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A café too far?
Associate Professor and Chair of Urban Studies and Planning Jasper Rubin commented for an Oct. 11 Mission Local article about calls for a moratorium on new restaurants by Valencia Street merchants who believe there are already enough eateries. Some merchants also fear an influx of chain restaurants would squeeze out small businesses. "There is a chance that they (large investor groups and chains) are more knowledgeable, that they can work the system, and that they have more resources" than mom and pop businesses, Rubin said.
Committed to the core
Adjunct Professor of Secondary Education Kate Kinsella wrote about the Common Core State Standards for reading in the Oct. 14 edition of Language Magazine. "The national focus in K-12 education on 21st-century literacy skills and career and college readiness holds great promise for students from every state. However, without a laser-like focus on explicitly teaching the competencies and requisite language for advanced reading, writing and presentation, English learners and under-resourced classmates will be at a decided disadvantage as they approach rigorous performance-based assessments," Kinsella wrote.
Bringing focus
Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies Robert Keith Collins commented for an Oct. 11 United Press International report about his research, which indicates that turning on video captions improves comprehension for all students. "Not only were students talking about how much having the captions helped them as they took notes, their test scores went up. During the baseline year, there were a lot of Cs. In the second years, they went from Cs, Ds and Fs to As, Bs and Cs. It was really significant improvement," Collins said. "We're living in an age where our students are so distracted by technology that they sometimes forget where they should focus their attention when engaged with technology or media. Turning on captions seems to enable students to focus on specific information."
Research put on ice
Assistant Professor of Biology Anne Todgham commented on the suspension of Antarctic research as a result of the U.S. government shutdown for an Oct. 15 New York Times article. After 30 hours of travel to New Zealand and three days of weather delays, Todgham arrived at McMurdo Station, only to have to return five days later due to the shutdown. "We’re hoping that we’ll be some of the first boots on the ground," Todgham said. "I patted the ice when I left last night and said, 'We’ll be back. Wait for us."
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