Airy macarons: I have a crush on this writer and her style, and this article is proof of her awesomeness. Maybe we need to include some more food writing in The Voice. Any takers? And what are your thoughts on this piece. Is there an MA story in here?
Why Science Majors Change Their Minds: An interesting article similar to the one below. Now is the time when science, technology, engineering and math majors are needed more than ever. But -- those majors are tricky, especially at the college level. What are you thoughts on this topic? Is there an MA angle in here?
Students Pick Easier Majors: Similar questions to the article above. If you read both, which one do you prefer?
High School Hazing: Yikes! An interesting piece on a part of high school culture. At times this seems every public school to me; at other times, I know hazing does go on an MA. What are your thoughts on this article and the topic in general? Is there an MA angle in here?
6 comments:
Oh I loved this piece! This article post was the one I was most drawn too and excited to read because it was about food and more specifically dessert! I have had one macaron in my life and I remember not liking it but Mishan's descriptions of the best macarons in NY made my mouth water. I think that it would be so fun to do restaurant reviews for The Voice and I think our readers would enjoy them immensely. An article that we could write for The Voice similar to this one is a comparison or review of all the different ice cream shops in San Rafael since we have so many. Overall, great piece.
May I just say: I love food writing. I read Julia Child's biography twice. And then I read Ruth Reichl's book 'Garlic and Sapphires' at least four times. (That is an excellent book). So, suffice to say, I loved this piece. The descriptions were so good, I felt as though I could taste the macaroons. I love how she describes the textures and flavors. Also, it worked well as a review piece: rating and comparing the different shops. I loved how she included what the waiters were wearing, and the box they came in. I could picture it all in my head so perfectly. All in all, I thought it was lovely (and the picture was scrumptious). I agree with Tia that we could do ice cream shops, within walking distance of M.A. we've got at least four or five.
Why Science Majors Change Their Minds
I thought that there was definitely an MA angle in this story. According to Jon Bretan, who went to Evie (I think) to get stats on the number of juniors and seniors that are doubling in each subject, around 26 juniors and 26 seniors are doubling in science, versus somewhere in the teens for english and less, even down to two or three of each, in history and language. Although I'm unsure if it's still true with public schools and budget cuts, I think the article was right when it said that high schools are making science interesting. Just like any other class at MA, science classes are small, and though they aren't as discussion based as English classes, they're interactive and there are a lot of labs. I also agree that it's not necessarily the actual science part of college science classes that turn students off: I can see how any MA student would be less interested by any and all lecture-style classes with 400 students. No matter the subject, it's a change for the worse, and I think it just so happens that colleges make those classes science.
I also see how lower grades would turn people off. Not only is it about getting good grades for the sake of higher GPAs; it's also about confidence. Whether they ought to or not, students, both in high school and college, tend to use their grades as a measure for good they are at something. Not necessarily how much they've improved, or how much they've learned, or how much passion they have for a subject, but their innate talent. And ultimately, if science is giving lower average grades, then they are, on average, telling people that they're on average worse at science than other subjects. Students need to be told that they're good at something to want to pursue it, and I think that perhaps raising GPAs in science would help that.
Finally, while I agree with the article that people see less practical applications in science (less internships, global problem-solving and social applications), personally I also think that people see less new things to learn in science. To me science and technology have come very far– with the web I always stumble across solutions to problems that we don't even have. And I'm not up to date with breaking science news or discoveries, so to me it seems like almost everything practical (besides medical cures) has been figured out. I don't see any new, extremely worth-it technologies that should be developed. While tiny computers are cool, people don't need more screen time, nobody needs to know if the universe is expanding or not, or which bacteria can turn Mars' atmosphere into oxygen so that we can leave our planet and go live there. In some ways science and progress has gotten into a host of problems, like climate change, and there's a larger need to solve these problems with public policy and social activism than new technologies. Plus, the farther a technology progresses, there's more that you have to learn to get to the forefront, and as time progresses it will take loner and longer for a person to get there.
Airy Macarons:
This piece was really well written. I also love the style of the writer. Her words really create images in your head. Her words are very flowery, which I think can be nice. He writing was also humorous at times which makes the article even better. If the writer can make you want something after reading their piece, I think it is a success! I certainly wanted some "macaroons" or macarons? after I read this article!
High school Hazing:
Wow, when I read this it was a really big surprise partly because I don't see that kind of stuff going on at our own school. At least not to that extreme! The piece, overall, was very engaging and I think there could definitely be an MA angle in here! What if we can investigate more on hazing, if any,at our own school? I think that would be very interesting.
Generation Jobless:
I didn't really love the writing of the article, but it raised some important questions. It actually made me feel a little guilty about not wanting a degree in engineering or something. What I thought was a little odd was that they really want more engineering students, but the courses are so hard students keep quitting, and then they question why the students quit. Honestly, they probably need to change the courses themselves, or how they're taught, and then maybe more students will stick with it. Also interesting was the fact that we need engineers, but the people with degrees in engineering keep blowing it off for higher paying jobs. So, is there a way to get them to go for the jobs we need? All in all, I was not a huge fan of the writing (I felt it was a bit weak at times...end quote = awful) but I think the questions that it brings up are important. I think colleges should really be thinking hard about their part in all of this.
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