Thursday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Shinto.

Today's question is:
Who were the shortest and longest reigning Catholic popes since 1900?

Banning Gang Attire At School

If a gang wants to show its colors at school, it should adopt the school colors of the local high school. I'd say that perhaps the gang should adopt the American flag as its symbol, but seeing how even the American flag can get you sent home from school now in certain schools, perhaps they should stick to the school colors.

Some gangs seem to have adopted a rosary to identify themselves, and a 7th grade boy got suspended because he wore his to school. A federal judge has told the school district, "Not so fast."

Raymond Hosier is wearing his purple rosary beads to school again.

A day after a federal judge ordered a New York middle school to reinstate the seventh-grader, who was suspended for wearing the Catholic prayer beads last month, the 13-year-old Schenectady boy is proudly displaying them again.

He wears them in memory of his younger brother, who died while clutching rosary beads following a car accident in 2005.

"Raymond believes in his heart of hearts that without the rosary, something's going to happen to him," his mother, Chantell Hosier, told FoxNews.com. "They make him feel safe -- that's the way he explains it. This child is still grieving."

Chantell Hosier confirmed that Raymond wore the beads to Oneida Middle School on Wednesday after Judge Lawrence Kahn ordered the boy to be reinstated pending a hearing on June 11 into whether the suspension violated his civil rights.

District officials declined to comment when reached by FoxNews.com, citing pending litigation, but they have contended Hosier violated a policy banning gang-related clothing such as rosary beads, which are sometimes worn as gang symbols. That led the American Center for Law and Justice to file a lawsuit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court arguing that Raymond's suspension last month violated his rights to free speech and religion.

Grading

A reader (he's ex-navy, but we won't hold that against him, because we're inclusive here at RotLC) sent me the following email:

Darren,

The district in which I teach 8th grade Algebra is wanting in the near future to move from a standard reporting system (A, B, C, D, F) to a Standards Based Reporting System (4-Exceeding Standard; 3-Meeting Standard; 2-Approaching Standard; 1-Below Standard).

What are your thoughts on Standards Based Reporting and Assessment, and what have you read/heard (if anything) about the negative impact that has on the grading system they’ll get in high school (which is back to the standard reporting system)?

Thanks.

My quick reply was that changes like this are made for only a couple reasons, the most likely of which is the attempt to hide something (perhaps, the achievement gap between different groups of students). Everyone knows what an A, B, C, D, and F represent; is everyone so clear on what "approaching standards" means? No? Then we can hide a lot of D's and F's that way.

Coincidentally enough, the current issue of the CTA mouthpiece rag has an article on grading--and contrary to what you might expect from such a liberal organization, they seemed to get it right:

When the West Contra Costa Unified School District adopted standards-based grades for elementary schools, report cards became more confusing for teachers, students and parents, says Gig Jenkins, a second-grade teacher at Grant Elementary School in Richmond.

Numbers replaced letter grades, with 1 showing that a student needs improvement; 2 showing the student approaching the standards; 3 showing the student meeting benchmarks; and 4 showing that the student is advanced. Instead of being graded overall on subjects, students are graded on many standards within core subjects.

Jenkins was part of a committee that helped create the report cards measuring student progress toward meeting state standards. With so many standards, not all were included.

“We used our district ‘power standards,’” recalls Jenkins, a member of the United Teachers of Richmond. “Our committee looked at report cards from other districts with standards-based report cards and created our own.”

The report cards are confusing and are not particularly parent-friendly, says Jenkins. “Many people, including myself, believe the standards-based language of the report cards is geared more toward guiding teachers than informing parents.”

Parents are baffled by such things as a math standard that evaluates students on their ability “to use the commutative and associative rules to simplify mental calculations,” or a language-arts standard that determines whether students “decode phonetic patterns — plurals and diphthongs"...

When schools go to standards-based report cards that mirror testing results, it can be more difficult for students to raise their grades through traditional avenues such as extra credit, homework and class participation. Parents may be mystified as to how their child compares with his or her classmates. While standards-based grades are increasing in elementary schools, high schools don’t use them, since college acceptance is usually based on a student’s grade point average.

