Dear Commons Community,

The Huffington Post reported that Mitt Romney narrowly won Maine’s Republican caucuses stating:

“[it] provided his campaign with a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week. But the former Massachusetts governor won just a plurality of the Maine vote, suggesting he still has work to do to unite GOP voters behind his candidacy.

At a gathering in Portland, state Republican Chairman Charlie Webster announced Romney had won with 2,190 votes, or 39 percent, compared to 1,996 – about 36 percent – for Ron Paul, the only other candidate to aggressively compete in the state. Rick Santorum received 989 votes and Newt Gingrich won 349, but neither actively campaigned there. Other candidates drew 61 votes.”

And the Republican presidential primary goes on!!!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times has an article on a phenomenon that is taking hold in quantitative analysis.  Generally referred to as “big data’, businesspersons, academicians, and scientists are beginning to take the analysis of large datasets to new levels.  Using techniques generally referred to as analytics, big data applications include tracking customer interests especially at websites such as Amazon.com,  space (as in astronomy) studies, student participation in online course activities, analyzing interactions on social networks, medical data and patient monitoring.

The article specifically mentions big data as a growing area for career opportunities:

“A report last year by the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the consulting firm, projected that the United States needs 140,000 to 190,000 more workers with “deep analytical” expertise and 1.5 million more data-literate managers, whether retrained or hired.

The impact of data abundance extends well beyond business. Justin Grimmer, for example, is one of the new breed of political scientists. A 28-year-old assistant professor at Stanford, he combined math with political science in his undergraduate and graduate studies, seeing “an opportunity because the discipline is becoming increasingly data-intensive.” His research involves the computer-automated analysis of blog postings, Congressional speeches and press releases, and news articles, looking for insights into how political ideas spread.”

Here at the CUNY Graduate Center, several faculty and doctoral students are participating in an exploratory “Data Mining” seminar discussing various techniques associated with big data.  The seminar is  interdisciplinary and being led by colleagues Paul Attewell (Sociology and Urban Education) and Bob Haralick (Computer Science)

Veteran data analysts tell of friends who were long bored by discussions of their work but now are suddenly curious. “The culture has changed,” says Andrew Gelman, a statistician and political scientist at Columbia University. “There is this idea that numbers and statistics are interesting and fun. It’s cool now.”

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The issue of student debt and the affordability of college tuition increasingly is being scrutinized among policy makers and the media.  The topic was the focus of a recent PBS Need to Know telecast.  The reference below was passed on by colleagues, John Wallach and Manfred Kuechler at Hunter College.  A full video of the program  is available at:  http://watch.thirteen.org/video/2195311651

Tony

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To the Hunter College Community:

Last night, on the Channel 13 show “Need to Know” hosted by Ray Suarez, there was a story on mounting student debt.  The show itself was just okay, as Ray Suarez didn’t ask the best questions–such as why tuition has gone up at public universities (because of declining support from state governments–also not mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union address which generically criticized high tuition at “colleges and universities”).  But the lead-off segment and bright thread through the story was an interview with a Hunter alum who has struggled with student debt–especially because of unjustifiable interest charges and fees from Sallie Mae (a private lender to students).  She was the best part of the show, and (unintentionally) made Hunter proud.

I tried to link Hunter-L to the story, but either it wouldn’t take or the story has not yet been archived–probably because it’s being aired again this morning, at 9:30.

Chrs, John.

Dear Commons Community,

In the past week a lot has been made of the controversy surrounding President Obama and new federal requirements regarding access to contraceptives at Roman Catholic institutions.  Similar laws are already in place in 28 states, without inflicting the slightest blow to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.  The argument that this is a religious freedom issue is strictly political theater in a presidential year.

As a New York Times editorial comments:

“If a religious body does not like a public policy that affects its members, it is free to try to change it, but it cannot simply opt out of society or claim a special exemption from the law.”

Regardless, yesterday, Mr. Obama’s revised the rules on birth control coverage to let institutions affiliated with a religion shift the cost of coverage to their insurance companies. In sum, Mr. Obama took an action that will help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, abortions and medical complications from pregnancy.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The New York City Panel for Educational Policy voted on Thursday night to close 18 schools and eliminate the middle school grades at five others, citing poor performance.

The decision drew protests from hundreds of teachers’ union members, parents and students, who gathered in the auditorium of Brooklyn Technical High School along with a group that was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The New York Times reported that:

“The Panel for Educational Policy, a board that replaced the city’s Board of Education, determined that the schools’ test scores, graduation rates and leadership failings were too severe to merit keeping them open. Among them were nine schools opened during Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s tenure.

The panel also voted to approve the location of 16 new schools that will take the place of those that are closed, as well as the expansion of four other schools.

The panel is controlled by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who appoints a majority of its 13 members. Since its creation, it has never voted to reject a school closing proposal, a fact that has fueled deep resentment from advocacy groups and the city’s teachers’ union, who claim the panel is effectively a rubber stamp for the mayor’s policies.

That history held true, with all the mayor’s appointees approving the proposals, while the representatives from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx dissented.

The Staten Island representative voted for the closings, except for the school in her borough.”

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times is reporting on two studies that establish that the education gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially over the past several decades even as the gap between black and white students has narrowed.

