President Barack Obama will be delivering the commencement address at Arizona State University this evening. But the headline has been that ASU is not going to give him an honorary degree. Instead, they will expand a scholarship program in his name. A scholarship will actually benefit someone, while still honoring the president. The media are … Continue reading Scholarship trumps honorary degree
Marian the Grammarian I am not, although for a number of years I was allowed to impose my ideas of correctness on the writing of others — and got paid for doing it. (How cool is that!?) I’d be the first to admit that no sooner did I walk out of the classroom than I … Continue reading Shredding Strunk and White
I’ve been browsing and got caught up again in the illegal immigration issue. I haven’t been there in a while. The subject didn’t get a lot of attention during last year’s campaign and President Obama seems to be concentrating primarily on the economy, as he should be. As a result, the issue seems to be … Continue reading It’s a simple question
When English is a student’s second language, what should a school do? It’s a big issue here in Colorado, where we have a large Hispanic (or is it Latino?) population. A local grade school landed in the headlines a few weeks ago when its principal, who favored a bilingual, transitional approach, was suspended. The parents, … Continue reading The continuing flap over bilingual education
How should Americans live in order to attain a reasonable level of comfort and security? The formula, seemingly forgotten long ago, is simple. Robert Rob spells it out in his Politico article, “Americans Lose Gift for Practical Living”: Regardless of how bad a school you attend, pay attention and do what your teachers say to … Continue reading You can lead a horse to water but …
I was just reading comments on another blog, and the editor in me got pinged — again. (Yes, it’s a curse. I retired, but my brain didn’t.) This time it was the spelling “infistructure” used in an otherwise well-written paragraph that also included words such as “stipulation” and “verification.” Not likely to have been a … Continue reading Education is infrastructure, too