I genuinely enjoyed this little slap of reality:

An ABC News report raised the question of whether eliminating failing grades — a trend nationwide — might be “coddling” students. Some education experts say it reflects a trend to “protect” children from the harsh reality that they have failed, such as when children receive trophies for “participation” in competitions they lost. Another question is whether eliminating failing grades adequately prepares students for college or life.

Several professors at Sierra College, a community college in Rocklin, were unaware of the “no-D” policy at the local high schools and said they now understand why some of their students expect extra chances.

“Learning this produced an ‘aha!’ moment for me,” says history professor Lynn Medeiros, a member of the Sierra College Faculty Association (SCFA). “Last semester I had a student say, ‘I missed these questions; when can I retake the midterm?’ I said there was no retaking midterms. She asked if she could just retake the questions she missed and I said no.”

Medeiros says students who have asked to retake tests and rewrite papers have told her they should be entitled to do so as part of the “learning process.” But college, she says, has stricter standards.

My bottom line on this: there's nothing inherently wrong with the traditional grading system. Given that, is there any justification for changing it?

What Does This Bill Actually Do?

Reader Maxutils directs my attention to this article in the latest edition of the CTA mouthpiece rag:

CTA is battling to defeat an opposed bill that could gain a second life because of a legislative maneuver but remains stalled in the Senate. SB 955, by Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), which seeks to create an unfair system that takes away due process rights from teachers, should have gone to the Senate Labor Committee — but instead, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has routed the bill to the Senate Rules Committee to keep it alive. In the ordinary course of business, SB 955 would have headed to the Senate Labor Committee where it would have received a fair hearing. More than 1,600 CTA members have already contacted their legislators urging them to kill this harmful bill.

SB 955 represents an ongoing effort by anti-teacher forces to simply blame teachers for the ills of public schools, without acknowledging years of chronic underfunding resulting in larger class sizes, fewer teachers, nurses, counselors and education support professionals, and the elimination of vital programs that keep students engaged in school.

In his State of the State speech in January, under the guise of responding to the state’s fiscal crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger resuscitated his attack on teacher rights as a diversion from the pressing issue of funding our public schools. In April, the governor recruited Sen. Huff to carry his anti-teacher agenda, and Sen. Huff quickly enticed Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) — a candidate for superintendent of public instruction — to back his bill...

Reasons to stop SB 955

* SB 955 is an outright attack on teachers and ignores real problems facing our schools. It’s outrageous that some lawmakers are scapegoating teachers during these tough economic times and robbing them of due process rights, while at the same time — because of $17 billion in budget cuts the last two years — neighborhood schools are eliminating entire programs and teaching positions, and in some cases closing doors for good.
* SB 955 won’t save the state one dime or do anything to improve student learning. Instead of blaming teachers, the governor and lawmakers should be working with educators to support public schools and provide all students with a quality education.
* We need to attract and retain the best candidates in teaching. SB 955 will discourage college graduates from going into the teaching profession because it creates an unfair system with no due process rights. The bill also opens the door to arbitrary and discriminatory treatment of teachers.
* SB 955 is unnecessary. There is already a process to remove ineffective teachers. During their first two years of employment, teachers can be fired for any reason. In their third year, teachers have a right to a hearing before being laid off. This process allows districts to consider student needs when making layoff decisions.
* California’s parents and teachers want the governor and the Legislature to focus on solving real problems — like soaring class sizes, inadequate resources, and the elimination of music, art, and vocational education programs — to ensure our children have a real chance at a brighter future.

What, exactly, does this bill do? All I get from this article is that it's "unfair" and "takes away due process rights from teachers". How? Does the bill say, "The purpose of this bill is to unfairly take away due process rights from teachers"? If not, and I'm sure it doesn't, then what does it say?

Gotta love the high journalistic quality of California Educator magazine.

More of California's Nanny State

There's a bill moving through the legislature that will ban plastic grocery bags throughout the state, whether or not stores or customers want them. It's for our own good, of course. Liberals love the word "ban".

I'm old enough to remember when stores switched from paper to plastic--because paper, a renewable and sustainable resource, comes from killing trees and hence was bad for the environment!

