POLITICS OF COVID - Vaccine, Masks, Health Care, Jobs

"Politics of vaccine, mask mandates complicate return to normal on college campuses" PBS NewsHour 10/5/2021

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SUMMARY:  Millions of students returned to campus this fall for the in-person college experience, as the delta variant continues to impact parts of the U.S.  Some schools have strict mandates for vaccination, testing and masking.  In other places, that’s not an option.  Hari Sreenivasan begins the latest in our “Rethinking College” series at two of America’s flagship universities.

 

 

"New book shows how failure to implement quick, accurate testing compounded COVID’s spread" PBS NewsHour 10/5/2021

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SUMMARY:  The United States has now passed yet another tragic pandemic milestone.  COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of more than 700,000 Americans.  William Brangham talks to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA Commissioner and author of new book "Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic" about where the U.S. response failed and how it can do better next time.

 

 

"Overwhelmed by COVID patients, Alaska’s health care workers also face harassment" PBS NewsHour 10/7/2021

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SUMMARY:  New COVID-19 cases continue to fall around the United States — down nearly 25% over the past two weeks, with deaths dropping by more than 10%.  But there are still far too many losing their lives, especially in Alaska where just 58% of the population is fully vaccinated and hospitals are implementing “crisis standards of care" because of a shortage of beds and staff.  William Brangham reports.

 

 

"The pandemic pushed millions of U.S. workers to join the ‘Great Resignation.’ Here’s why" PBS NewsHour 10/8/2021

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SUMMARY:  The September jobs report shows that the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% and job openings are at a record high with wages increased again last month, as companies tried to attract new employees.  But more than 25 million people quit their jobs in the first seven months of this year.  And it's now called “the great resignation.”  Business and economics correspondent Paul Solman explains.

UNIVERSITIES - As Portraits of Resilience Fighting Depression

"‘Portraits of Resilience’ destigmatize depression at one of the world’s top universities" (1 of 2) PBS NewsHour 5/14/2018

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SUMMARY:  Students at MIT are now part of a project to give a face and voice to a growing crisis across U.S. campuses.  When a computer science professor noticed more and more students were coming to discuss their mental health issues, he turned to photography to bring the stigmatized problem of depression into the open.  Now that project is a book, “Portraits of Resilience.”  Jeffrey Brown reports.

"How students who struggle with mental illness can find help" (2 of 2) PBS NewsHour 5/15/2018

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SUMMARY:  These three high-achieving students at one of the world's most prestigious universities have also suffered crippling depression and been through years of therapy and medication.  In the second part of his report, Jeffrey Brown hears how they got help with debilitating illness, then learns more about student mental health challenges and solutions from Alfiee Breland-Noble of Georgetown University.

GI BILL - For-Profit University Swindle

aka 'Greed Files'

"Are for-profit universities taking advantage of veterans?" PBS NewsHour 7/24/2015

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SUMMARY:  Since 2009, the G.I. Bill has paid up to $21,000 a year of college tuition for those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Much of that money, though, goes to for-profit schools, which award degrees some employers don’t recognize.  Aaron Glantz of the Center for Investigative Reporting and “Reveal” reports.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  The G.I. Bill represents America’s promise to its military veterans.  Since 2009, it has paid the cost of college tuition for those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, up to $21,000 a year in taxpayer dollars.

Today, 40 percent of that money is flowing to for-profit schools, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.  But when veterans finish their studies, some employers and graduate programs don’t recognize or value those degrees.

From the Center for Investigative Reporting and "Reveal," Aaron Glantz reports:

AARON GLANTZ, Center for Investigative Reporting:  Three years ago, President Obama said he would stop for-profit schools from taking advantage of service members and veterans.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  They are trying to swindle and hoodwink you.  And, today, here at Fort Stewart, we’re putting an end to it.

AARON GLANTZ:  The President was responding to reports that for-profit colleges enjoyed virtually unrestricted access to bases, where they enrolled new students and profited from taxpayer money.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  We’re going to up our oversight of improper recruitment practices.  We’re going to strengthen the rules about who can come on post and talk to service members.

AARON GLANTZ:  President Obama signed an executive order that placed restrictions on for-profit schools to weed out deceptive recruitment practices.  Three years after the President’s executive order, no school receives more G.I. Bill money than the University of Phoenix, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The University of Phoenix is a large for-profit college chain with about 200,000 students, a majority of whom take classes online.  We wanted to know whether the University of Phoenix was complying with the spirit and the letter of the rules President Obama put in place, and whether the for-profit college had gained an advantage through its relationship with the military.

