the disadvantages of an elite education

http://theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/

This is from 2008 but it popped up in Longform today and it resonated with me, deeply. No time to write about it now, but I’ll just say that there are many ways in which I feel I’m still recovering from my education at Princeton, much as I will always be grateful for the opportunities it afforded me.

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2 articles

On my path to being a Real Adult, I acquired a subscription to the New Yorker. Was reading this article last night: The Caging of America, by Adam Gopnik

And then this popped up in my google reader: a brief take on it by Caterina Fake (one of my favourite Internet People). So instead of writing something myself, I’ll just direct you to her short thoughts.

Also in the vein of America, I thought this article was fascinating, and balanced (don’t read it if you want to read something (a) short, or (b) super opinionated):

Obama, Explained, by James Fallows (The Atlantic)

 

first-year experiments

I am currently TA’ing the first-year lab class. The kids make up their own experiments (with guidance) and carry them out. Points for originality. One group, working with Lumbriculus variegatus (blackworms; a tiny aquatic segmented worm) has decided to measure their response to disturbance in the water caused by the movement of predators. They’ll be disturbing a dish with the worms in it and then measuring how frequently they flick their heads back and forth in response to different levels of vibration.

How will they be producing this vibration?

By applying a “personal massager” to the bottom of the dish!

Okay, I swear I’m an adult, and a teacher, and all of that. But. Hilarious. I wasn’t the only one snickering during our TA meeting.