Saturday, February 19, 2005

Rhett, Get That Woman a Julep! or Education: More Dissection of Harvard President Summers

More on the Harvard situation from Kathleen Parker: Truth and consequences:

"Male chauvinist pigs (remember them?) can take a vacation as long as women like MIT biology professor Nancy Hopkins are defending women's intellect. Upon hearing Summers' words, Hopkins told reporters that she felt she was going to be sick. That her 'heart was pounding' and her 'breath was shallow . I just couldn't breathe .'

Rhett, oh Rhett, get that woman a julep, for cryin' out loud. "

And "...girls are far exceeding boys in school at nearly every level. Sixty percent of college students today are female. At the high school level, girls receive 60 percent of the A's, while boys earn 70 percent of the D's and F's..."

"The larger, more compelling concern to educators would seem to be helping boys improve their reading and writing skills so that they can survive in the information age, rather than counting the number of female Ph.D.s in science as some measure of gender equality.Meanwhile, it's too bad Summers felt forced to apologize and that he faces further censure from faculty. When the president of the nation's oldest university has to say he's sorry for saying something true, the opposite of Truth seems the victor."

No comments: