Marcin, Konrad, Peter

1) Hopkins, Nancy. “Let’s Call It ‘Affirmative Effort.’ nytimes.com. October 3, 2012.Web.

This article was about overcoming discrimination against women in career fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. According to Mrs. Hopkins more women work in STEM fields today, than they worked few years ago. According to her we can’t stop eliminating discrimination against women in those fields because it is still huge problem today, and most of the women can’t succeed in these fields.

2) Wilson, Janelle. “Get Girls Interested While They’re Young.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article was about bias against women that are interested in pursuing science degrees and positions in career fields like science. According to Mrs. Wilson, we should give more attention to subjects like science, technology, engineering and mathematics already in elementary schools, because this will help young women to get confidence and desire to pursue STEM degrees and careers. Also, it will reduce bias among men against women who are seeking science positions, already in earlier stages of education.

3)Dennis Berkey, “Put Female Students in Leadership Roles”. nytimes.com. October 3, 2012.

In this article the author speaks about the necessity to counter the bias against women. He states that this must be done mostly through education and says that there are several prospering colleges that promote women in fields which always belonged to men like science. The author strongly believes that this revolution requires personal and deep institutional involvement.

4)Jeniffer Harper, “Training and Recognition Can Make a Difference. nytimes.com. October 3, 2012.

In this entry the author conveys that the bias against women in science is still strong and the primary way to fight it is to educate the teachers. The teachers must be trained to evaluate the students solely by knowledge and skill. She also states that universities should diversify the workplace in order to slowly take away the unconscious bias.

5) Lukas, Carrie L. “Don’t Regulate Individual Decisions.” Nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article tells us, that today most of the bachelors’ and masters’ degree are earned by women. According to the author of that article, the government should not be involved in academics, but it should encourage reforms that would improve middle and high schools programs, so that all the students might be prepared to succeed in their chosen disciplines.

Mohammed Alam, Jaleel Robinson, Behistym Cabrera

1. Alan Schroeder, “Not Perfect, but They Serve a Purpose”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of the article states that debates is to allow voters to observe the candidates live in a different environment under pressure similar to a job interview.

2. Ruzwana Bashir, “Television Debates Are Antiquated”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The power of real debate is in the language and intellectual honesty of the debates, alongside the engagement of spectators.

3. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, “Post-Debate Reporting Could Be Improved”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article is that we shouldn’t attack the candidate’s statements, but hear what they have to say, and learn from their style of governing. History reminds us that presidents do try to keep most of their campaign promises.

4. Marion Just, “Reverse the Traditional Format”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article states that there should be a format whereby candidates have more time to present their ideas and facts to persuade undecided voters.

5. Jon Snow, “Moderators Must Not Be Subservient”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

U.S. presidential debates are game changers. The questions that are asked in presidential debates are irrelevant to the concerns of the public.

6. Michael I Norton, Todd Rodgers, “A Way to Stop the Dodges”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article is that when politicians dodge questions in interviews, they think that we will think negatively of them.

7. Diane B. Carlin, “The Most Valuable Form of Communication”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article states that debates provides the opportunity to evaluate the candidates side-by-side on the same topic and also provides the opportunity to evaluate the candidate’s personality and character in a pressured environment.

8. Mark Goodman, “Why the Town Hall Format Is Best”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article is that since many voters are looking to the candidates, the town hall debate format may be a more validate forum because real people asks real questions.

9. Nancy Snow, “Lose the Moderator”. The New York Times

www.nytimes.com October 3, 2012. Web

The main idea of this article is the presidential debates should eliminate the moderator and give the audience a format that allows them to really listen to a conversation between these two candidates. If a moderator is used, he or she should adopt a format that makes the president and the president’s challenger engage in a dialogue.

Mohammed Alam, Jaleel Robinson, Behistym Cabrera

1) Gilfillan, Beth. “I Cringe When I Hear the Word ‘Rankings.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article was about the concerns of Mrs.  Gilfillan towards how students in high school use college rankings to pick their schools as well as how she believes the college rankings should be used by students as well as how they could be modified to be more efficient and useful to the students.

