At UMass, top rung remains out of reach--struggles to draw ranking students

At UMass, top rung remains out of reach. Hampered by years of cuts, Amherst campus struggles to draw ranking Bay State students (Boston Globe 9-5-10)

Despite improvement efforts that date back generations, UMass Amherst remains firmly lodged among the nation’s second-tier state schools, depleted by years of budget cuts. The average SAT scores of incoming students, freshman retention rates, and graduation rates lag behind those of its peers. The number of tenured faculty has plummeted. And the school’s endowment is one of the lowest in the country for a public flagship school.

The fine-structure constant and the nature of the universe

The fine-structure constant and the nature of the universe (Economist 8-31-10)

RICHARD FEYNMAN, Nobel laureate and physicist extraordinaire, called it a “magic number” and its value “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics”. The number he was referring to, which goes by the symbol alpha and the rather more long-winded name of the fine-structure constant, is magic indeed. If it were a mere 4% bigger or smaller than it is, stars would not be able to sustain the nuclear reactions that synthesise carbon and oxygen. One consequence would be that squishy, carbon-based life would not exist.

The Many Iterations of William Shatner

The Many Iterations of William Shatner (NY Times 9-3-10)

As a scientist I'm certain Stephen Hawking is wrong by John Lennox

As a scientist I'm certain Stephen Hawking is wrong. You can't explain the universe without God by John Lennox (UK Daily Mail 9-4-10)

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Where Columbia Beats Harvard

Where Columbia Beats Harvard (Wall Street Journal 9-3-10)

In their football rivalry that dates back to 1877, Harvard holds a commanding advantage over Columbia, the Crimson leading 53 to 14. Yet in a contest between their undergraduate curricula, Columbia has more than held its own.

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Against Neurotrash by Roger Scruton

Against Neurotrash by Roger Scruton (Big Questions Online 9-3-10)

Is human uniqueness really nothing more than a neurological phenomenon?

Stephen Hawking: God was not needed to create the Universe

Stephen Hawking: God was not needed to create the Universe (UK Telegraph 9-2-10)

The Big Bang was the result of the inevitable laws of physics and did not need God to spark the creation of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has concluded.

A Symposium: What Is Moderate Islam?

A Symposium: What Is Moderate Islam? (Wall Street Journal 9-1-10)

The controversy over a proposed mosque in lower Manhattan has spurred a wider debate about the nature of Islam. We asked six leading thinkers—Anwar Ibrahim, Bernard Lewis, Ed Husain, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Tawfik Hamid and Akbar Ahmed—to weigh in.

Boys 'being held back by women teachers'

Boys 'being held back by women teachers' as gender stereotypes are reinforced in the classroom (UK Daily Mail 9-1-10)

From the article:
Women teachers are holding back boys by reprimanding them for typically male behaviour, according to a study out today.

They are reinforcing stereotypes that boys are ‘silly’ in class, refuse to ‘sit nicely like the girls’ and are more likely to indulge in ‘schoolboy pranks’.

Women teachers may also unwittingly perpetuate low expectations of boys’ academic achievement and encourage girls to work harder by letting them think they are cleverer.

Deep-fried beer invented in Texas

Deep-fried beer invented in Texas (UK Telegraph 8-31-10)

Last year's winner of the Texas state fair fried food competition was a recipe for deep-fried butter.