Gulp. That’s how some have responded to New York City’s audacious ban on super-size sodas. Food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on this heavy debate in a New York Times editorial published in March, 2013. Read it here: Bittman, "Banning the Big Gulp Ban" Do you drink sweet carbonated beverages (known regionally as soda, pop, …
Continue reading “Vectors of Disease”: Mark Bittman on the New York City Big Gulp Ban
Online courses are a topic of hot debate, with schools large and small, public and private, hurrying to develop programs and establish themselves in this new educational frontier. Are they moving in the right directions? Are they making decisions that take student needs into consideration? This New York Times editorial published in February 2013 begins …
Continue reading Is It Still School?: The New York Times on Online Courses
Just how deep does the problem of football concussions go? Can we fix it with better helmets or rule changes? James Carroll delves much deeper and puts the whole nation on the line of scrimmage in this January 2013 column from the Boston Globe. Read it here: Carroll, "Football Concussions: The Problem Lies at the …
Apply for an MBA program with a tweet-sized essay? Sounds easy! But don’t get too excited. University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Management initiated that innovative idea two years ago—and they’ve already abandoned it. Alison Damast filed this report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek in November 2012. Read it here: Damast, "Tippie’s Twitter Essay: An MBA Admissions Experiment …
When you think of experts on the American Dream, Jay-Z may not be the first name that comes to mind. Atlantic staff writer David Samuels, however, argues that not only is Jay-Z an ideal embodiment of the Dream, but also that Barack Obama has something to learn from him. This article was published the day …
Continue reading Still Dreaming?: David Samuels, Barack Obama, and Jay-Z on the American Dream
The American Dream is so important to our national identity and national psyche that it bears a thorough check-up on a regular basis. Pulitzer Prize finalist Ronald Brownstein wrote this essay in September 2012 for the National Journal, a respected nonpartisan publication based in Washington, D.C. Read it here: Brownstein, "A Dream Deferred" Brownstein talks about …
Continue reading Still Dreaming?: Ronald Brownstein on the American Dream
It isn’t difficult to find criticisms of our meat-heavy diet in the U.S., but this one comes from an unexpected source: Josh Ozersky, the founder of Meatopia, the event that calls itself “the Woodstock of edible animals.” His essay appeared in Time magazine in August 2012. Read it here: Ozersky, "A Meat Lover Says Yes to …
Continue reading A Meaty Argument: Josh Ozersky on Meatless Monday
The cost of higher education today generates countless debates and impassioned arguments. We hear a lot about government support of public institutions, student loan debt, rising tuition and fees, and the high price of textbooks. But wait. There’s more. Jenna Ashley Robinson says that the government should now eliminate tax credits for education that try …
Continue reading Too Many Credits?!: Jenna Robinson Says There Are
What’s the best part of the Super Bowl? The game or the ads? Stephen Marche argues for the ads, and he wants them to get more respect. This column, from Esquire magazine, appeared just before the Super Bowl in February 2012. Read it here: Marche, "A Short Prayer for Advertising” Marche makes an ironic observation …
Continue reading Commercials R Us: Stephen Marche in Praise of Advertising
Organic foods are readily available in most U.S. supermarkets and restaurants, and usually at premium prices. Scientists at Stanford University have just published the results of a large study that compares the nutritional value of organic and conventional foods, and the report has generated a lot of publicity and public discussion. This article, one of …
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