So what?

As a doctoral student at Bowling Green State University, I along with my fellow students have a wide variety of research interests. However, it seems we are always trying to answer the question, "SO WHAT?". Or "why should people care?" One of my all-time favorite professors at Kent State, the late Larry Hugenberg once said, "you could probably take about 99 percent of all academic research and throw it in a pile in the parking lot and burn it (due to the so what question)." There is an issue with academia in that on one hand, you are looked at as a "sell out" if you try to reach beyond the academic journals and go "mainstream" to reach a wider audience BUT on the other hand, if you keep your research interests or projects inside the academic circles, who really benefits from your research? Case in point: my best friend here in Toledo did her dissertation on the retention of minority students in medical colleges across the country. She loooked at the factors that cause minority medical students who stay in the program and the factors that cause students to drop out. I applaud her massive effort to gather data and assemble her dissertation. Her dissertation led her to do presentations at several conferences across the country and it led to her getting a promotion at the University of Toledo. My friend was truly motivated to carry out her research because it was personal to her and she wanted to make a difference. My friend's work could not have made the impact it has if she would have confined it to academic journals. Thankfully, one of my professors said recently that one of the major academic communication organizations is softening its stance on reaching out beyond its walls to a wider audience.

Ironically, the Plain Dealer of Cleveland has an article (May 30, 2010) about a guy who is battling an issue to publish his research about a possible cancer-cell-killing project of his.
http://www.cleveland.com/medical/index.ssf/2010/05/cleveland_state_university_pro.html

Food and Memories

I find it oddly fascinating how a restaurant or food can trigger memories. For example, earlier this week, I was hungry and in a hurry. So I went through the drive-through at Arby's and got two little roast beef sandwiches. The sandwiches immediately made me think of my late dad, who passed away last year. He loved Arby's sandwiches.

Another place I went to recently was Boston Market. I think they have really good food there. Here's my issue. I had a close relative who was in a mental institution and I would go visit that relative several times. I would stop at the nearby Boston Market before going to see the relative. So, I developed a correlation between visits to the mental hospital and Boston Market. Even now that I am in Toledo, I still have trouble eating in the restaurant because it makes me think of going to a mental hospital. This time though, I got my food to go because I didn't want to sit in the store.

Dairy Queen is another place that brings back memories. When I worked in TV, I would go to Berea with one of the greatest guys I know. On the way back from Berea on the turnpike, we would stop in Richfield at the Dairy Queen. My friend has a stomach lined with tin. He eats all kinds of stuff that should melt paint off a car. It wouldn't be unusual for my buddy to get a chili dog and a burger at DQ. Anyway, every time we stopped, we had an absolute blast.

There are more food memories. I just had to share the ones I experienced or thought of recently.

How can this be fixed?

President Obama wants a major overhaul of No Child Left Behind. NCLB is the major legislation that President George W. Bush passed in an attempt to raise the level of education in this country by emphasizing testing and improvement for EVERY student.

People have to understand something. Funding is tied to nearly everything, especially in education....attendance rates, graduation rates, passing rates, etc. You get the idea. Naturally, the better a school does, the more funding it receives. Can this lead to dishonesty? Sure. Students are passed who no in way should be passed. Students who have major disciplinary issues are not punished because again, suspending students and/or sending them home counts against attendance. Only major discipline issues will send a student home.

Standardized testing...this has led to major problems for schools and children. Teachers are teaching to the test, plain and simple. Their jobs are on the line. They are pressured by administrators to do well, no matter what kind of students walk through their door. Is that fair? Maybe not. It will force teachers to attempt to reach every child though.

But what happens when teachers teach to a test? Critical thinking and/or problem solving skills are not practiced. Instead, students become strategic test takers. Filling in a circle will never replace problem or project based learning. Furthermore, filling in circles will never substitute for learning writing skills and/or learning things like American History or Geography. Consider this: a grad student/classmate of mine said recently during a conversation about First Ladies that Eleanor Roosevelt did a lot and was a powerful First Lady because "FDR sat around a lot." That lack of common knowledge is disturbing. I once ran talked to an undergrad who had no idea where Mexico was. USA TODAY ran an article a couple months ago that said that more undergrads are taking up to seven years to get their bachelor's degree because they are taking so many remedial classes. This is not a surprise. Public edcuation is failing them. Education needs to be improved, big time.

Best ratings yet.

My guess on the upcoming edition of Dancing With The Stars will be the highest rated ever. Pamela Anderson, Erin Andrews, and Kate Gosselin???? Too much "car wreck" type "stars" there to ignore.

From Yahoo! TV...

Overhyped cast announcements have become a twice-yearly tradition for "Dancing With the Stars," but this week, the hype may actually be deserved. For its tenth season, kicking off March 22, ABC has assembled the A-list of the B-list, ranging from the biggest "Bachelor" ever to the biggest (ahem) "Baywatch" babe ever to the most eccentric NFL star ever.

But above all, the show managed to score Kate Gosselin, one of the most talked about and controversial reality TV stars ever. Already, she's attracting attention for the fact that she'll need to be in Los Angeles to rehearse and tape two to three episodes each week, presumably leaving her eight young children behind (though reportedly she'll practice her routines back home in Pennsylvania). Expect that storyline to gather steam as the season progresses — unless, of course, voters send her packing quickly. Here's how we think Kate and the rest of the cast will do:

How does this happen so much?

How do so many Howard Stern clones and show contributors get on-air?

When will they learn?

Basketball player Greg Oden is doing the apology tour for as Jim Rome put it, "taking pictures of his package and e-mailing them to his girlfriend." WHY would anyone do this? Can anyone justify doing this? As Jim Rome said today, being a soulmate or in love is still no reason.

Here is the article from the Associated Press.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden(notes) is apologizing for nude photos that have surfaced on the internet. Oden says the pictures, taken with his cell phone and sent to a former girlfriend, were taken about 1 1/2 years ago. A friend told the 21-year-old Tuesday morning that the pictures were making the rounds on the internet.

“I would like to apologize to everybody: Portland, the fans, the organization,” Oden told reporters at the Blazers practice facility. “It was very embarrassing.”

Oden is out for this season after fracturing his left kneecap during a game against the Houston Rockets on Dec. 5. He averaged 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds in 21 starts. The 7-foot-center was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft out of Ohio State. He missed his rookie season after have microfracture surgery on his right knee.

Facebook and Phone Etiquette

Can someone please help me out with manners for Facebook and cellphones in terms of the following issue: How long should you keep someone's contact information in your cellphone? How long do you keep someone as a friend on Facebook...even if you have no point in hearing from them or stopped hearing from them for months? Are there "rules" for the removal of info/former friends?