Our state has a $20 billion dollar deficit. I'm not saying the legislature should focus only one issue at a time, but if we were to list, say, the top 100 issues that truly need to be addressed in the state, would plastic grocery bags even make the list?

Wednesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Saint Cyril, a Christian missionary amongst the Slavic people.

Today's question is:
What is the religion of the Emperor of Japan?

Thomas Sowell Gives A Good Reason Not To Be A Liberal

No nation ever protested its way from poverty to prosperity or got there through rhetoric or bureaucracies.

It was Thomas Edison who brought us electricity, not the Sierra Club. It was the Wright brothers who got us off the ground, not the Federal Aviation Administration. It was Henry Ford who ended the isolation of millions of Americans by making the automobile affordable, not Ralph Nader.

Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing "compassion" for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about. link

Still, some will use class envy or imagined ills to try to take from the productive and give to the poor and the non-productive.

Tuesday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Zarathustra. (He also spoke.)

Today's question is:
After whom is the Cyrillic alphabet named?

Monday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Branch Davidians. The compound was known as the Mount Carmel Center, under the leadership of David Koresh.

Today's question is:
By what other name is the ancient Persian prophet Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism, known?

The Exact Opposite of a Homophobic Commercial

A few minutes ago I was driving home and on the radio I heard a Carl's Jr. commercial with George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek series. The commercial was for Carl's Jr.'s Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger, which has a teriyaki flavor and a slice of pineapple, among other things.

I wish I could link to audio, but since I can't you'll just have to trust me on the contents of the commercial.

Takei introduces himself, tells about the burger, and then says (I'll paraphrase here), "I don't know why Carl's Jr. would want me to advertise this burger. Yes, it's Asian, meaty, fruity (pauses as if he now understands why)--oh my."

Takei is gay.

The commercial didn't make me laugh. It shocked me; I actually said out loud, "Oh my gawd!" Much like other commercials that seek to score points on sexuality, this one made me a little uncomfortable. Its meaning is very risque. While I'm the world's biggest fan of double entendres and innuendo, they're just not appropriate for a family audience.

Press Freedoms

Press freedoms belong to all Americans, not merely those who work for established news organizations, whatever the heck that means. Thomas Paine wasn't a newsman, he was a man with an idea who published a pamphlet. Under rules being presented by the Federal Trade Commission, Paine wouldn't have "freedom of the press":

Release of the Federal Trade Commission's working paper on "reinventing journalism" makes it clear that there is no more time for diplomacy about this issue: President Obama is determined to federalize the news industry just as he has banking, autos, and health care.

Where's the ACLU going to come down on this?

Gotta Enjoy Spam Like This, Huh?

Now it's coming directly from the feds, not from the Widow Abacha.

Welcome To Federal Bureau of Investigation.

JOHN P.PISTOLE
DEPUTY DIRECTOR FBI
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI WASHINGTON DC.
Email:ALERTFBIOFFICES@AOL.COM.

FBI SEEKING TO CRIMINAL,CYBER,RESPONSE,AND SERVICES BRANCH.


Attn: -

We, the federal bureau of investigation (FBI) recently had a meeting with the Co-founder of Ellen Charity Home in the person of Mr.JEFFREY DAVENPORT and his publicist Mrs. Miriam Benson along side some officials from the organization regarding the death of Mr. Davis Ruben, the husband to Mrs. Ellen Doris Ruben who is resting in the bosom of the lord due to a contracted illness (cancer of the lungs). Until his death Mrs. Ellen Doris Ruben and her husband had set up another Charity Organization in Cairo, Egypt which was commissioned May, 2002.

In addendum, also be informed that after a random deep pick, you have been certified by our global authorities to become a beneficiary to receive the sum of 10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Dollars) allocated to you from Ellen Charity Home, Egypt. We were made to understand that your file has been held in a base depending on when you personally come for the claim, we have also been informed about some con artist trying to use every possible measure to claim your inheritance without your notice as you already should be aware of the situation. We were also made to understand that a lady by name Mrs. Lisa McGregor from Chicago already contacted Natwest Bank Egypt and also presented all necessary documents evidencing your claim purported to have been signed personally by you prior to the release of your benefit valued at about us$10,000,000.00 (ten million dollars) but Natwest Bank Egypt did the wise thing by insisting on hearing from you personally before they go ahead on wiring your fund to the bank information which was forwarded to them by the above named lady. For this reason we were contacted as to assist the bank in making their investigations.

