Want The Official Report on the Infamous UC Davis Pepper Spraying Incident?

Of course you do, but you'll have to keep on waiting:

Facing threat of legal action by the union for University of California, Davis, campus police, officials scrapped plans to release a report today on the November pepper spraying of students and protesters in the UC Davis quad.

The report, the result of months of investigation by the security and investigations firm Kroll, was to be posted on the UC Davis website at noon today and unveiled at a public meeting on the campus later in the afternoon.

But, late Monday UC officials announced that the plan to release the report was being halted because of legal action by the Federated University Police Officers Association.

Yet Another Rally/Tantrum At The Capitol Over Higher Education Costs

Yesterday's rally downtown was the basis of several articles in the major Sacramento newspaper.

Originally the purpose of the rally was supposed to be to demonstrate dissatisfaction with higher education costs. We can discuss whether or not higher education, especially as practiced in California today, is truly a public good, or if it's a service to be provided as long as the state can afford it--but I'd rather not follow that tangent. I'd rather stick to the rally itself.

The original goal was to protest tuition increases, but by last weekend some were arguing that the rally was being co-opted:

A massive student rally in support of higher education funding planned for Monday at the state Capitol is being co-opted by labor and Occupy activists, says an executive with one of the student groups.

In the run-up to Monday's rally, two groups, Refund California and Occupy Education California, have issued press releases and given interviews about their plans to "Occupy the Capitol."

But Miles Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association, says those two groups have "nothing to do with this event."

So bad guys were going to show up at the rally. Did they? Of course they did:

Another day of protests played out at the state Capitol on Monday with thousands of demonstrators denouncing soaring higher education costs and a select group spending most of the day inside the rotunda to achieve one goal: getting arrested.

By the time the spectacle petered out Monday night, the California Highway Patrol tallied 68 arrests of people who refused to leave the Capitol rotunda after it closed at 6 p.m. Four others were arrested earlier, three on charges of creating a disturbance and one because he was carrying a switchblade, authorities said.

Would it be gratuitous of me to point out here that I cannot recall any Tea Party rally at which people refused to leave a public building when asked to (if they even needed to be asked), or at which anyone was arrested for carrying a switchblade? Probably, so I won't point it out. Moving on.

Longtime local columnist and commentator Dan Walters makes some salient points:

The thousands of college students who marched on the Capitol on Monday to protest rising fees and decreasing state support had a point: Higher education has taken a disproportionately heavy drubbing in recent years as politicians attempted – and largely failed – to balance the state budget.

The Legislature's budget analyst has calculated that under Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012-13 budget, state general fund spending on the University of California, the state university system and community colleges will have dropped 21 percent in five years, while fee and tuition revenue will have increased by 64 percent.

Several of those politicians uttered sympathetic words as they addressed protesters. But they sidestepped the political trade-offs that cut college funds and avoided any mention of the Brown tax plan they have endorsed.

He goes on to pinpoint why things won't change, either:

Students may noisily protest, but they don't contribute money to politicians' campaigns, and their voting levels are notoriously low.

The budget is a zero-sum game, and higher education plays a weak hand.

And that, as they say, is that. So what did yesterday's rally accomplish? Probably nothing of value.

Very Interesting Article About Storing Off-Peak Electricity For Peak Demand Periods

The current issue of The Economist has a great page 15 story called Packing some power:

On paper at least, ERCOT ought to have had plenty of power. In 2010 it reported 84,400 megawatts (MW) of total generation capacity, well over last summer’s peak demand of 68,294MW. In theory, this is enough to produce some 740 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity a year—more than double the 319 billion kWh that ERCOT’s customers actually demanded during 2010. In electricity generation, however, aggregates and averages carry little weight. One problem is that wind energy accounted for 9,500MW of ERCOT’s total capacity, and the wind does not blow all the time. It tends to be strongest at night, when demand is low. Moreover, power firms are required by regulators to maintain a safety margin over total estimated demand—of 13.75%, in ERCOT’s case—in order to ensure reliable supply.

