Monday, December 14, 2020

12-14: Another new high in OC Covid cases; More push-back against Covid restrictions; Throwin' shade on Jill Biden's Ed.D.

OC Sees Thousands of New Coronavirus Cases in Just a Few Days, Resistance to Shutdown Grows
Public health experts fear trends will worsen as hospitals are pushed to their limits. 
—Voice of OC 

—OC Reg 

—OC Reg 

Colleges say they have long ago spent all the CARES Act money to aid struggling students and they need more help now. 
—Inside Higher Ed 

—Inside Higher Ed 
An essay published last week in The Wall Street Journal is prompting considerable criticism in academic circles. 
     The essay's views are outlined in its first paragraph: "Madame First Lady 
 Mrs. Biden  Jill — kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name? 'Dr. Jill Biden' sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title 'Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.' A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc."…. 
     The New York Times ran a story about the many women who saw the essay as "blatantly sexist and emblematic of the way many men question or disparage women’s credentials."…. 
     Paul A. Gigot, the editor of the Journal's opinion section, wrote today, “Why go to such lengths to highlight a single op-ed on a relatively minor issue?” He added, “My guess is that the Biden team concluded it was a chance to use the big gun of identity politics to send a message to critics as it prepares to take power. There’s nothing like playing the race or gender card to stifle criticism.”....

[As many of you know, I have occasionally suggested that the Ed.D. degree is worthless and even pernicious. Still, there's nothing female about the folly of Ed.D. degrees and other manifestations of sloppy and unscientific thinking in academia. It does appear that some of Ms. Biden's critics in this case are offensively sexist; such criticism I join with others in condemning.]

—Inside Higher Ed 
     A New York Times analysis has found that "as coronavirus deaths soar across the country, deaths in communities that are home to colleges have risen faster than the rest of the nation."....

—Inside Higher Ed
     Amid a debate even among Democrats over whether and how much of the nation’s student debt should be canceled, progressive congresswoman Ayanna Pressley on Thursday said widespread forgiveness is needed to close the disparity in wealth based on race….

—CHE
3,250 new cases — and the trend is not good

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