Thursday, November 29, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
It's Education, Stupid
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-davis/obama-romney-education_b_2043937.html?utm_hp_ref=education-reform
"Recently, I've had several opportunities to speak with education leaders from some of the highest-performing countries around the globe. They are perplexed by our challenges in the areas of teacher quality and developing world-class academic standards. The majority of high-performing countries have teachers who join the profession from the elite universities and enjoy a level of prestige reserved for lawyers, doctors, and engineers in the United States.
These international education leaders wonder why it took America nearly 20 years to agree that high standards in math and language should be standard across states, districts and schools. They wonder why foreign languages are not commonly taught in our elementary schools. They find it hard to believe that one out of every five American children lives in poverty -- children for whom investments in high-quality education are even more important. Leaders from Beijing and South Korea actually worry that their students are spending too much time in school -- over 14 hours a day and more than 200 days a year in some cases! Meanwhile our students attend school, on average, 180 6.5 hour days -- a schedule created for an earlier era."
"Recently, I've had several opportunities to speak with education leaders from some of the highest-performing countries around the globe. They are perplexed by our challenges in the areas of teacher quality and developing world-class academic standards. The majority of high-performing countries have teachers who join the profession from the elite universities and enjoy a level of prestige reserved for lawyers, doctors, and engineers in the United States.
These international education leaders wonder why it took America nearly 20 years to agree that high standards in math and language should be standard across states, districts and schools. They wonder why foreign languages are not commonly taught in our elementary schools. They find it hard to believe that one out of every five American children lives in poverty -- children for whom investments in high-quality education are even more important. Leaders from Beijing and South Korea actually worry that their students are spending too much time in school -- over 14 hours a day and more than 200 days a year in some cases! Meanwhile our students attend school, on average, 180 6.5 hour days -- a schedule created for an earlier era."
Monday, November 12, 2012
Opinion: Every day should be Veterans Day
It doesn't matter whether you support the war overseas or not. We should honor the men and women who are brave enough to put their lives on the line everyday for our protection. Which is everyday. We often take for granted the freedoms that we can enjoy. Tabloid news are always filled with controversies about celebrities, scandals and other public affairs. There are many times where we fail to commemorate the veterans that gave us those luxuries. Thank you to all the soldiers.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The 2012 presidential race: Ads, money and travel
While the whole nation votes, the Obama and Romney campaigns are concentrating on specific states during the presidential race. The campaigns have mostly put up ads in battleground states (think Ohio or Florida). They also happen to be the places where the candidates travel the most. However, the campaigns are raising money elsewhere (think California or New York).
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Rotary speakers urge changes for public education
"America, the greatest and one of the richest nations on Earth, has one of the poorest performing public education systems among the industrialized nations of the world," he said. "Insufficient funding is not the problem."
http://colonyleader.com/articles/2012/05/23/news_update/7274.txt
http://colonyleader.com/articles/2012/05/23/news_update/7274.txt
Monday, October 29, 2012
Havoc as Storm Comes Ashore
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/us/hurricane-sandy-churns-up-east-coast.html?hp
This is the first time in years that the Northeast, especially New York and New Jersey has ever experienced a hurricane. Most of the city's power is out, and many are stranded in buildings for days. My mom called my relatives in New York to make sure that they are fine. My aunt and uncle are stuck in the hospital because of their job as nurses and my little cousin is left being taken care of by her friend's parents. Knowing that my little cousin won't be able to see her parents for a couple of days saddens me because of how close she is with her parents. I just hope that they are safe through the storm. But I know that everyone will be able to get through this.
This is the first time in years that the Northeast, especially New York and New Jersey has ever experienced a hurricane. Most of the city's power is out, and many are stranded in buildings for days. My mom called my relatives in New York to make sure that they are fine. My aunt and uncle are stuck in the hospital because of their job as nurses and my little cousin is left being taken care of by her friend's parents. Knowing that my little cousin won't be able to see her parents for a couple of days saddens me because of how close she is with her parents. I just hope that they are safe through the storm. But I know that everyone will be able to get through this.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
We Need to Talk About Our Eggs
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/opinion/we-need-to-talk-about-our-eggs.html
Abortion is supposedly one of the heated topics of the Election this year since women voters are the main target of the presidential candidates. However, with all of this talk about Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, there are many women who are fighting to conceive a child. Due to environmental factors, health, diet and societal the average fertility age for women is decreasing. This means that the average woman can be fertile only to a certain age (~38 years). Therefore those who desire to have kids are worried that they would not be able to conceive. Whereas others do not want to have children so they resort to abortion. My question for this is, who is concerned for the orphans who are often neglected ad-midst all these political fire?
Abortion is supposedly one of the heated topics of the Election this year since women voters are the main target of the presidential candidates. However, with all of this talk about Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, there are many women who are fighting to conceive a child. Due to environmental factors, health, diet and societal the average fertility age for women is decreasing. This means that the average woman can be fertile only to a certain age (~38 years). Therefore those who desire to have kids are worried that they would not be able to conceive. Whereas others do not want to have children so they resort to abortion. My question for this is, who is concerned for the orphans who are often neglected ad-midst all these political fire?
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Armed Services Members MIA in Presidential Debates, Campaign
"Two presidential debates and no real mention of our troops, despite the ongoing war in Afghanistan."
I was surprised that both of the presidential debates so far had not mention anything about the troops in Afghanistan. Usually, war overseas is one of the major controversial issues today. Four years ago, it was predominantly a hot topic. Keep fighting or go home. It is one of the main reasons as to why President Obama won the Election of 2008. Now, the issue has stepped down making other moral issues take over.
"....the nation feels no real stake in or connection to the war effort. That disconnect and distance helps explain how, at this time of collapsing support for the government, the press, and other institutions, three of four Americans say they’ve maintained their confidence in the military."
I was surprised that both of the presidential debates so far had not mention anything about the troops in Afghanistan. Usually, war overseas is one of the major controversial issues today. Four years ago, it was predominantly a hot topic. Keep fighting or go home. It is one of the main reasons as to why President Obama won the Election of 2008. Now, the issue has stepped down making other moral issues take over.
"....the nation feels no real stake in or connection to the war effort. That disconnect and distance helps explain how, at this time of collapsing support for the government, the press, and other institutions, three of four Americans say they’ve maintained their confidence in the military."
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