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Write for the Future: Death: Losing a Friend and Learning

2013-05-25T00:50:06Z

by Chloe Mondesir

She was more than a best friend. As an only child, she was the sibling I never had. I lost her on my third day of high school. I wasn't ready for her death but at 99 she moved on anyway. I found myself alone and against the world in the foreign place called high school. But in the years since, I reminisce on the unique influence of my great grandmother's presence in my life then and even now. Her death devastated me but the experience of pulling myself up from my grief prepares me for my future more than anything else.

Her name is Mildred and I can still see her in my present. Her smile, slowly opening up leading the way to the rest of her golden face; her plump, petite body relied on her wooden cane but her impact on our family for generations was larger than life. I would walk into a room: "Chloe darling," she'd say. No one ever made me feel so special just by saying my name.

We played every game together: dolls, and dominoes. We went many places together, from grandma's backyard to Atlantic City. Today most of my high school friends see me as an older, wiser soul. I need not wonder why. It grows out of the experience of having a close companion, or really a girlfriend, so many years and three generations apart from me. Mildred's influence touches the lives of so many people I interact with today. My friend, Brittany, came to me last year more stressed than ever. Her father died as she was juggling junior year academic pressure with comforting her mom who, after the death of her husband, didn't want to be left in the house alone. "Brittany darling, we'll work it out." The Mildred in me spoke loudly as I helped Brittany face her own grief while brainstorming hobbies and activities that would help her mother get beyond the pain.

Yet I was trying to grow beyond my own pain without Mildred. I felt like I was starting life over. In my sophomore year, I was still numb. Where was my passion? I was a dancer since three, yet I was not moving in the same way anymore. Always on honor roll since elementary school, I suddenly found myself at rock bottom upon receiving a letter for summer school registration to retake trigonometry. Clearly things decayed to their worst. "Chloe darling," I thought to myself. I refocused my life and decided to join the school's bereavement group and I became a new person. If summer school was an opportunity to get back on track with my work, I wanted to give myself the opportunity to address my grieving. I didn't want to hit rock bottom again. I know the roots of a great part of this wisdom flows from my best friend.

In the beginning of my junior year, I sat in a room full of strangers. "So everybody go around the room and introduce yourself and share who you've lost." I felt like everyone stared at me. Again, even amongst a group of people in similar circumstances I felt different and alone. I uttered something. I can't remember those nervous words to this day. I just wanted to get through the moment.

The first few sessions were slow. By mid year, I was comfortable and the question became "So how do you feel about your loss now?" Finally after some time, something seemed to change for me. "I feel like this has helped me. I no longer feel as burdened being able to just talk about her as before. I feel better about the loss now." I could see everyone was taken aback, as was I. In that moment, I suddenly saw the value of time and therapy. I knew then that the entire time I struggled to be comfortable in this group of strangers was necessary for me to reach this fluid stage in my life. I found my future, ambition, and passion in that room. I want to be a psychologist.

Shortly after the confidence boost set in, I found myself dancing again, expressing emotions that were sometimes just unexplainable. I tried out for the dance team. However, this dance team wasn't in my comfort zone. I grew up with powerful art forms like ethnic dance. Now I needed to master the refined technique of Ballet in weeks. It was overwhelming but I quickly realized the fight inside of me for so long. I would be the only push I would need to get through the audition. First in my beginning stance, and suddenly in my last, I knew I had done what I needed to make the team. Sure enough I found my name in the last spot of the new dance team's roster. This was the finish line of all my experiences thus far, from loss to struggle, and from struggle to success.

Every source of pain and resentment that I once felt, I learned to fuel for my growth indefinitely. I understand the importance of sharing with people, being honest with myself, and the significance of commitment in everything I do. I am better, stronger, more able and willing to grow. Now here I am, ready to share it all with you.

Chloe Mondesir began her freshman year at Spelman College in September. She is a 2012 graduate of St Francis Preparatory School in Queens.

Donna Randall: Opening the Door to Private Higher Education

2013-05-24T21:28:36Z

The current debate in Congress about hiking the student loan interest rates has once again raised questions for America's families about the affordability of higher education. Families' concerns are real--an investment in higher education is one of the largest commitments they will make for their children's future. And private higher education, in particular, is often singled out as being too costly--and presumably out of reach--for most.

