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Author Archives: Alexander Mosiak
A Call to Reform Student Debt Laws
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys has issued a report cautioning that the growing social strain of student loan debt could culminate in a financial crisis akin to the bursting of the mortgage debt bubble. Their primary policy recommendation … Continue reading
Leak exposes how Heartland Institute works to undermine climate science
The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks… The papers indicate that discrediting established climate science remains a core … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Environmental policy
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A Dangerous Shift in Obama’s ‘Climate Change’ Rhetoric
Maxwell Boykoff, assistant professor at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder, gives a trenchant critique of the Obama administration’s strategy to address climate change solely in terms of clean energy: A … Continue reading
Who Wins if We All Lose?
As he belligerently wades into the debate around the Keystone XL pipeline, NY Times op-ed columnist Joe Nocera seems unaware that the tragedy of the commons is, in fact, a tragedy: Over the past two decades, energy companies have invested tens of … Continue reading
Chinese Students Paying U.S. Tuitions — How? And Why?
More on the growing trend of Chinese students enrolling in American universities: At the highly ranked University of Michigan, for example, an incoming freshman from Shanghai is charged nearly $38,000 in annual tuition and fees, while a kid from Kalamazoo will pay … Continue reading
Posted in Future of the University
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Climate: “Expect the Unprecedented”
A postdoc scholar in STS (science, technology, and society studies) at UCSB interviews meteorologist Jeff Masters on topics such as the relationship between climate and weather, why this winter has been so mild, and why most meteorologists shy away from … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change
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Committing to Quality?
Perhaps it’s just me, but the guidelines for dialogue on reforming American higher education contained in “Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education” seem incredibly vacuous. They include “set ambitious goals” and “gather, use, and report … Continue reading
An ‘Arab Spring’ of Free Online Higher Education?
In this article on the future of higher education, the ‘Arab Spring’ seems to be referenced purely for its cachet – the authors never make the case for the connection with transformations in higher education. It also strikes me as … Continue reading
Vermont Legislature considers banning hydrofracking
Nobody has applied to Vermont for permission to drill for oil or gas using hydraulic fracturing. No one is sure it would even be worthwhile to do so. Still, the Legislature and Gov. Peter Shumlin are considering banning the practice, … Continue reading
Posted in Gas Fracking
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Gaming the College Rankings
Several colleges in recent years have been caught gaming the [college ranking] system — in particular, the avidly watched U.S. News & World Report rankings — by twisting the meanings of rules, cherry-picking data or just lying. …repeated revelations of … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Future of the University, Metrics
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More Weather/Climate Confusion
How can a major newspaper article about abnormally dry and warm winter weather fail to mention global warming even once? The meteorological phenomena of La Niña and the Arctic Oscillation are discussed, but not the climatological trends amplifying their effects. Talk … Continue reading
Posted in Basic News, Climate Change
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No Need to Panic About Anti-Regulatory Propaganda
Not that you didn’t know that Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal carries its fair share of anti-regulatory propaganda, but here’s a refresher in the form of an op-ed co-authored by 16 “concerned” scientists: “No Need to Panic About Global Warming.” The … Continue reading
Philosophy in the Ivory Tower
A new op-ed on the NY Times philosophy blog The Stone purports to explore whether “philosophy has anything relevant to say to non-philosophers.” However, the amount of jargon in the piece puts up quite an obstacle to such a conversation, … Continue reading
Posted in Public Pedagogy
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Cornell Study Links Fracking Wastewater with Mortality in Farm Animals
A recently completed study by two Cornell University researchers indicates the process of hydraulic fracturing deep shale to release natural gas may be linked to shortened lifespan and reduced or mutated reproduction in cattle—and maybe humans… In one case, an accidental … Continue reading
Posted in Environmental policy, Gas Fracking
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Urban gardens: The future of food?
I’m not so sure urban agriculture is going to develop along the lines of the “hipster boutique” model described below. Not only is it far too energy and capital intensive, it’s easily criticized as culturally elitist (with some justification), which … Continue reading
Are Big-Time Sports Crippling Academia?
Hand-wringing seems to be universal these days over big-time sports, specifically football and men’s basketball… “There is certainly a national conversation going on now that I can’t ever recall taking place,” said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University of … Continue reading
Posted in Future of the University
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NOAA’s proposed move raises questions about its role
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a slogan that captures its odd position in the federal hierarchy: “NOAA may be the most important agency you’ve never heard of.” That contradiction was on full display earlier this month, when President … Continue reading
‘Open Science’ Challenges Journal Tradition With Web Collaboration
Dr. Sönke H. Bartling, a researcher at the German Cancer Research Center who is editing a book on “Science 2.0,” wrote that for scientists to move away from what is currently “a highly integrated and controlled process,” a new system for … Continue reading
Research so Nice…
…we’ll pay for it twice? Janet D. Stemwedel, a professor of philosophy at San Jose State, raises more questions about the Research Works Act on a Scientific American blog: The public is all too willing already to see public money spent … Continue reading
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Ignorance
The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. And the more urgent the … Continue reading
In Defense of Academic “Job Creators”
The fingerprints of intensive corporate lobbying by the American Association of Publishers are all over the Research Works Act, a transparent effort at boosting private profit margins at public expense. ProPublica takes a look at the AAP’s pro forma defense … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Open Access
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Questioning the Wisdom of Crowds
Has there been an uncritical rush towards teamwork in the workplace? What are the consequences? In the course of this essay about the value of retaining individual autonomy in the workplace, open-plan office space and even the sacred cow of … Continue reading
‘Fracking’ (and its risks) Goes Global
Ian Urbina at the New York Times has written another excellent piece on the character of the economic momentum behind and environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing: this time in a global context. He focuses on South Africa, but Poland, Peru, … Continue reading
How Hard Is It For A PhD To Find A Job?
In short: very hard and getting harder every day. This must-see infographic elaborates on why this is so. How Hard Is It For A PhD To Find A Job? | Edudemic
M.I.T. Expands Free Online Courses
While students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pay thousands of dollars for courses, the university will announce a new program on Monday allowing anyone anywhere to take M.I.T. courses online free of charge — and for the first time earn … Continue reading
Posted in Future of the University, Open Access
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