Archive for March, 2008
what we’re reading
what we’re reading
In one of my favorite episodes of The Office (which returns April 10th), Michael, played by Steve Carell, blindly follows his GPS system into Lake Scranton. Jennifer Saranow reports in The Wall Street Journal that he is not alone: the dramatic fall in price of navigation systems (halved to $225 last Christmas) means that some 49 million devices – in cars or mobiles – are now in use. The “all-knowing boxes” have sent their users into oncoming traffic, and random houses mistaken as restaurants or government buildings. TeleAtlas has some 5.5 million streets in its U.S. database – to which it makes some 3 million changes per month; apparently, not enough to keep some drivers from naming their boxes after Stephen King’s “Christine.”
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Slate has an excellent Explainer column on “What are mortgage backed securities, anyway?” offers insight on the financial instruments at the heart of the financial maelstrom that is still, in David Leonhardt’s piece in The New York Times, beyond our grasp.
pariah!
(photo credit: the new yorker)
Ah, the acrimony! As you all know, Eliot Spitzer’s well-documented escapades in downtown DC with “Kristen” have duly left him unemployed, for the time being, and perhaps quite awhile.
The New Yorker offers an interesting perspective on the scandal, juxtaposing the draconian ramifications for America’s libidinous politicians against those of their European counterparts, who find no reason (in the case of Nicolas Sarkozy for example) for punitive action towards their dissolute leaders. Another New Yorker correspondent laments that Spitzer has hoodwinked us all with his Barack Obama-esque rhetoric and promises. Remarkably, those New Yorker pieces are only one page – most I’ve encountered are an incredibly thorough 6+ pages.
We’re off on spring break. Watch this space.
what we’re reading
“A Full Kid Press” | Amy Orndorff
The KidsPost isn’t the first place I look for stories for the Reader – but this week’s article on the kid reporters who are covering the presidential election for Scholastic News caught my eye as a former member on the Scholastic Kids Council back in fifth grade.
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Do check out NPR Music’s coverage of SXSW 2008 – including their downloads and streams from the concerts.
NY Times Projections Indicate Increased Admissions Rates at Most Colleges in Near Future
A New York Times article today, entitled “Math Suggests College Frenzy Will Soon Ease”, declares today’s borderline-insane selectivity indices for elite colleges will soon become more reasonable, as the number of high school graduates is expected to peak this year and then steadily decrease until 2015. Essentially, this correlates to fewer college applications and thus increased acceptance rates at most colleges.
Although there is a general consensus that a majority of colleges will experience fewer applications, the experts are split on whether applicants to Ivy League colleges and others like Stanford will have an easier time getting accepted.
Tufts University dean of admissions Lee Coffin stated, “We could see something resembling the admissions environment of the early 1990s, in which the most talented students might have an easier time.” Nevertheless, VP of enrollment of the prominent Dickinson College (kidding) maintained, “The ones that have the strongest brand identification are still going to be awash in applications, but 99 percent of us are going to see declines.”
The Times article went onto say that the overall decrease in graduates notwithstanding, “the number of Hispanic and Asian-American graduates will increase sharply, according to projections by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, whose demographic estimates are highly regarded by admissions officials.”
Students currently in the 8th grade are the real fortunate ones, as they will graduate high school at the nadir of this general decline.
According to the Times’s graphic, the number of graduates in 2010, the year when Kyle and I will graduate, will decrease to about 2.75 million from the expectant peak of 2.9 million in 2008. While I’m somewhat buoyed by this statistic, the 2.75 million is equal to levels from 2005 and by no means is a landmark low.
it’s official: ronaldinho is rich
(First, Apologies for the lack of posts lately — teachers have been piling on the work with only one week left before spring break!)
Indeed, the Portugese website Futebol Finance, which I’m guessing analyzes and pours over soccer-related data and statistics, released a list of the 50 highest paid socccer players in the world a few days ago. In terms of salary, AC Milan Brazilian midfielder Kaka is the most affluent soccer player, taking home 750,000 euros a month — 9 million euros (well over $10 million US) a year. His compatriot Ronaldinho (pictured) is number 2, making about 8.5 million euros a year. However, this list does not include endorsement deals from commericals or boot manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas or Lotto – including these factors, Ronaldinho and the LA Galaxy’s talisman David Beckham (a mere 44th on the list) would most likely rank 1 and 2.Other notables include 18 year old Atletico Madrid sensation Sergio “Kun” Aguero, who takes home a cool 5 million euros a year — more than the prolific Juventus duo of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet. Moreover, Arsenal FC, currently in first place in the English Premier League, has no players on the list - a statistic that astute manager Arsene Wenger (and the owners) will extol. Few possess a sublime eye for young talent like Mr Wenger, who often purchases unknowns for cheap and makes them into stars (or sells them for a tidy profit).
It’s especially interesting to juxtapose these astronomical salaries of European-based players with those in MLS. Aside from Beckham, Designated Players Juan Pablo Angel, Claudio Reyna, and Cuahtemotec Blano were the exclusive ones to earn upwards of $1 million in MLS. Landon Donovan was the highest-paid American, receiving 900,000 from the Galaxy – despite the fact that he could easily make twice that amount in Europe. Several players, especially the young ones, make the laughably low “developmental” salaries of $12,900 or $17,700. Others mostly make salaries below $100,000. A few established “stars” and veterans in the league make slightly more than $100,000.
European soccer salaries are slightly higher than those of prominent NFL players, but roughly proportionate with simply how good that player is, or how marketable they are. The Dallas Cowboys throw $8 million dollars at Terrell Owens a year – Cristiano Ronaldo makes 8 million too, but in euros, which comes out to about 1.5 times what TO gets. After sifting through the salaries of even notoriously prolifigate NFL teams (aka the Redskins), I was shocked at how low the median salary was (even though I shouldn’t have since I take AP Statistics and thus fathom that the median is a better measure of spread in this instance because it is non-resistant to extreme observations like Clinton Portis’s salary…). Although such a list has not been released with the salaries of all players on a high-profile squad, say AC Milan, I would assume the median salary to be about the same or a tad higher at the $1 million mark.
what we’re reading
Time | Carolyn Sayre
The beard brigade
Time reports on the renewed popularity of the beard – that, Huntingtown students knew. What is news is the existence of international facial-hair-growing competitions: Beard Team USA finished first in five out of seventeen competitions last year, including freestyle mustache.
US News & World Report | Eddy Ramirez
Before that diploma, one more requirement
High schools are increasingly requiring their students to complete capstone projects – in the case of Maine, all students are required to complete a college application to graduate. Elsewhere, schools like Denver’s Arrupe Jesuit High School require students to work in a professional setting all four years of high school, working “one day a week in banks, alw firms, veterinarians’ offices, and other businesses.”
Shaj Mathew
kahutzler