We the federal bureau of investigation had a meeting with the western union regarding mrs ellen inheritance and they write to inform you that nat west international bank egypt have already sent you $5000.00 usd dollars through Western union as they have been given the mandate to transfer your full compensation payment total sum of $10Million USD,via western union by this government.

They have decided to email you the MTCN and sender name so that you will pick up the $5000.00 usd to enable us send another $5000.00 usd today as you know they will be sending you only $5000.00 usd per day.and it was agreed that you will pay the sum of $1,800 before they will release the payment to you.

Please pick up this information and run to western union to pick up the $5000.00 usd and call Director of Operation Sir. JEFFREY DAVENPORT in charges of the western union because he is the person in charge for your payment so that he can send you another payment today,phone line +20144594042,Email:

(Wuworldtransfercenter@live.com) email Him once you picked up the $5000.00 USD today.Here is the western union information to pick up the $5000.00; which you will be receiving your payment $5000.00 Us Dollars immediately you sent them their transfer charge of $1,800 and it will serve as re-confirmation of your file payment from the office in charge.
So you are to re-confirm to them the below information,

Your. Receiver----------
Your. Country-------
Your. City-----------
Your. Tel----------
Your. Passport-----------

Here Is The Senders Information.
Senders First Name: JEFFREY
Senders Second Name: DAVENPORT
MTCN: 462 465 4201 .

Website:www.westernunion.com

If you are dealing with any person or office claiming to be from us, you must desist from further communications. You are further advised to stop further contact with them in your best interest and contact immediately the real office of Ellen Charity Home Egypt only with the below information's accordingly:

Name: Mr.JEFFREY DAVENPORT (Co-founder)
Office Address: 11 El Shams Bldgs., 8th District Nasr City, Cairo
E-mail:Wuworldtransfercenter@live.com
Ellencharity@aol.com
Elleninheritancehome81@live.com.

Tel: (+2) 0144594042
Fax: (+2) 0141145001.

Note:
In your best interest, any message that doesn't come from the above official email address and phone numbers should not be replied to and should be disregarded accordingly for your safety. Meanwhile, we will advise that you contact Ellen Charity Home Egypt office immediately with the above email address. Ensure that you follow all procedures as required by them; it will further help hasten the procedures as regards to the release of your fund to you as designated. Have in mind that Ellen Charity Home Egypt has their own protocol of operation as stipulated on their terms, so delay could be very dangerous. Once again, we will advise that you contact them with the above email address and make sure you forward to them all the necessary information's which they may require from you prior to the release of your fund to you accordingly.

All modalities have already been worked out even before you were contacted. Also note that we will be monitoring all your transaction with them as you proceed. All we require from you henceforth is an update so as to enable us be in track with you and Ellen Charity Home Egypt. They will also refer you to the paying bank after they have crossed checked with their records evidencing you to be the true beneficiary to this inheritance. If you are in need of any more information's as regards to this notification, feel free to get back to us so that we brief you more as we are here to guide you during and after this project has been completely perfected and you have received your inheritance as stated.

Thank you very much for anticipated Co-operation.

BEST REGARDS

John P.Pistole
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20535

Email:ALERTFBIOFFICES@AOL.COM.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: THIS COMMUNICATION AND ITS ATTACHMENTS MAY CONTAIN NON-PUBLIC,CONFIDENTIAL OR LEGALLY PRIVILEGED INFORMATION. THE UNLAWFUL INTERCEPTION, USE OR DISCLOSURE OF SUCH INFORMATION IS PROHIBITED. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, OR HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY BY REPLY EMAIL AND DELETE ALL COPIES OF THIS COMMUNICATION AND ATTACHMENTS WITHOUT READING OR SAVING THEM.

Sunday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas. (Distrito Federal is not a state.)

Today's question, the first in Religions Week, is:
What was the name of the religious group that died after a siege by federal law enforcement officials outside of Waco, Texas, in 1993?