However, the facts say otherwise. A private college education remains affordable for students from all backgrounds because these institutions offer significant help through grants and scholarships, including scholarships that are not based on financial need. So for the majority of families, the net cost is far less than the listed "sticker price" for attendance. According to the College Board, in 2012-13, the average for net tuition and fees at private four-year colleges was $13,380, less than half of the average published tuition and fees of $29,056. Furthermore, grant aid and tax benefits averaged approximately $15,680 for full-time undergraduates at private colleges.

In spite of what is often presented in the media about student loan burdens, with stories quoting debt figures as high as $100,000, a 2012 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that only 5.4 percent of all borrowers (undergraduate and graduate students across all sectors of higher education) had student debt of more than $75,000 and only 11.3 percent had debt of more than $50,000. Among bachelor's graduates from private colleges, the total average debt per borrower in 2011 was $29,900, compared to $23,800 for borrowers from public universities, according to the College Board.

Factor in that 78 percent of students who received a bachelor's degree from a private college graduated in four years (compared to 60 percent of their peers at state universities), and a private higher education is an even sounder investment. Private college graduates have the advantage of avoiding extra years of tuition and getting on with their careers.

What can a family do to ensure that a higher education, and especially a private education, will be possible for their student?

Start saving for college early through investment in programs such as 529 plans, which also include some significant tax benefits. By creating an account while your child is still small and adding to it regularly, these funds will grow and provide substantial support for paying college costs.
Conduct a thorough search for scholarships for which your student is eligible. The U.S. Department of Education's scholarship website, one of many such sites available, lists a free scholarship search tool and other advice on applying for these awards.
Check out the Net Price Calculator on every college's web site. This financial aid estimating tool helps you determine how much you may be expected to pay and your eligibility for aid, a good starting point for creating a college financing plan.
Openly discuss your family's financial realities and expectations for your student's role in paying for his or her education. Student earnings from work during the summer and the academic year are an important contribution in making college affordable.

As your college search gets under way, you should look for those institutions that will be the best fit for your student in terms of academic offerings, enrollment size, and special opportunities available--regardless of sticker price. Once the list of prospective colleges has been narrowed and the applications have been sent in, you should file for financial aid and then carefully compare the financial aid awards, evaluating what is offered in scholarships and grant aid and what is offered in loans.

When you have questions during the financial aid application process, ask for help and advice from the colleges' financial aid staffs. At Albion College, where I am president, our financial aid staff sees this process as a partnership and will work individually with families on reviewing all of the college financing options available and determining what works best in their particular circumstances. Such personalized help is readily available at most private colleges.

The value of a private education, of course, extends far beyond the financial investment families make and even beyond our graduates' career success. The quality and depth of the relationships among students, faculty, and staff at small private institutions is especially evident at commencement time. At Albion's commencement ceremony, our faculty and students share handshakes, hugs, and smiles over what has been accomplished in the past four years. And in the years ahead, these students will invite their faculty mentors to their weddings, share their latest news via social media, and return often to campus for visits. You can't put a price tag on rewards like that.

DOMA Plaintiff Gets Huge NYU Honor

2013-05-24T20:39:39Z

The spectacular Edith Windsor was present at the NYU commencement ceremonies, where she was awarded the Presidential Medal for her courageous work with the gay rights movement.

Windsor, 83, is one of the central figures in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case currently being decided upon by the Supreme Court. When her wife of 40 years passed away, Windsor was forced to pay a large estate tax that she wouldn't have had to pay if their marriage had been legally recognized.

Her continued courage for marriage equality is just one of the reasons why she was awarded this prestigious honor.

To see NYU President John Sexton award Windsor with the Presidential Medal watch the video above (skip to 1:12) and you can see the full video of Windsor accepting the award here (the Windsor portion begins at the 35 minute mark).

This Teacher's VERY Interesting Advice For One Graduate

2013-05-24T19:14:03Z

It's not unusual for students to be given a little inspirational life advice upon graduation. But for one Reddit user -- who goes by atheistkitty -- the words of wisdom given to him by his teacher were not your average Dr. Seuss quote.

Solid advice. John, we hope you have some bagels to go with all of that cream cheese.

[h/t Reddit]

Jane Carlin and Barb Macke: The Next Librarians

2013-05-24T18:57:58Z

Thanks to our colleagues at Beloit College, we are reminded each year about the characteristics of our incoming college freshmen. This list is always fun to read and often a sobering reminder of generational change. It also serves to keep us in touch with our students, which is so important. But we want to turn the tables and think about our own profession. The literature abounds with how libraries and librarians need to accept change, but with the economy still in such a volatile state, many librarians are resisting retirement. So we thought it would be fun to develop a mindset associated with the new generation of librarians, with very special thanks for contributions from two of our colleagues at the University of Cincinnati, Sarah Maguire and Katie Foran-Mulcahy.

