Resistance Radio – Don Salvatore – 11.06.16

Don Salvatore has a biology degree (BA) from Northeastern University in Boston. He has been an informal science educator since graduating, with the last 36 years at the Museum of Science in Boston, teaching many science topics to the general public and school groups that visit the Museum. He is currently the coordinator of the Firefly Watch citizen science project, which started in 2008. Since the program’s beginning, they have had over 5,000 people from 40 states and 6 Canadian provinces participate – collecting firefly data in their back yards. He also writes short stories about the nature one can find in one’s back yard and posts them on a web site – Backyard Biology (www.backyardbiology.net). Today we talk about fireflies.

Harriet Agerholm – Iranian girls ‘given eight lashings each because their parents could not pay school fees’

A group of schoolgirls in Iran have been flogged because their parents owed less than eight pounds in school fees, according to an opposition group in the country. Ten girls from the Mokhtarabad village in the country’s southern province of Kerman reportedly endured eight lashings each from their school principal after they failed to pay 300,000 riyals in fees. There …

Insight – HEARTFELT BEER PONG, 2 INDOMITABLE FORCES ON/OFF THE BIKE, HARASSMENT BY TRUMP SUPPORTERS – 10.06.16

“Mark truly energized the crowd and engaged the youth in a truly effective way, we were very happy to see the very important anti-bullying message delivered in such a kid-friendly, yet meaningful way. Way to go! Thank you for the experience Mark!”

Joelle Renstrom – And their eyes glazed over

I have a rule about cellphones in class: if one disrupts us by ringing, vibrating or sounding an alarm, the owner has to sing a song or bust some dance moves in front of the class. At first, this provision in the syllabus elicits snickers, but it’s no laughing matter. You need to be able to turn off your phones …

Shahien Nasiripour – The Feds Don’t Care If You Dropped Out of College. They Want Their Money Back

When it comes to collecting on student loans, the U.S. Department of Education treats college dropouts the same as Ivy League graduates: They just want the money back. New data show the perils of that approach. Dropouts who took out loans to finance the degrees they ultimately didn’t obtain often end up worse off for attending college. Unlike their peers who …

Report: Bullying is a serious public health problem

Zero-tolerance policies are ineffective in combating bullying, an independent government advisory group says in urging schools to take a more preventative approach that includes teaching tolerance to address this “serious public health problem.” In a report released Tuesday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said bullying should no longer be dismissed as merely a matter of kids being …

Rachel M. Cohen – School Closures: A Blunt Instrument

n 2013, citing a $1.4 billion deficit, Philadelphia’s state-run school commission voted to close 23 schools—nearly 10 percent of the city’s stock. The decision came after a three-hour meeting at district headquarters, where 500 community members protested outside and 19 were arrested for trying to block district officials from casting their votes. Amid the fiscal pressure from state budget cuts, …

CLIMATE REQUIRES US TO FIGHT OUR OWN PSYCHOLOGY

Human psychology can put up barriers to fighting climate change, but a new article suggests strategies and policies to overcome them. Human psychology influences the decisions we make every day—including unwise ones. Our psychological profile can make us reluctant to pay for services that benefit everyone, including those who don’t contribute. It makes us focus on achieving short-term gains and avoiding short-term …

Diane Ravitch – Why Every Child Should Opt Out of the Standardized Tests

Want to end the obsession with standardized testing? Opt your children out of the state tests. Ignore the threats from state and federal officials. The tests today have taken over too much of the school year. Teachers should prepare and give tests that cover what they taught. What if all students opted out of testing? That’s democracy in action. The elected officials …

Carrie Barron M.D – The Silent Epidemic: Young Men Dropping Out of College

The statistics are disconcerting. Over the past decade, about 30% of young men have dropped out of college during their freshman year (Hartley). For those who remained, 38% completed their bachelor’s degree in four years and 58% finished within six.  (National Center for Education Statistics). According to researchers, the struggles of male college freshmen have not changed much through the …