TECHNOLOGY - Transparent Solar Cells

"A fully transparent solar cell that could make every window and screen a power source" by Sebastian Anthony, Extreme Tech

Researchers at Michigan State University have created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell.  Unlike other “transparent” solar cells that we’ve reported on in the past, this one really is transparent, as you can see in the photos throughout this story.  According to Richard Lunt, who led the research, the team are confident that the transparent solar panels can be efficiently deployed in a wide range of settings, from “tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader.”

Scientifically, a transparent solar panel is something of an oxymoron.  Solar cells, specifically the photovoltaic kind, make energy by absorbing photons (sunlight) and converting them into electrons (electricity).  If a material is transparent, however, by definition it means that all of the light passes through the medium to strike the back of your eye.  This is why previous transparent solar cells have actually only been partially transparent — and, to add insult to injury, they usually they cast a colorful shadow too.

To get around this limitation, the Michigan State researchers use a slightly different technique for gathering sunlight.  Instead of trying to create a transparent photovoltaic cell (which is nigh impossible), they use a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC).  The TLSC consists of organic salts that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light, which they then luminesce (glow) as another wavelength of infrared light (also non-visible).  This emitted infrared light is guided to the edge of plastic, where thin strips of conventional photovoltaic solar cell convert it into electricity.  [Research paper:  DOI: 10.1002/adom.201400103 - "Near-Infrared Harvesting Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrators"]

If you look closely, you can see a couple of black strips along the edges of plastic block. Otherwise, though, the active organic material — and thus the bulk of the solar panel — is highly transparent.

Michigan’s TLSC currently has an efficiency of around 1%, but they think 5% should be possible.  Non-transparent luminescent concentrators (which bathe the room in colorful light) max out at around 7%.  On their own these aren’t huge figures, but on a larger scale — every window in a house or office block — the numbers quickly add up.  Likewise, while we’re probably not talking about a technology that can keep your smartphone or tablet running indefinitely, replacing your device’s display with a TLSC could net you a few more minutes or hours of usage on a single battery charge.

The researchers are confident that the technology can be scaled all the way from large industrial and commercial applications, down to consumer devices, while remaining “affordable.”  So far, one of the larger barriers to large-scale adoption of solar power is the intrusive and ugly nature of solar panels — obviously, if we can produce large amounts of solar power from sheets of glass and plastic that look like normal sheets of glass and plastic, then that would be big.

RACISM - University of Oklahoma

"Racist video by University of Oklahoma frat prompts protest, apologies and expulsions" PBS NewsHour 3/11/2015

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Now, the continuing fallout at the University of Oklahoma after members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were caught on camera singing racist epithets.

The video came out Saturday, and action was taken within 48 hours.  But the university, the national fraternity, and others are still the focus of many concerns.

It’s the chant that sparked outrage across the nation.

STUDENTS:  There will never be a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) SAE.  You can hang them from a tree, but they will never sign with me.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The 10-second video triggered protests, and was quickly condemned by university president David Boren.

DAVID BOREN, President, University of Oklahoma:  This has broken my heart, that this could happen on our campus.  We have such a strong community. People respect each other.  This is not representative of our students.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  On Monday, the university closed its chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and members were forced to move out of the house by last night.

QUESTION:  Are you embarrassed?

STUDENT:  Extremely.  Can I say anything else?

STUDENT:  I’m very embarrassed.

QUESTION:  Do you have a place to go?

STUDENT:  Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Yesterday, two students who led the chant were expelled, but not officially identified.  Apologies quickly followed.

Nineteen-year-old Parker Rice of Dallas, Texas, said in a statement:  “I am deeply sorry for what I did.  This is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this.”

And the parents of 20-year-old Levi Pettit said, in their own statement, “He made a horrible mistake and will live with the consequences forever.”

The University of Oklahoma has indicated more people could face punishment after officials finish their investigation.

EDUCATION - University of North Carolina Bogus Classes

aka "How to Create Truly Dumb College Jocks"

"Why did no one flag UNC’s bogus classes?" PBS NewsHour 10/23/2014

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GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  For many years, the University of North Carolina has been a powerhouse in the world of college sports, enhanced by a reputation as an institution which cultivates student athletes.

But, yesterday, an independent investigator provided the most detailed look yet at academic fraud that lasted for nearly two decades and included bogus classes where students didn’t even need to show up.

Earlier this year, the HBO program Real Sports examined what was happening there.

Here’s an excerpt.

The correspondent is Bernard Goldberg.

BERNARD GOLDBERG, HBO Real Sports:  At the University of North Carolina, learning specialist Mary Willingham was baffled by what she was seeing from the athletes arriving at one of America’s most prestigious schools.

