how inglorious the end
John Arne Riise’s late own goal in the 95th minute (the last minute of stoppage time!!) doomed European giants Liverpool to a 1-1 draw withLondon rivals Chelsea just a few hours ago. To be fair, a lucky bounce coupled with an uncharacteristic comedy of errors helped Dutch winger Dirk Kuyt’s opening goal bounce under Petr Cech, but then again, Kuyt’s immense work rate facilitated the play in the first place.
The match at Anfield proved a cagey one, as the British commentators on ESPN2 would say — that is, not exactly the most exhilarating. Tomorrow’s affair at the Camp Nou between hosts Barcelona and the sublime Manchester United will hopefully be more entertaining. United enter the match led by their supremely confident talisman, the scintillating Portugese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, while their Catalan opponents are in disarray, as clubhouse factions between the Brazilians and others at the club have escalated in recent weeks, climaxing with revelations from the team’s economic adviser (and really famous Columbia university professor) Xavier Sala-i-Martin. (Please click that link – his webpage is incredibly funny for such a venerable economist, replete with outrageous pictures of him and beavis and butthead, among other things) The economist reported that the club has been labeling players such as the (previously) irreplaceable Ronaldinho as injured in order to keep the out of the squad –when they are actually not. Ronaldinhois set to put pen to paper with AC Milan at the season’s close.
Tomorrow: Manchester United v Barcelona. 2.30 ET. ESPN2. Prediction: Man Utd 2-1.
Ah Finally: Here’s video of the tremendous own goal. Wow. Hopefully this video will still be working in a few hours, UEFA and the Premier league are notorious for taking down soccer videos due to copyright claims.
what we’re reading
From the Wall Street Journal this week: a profile of three college super-delegates who have become important to the Obama and Clinton campaigns. Also, a look at hooking-up among campaign staffers – Amy Chozick’s article notes that Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 camaign resulted in at least five marriages and six babies.
visitors
The clustr map above shows that the majority of EIC viewers are from the US (as we expected), but we have surprisingly landed hits from every continent except for Antarctica. The most hits in the US are from the NYC area, LA, San Francisco, a major Texas city (either Houston or Dallas I’m assuming), and our own DC area. We’ve registered a few hits in Brazil and a few African countries. The EIC is relatively popular in major European cities (madrid, london especially) and even Dubai! Even Iran has checked in on us!
what we’re reading
and occasionally watching too. Frontline reports on how the Internet is changing 
childhood in the first generation to grow up with the Internet – the entire program is available online. Elsewhere, Anne Trubek, a college professor, freelance writer, and parent writes on the increasing irrelevancy of handwriting. “Boys and girls, it’s time to put down your pencils.” And from The Washington Post, Eli Saslow’s story on Pittsburgh’s 28-year old mayor – the youngest in modern US history. (Photo from pghgov.com.)
both ends of the education spectrum
The New York Times reports that the elite, Ivy-league schools have admitted a fewer percentage of applicants than ever before. Harvard accepted 7.1% of the 27,462 applicants – letting in about 7 students in a 100! This notwithstanding, admissions rates are expected to climb higher in the coming years after hitting all time lows this year – just in time for when I mail out my applications.
The Times also documents 3rd graders’ poor performance on the writing section of a national standardized test. About one-third of America’s eighth-grade students, and about one in four high school seniors, are proficient writers according to the test. Students have lamented the emergence of the SAT writing section, replete with a short essay, and perhaps this explains their chagrin — they are truly woeful writers!
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.
Shaj Mathew
kahutzler
