In the News
No to Vouchers; Decoding Speech Styles; Fear Begets Pandering; and Writing Rubrics
31 October 2000
**Voters Down on Vouchers
Polls predict voucher initiatives in California and Michigan are likely doomed to defeat, failing by as much as 20 percentage points. Teachers' unions have put a lot of money and organization into opposing the initiatives, while support for vouchers has been well-funded by millionaire businessmen. For more details on the politics involved and the voucher proponents and opponents, see David Broder's 10/31/00 analysis in the Washington Post at http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44768-2000Oct30.html.
Decoding Candidates' Speech Styles
Governor Bush is famed--and derided by those who oppose him--for his "Bushisms" and his ability to mangle the English language. Vice President Gore is known--and derided by those who oppose him--for his fingernails-on-the-blackboard-like condenscension. Steven Pinker of MIT, an expert on how the brain makes language, explores the variables and pitfalls in both styles in the 10/31/00 New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/31/opinion/31PINK.html. Note: This article is extremely time-sensitive. If you're interested in reading this or teaching from it, get it soon.
Net Fears=Voter Pandering
Even though Internet filters are bad software, indiscriminately blocking the useful along with the offensive, and even though insisting on them in some cases doesn't pass First Ammendment muster, politicians see supporting filters as a no-brainer. Despite all the flaws, Americans believe in the magic of filters--much to the horror of librarians, free speech advocates, and researchers. For more on the emerging politics of Net filtering and censorship, see Joe Salkowski's 10/30/00 analysis in the Chicago Tribune at http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669,SAV-0010300170,FF.html.
The Limits of Writing Rubrics
While many writing teachers rely on "rubrics" to give students detailed guidelines, critics say that rubrics can be too confining and therefore misleading about what writing is really all about. This article, while covering a range of opinions and quoting writing teachers from the elementary to college ranks, overlooks that rubrics can have different qualities and purposes. That is, a rubric that says an essay must be five paragraphs and each paragraph must have five sentences differs mightily from one that says your writing must have a sure voice and must engage its audience. Still, it's refreshing to see the nuts and bolts of writing instruction being discussed. To read this article by Jay Matthews from the 10/24/00 Washington Post, go to http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63599-2000Oct23.html.
(Emailed 10/31/00; Webbed and Updated 11/02/00)
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