Leigh Eric
Mother's Day Schmidt, in The Journal of American History (Dec. 1991), Or- ganization of American Historians, 112 N. Bryan St., Blooming- ton, Ind. 47408-4199.
Cynics might assume that Mother's Day was invented the florist and greeting- card industries. Not exactly, says Schmidt, a Drew University historian. The popular holiday (celebrated on May 10 this year) was actually the brainchild of Anna Jarvis. A schoolteacher who lived in Grafton, W. Va., with her mother (also named Anna)...
Charles Murray and R. J. Herrnstein, in The Public Interest (WinterAre Falling 1992), 1112 16th st. N.w., Ste. 530, Washington, D.C. 20036.
Virtually every year, the announcement of the latest Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores is greeted with alarms over the state of American education. The scores de- clined sharply during the 1960s and '70s, bottomed out in the early '80s, and have made only halting improvement since. Av- erage scores for college-bound seniors in
1990-91 fell to 422 of a...
Barry S. Sapolsky and Joseph 0.Tabarlet, in Journal of Broadcasting &Consequences Electronic Media (Fall 1991), Broadcast Education Assn., 1771 N St. N.W., Washington, D.C.20036.
Every couch potato knows that primetime television is full of sex. How full? To find out, Sapolsky and Tabarlet, both profes- sors of communication at Florida State University, scrutinized a week's worth of 1989 primetime TV. Along with a team of graduate students, they hunted for in- stances of touching, kissing,...
Barry S. Sapolsky and Joseph 0.Tabarlet, in Journal of Broadcasting &Consequences Electronic Media (Fall 1991), Broadcast Education Assn., 1771 N St. N.W., Washington, D.C.20036.
Every couch potato knows that primetime television is full of sex. How full? To find out, Sapolsky and Tabarlet, both profes- sors of communication at Florida State University, scrutinized a week's worth of 1989 primetime TV. Along with a team of graduate students, they hunted for in- stances of touching, kissing,...
calling a "900" num- ber (and paying 95 cents per minute). Now some dailies are attempting to incorporate facets of the alternatives' formula, such as 900 number personals, and at least one daily, the Scranton Times, has purchased its own alternative.
Magazine-length investigative articles are "the real heart, the real soul of an al- ternative paper," asserts Bruce Schimmel, the Philadelphia City Paper's editor. Cover- age in the Sun Francisco Bay Guardian, for example, prompted...
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A Place for
Vincente Arcilla, in Teachers College Record (Winter 1991), Me tap hysics Teachers College, Columbia Univ., 525 W. 120th st., BOX 103, New York, N.Y. 10027.
"How can we consider man's destiny un- less we ask what he is? How can we talk about preparing men for life unless we ask what the end of life may be? At the base of education, as at the base of every human activity, lies metaphysics." So insisted Robert M. Hutchins (1899-1977), the long- time president of the U...
themselves, did not constitute knowledge in his eyes; their only use was in forming theoretical hypotheses to explain empiri- cal facts. Shaping education according to perceived metaphysical truths, Dewey ar- gued, would mean giving it an authoritar- ian cast. As he saw it, Arcilla explains, metaphysics "prevents us in principle from investigating whether empirical and practical facts may to some degree also de- termine, and help us criticize, the meta- physical truths we hold. Yet we need...
the time the show was over, the curtain had been brought down
Tycho Brahe, with his pre-telescope instruments. on the traditional theory.
Call of the Tame "In From the Cold" Stephen Budiansky, in The New York Times Magazine (Dec. 22, 1991), 229 W. 43rd St., New York,
N.Y. 10036.
Strident animal-rights activists insist that dogs, cattle, horses, and other domesti- cated beasts have been enslaved by that tireless despoiler of nature, man. And most other people take for granted that ma...
Phyllis Austin, in Garbage (Nov.-Dec. 1991), Old House Journal Corp., 2 Main St., Gloucester, Mass. 01930.
First in autos, first in TVs, and first in the management of solid waste as well. That is the view of a number of environmentalists who have studied Japan and estimate that the island nation recycles about 50 per- cent of its solid waste. After a visit to Ja- pan, however, journalist Austin reports the reality there is far less rosy.
Second only to the United States as a garbage producer, J...
Phyllis Austin, in Garbage (Nov.-Dec. 1991), Old House Journal Corp., 2 Main St., Gloucester, Mass. 01930.
First in autos, first in TVs, and first in the management of solid waste as well. That is the view of a number of environmentalists who have studied Japan and estimate that the island nation recycles about 50 per- cent of its solid waste. After a visit to Ja- pan, however, journalist Austin reports the reality there is far less rosy.
Second only to the United States as a garbage producer, J...