Word: bells
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Take the bell curve for example. Students sit down for lecture on the first day, and their grades have already been determined. True, each individual has not yet been given a grade, but the number of A’s, A-‘s, et cetera, is already decided. If grades are supposed to be a measure of each student’s eventual mastery of the course material, how can a professor have figured out the grades before students have even been taught? The bell curve requires that professors have the skills of Carnac the Magnificent...
Perhaps worse than the bell curve’s rigid predestination is that the curve stifles students’ interest in the material and actually ensures a sub par effort from many undergraduates. A friend of mine recently provided me with an example. She was assigned her first paper for a class, and was determined to do well on it. She spent a week outlining, drafting, rewriting—making sure she had covered every point and counterpoint, every nuance in her paper. The result of this incredible effort was a B+. When the next paper was assigned, she decided...
This story is far from uncommon. It is one heard again and again throughout the College. The result of this attitude is a lack of interest in the material and a lack of discussion of the ideas and concepts that are taught. Simply put, the bell curve kills the desire to be an academic and develop intellectually. Why should students participate in section? Since the majority of the class knows that they will unavoidably earn a B, there is no incentive to speak. Why complete the readings? A student knows all she has to do is perform better than...
...investors should be running for cover. A couple of months ago, Kmart and Sears got engaged. Then Nextel and Sprint announced their $35 billion wedding. Johnson & Johnson is buying Guidant, a maker of medical devices, for $24 billion. Two of the splashiest deals came last week: SBC, the Baby Bell based in San Antonio, Texas, looked poised to swallow its former parent, AT&T, in a deal that could top $15 billion. Then Procter & Gamble said it would acquire Gillette for $57 billion, forging a consumer-products giant with brands ranging from Gillette's Right Guard deodorant and Mach3 razors...
Peter Bennett is celebrating the end of the week by knocking back a glass of lager at the Bell Inn. The Nottingham University engineering student estimates he'll down eight or nine pints before night's end. That's what he says he puts away in his thrice-weekly sessions, which start at a pub around 9 p.m. and end at a club five or six hours later. "We definitely drink more" in Britain, he says. "It's just the culture to get pissed, I guess." Outside, two young men square off drunkenly but stop when a police van glides...