Category: Education

Israeli Air Force Test-Flies T-50 Jet

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Israel has neglected its trainers for a while, I think that their Fouga Magisters were retired as primary trainers only a few years ago, and that they still use the A-4 Skyhawk as an advanced trainer, so it comes as no surprise that the IAF has done some test flights in the supersonic T-50 trainer.

They are also looking at the BAE Hawk and the (also supersonic, but barely) Aermacchi M-346, which ironically started as a Russian design.

Still, it’s $25 million a pop for the T-50….Great googly moogly.

Student-Loan Overhaul Passes House Education and Labor Committee

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Basically, the proposal becomes law, it will end subsidies to private student loan providers, saving money for students and taxpayers to the tune of $87 billion over 10 years.

The student loan providers are even less deserving than Goldman Sachs, so here is hoping that this becomes law, though getting it through the Senate may be difficult, as the 3rd largest student loan provider is Nelnet, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, home of Senator Ben Nelson, who will almost certainly support a filibuster against the measure.

The Supreme Court Gets One Right, 8-1

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With Clarance “The Speed Bump” Thomas being the dissent.

Notwithstanding some very hostile questioning by justices at the arguments, the Supreme Court has ruled that strip searching a 13 year old girl because someone alleged she was carrying Advil on her is just wrong.

Unfortunately, they also said that the plaintiff, Savana Redding, could not pursue her lawsuit, because at the time, the law was not clear.

This is the first time in decades that the supreme court has ruled for student’s rights at school.

I guess the spectacle of a 13 year old white girl being stripped for possession of headache pills was too much for even them.

I rather imagine that if Ms. Redding were black, the vote would have been closer.

No Longer Well Endowed*

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I am referring, of course, to the sad fortunes of Harvard University’s endowment, which I have blogged on a number of occasions.

Well, Felix Salmon notes that , something which I noted in December, though, to be fair, I never thought that it would get to this point, he said, quoting Mr. Salmon:

Richard Bradley reports:

Harvard has already halted the hiring of junior faculty and announced an early retirement program for tenured professors, and for the first time ever is considering laying off tenured professors.

And why might Harvard be laying off tenured professors? Because it’s down to its last $25 billion, of course. Bradley adds a bit to what we know about Harvard’s financial mismanagement:

According to the university’s 2008 financial report, in the next 10 years it must pay various private investors some $11 billion in capital commitments. Where will that money come from if, as seems likely, endowment growth over those years is minimal or nonexistent, and alumni’s own strained budgets limit their generosity?

So, the question here is where Harvard will go with all of this.

Obviously, hitting up alumni for more money is a given. That’s what they do normally.

The real question is whether they will either move to a less aggressive, and less risky strategy, which will provide lower, but more stable, returns and greater liquidity, or whether they will go whole hog into more private equity deals, betting on a rebound which will lift them out of their problem?

Human nature being what it is, I’m going to guess that they go with the latter, because doubling down on failure is basic human nature.

*Yes, I spent a lot of time on this title, and get your mind out of the gutter!

Terrorist Training Camp Found in Imperial, California

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It appears that the Explorer Scouts are training their members in weapons use and military tactics.

OK, they are not. It’s training for law enforcement, and to my mind, probably very bad training for law enforcement, because, with its emphasis on military style assaults for for things like simulated bus hijackings, it contributes to an increasingly militarized mind set for what should be peace officers.

Additionally, if this were not run by the Explorer Scouts, a Co-Ed division of the Boy Scouts, but instead by the Islamic Community Center of Imperial California (Where the story is reported from), how long would before an ambitious prosecutor would charge them all with running a “terrorist training camp.”

What’s more, he would probably win the case.

Dude, What Did You Expect, an Education

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Sam Keller, a former quarterback for Arizona State University, is suing Electronic Arts and the NCAA over their licensing his image for their college sports game:

Electronic Arts Inc. and the National Collegiate Athletic Association were sued by a former college football player who claims athletes’ images are used in video games without their permission and in violation of NCAA rules.