If only it were easier for ERCOT and other utilities to store excess energy, such as that produced by wind turbines at night, for later use at peak times. Such “time shifting” would compensate for the intermittent nature of wind and solar power, making them more attractive and easier to integrate into the grid. Energy storage also allows “peak shaving”. By tapping stored energy rather than firing up standby generators, utilities can save money by avoiding expensive spot-market purchases.

The article then goes on for 4 more columns, discussing very creative improvements in pumped-storage hydropower (pumping water to a higher reservoir at night, when power demand is low, and letting it flow down to generate power during the day, when it's needed); compressed-air energy storage; advanced rail energy storage; and pumped heat electricity storage, among others. Some have efficiencies in the 80% range, which isn't bad--it's certainly cheaper than having to buy electricity on the spot market to avoid rolling blackouts, and paying 30x the normal price for doing so!

I hope something good comes from at least one of these technologies.

NEA Is Against Marketing To Schoolchildren...

...except when it's not.

Just What I Need To Read, Knowing California Will Need New Math Textbooks In Order To Meet The Common Core Standards

This doesn't give me a warm fuzzy:

I have worked for over 20 years in educational publishing as a product developer, writer, and editor of curriculum materials for grades K-8. I’ve worked directly for textbook publishers and supplemental publishers (supplemental being those books that are adjuncts to the text), start-ups and large publishing houses. I’ve attended countless sales meetings, product meetings, and planning sessions, seen and taken part in the inner workings of a successful textbook from inception to completion. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with publishers dedicated to producing the best materials possible. Because of them, I was able to produce several successful reading, math, and assessment programs and make a darn good living doing it.

Best of all, I was able to feel proud of those books to which my name was attached. But there are no longer many projects that allow such a feeling to take hold. Why? Because the “new normal” among too many publishers is a severe lack of oversight in the quality of curriculum being produced, and a frightening prevalence of apathy to do anything about it.

The root of problem begins with this key fact: There are only a small number of educational publishers left after rabid buyouts and mergers in the 90s, publishers that all vie for a piece of a four-billion dollar (forbes.com) pie. In recent years, math has become the subject du jour due to government initiatives and efforts to raise the rankings of U.S. students who lag behind in math compared to 30 other industrialized nations. With state and local budgets constrained to unprecedented levels, publishers must compete for fewer available dollars. As a result, many are rushing their products (especially in math) to market to before their competitors, product that in many instances is inherently, tragically flawed.

Especially if you like horror movies, you want to read the whole thing.

Real, or Photoshopped?

It's hard to tell.

Oakland Is Behind The Times

Apparently Oakland hasn't gotten the word that the so-called Occupy movement is over and done with. They're still trying to--well, I'm not sure what they're trying to do, but they're certainly screwing it up, whatever it is. Oh look, three guys there accosted and taunted a woman, judged her suspected sexuality, then stole her wallet. Such pillars of the community!

Did you ever hear such stories out of the violent, racist, misogynist, Tea Party rallies? Me either. But note that this rally is referred to as "overwhelmingly peaceful", unlike those Tea Party rallies wherein people were so out of control that they actually left the venues cleaner than they found them!

And some wonder why I think that media bias is a problem....

A Book Whose Mere Title Will Make Liberals' Heads Explode

Go check it out :)

Positivism

I'm reading Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism with rapt fascination. It's been clear to me for some time that fascism, Nazism, and Communism are all manifestations of what we in the United States would call the political left, but many on the left choose to believe that the former two, at least, are somehow related to the right; left unsaid by them is how a political movement called the National Socialist Workers Party could be of the right, but I digress :-) Goldberg, in excruciating detail, shows how the American Left today are the political heirs to last century's progressive movement, a movement that, in general, was very pleased with Bolshevism in the Soviet Union and fascism in Italy.