A Tale Of Two Schools

In middle school, Ivan Cantera ran with a Latino gang; Laura Corro was a spunky teen. At age 13, they shared their first kiss. Both made it a habit to skip class. In high school, they went their separate ways...

The divergent paths taken by Laura and Ivan were shaped by many forces, but their schools played a striking role. Capitol Hill and Santa Fe South both serve the same poor, Hispanic population. Both comply with federal guidelines and meet state requirements for standardized exams and curriculum. Santa Fe South enrolls about 490 high school students, while Capitol Hill has nearly 900.

At Santa Fe South, the school day is 45 minutes longer; graduation requirements are more rigorous (four years of math, science and social studies compared with three at public schools); and there is a tough attendance policy.

This year, the majority of Santa Fe South's graduates will attend a vocational, two- or four-year college. About one-third of the graduates from Capitol Hill plan to get a higher education.

Find out more at the Wall Street Journal Online.

Saturday Trivia

The answer to yesterday's question is:
Trade goods valued at 60 guilders. The $24 figure was based on an exchange rate calculation performed 220 years later by a New York historian.

Today's question is:
Identify any 5 of the 31 states that make up Mexico.

This President Is A Disaster

Peggy Noonan, in the Wall Street Journal:

This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president's political judgment and instincts.

There was the tearing and unnecessary war over his health-care proposal and its cost. There was his day-to-day indifference to the views and hopes of the majority of voters regarding illegal immigration. And now the past almost 40 days of dodging and dithering in the face of an environmental calamity. I don't see how you politically survive this.

The president, in my view, continues to govern in a way that suggests he is chronically detached from the central and immediate concerns of his countrymen. This is a terrible thing to see in a political figure, and a startling thing in one who won so handily and shrewdly in 2008. But he has not, almost from the day he was inaugurated, been in sync with the center. The heart of the country is thinking each day about A, B and C, and he is thinking about X, Y and Z. They're in one reality, he's in another...

This is what happened with Katrina, and Katrina did at least two big things politically. The first was draw together everything people didn't like about the Bush administration, everything it didn't like about two wars and high spending and illegal immigration, and brought those strands into a heavy knot that just sat there, soggily, and came to symbolize Bushism. The second was illustrate that even though the federal government in our time has continually taken on new missions and responsibilities, the more it took on, the less it seemed capable of performing even its most essential jobs. Conservatives got this point—they know it without being told—but liberals and progressives did not. They thought Katrina was the result only of George W. Bush's incompetence and conservatives' failure to "believe in government." But Mr. Obama was supposed to be competent.

Jules Crittenden piles on:

In 2004, for example, the Dems offered John Kerry. Didn’t work. In 2006 and 2008, they offered Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, respectively. Did work, though the problems inherent in both were obvious from the outset. Divisive incompetence, and divisive inexperience, respectively.

The big surprise with the current president is not so much that he is incompetent, inexperienced and divisive, but the extent to which he is all of those things, and the extent to which anyone is surprised. It’s not like there weren’t enough warning signs on the way in, all of which were summarily dismissed.

As for those George Bush "Miss me yet?" billboards and t-shirts, the answer is "yes".

Update, 5/31/10: Don Surber says:

Helplessness, however undeniable, is no defense. Moreover, Obama has never been overly modest about his own powers. Two years ago next week, he declared that history will mark his ascent to the presidency as the moment when ‘our planet began to heal’ and ‘the rise of the oceans began to slow.’ Well, when you anoint yourself King Canute, you mustn’t be surprised when your subjects expect you to command the tides”...

The president’s mettle has been tested four times now. I cannot give him a Gentleman’s D on any of them.

Update #2, 5/31/10: Roger Kimball adds a little more fuel to the fire, as if any is needed:

I believe that Obama is unique in the annals of American history. It’s not any individual quality — if “quality” is the right word: perhaps “attribute” would be better — that sets him apart. It’s the combination of attributes. What are those attributes?

Peggy Noonan touched on one: enormous, all-encompassing, stupefying incompetence. The man can pose. He can preen. He cannot, judging by his performance these last eighteen months, govern...