Electronic Arts, the second-largest video-game publisher, circumvents the rules by allowing customers to upload player names directly into games and creating images that closely resemble student athletes to increase sales and NCAA royalties, according to the complaint filed by Sam Keller, a former quarterback for Arizona State University.

Normally, I fall on the side of rather open use of such things, and in the case of statistics for things like fantasy, I would do so anyway, but the fact that thee NCAA is a revolting organization does color my view here.

The equation here, at the top levels of sport anyway, is that the schools will pretend to provide an education, and in exchange the athletes will provide their services for free, and have no part in the billions that the schools rake in for the privilege.

When people complain about things like the lack of a playoff system in college football, they ignore the slave labor upon which this system is built.

Elections Have Consequences, Part IV

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Obama has stated his intention to shut down federal subsidies to private student loan lenders and go exclusively with direct federal loans.

It should save $5 billion a year for the taxpayers and lower interest rates for students, so everyone wins….Except, of course for the private lenders, who are basically parasites anyway, so it doesn’t bother me.

I believe taht he can do most of this through executive order, which is a good thing.

Obama Plan to Nationalize Student Lending Meets Forces of Evil

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Most notably Sallie Mae, which has a history of cheating students, bribing college financial aid officers, and contributing generously Congressional campaigns.

As Matthew Yglesias notes, the college lending giant’s “compromise”, would waste $17 billion a year as compared to direct loans.

Luckily, Obama can eliminate much of the fraud, waste, and abuse, by which I mean much of the private players in the student loan market, through executive orders, as well he should.

Good News on Student Loans

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We have some change we can believe in, Obama is calling for an end to federal subsidies to private student loan providers.

Seeing as how the private system has resulted in:

  • Higher costs to borrowers.
  • Higher costs to the federal government.
  • Corruption in the financial aid departments of universities.

It makes a lot of sense to stop subsidizing providers of an inferior service.

Obama would use the money saved for Pell Grants.

An End to Pilots?

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The Airforce will graduate its first class of unrated pilots to operate the MQ-1 Predator drone this summer.: (paid subscription required)

The first group of nonrated U.S. Air Force pilots who are being trained to fly MQ-1 Predator missions is expected to graduate by the end of the summer.

The Air Force selected 10 active-duty nonpilot (unrated) captains to be the first of two groups to receive unmanned aircraft system (UAS) training. Once qualified, they will be a beta test group for Air Force leadership to see how nonrated pilots perform at the controls of UASs. The Army has proceeded with UAS flight operations using nonrated pilots, while the Air Force has come under fire for slow training of its UAS pilots, maintainers and sensor operators.

It makes sense.

Modern UAVs are sufficiently automated that the role of the operator is far closer to that of a gunner than it is a pilot.

It’s interesting how it’s going. My guess is that the USAF fought this every step of the way, just like they fought UAVs when they first came out.

The white scarf must cut off blood to the brain.

Broken News and Accusations of Witchcraft

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So I’m surfing the net and come across PZ Myers on his blog Pharyngula talking about an ACLU press release about a student in Oklahoma who was suspended for allegedly placing a hex on a teacher which resulted in a “mystery illness”.

So I set fingers to keyboard, and write a ferociously critical piece, invoking knowledge, Texas, and, of course Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and while I’m Googling to see the outcome of the case I notice something in the ACLU press release:

ACLU of Oklahoma Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of Student Accused of “Hexing” a Teacher (10/26/2000)

(emphasis mine)

It’s from almost 9 years ago, and the events in question occurred 10 years ago, and Lifetime made a TV Movie about it, but that still does not mean that you can’t have a minor Blogasm over this. (Google Search Link)

I’m just glad that I noticed the dateline before I made a complete ass of myself.

For those of you wondering, the judge dismissed the case, and assessed legal fees against the parents, who then dropped the case in exchange for the fees being waived.

I still need an excuse to invoke Monty Python though….I’m Jonesing for it right now.

Family Bragging Rights

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My daughter, Natalie is on the “Principal’s Honor Roll” at Franklin Middle school, which means that she is maintaining an above “B” average.