With this Mindset list we welcome our new i-school graduates into the profession -- we need you!

The Next Librarians

Their culture...
Ga Ga is a performer, not a reaction.
#emailisdead
Transgender. Transnational. Transracial.

Their education...
Meeting rooms, not carrels.
Portfolios, not papers.
Scanning, not photocopying.
PDFs, not coursepacks.

Their reality...
iGeneration, not Me Generation.
Clouds aren't in the sky, tweets don't come from birds, streams aren't made of water.
Multitasking, multidisciplinary, multiplayer.

Their style...
Expressed, not repressed.
Likely tattooed, (maybe) sensibly shoed.
Lovers of all thing vintage, save technology.

Their technology...
Gestures, not clicks.
Podcasting, not broadcasting.
They use apps for content, not for getting jobs.
The cloud IS their computer, and their OS, and their apps, and their data.

Their library...
WEMI, not MARC.
Metadata, not cataloging.
Access, not ownership.
Facebook walls, Chrome fixtures, and Java for everyone.

Their patrons...
Memes and hastags, not keywords and headings.
"might also like," not see also.
Relevance ranking, not authority control.
"I can..." not "Can you...?"

Their workspace expectations...
Real job security is the ability to add value.
The workplace is a matrix, not a hierarchy.
The traditional academic monopoly is being challenged by online learning, open access, and a global educational marketplace.
Change is the new constant-the dominant library paradigms of the next decade haven't been invented yet.

Their communication...
Chatting has gotten snappy.
Geospatial notification, not handwritten invitation.
140 characters to say it all.

Their worldview...
Future-centric, not past-present.
Don't tell them it didn't work when you tried it five years ago.
Rebellious - but for the common good.

Lisa Wade: Advice for College Grads From Two Sociologists

2013-05-24T18:51:22Z

This post is co-written with Gwen Sharp.

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Happy Graduation, Seniors! Congratulations! What's next? Below is some sociologically-inspired, out-of-the-box advice on work, love, family, friendship, and the meaning of life. For new grads from the two of us!

1. Don't Worry About Making Your Dreams Come True

College graduates are often told: "follow your passion," do "what you love," what you were "meant to do," or "make your dreams come true." Two-thirds think they're going find a job that allows them to change the world, half within five years. Yikes.

This sets young people up to fail. The truth is that the vast majority of us will not be employed in a job that is both our lifelong passion and a world-changer; that's just not the way our global economy is. So it's ok to set your sights just a tad below occupational ecstasy. Just find a job that you like. Use that job to help you have a full life with lots of good things and pleasure and helping others and stuff. A great life is pretty good, even if it's not perfect.

2. Make Friends

Americans put far too much emphasis on finding Mr. or Ms. Right and getting married. We think this will bring us happiness. In fact, however, both psychological well-being and health are more strongly related to friendship. If you have good friends, you'll be less likely to get the common cold, less likely to die from cancer, recover better from the loss of a spouse, and keep your mental acuity as you age. You'll also feel more capable of facing life's challenges, be less likely to feed depressed or commit suicide, and be happier in old age. Having happy friends increases your chance of being happy as much as an extra $145,500 a year does. So, make friends!

3. Don't Worry about Being Single

Single people, especially women, are stigmatized in our society: we're all familiar with the image of a sad, lonely woman eating ice cream with her cats in her pajamas on Saturday night. But about 45 percent of U.S. adults aren't married and around one in seven lives alone.

This might be you. Research shows that young people's expectations about their marital status (e.g., the desire to be married by 30 and have kids by 32) have little or no relationship to what actually happens to people. So, go with the flow.

And, if you're single, you're in good company. Single people spend more time with friends, volunteer more, and are more involved in their communities than married people. Never-married and divorced women are happier, on average, than married women. So, don't buy into the myth of the miserable singleton.