MARY WILLINGHAM:  They’re coming in with reading levels of fourth, fifth, sixth grade.  There’s even some who are reading below a fourth grade level.

BERNARD GOLDBERG:  You are saying that some kids who are admitted to the University of North Carolina, one of the best public colleges in America, with a fourth grade or even in some cases lower than a fourth grade reading level?

MARY WILLINGHAM:  That’s correct.  Makes it pretty hard to go to college, doesn’t it?

BERNARD GOLDBERG:  You would think.  And for many years, the NCAA had a rule to help ensure incoming athletes could handle college work, requiring them to score a certain level on standardized tests, like the SAT or the ACT.

But in 2003, that rule was revoked.  Colleges could now put athletes on the football field or basketball court no matter how they did on the tests.  And, soon, the term college education began to take on a whole new meaning.

Duh?  The NCAA needs to reinstate the 'level on standardized test' rule.

EDUCATION - A Journey, Homeless to High School Valedictorian to Georgetown University

"‘Terrific students can be found anywhere’:  One scholar’s path from homeless shelter to halls of Georgetown" PBS NewsHour 10/16/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  The U.S. Department of Education recently released data that showed there were more than 1.2 million homeless students enrolled in public schools last year, the highest ever.

As the nation’s educators continue to struggle with the problem, the “NewsHour's" April Brown tells the story of one Washington, D.C., teenager who defied the odds and may well inspire other kids in similar situations.

This story is another in our American Graduate series funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

APRIL BROWN (NewsHour):  In many ways, Rashema Melson is a typical Georgetown University freshman.  She graduated top of her high school class last year and now makes it a point to come early every day, so she can sit in the front row.

But Rashema’s path toward success has not been an easy one.  Her father was killed when she was 7 months old, and she spent much of the last three years in a Washington, D.C., homeless shelter with her mother and two brothers, facts that she kept mostly secret while in high school.

RASHEMA MELSON, Georgetown University:  It was nobody’s business.  And if it was, I didn’t want to be pitied, I didn’t want to be looked down upon as if I couldn’t do it, because I’m a strong person.

CHISA PERRY, Anacostia High School:  She was always smiling, very bubbly, very friendly, always the good morning or the hello.

APRIL BROWN:  One person she eventually told was Anacostia High School teacher Chisa Perry, who was Rashema’s track and field coach.  But for a long time, Perry didn’t know.  And she says, regardless of what was happening at home, Rashema always remained upbeat and focused at school.

CHISA PERRY:  The best way to describe Rashema would be determined.  Anything she sets her mind to do, she will do it.

PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES - What Admissions Directors Say

"Admissions Directors at Public Universities Speak Honestly (and Anonymously) About Their Goals" by Marian Wang, ProPublica 8/18/2013

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As we detailed last week, many public universities, suffering from state budget cuts or hungry for prestige, have made it a priority to attract out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition, and those who will help boost the schools’ place in college rankings.

But a newly released survey by Inside Higher Ed of admissions directors directly about their priorities, allowing them to respond anonymously.  The survey, of course, is of admissions directors -- so it’s focused more on what type of students schools are going after in the recruitment stage, and less on the students who gets financial aid as a sweetener to prompt enrollment.

Still, it’s a reflection of some of the same priorities -- including a strong interest in out-of-state students and international students, who typically bring in more revenue, even with modest discounts.

For instance, 80 percent of admissions directors surveyed at public four-year universities agreed or strongly agreed that they were likely to increase their efforts to recruit out-of-state students.  The percentage was slightly lower -- but still 66 percent to 72 percent, depending on the type of public institution -- for international students.

The survey also has some telling results about the popularity of so-called merit aid, which universities use to give discounts to particularly appealing students.

About two-thirds of admissions directors at public universities said that they would likely increase their efforts to recruit students with merit scholarships.  Most also said they didn’t see a problem with using institutional resources on merit aid -- even though as we noted, investing resources in merit aid often means giving it to students who don’t need it, and not having much left over for those who do.

Over the long term, state schools have been giving a growing share of their grants to wealthier students, and a declining share to the poorest students, as we reported.  They’ve also been serving a shrinking portion of the nation’s needy students, leaving community colleges and for-profit colleges to take on more of that responsibility.

Asked about first-generation college students, the responses from admissions directors indicated that they were also a target population, though perhaps less so relative to out-of-state or international populations:  62 percent of admissions directors at public research universities said they’d likely increase recruitment efforts for first-generation populations, and that figure was 55 percent for master’s/bachelor’s degree public institutions.

For a look at the full report, head to Inside Higher Ed.