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WE’RE ALL NIMBYs NOW

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Keystone XL Pipeline and the Ogallala Aquifer:

Is It Worth The Risk?

Saturday, 8 March 2014

With no less than 231 pipeline accidents in the United States over the last decade resulting in environmental devastation that as of yet has not been fully grasped, the question is not if but when the Keystone XL Pipeline will leak into the Ogallala Aquifer. This body of water is one of the largest clean underground water sources in the world, and accounts for 30% of the ground water in the United States used for irrigation.

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The proposed addition to the Keystone I pipeline will run the length of the country straight through the mid-west states, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Montana, moving it even further west and directly over the Ogallala Aquifer. And keep in mind that wherever there are pipelines, there are leaks, as the diagram above illustrates.

The oil and gas industry will be quick to point out that fossil fuel production is about mitigating risk, not eliminating it, and that there is no such thing as a completely safe source of energy that will meet the demand. The industry standard for levels of safety is clear. One need only look at the number of environmental catastrophes that have occurred over the years to understand that what they are actually saying is that this level of biological destruction is to be expected and is the cost of doing business.

This begs the question: What good are the jobs and energy created by the oil and gas industry if we don’t have clean water to drink?

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THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

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Thoughts on College Board’s efforts at making the SAT more “fair”

Thursday, 6 March 2014

When College Board, the largest non-profit standardized testing company announced recently that it has found a way to make the SAT fairer, I was all ears. Like many, I was not ready to drink the Kool Aid just yet. After reading their planned improvements to the SAT starting in 2016, I can say that I am not at all confident that their efforts to level the playing field will have the desired effects. As always however, it is bound to be a mixed bag. Unfortunately, it will likely not level the playing field among students taking the SAT, which is of deep concern to students, parents and teachers alike.

First, the economic inequality, which is at the heart of the issue, reflected in the disparity of SAT scores of economically disadvantaged vs. the affluent will always be there so long as inequality persists. Trick questions or obscure vocabulary words are not the obstacles to students’ success on the SAT, nor is it test-taking strategy or methodology; the opportunity and financial resources to prepare for the test early on and as often as possible in one’s academic career is what yields success. This is the elephant in the room that no one seems to want to admit about the entire entrance exam industry. Overall, those with the financial resources to prepare for the SAT will always perform better on such exams, regardless of content.

The notion that the content is somehow the problem only sheds light on the uncomfortable realities that many students are coming from schools that barely graduate 50% of their seniors on time, or that the high school graduate illiteracy rate is nearly 20% – which is instructive considering the illiteracy rate of prison inmates is over 60%. Additionally, making written communication (essay response) an optional portion of the test will only serve to (more…)