4. Don't Take Your Ideas about Gender and Marriage Too Seriously

If you do get married, keep going with the flow. Relationship satisfaction, financial security, and happy kids are more strongly related to flexibility in the face of life's challenges than any particular way of organizing families. The most functional families are ones that can bend. So partnering with someone who thinks that one partner should support their families and the other should take responsibility for the house and children is a recipe for disaster. So is being equally rigid about non-traditional divisions of labor. It's okay to have ideas about how to organize your family -- and, for the love of god, please talk about both your ideals and fallback positions on this -- but your best bet for happiness is to be flexible.

5. Think Hard About Whether to Buy a House

Our current image of the American Dream revolves around homeownership, and buying a home is often taken for granted as a stage on the path to full-fledge adulthood. But the ideal of universal home ownership was born in the 1950s. It's a rather new idea.

With such a short history, it's funny that people often insist that buying a house is a fool-proof investment and the best way to secure retirement. In fact, buying a house may not be the best choice for you. The mortgage may be less than rent, but there are also taxes, insurance, and the increasingly common Home Owners Association (HOA) fees. You may someday sell the house for more than you bought it but, if you paid interest on a mortgage, you also paid far more than the sale price. You have freedom from a landlord, but may discover your HOA is just as controlling, or worse. And then there's the headache: renting relieves you from the stress of being responsible for repairs. It also offers a freedom of movement that you might cherish.

So, think carefully about whether buying or renting is a better fit for your finances, lifestyle, and future goals. This New York Times rent vs. buy calculator is a good start.

6. Think Even Harder about Having Kids

One father had this to say about children: "They're a huge source of joy, but they turn every other source of joy to shit." In fact, having children correlates with both an increased sense of purpose in life and a long-lasting decrease in individual and marital happiness. Having kids means spending a lot of your short life and limited income on one source of joy. It's not a bad decision. But it's also not the only good decision you can make. We want to think we can "have it all" but, in fact, it's a zero sum game. You have only so much time and money and there are lots of ways to find satisfaction, pleasure, and meaning in this life. Consider all your options.

7. Remember: If You Change Your Mind, You're Still Right!

For some reason Americans feel ashamed when they discover they're wrong. So much so that we often refuse to admit it or go on the counter-attack. Being told we're wrong, though, is really great! t means we have a good chance of not making that mistake in quite that way again. That doesn't mean it feels good, but it is a very good thing to learn how to accept that we're wrong - and, trust us, you will be, lots and lots of times, about many different things -- without treating every correction as a threat to our very identity. So next time someone corrects your facts, logic, or point of view. Say, "Hey, thanks!"

8. Listen When People Point Out Your Privilege

One of the hardest ways to be wrong involves saying something that is inadvertently prejudicial. When someone points out that something we said or did was racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, classist or otherwise, we often feel attacked. Remember, though, that if someone bothers to engage with you on this kind of issue, it means they think you're worth it. It's really easy to write someone off as racist; it's much harder to start a dialogue on the issue. If they do the latter, it's because they've decided that you're a good person who's worth their time and energy. So instead of launching into an explanation for why and how you can't possibly be prejudiced, ask "Can you tell me what you mean?" and listen, listen, listen.

9. Make Allies and, Yes, Change the World

C. Wright Mills one said that sociology was both terrifying and magnificent. It is terrifying because it teaches us that our lives are not ours to determine, but are subject to cultural norms and institutional forces over which we have very little control. It's magnificent, however, because once we can see the system for what it is, we can agree to change it. In other words, we're stuck in a system not of our own making, but we're in it together. So, when you come across an unfair workplace, an unjust law, a biased educational practice, or some other injustice, know that -- with the right allies, hard work, and a little luck -- you may just have the power to change it.

Originally posted at Sociological Images.

Lisa Wade and Gwen Sharp are professors of sociology. They write and edit the blog Sociological Images. You can follow Lisa on Twitter and Facebook and Gwen on Twitter.

How To Tell If You're Shaving Your Armpits Wrong

2013-05-24T18:35:10Z

Shaving is just as much a rite of passage for girls as it is for boys. We here at HuffPost Style will never forget the moment we first picked up a razor to shave our legs. Fortunately, we got much better at it and have ended up with fewer nicks. But there's one body part that still gives us pause when it comes hair removal: underarms.

Shaving your armpits requires a bit more finesse due to their hollow shape. It also doesn't help that those hundreds of tiny hairs are all growing in various directions. Waxing or sugaring are effective alternatives to tackle hairy underarms, however both methods can be quite costly and time-consuming.

To help us all get prepared to bare underarms this summer, senior brand manager of Schick Quattro for Women, Jon Jager, shares his seven tips on how to shave your armpits.

