Yesterday I read this piece in the New York Times by Molly Worthen. Then I made the mistake of reading the comments thread, which included a fair amount of vitriol against supposedly lazy and irresponsible college teachers. Overall the comments were a mixed bag of support and critique—understandably, since questions about the purposes and standards … Continue reading “Assessment”: Turning the Precious Public Resource of a University Into a Second-Rate High School
Month: February 2018
Against the Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Irresponsibility of Trump’s Budget: An Open Letter
Dear Senator Corker, Senator Alexander, and Representative Duncan, Commonly I have heard people who are less pessimistic than I am about self-correcting capacities in the US political system valorize a turning point in the battle against McCarthyism. In 1954 Joseph Welch famously responded to Senator Joseph McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At … Continue reading Against the Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Irresponsibility of Trump’s Budget: An Open Letter
“Resisting,” Talking to Republicans, and Recalling Trump’s Actual Mandate—At the Same Time!
When the Mafia-backed entrepreneur and con man Donald Trump captured a majority of electoral college votes—although, of course, not the majority of actual votes, even before we inquire how the count may have been affected by “abnormal” Russian propaganda, “normal” Fox propaganda (overlapping with Russian parts), tampering with voting machines (unproven to my knowledge but … Continue reading “Resisting,” Talking to Republicans, and Recalling Trump’s Actual Mandate—At the Same Time!
Should This Blog Live? Where Do We Go From Here?
There is a structural conundrum to confront. I was clear from the moment I launched MBE—and have not wavered—that it cannot be one facet of a multi-pronged social media campaign. Emphatically, I did not sign up for the distraction of joining Facebook or promoting MBE via Twitter. Rather, I had a triple zero-sum choice—invest time … Continue reading Should This Blog Live? Where Do We Go From Here?
MBE: Mark's blogging experiment 