Before today I'd never heard of Auguste Comte, but here's what Goldberg tells us about him:

...a semimystical French philosopher whose biggest claim to fame was his coinage of the word "sociology." Comte argued that humanity progressed in three stages and that in the final stage mankind would throw off Christianity and replace it with a new "religion of humanity," which married religious fervor to science and reason--even to the extent of making "saints" out of such figures as Shakespeare, Dante, and Frederick the Great. Comte believed that the age of mass industrialization and technocracy would pluck the human mind from the metaphysical realm for good, ushering in an age where pragmatic managers would improve the plight of all based upon man-made morality. He anointed himself the high priest of this atheistic, secular faith, which he called positivism.

Does that philosophy sound like anything you hear today? It sure does to me.

Anyway, as I read that I thought back to something I'd seen linked on Instapundit recently:

Nagel concluded that democracies rarely or never elect the best leaders. Their advantage over dictatorships or other forms of government is merely that they "effectively prevent lower-than-average candidates from becoming leaders."

Comte's "pragmatic managers." Technocrats. Even benevolent dictatorships (and let's not pretend that a technocracy would be anything but) are doomed to fail, especially when compared to a free market, because no one person or group of persons has access to as much information as the invisible hand of the market has. And that argument is entirely separate from the individual freedom argument, which I find even more compelling.

In modern parlance, "crowdsourcing", whether in the marketplace of products or in the marketplace of leaders, will usually provide a better result than one person's decision will.

Update, 3/6/12: "Government by expert" is incompatible with the rule of law.

The Miltary Isn't Good Enough For Dept of Education

Like Rodney Dangerfield, military service gets no respect:

New York City principals are up in arms over a new plan that gives bonus points this year to high schools based on graduates going to college — but doesn’t count those who join the military.

Department of Education officials met with a group of principals last week to explain changes in Progress Reports coming out this fall. Schools that send more kids to community or baccalaureate colleges within six to 18 months will get extra credit.

When a principal asked about points for grads who choose to enlist in the armed forces, he was shot down.

“The military isn’t college. It doesn’t count,” the group was told.

The smallest problem here is the "only college counts" mentality.

Stupid Teacher Fired For Assigning Stupid Math Problems

A third grade teacher downloaded problems like these off a homeschooling web site and assigned them to his students:

"I was sleeping one night when a hungry vampire sucked 3652 liters of blood from me and 1865 liters of blood from my little brother. How much blood did the hungry vampire drink that night?"

"I took a nap in a bog one day and woke up screaming. 3796 leeches, 2910 fleas and 1044 vampire bats were stuck to my bald head drinking my blood in ecstasy. How many bloodthirsty bloodsuckers were dining on my head?"

"John's father gave him 1359 marbles on his birthday. John swallowed 585 marbles and died. 9 of John's friends came for his funeral the next day. John's grieving father gave the remaining marbles to John's friends in equal numbers. How many marbles did each friend get?"

The linked article refers to "racially problematic" language on the web site, yet the only mention of such language is a reference to "Singapore Math"--a proper noun, as it's a math program modeled on how math is taught in Singapore. If that's the only "racially problematic" language ("racist" is also mentioned), then the article's author and those who complained about these math problems are idiots. The problems are inappropriate enough without tossing in a trumped-up charge of racism to seal the deal.

Lying To Save The Earth

I cannot argue with this:

If the theory of man-made global warming were such a self-obvious truth, the result of scientific consensus, then why do advocates for this idea keep committing frauds to advance it? Even more disturbing, why are some writers willing to defend this behavior?

How To Spite The Gay Mafia

I'm no homophobe, but I also don't support the radical gay agenda. This kind of action is just silly to me:

Northeastern University said yesterday that a Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurant will not be coming to campus, after the college’s student government denounced the chain amid reports that it supports groups opposed to gay and lesbian rights.

You don't like Chick-fil-A? Don't eat there! Why do you think it's appropriate, though, not to allow others to eat there? Won't the market decide?

I like Instapundit's idea:

See, if the Chik-Fil-A folks were really smart they’d refuse to locate on gay-friendly campuses, and then those same student activists would be working to force them to open branches there and then lining up for Ice Dreams out of spite.

(By the way, I will not post any comment about homophobia, gay rights, what a horrible person I am, etc. We're not even going there, not in this post.)