Always exfoliate first when shaving any area. Exfoliating will get rid of dead skin cells and allow for a closer shave. A mild exfoliator or your favorite body wash with a washcloth will work.

Shave at night when possible. Shaving can leave skin very sensitive, so apply lotion afterwards and use the night to let the skin recover. In the summer, try to limit your shaving routine to the night before a trip to the beach. Heading into salty ocean water or chlorine when you've just shaved can leave your skin feeling raw and irritated.

The area should be wet, and you should always use a shave gel. The moisture from a lotion, soap or body wash isn’t designed to stay on the skin for the duration of a shave. Shave gels contain moisturizing benefits that quickly get moisture into the hair and stay there, reducing the force required to cut through the hair. Additionally, shaving should be your final step before leaving the shower. The warm moisture of a shower makes hairs soft and plump and opens your pores.

Use a razor with a pivoting head and multiple blades to give you a smooth, close shave. This rubber handle razor allows for better gripability and following the contours of a women’s body.

In hard-to-reach areas ,women tend to run the blade over their skin too much, and repeated shaving of the same area of skin is a major cause of skin irritation and razor burn. A simple solution is using a rich, dense shaving gel which can be clearly seen on the skin, allowing for easy tracking of the shaved area.

In places where hair grows in different directions, such as underarms and the bikini area, try pulling the skin slightly, making it more taut and easier to shave. Then work upwards or downwards to avoid razor burn.

Don’t be thrifty! Discard shaving blades after four or five uses to avoid ingrown hairs and shaving with a blunt blade.

Less time spent shaving means more time for these beauty treatments:

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David Moshman: Sexual Harassment and Academic Freedom

2013-05-24T18:14:16Z

The University of Montana has received a 31-page letter from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education. It's not a love letter. And it's not just for them.

The letter puts higher education on notice that mere speech can be sexual harassment if any listener is offended by its sexual content. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and feminist civil libertarian Wendy Kaminer, among others, have condemned the letter as an extraordinary threat to freedom of speech about matters of sexuality at all colleges and universities.

It is also an extraordinary threat to academic freedom. Let me start with a bit of personal history.

I'm setting my academic freedom time machine to the early 1990s era of high political correctness, when many argued, at least with respect to sexuality, that the right not to be offended outweighs freedoms of expression and discussion. At the University of Nebraska−Lincoln (UNL) a psychology graduate student named Toni Blake studied and taught human sexuality.

One day in 1993 Blake brought a banana to a class session on contraception and used it to illustrate the application of a condom. Warning about the danger of impregnation prior to ejaculation, she joked that men, like basketball players, "dribble before they shoot."

A male student was not amused. He subsequently accused her of sexual harassment, charging that she "objectified" the penis and thus created a hostile academic environment for him as a man.

I was asked to assist her. The student was a jerk, she said; he was angry because she had objected to his coming to class drunk. But how could we convince administrators that his claim of being offended, even if true, was insufficient to support a charge of sexual harassment? Administrators were under pressure to act on behalf of anyone who claimed to be offended by sexual expression of any sort.

Straightforward and humorous, Blake was probably an excellent instructor. I once ran into her when I was out with my wife, who knew of the case but had never met her and didn't know her by name. I began introductions, struggling to explain politely who Toni was. She cut right in and identified herself: "I'm the banana lady."

Blake was never found guilty of sexual harassment. But she was advised by her department chair to delete material on human sexuality from her courses in order to avoid further problems. Others responsible for teaching about sexuality at UNL watched with concern and made their own curricular decisions.

The Academic Freedom Coalition of Nebraska (AFCON) subsequently formulated a Statement on Sexuality and Academic Freedom (adopted in 2000) based on its general Principles of Academic Freedom (adopted in 1999). Central to the analysis of sexual harassment is a distinction between two types of cases, represented by two examples.

In Example 1, "a student in the course of class discussion expresses the view that homosexuality is sinful and disgusting, whereupon a second student claims that the views of the first are stupid and offensive." In Example 2, "a student repeatedly targets another student with epithets that the second clearly finds upsetting, even after being asked to stop."

AFCON's statement specifies:

Individuals have a right to believe whatever they choose about matters of sexuality and to express their views even if those views are deemed offensive or otherwise objectionable. ... It is inconsistent with academic freedom to limit freedom of expression to the expression of ideas that will not be deemed offensive.

