am Eastern Police have moved in on Occupy Dallas , shutting it down citing violations of a city curfew for city parks between midnight and 5am. Interesting timing now given that city cut a deal with the occupiers and tolerated the rule-breaking for nearly two months… *** Flashback: If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle. The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations. I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here – they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us. That’s what I believe, in part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation’s future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted. I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us – we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.
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#N17 RAGEFEST: White House silence on Occupier chaos = complicity; Molotov Man arrested; Occupy Dallas cleared out
(The Blaze/AP) — Dozens of police in riot gear confronted anti-Wall Street protesters at the University of California at Berkeley as the demonstrators tried to establish an encampment on campus. Below is video of the confrontation Wednesday: Television news footage from outside the university’s main administration building late Wednesday night showed officers pulling people off the steps and nudging others with batons as the crowd chanted, “We are the 99 percent!” and “Stop Beating Students!” The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the officers eventually formed a perimeter around the steps of the building, but there was no word of any arrests in the action by early Thursday. As the evening wore on, the crowd appeared to be swelling as protesters debated whether to stay overnight. The student newspaper The Daily Californian reported that some people from the Occupy Oakland protest were joining the Berkeley demonstrators. The university reported earlier Wednesday evening that an administrator had told the protesters they could stay around the clock for a week, but only if they didn’t pitch tents, use stoves or other items that would suggest people were sleeping there. The protesters voted not to comply with the demand and to go ahead with setting up a tent site they dubbed “Occupy Cal” to protest financial policies they blame for causing deep cuts in higher education spending. Earlier in the day, campus police assisted by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies dismantled a small encampment students had set up near Sproul Hall despite official warnings that such encampments would not be allowed. The move to create a campus off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street camps around the country came after hundreds of students, teachers and Berkeley residents rallied on campus before marching peacefully to a Bank of America branch. A smaller group pitched at least eight tents next to Sproul Plaza before police broke through a line of protesters encircling the camp site and tore down the tents. They handcuffed protesters who resisted as others shouted, “Put down your guns!” Here is more video of police dealing with the protestors, courtesy of the Associated Press : The university reported on its web site that seven people, six students and one faculty member, had been arrested on charges of resisting and delaying a peace office in the performance of their duties and/or failure to disperse. One of the seven also was charged with striking an officer. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Harry Le Grande came out to negotiate, telling camp participants they could stay but only with certain conditions, such as not sleeping at the site or using sound amplifiers. “The university supports the efforts of any group to speak out freely, but everyone is expected to follow campus policies, the law, and respect the rights of others to go to class, to teach, to do their work,” campus spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said. Shadrick Small, 25, a UC Berkeley graduate student in sociology, was among the protesters trying to block police from dismantling the camp. “It just seems unnecessary. We weren’t doing anything. We were just standing there with a bunch of tents,” Small said. “We’re not vandalizing. We’re not burning anything. And their first response is just to come in and start hitting people. The reaction is just over the top. It’s an overreaction.” Here is an overview of the Occupy Berkeley movement and the University’s response to it, courtesy of KGO-TV :
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Clash on Campus: Police Use Batons On Swarming Occupy Berkeley Students