“We have moved from a society in the 1950s and 1960s, in which race was more consequential than family income, to one today in which family income appears more determinative of educational success than race,” said Sean F. Reardon, a Stanford University sociologist. Professor Reardon is the author of a study that found that the gap in standardized test scores between affluent and low-income students had grown by about 40 percent since the 1960s, and is now double the testing gap between blacks and whites.

In another study, by researchers from the University of Michigan, the imbalance between rich and poor children in college completion — the single most important predictor of success in the work force — has grown by about 50 percent since the late 1980s.

The changes are tectonic, a result of social and economic processes unfolding over many decades. The data from most of these studies end in 2007 and 2008, before the recession’s full impact was felt. Researchers said that based on experiences during past recessions, the recent downturn was likely to have aggravated the trend.”

Both studies were first published last fall in a book of research, “Whither Opportunity?” compiled by the Russell Sage Foundation, a research center for social sciences, and the Spencer Foundation, which focuses on education. Their conclusions, while familiar to a small core of social sciences scholars, are now catching the attention of a broader audience, in part because income inequality has been a central theme this election season.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The Huffington Post is reporting that President Barack Obama plans to grant waivers to ten states from the harsh testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.  This is the first major reversal of NCLB which  established the  passing of standardized testing the mantra for K-12 education.  The article states:

“President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.

The first 10 states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it, New Mexico, is working with the administration to get approval, a White House official told the AP.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the states had not yet been announced. A total of 28 other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signaled that they, too, plan to seek waivers – a sign of just how vast the law’s burdens have become as a big deadline nears.

Obama plans to speak about the waivers Thursday afternoon at the White House.

No Child Left Behind requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Obama’s action strips away that fundamental requirement for those approved for flexibility, provided they offer a viable plan instead. Under the deal, the states must show they will prepare children for college and careers, set new targets for improving achievement among all students, develop meaningful teacher and principal evaluation systems, reward the best performing schools and focus help on the ones doing the worst.”

Thank you, President Obama for stopping the insanity of NCLB!!!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

An article in the New York Times raises the question whether home schooled children should be allowed to play varsity sports.   Presently twenty-five states allow home-schooled students to play sports at public schools with varying restrictions, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia are expected to consider similar legislation this year.  The view of one Virginian home-schooled soccer player, Patrick Foss, who would like to play on his local high school varsity team but under present statutes cannot is:

“My parents pay the same exact taxes as my next-door neighbor who plays varsity sports,” he said. “I just want to be part of the community. You shouldn’t have to pick between athletics and academics.”

Opponents argue that playing varsity sports is a privilege surrendered when students opt out of the public school system; that home-schoolers might take roster spots from public school students; and that it would be extremely difficult to apply the same academic, attendance and discipline requirements to home-schooled students as to those who are monitored daily in public schools. To maintain varsity eligibility, for instance, Virginia’s public school students must take five courses in the current semester and must have passed five in the previous semester. Home-schooled students do not have to adhere to that standard.”

The article also attributes the interest in this issue to Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback who was home-schooled but played football at a public high school in suburban Jacksonville, Fla., before winning a Heisman Trophy and two national championships at the University of Florida.

“People joke, but I think you can attribute a lot of this to the Tim Tebow story,” said Matthew Gillespie, assistant executive director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. “Everybody thinks they have a Tim Tebow in the backyard waiting to be found. Who’s to say?”

Who’s is to say is right!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A federal appeals court panel struck down a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in California.   The 2-to-1 ruling upheld a 2010 decision by Judge Vaughn Walker, which declared the marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, unconstitutional. Like Judge Walker, the court panel found that the antigay initiative, which was narrowly approved by California voters in 2008, violated the equal protection rights of same-sex couples.  A New York Times editorial celebrating the ruling stated:

“The panel rejected arguments that Proposition 8 advanced California’s interests in promoting childbearing and “responsible procreation,” noting that it had no impact on the rights of same-sex couples in the state to raise children or adopt. Drawing heavily on a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that overturned an antigay initiative in Colorado on equal protection grounds, the panel found the initiative violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution by singling out a minority group and taking away the right to marry, which it already possessed in California, “without a legitimate reason for doing so.”

Proposition 8 served only to “lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples,” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt. He said, “the Constitution simply does not allow for” such laws.”

Amen!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The  Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood added another chapter today with the resignation of Karen Handel, vice president for public affairs.  The Huffington Post  is reporting that Handel decided to resign:

“following public outcry over the announcement Komen would pull funding from Planned Parenthood. ”

Earlier this week,  the Huffington Post reported that Handel drove the decision to defund Planned Parenthood over abortion politics and crafted the strategy to clean up the public relations mess that ensued.

A copy of the text of Handel’s resignation letter appears  below.

Tony

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Text of Handel Letter of Resignation

I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve. However, the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization. Neither the decision nor the changes themselves were based on anyone’s political beliefs or ideology. Rather, both were based on Komen’s mission and how to better serve women, as well as a realization of the need to distance Komen from controversy. I believe that Komen, like any other nonprofit organization, has the right and the responsibility to set criteria and highest standards for how and to whom it grants.

What was a thoughtful and thoroughly reviewed decision — one that would have indeed enabled Komen to deliver even greater community impact — has unfortunately been turned into something about politics. This is entirely untrue. This development should sadden us all greatly.