School Officials Run Amok (Yet Again)

Do some people go into a tizzy at the mere mention or sight of a firearm? People do:

A 10 year-old elementary school student in Kennewick is expelled this week, after school administrators find a YouTube video he made where he displays several guns.

The video shows the Ridge View Elementary School student by himself in a room.

He picks up three guns, one at a time, and holds them in front of the camera for several seconds.

The student holds up one gun as if he is going to shoot.

It is not clear if the guns are real or fake.

The student did not make any threats to his school or any students in the 3 minute video, but the Kennewick School District expelled the boy as a safety precaution.

"Any time that something of this nature is brought to our attention, our first step is to expel a student..." said Lorraine Cooper, Kennewick School District.

Did you catch that? The film wasn't made at school, it doesn't show or mention the school, and the boy made no threats of any kind, but the first step is to expel the student. Geniuses, those people.

A Major Milestone

You might have noticed that I didn't do a blog post after getting home from school today. That's because I had to get ready for tonight's soiree--today is my grandfather's 100th birthday, and I just got home from his party. There were well over 100 people there! I met cousins I'd never met before, and saw some I hadn't seen in decades (over 30 years in a couple cases).

I'll post a couple pictures when I get them.

Update, 3/8/12: Here are a couple:
Grandpa with his 100th birthday cake


Grandpa and the next two generations that made it to the party


And here's all the family, including significant others, who made it:


And that's not even half of the people who were there. It was a great night.

Every Teacher Wants One :-)

Coolest invention ever!

Ever since humans first invented guns, they've been inventing new uses for them. Some shoot bullets; others shoot lasers. But a strange and unsettling new gun being developed by Japanese researchers shoots sound waves in an effort to disrupt and silence anyone who dares speak out of turn.

The gun operates based on the concept of delayed auditory feedback. An attached microphone picks up the sound being made by the target and plays it back 0.2 seconds later. The effect is incredibly confusing to the human brain, making it all but impossible to talk or hold a conversation. The device doesn't cause the person it's being used on any physical harm — it simply messes with their head.

When the human brain hears its own speech perfectly in sync during normal speech, it easily processes the input and allows you to largely ignore the sound of your own voice. However, by offsetting the response just a bit, the brain hears your mouth speaking as well as the strange echo effect produced by the gun. This unusual combination is confusing enough to effectively shut down the part of your brain responsible for managing speech, and you fall immediately silent.

I Thought Those Of Us On The Right Were Supposed To Be The Anti-Intellectual, Anti-Scientific Ones

I'll offer no commentary besides what's implied in the title of this post, and the fact that this happened at Duke, where fortunately no lacrosse players were harmed this time:

As KC Johnson explained here a study by social scientists at Duke found that African American students "disproportionately migrate from science and engineering majors to less challenging majors in the humanities," thus questioning the benefits of preferential admissions. In response, faculty members and student groups protested. It's important to examine the actual content of those protest statements, if only to realize fully how biased, anti-scientific, and politically-motivated they are.

Disgraceful UC Davis Behavior

On this blog I've often referred to the nearby city of Davis, with its University of California campus, as Berkeley-lite, and the video at this link isn't going to convince anyone I'm wrong:

University of California-Davis officials did nothing last night when Jew-hating Muslim fanatics disrupted a Jewish event on campus.

Watch as this radical fanatic harasses and disrupts the event.

And before anyone suggests otherwise: no, it wouldn't have violated the Arabs' 1st Amendment rights to have removed them.

Worst Teacher Ever?

I disagree. At least he quit teaching:

Last year, Jordan Powers was just another student from Mr. Hooker's class. Now she's his live-in girlfriend.

James Hooker -- the 41-year-old married father who left his wife and kids for his 18-year-old-student -- might be the worst teacher ever. Last week, he resigned from his job at Enochs High School in Modesto, California over the scandal that's shaken up a community and pit one mom on a crusade to save her daughter from a man she calls a "master manipulator."

Oh, just go read the whole thing. You know you want to!

Education Buzz

The current Education Buzz is posted here and includes my post about the day before our week-long break (assuming the link gets fixed!).