2) Bastedo, Michael. “Insiders Care the Most About These Lists.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article was about Mr. Bastedo and his believes on who or what is effected by the college rankings. According to Mr. Bastedo the college rankings do not really effect the decision of what college to attend of incoming freshman. According to Mr. Bastedo the people who are mostly effected by the rankings are those inside the ranking colleges them self’s such as faculty and alumni. According to Mr. Bastedo another factor that is critically affected by college rankings is the institutions reputation and they become one and the same.

3) Vedder, Richard. “Filling a Void, Providing a Service.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article was about the view Mr. Vedder has of the college rankings. According to him the college rankings fill in the void of information distribution about each learning institution. The college rankings according to Mr. Vedder give parents and prospective students an inside look into the learning institution and sort of sets the standards of what college is doing things “right.” Mr. Vedder also states that the college ranking are flawed in the sense that they do not cover all the factors involved in college decision making such as financial situations and personal interest of the student.

4) O’Connell, Martha. “The College Search Requires Greater Thought.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article was about Mrs. O’Connell views of the college rankings. She believes that because college rankings are ranked based on the outcome of the freshman class that the rankings are not very accurate. She believes that the ranking should not only cover the beginning year but all four years, from enrollment to graduation. She also stated that when the colleges are looked at closely there is a pattern that the colleges without much recognition are outperforming the colleges with well-known reputations. She also stated she agrees with the believes that the ranking are controlled by those making the rankings.

5) Thacker, Lloyd. “College Presidents Should Just Say ‘No’ to U.S. News.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article is about the negative factors Mr. Thacker sees in the ranking college system. According to him the college rankings provide very little if any helpful information about the colleges them self’s. Mr. Thacker also makes a note about how even if the college rankings do not effect a vast percentage of prospective students in does effect the financial spending’s of the colleges. The colleges are spending more money on improving their ranking rather than improving their educational standards. Mr. Thacker also talks about how the school officials should take more active action in steering the college rankings into a more effective and useful tool.

6) Decatur, Sean. “Rankings Can Be Useful, but Also Dangerous.” nytimes.com. October 3, 2012. Web.

This article played a devil’s advocate; Mr. Decatur proceeded to first mention how college rankings are a useful comparing tool in a market of colleges that is tremendously crowded. However, Mr. Decatur proceeds to also explain how the rankings could be misused or produce negative effects on the colleges. He also talked about how the systems used for college rankings fluctuate every year changing the outcome of each year’s ranking. Also due to the fact that the system is in constant fluctuation it is impossible to recreate previews results. Which could lead to the conclusion that as the system used to create college rankings is unreliable so are the results yielded by the system.

Fabrice Douillard

Carlos Oreza

Fritzpatrick Phillips

We know that a group of colleges considered as “top colleges or universities” such as NYU, NYU Polytech, Harvard University, YALE, MIT, Standford University and so on… Since many  popular engineers, doctors, technicians are from those institutions who have high credibility, we believe that supporting the idea that they are considered “top colleges or universities” is considerable.  But that is all we know as we are not fairly familiar with the college rankings in the country.

Fabrice Douillard

Carlos Oreza

Fritzpatrick Phillips

Today, we are going to do a mini-research project and present it to the class.

Working in groups, you are going to read the points of view presented in one of the New York Times “Room for Debate” series. Note: Because of page limit views, you might need to use a few different computers to access all the articles. Work together on that.

Before you start reading, brainstorm with your group. Make a list of the things you know and opinions you have about the topic already. This list might be long or it might be short. Publish a post here with your list and categorize it “debate”. Don’t forget an informative title that distinguishes your group from the others.

After that, read the opinion pieces about your topic. From that, you will create an annotated bibliography. Talk about each piece and come to a consensus about its main ideas. Add a post for that (don’t forget that title!).

Finally, discuss the overall effect that the opinions had on you. If you already had knowledge and opinions of the topic, did they reinforce, challenge, or change you ideas? What was the most persuasive argument? What was the most persuasive evidence? (And what is the difference between an argument and a piece of evidence in writing?) Do all the members of your group agree? How strongly do you feel? Make a final post summarizing your group’s conclusions. You will also present your findings orally (informally) to the class.

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