Considering the challenges Natalie has had, she had problems learning to read and she is still on an IEP,* this is a very pleasant development.

We took her out to an Italian restaurant that she rather likes by way of reward.

*Individualized education plan, a personalized plan to address the specific needs of a special education student.

Because They Could Not Find Any Child Rapers to Bail Out

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Hank Paulson and His Evil Minions™ are looking at bailing out private student loan issuers with TARP money:

Student advocacy groups are urging the Treasury Department to prevent a new $200 billion consumer-lending program from benefiting private student lenders, which they say are largely unregulated and prey on students with risky, high-interest loans.

The program, announced this week and developed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve, is not aimed specifically at the student loan market. Its much broader goal is to encourage lending to consumers — including car loans, credit card debt and student loans — as well as help the financial system by increasing liquidity in the credit markets.

But groups including Consumers Union, the nonprofit group that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers say the money will also help prop up private student-loan providers, which often offer high and variable interest rates but not the consumer protections guaranteed under the federal government’s loan programs.

These people are sleaze merchants, and they victimize the students in question and the taxpayers, in addition to having been caught bribing school financial aid officials.

Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest lending company, has offered private loans with an average interest rate of 11 to 13 percent, nearly twice as much as federal loans, according to Student Lending Analytics, a California-based firm that advises financial aid offices. It said Sallie Mae, which is based in Reston and controlled 42.5 percent of the private student loan market last year, has offered some private loan variable rates that are more than 17 percent.

Tom Joyce, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, said the average rate now is between 10 and 11 percent, around what most banks are charging for private student loans, which are not subsidized and government-guaranteed like federal loans. “The comparison to federal student loan rates is unfair and artificial,” he wrote in an e-mail. “The comparison should be to borrowing on a credit card or other unsecured loans.”

Only, of course, these loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, and they are guaranteed by taxpayers, so they are completely different from credit card loans.

Can you imagine an industry so f$#%ed up that it compares itself to the credit card industry in regards to how ethically it treats its customers?

Well, you don’t have to, because reality has met you, and smacked you in the face with a rancid halibut.

Julie Amero, Innocent, But Prosecutors Still Extort a Guilty Plea

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You may remember the story.

She was substitute teaching, and because the sysop at her school turned off the spyware protections, her computer was innundated with sexually oriented popups.

They charged her with providing pornography to minors, and she faced up to 40 years in jail.

She lost a baby, and after a judge threw out the conviction:

In June of 2007, Judge Hillary B. Strackbein tossed out Amero’s conviction on charges that she intentionally caused a stream of “pop-up” pornography on the computer in her classroom and allowed students to view it. Confronted with evidence compiled by forensic computer experts, Strackbein ordered a new trial, saying the conviction was based on “erroneous” and “false information.”

The “false information” was the prosecution presenting a detective with a few hours of computer training as a forensic expert.

But the prosecutors have continued to pursue her, and finally, they managed to Well, coerce a guilty plea for disturbing the peace, and force her to give up her teaching license.

I’m not sure as to whether this is just hubris, or fear of a lawsuit, but it should be against the law….In fact, it may be, depending on how you read the law.

They took her baby, her career, and her health, she has been in and out of hospital since this all started, and they kept going after her, because they were unwilling to do the right thing.

If only she played Lacrosse, perhaps the DA’s license to practice law would be pulled.

The Questions that Needed to be Asked

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From, Queen Elizabeth II, of all people.

She visited the London School of Economics (LSE):

Prof Garicano [director of research at the LSE’s management department] said afterwards: “The Queen asked me: ‘If these things were so large, how come everyone missed them? Why did nobody notice it’?”

When Garicano explained that at “every stage, someone was relying on somebody else and everyone thought they were doing the right thing”, she commented: “Awful.”

You see, this is not rocket science.

The only reason that it seems complex is because the people who are trying to fix it, were the ones who caused it in the first place, and they are obfuscating to cover their collective asses.