The other two attributes are 1) arrogance and 2) ideological animus.

Now It's Teachers Who Are Thrown Under The Bus

OK, my fellow teachers. So many of you drooled at the mere mention of Hopenchange, and now you, too, are just axle grease:

WASHINGTON — Congress bailed out Wall Street and the auto industry, but it appears to have drawn the line — at least for now — at rescuing teachers.

A Democratic plan to send $23 billion to the states to save the jobs of 100,000 to 300,000 public school teachers, librarians, counselors and other employees slated for layoffs looks dead for the time being.

Blame it on election-year politics. The anti-Washington, anti-spending mood has become so potent that even Democrats are antsy about helping teachers, one of their most long-standing and generous allies.

Who'd'a thunk that the power and influence of the teachers unions would be so minimal during a Democratic administration and with a Democrat-controlled congress? So, union members, I ask this in all seriousness--if the state and national unions are powerless to do anything for you, why do you give them your money? It's not like they do anything to help you negotiate your contract....

Should I Be Worried?

From my stat counter I see that someone in the local Office of Homeland Security is checking out my blog. Has being a Tea Party supporter and political opponent of the president tagged me as a potential terrorist?

click to enlarge

I'm certainly attracting someone's attention:


Ah, the life of a dissident! :-)

Rich Enough To Be Stupid

Mark Steyn provides a great opener for this post:

Back in 2008, when I was fulminating against multiculturalism on a more or less weekly basis, a reader wrote to advise me to lighten up, on the grounds that “we’re rich enough to afford to be stupid.”

Two years later, we’re a lot less rich. In fact, many Western nations are, in any objective sense, insolvent. Hence last week’s column, on the EU’s decision to toss a trillion dollars into the great sucking maw of Greece’s public-sector kleptocracy. It no longer matters whether you’re intellectually in favour of European-style social democracy: simply as a practical matter, it’s unaffordable.

How did the Western world reach this point? Well, as my correspondent put it, we assumed that we were rich enough that we could afford to be stupid.

San Francisco isn't so rich anymore--what city in California is?--but look how stupid they still are there:

Every child who enters kindergarten at one of San Francisco's public schools will get his or her own city-funded college savings account under a groundbreaking program officials plan to begin rolling out this fall, despite the current budget woes that will force layoffs and service cuts in other areas.

The deposits would be small - $50 to start, $100 for lower-income children - but the hope is that they will pay huge dividends, teaching students about saving and budgeting while forging the conviction that a college education is within reach.

Any commentary from me would be superfluous.

Update: Ties in nicely with this post.

It's Now Easier To Get Into One Of Oxford's Colleges

A quaint "tradition" has gone the way of the buggy whip:

OXFORD, England — The exam was simple yet devilish, consisting of a single noun (“water,” for instance, or “bias”) that applicants had three hours somehow to spin into a coherent essay. An admissions requirement for All Souls College here, it was meant to test intellectual agility, but sometimes seemed to test only the ability to sound brilliant while saying not much of anything.

“An exercise in showmanship to avoid answering the question,” is the way the historian Robin Briggs describes his essay on “innocence” in 1964, a tour de force effort that began with the opening chords of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” and then brought in, among other things, the flawed heroes of Stendhal and the horrors of the prisoner-of-war camp in the William Golding novel “Free Fall.”

No longer will other allusion-deploying Oxford youths have the chance to demonstrate the acrobatic flexibility of their intellect in quite the same way. All Souls, part of Oxford University, recently decided, with some regret, to scrap the one-word exam.

It has been offered annually since 1932 (and sporadically before that) as part of a grueling, multiday affair that, in one form or another, has been administered since 1878 and has been called the hardest exam in the world. The unveiling of the word was once an event of such excitement that even non-applicants reportedly gathered outside the college each year, waiting for news to waft out. Applicants themselves discovered the word by flipping over a single sheet of paper and seeing it printed there, all alone, like a tiny incendiary device.

But that was then. “For a number of years, the one-word essay question had not proved to be a very valuable way of providing insight into the merits of the candidates,” said Sir John Vickers, the warden, or head, of the college.

If it wasn't useful any longer except as a haze, they're right to be rid of it.