The topic of sexuality, then, is subject to the same principles of academic freedom as any other topic. Sexual harassment is wrong because it is harassment, not because it is sexual. We must define harassment strictly so we can oppose it consistently without infringing on the freedom to teach and talk about sexuality. AFCON specifies:

Harassment, strictly defined, is a pattern of actions specifically directed against a particular individual with the intent of humiliating, intimidating, or otherwise harming that individual. Thus defined, harassment is not protected by norms of academic freedom regardless of the sexual content of any ideas that may be expressed as part of the act of harassment.

Neither student in Example 1 should be punished, then, though the teacher may and should use noncensorial means to encourage civil discussion. The student in example 2, in contrast, is guilty of harassment regardless of whether the epithets are sexual.

This analysis applies at all levels of education. With respect to sexuality, AFCON's principles provide more stringent protection of academic freedom in kindergartens and middle schools than the federal government deems appropriate for universities.

The new standards for sexual expression are not just unconstitutional. They are a major threat to the academic freedom to teach and learn about human sexuality.

Dr. John Ebersole: The 12 Myths of MOOCs

2013-05-24T18:04:30Z

In a recent survey of several hundred educators, only 13 percent of schools today offer MOOCs, but 43 percent plan to offer them by 2016. So if we agree the trend is here to stay, let's take a look at the growing mythology of Massive Open Online Courses.

1. MOOCs provide a quality learning experience.

While no one questions the quality of instruction offered by some of the finest minds in higher education, it is reasonable to question the extent of student learning from MOOCs. The great majority of participants do not complete the course they enroll in. Of the very small percentage who do, questions remain about the validity of the assessment instrument, the security of the assessment process, and, in some cases, the identity of the participant. To date, there is very little evidence of actual learning done by students who enroll in a MOOC.

2. Degree completion is the highest and best use of MOOCs.

There are several things that MOOCs do well. Unfortunately, as noted in Myth #1, the provision of a credit-worthy learning experience is still at issue. Public relations, continuing education, faculty reputation building and program marketing all appear to be better fits, at this point, for the MOOC.

3. MOOCs feature state-of-the-art instructional design.

Surprisingly, instructional design is not an element of the MOOC planning process. More often than not, instruction consists of the often distained, yet familiar, lecture that we associate with traditional instruction. This may explain why MOOC completion rates are less than 10 percent.

4. MOOCs are a recent phenomenon.

In fact, the first known MOOC was offered in 2008 as part of the Open Educational Resource movement.

5. MOOCs were created by premier universities in the U.S.

The first MOOC was a course on "connectivism and cognitive knowledge" presented to 25 tuition-paying students and 2,300 "free" participants at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

6. Tier One universities have embraced MOOCs out of a desire to provide free access to knowledge.

While this is undoubtedly one reason for offering a MOOC, observers suggest that the opportunity to enhance an organization's reputation by being seen in the company of such pioneers as Stanford, MIT, and Harvard has more to do with the rush to be a part of the movement. Since the majority of MOOC participants are from outside the U.S., MOOC offerings are an effective way to build brand awareness abroad, particularly as few institutions, other than the giants mentioned, are known around the world.

7. MOOCS are the only source of free, high-quality online content.

The Open Educational Resource and Open Course Ware movements offer thousands of high-quality online courses for free. Ironically, these offerings are thought to be more appropriate than MOOCS for degree completion students. The offering institutions are often the same - MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc.

8. While those completing a MOOC are relatively few (usually under 10 percent of enrollees), those who do are assured of receiving academic credit, which they may apply toward degree requirements.

In fact, only five MOOCs have been found credit worthy by the American Council on Education. And, even still, there is a lack of agreement as to whether to recognize this recommendation. No evaluation of learning outcomes has been presented in support of these recommendations and most institutions have not accepted the results.

9. Employees are anxious to employ those who complete technical MOOCs.

Although there have been anecdotal accounts of such hirings, there is no verifiable data to support these claims.

10. MOOCs do not live up to the hype.

It depends which "hype" we refer to. As PR and marketing tools, MOOCs have proven to be extremely effective. Similarly, their highest and best use is thought to be in providing cutting-edge content to time constrained professionals seeking to remain current in their fields. Credit and even completion are not necessarily objectives for this group.

11. MOOCs and their free enrollment business model are not sustainable.

As the major MOOC providers charge institutions to create an offering (up to $250K per course for edX) they are building a healthy income stream. The success MOOCs have created in building both faculty and institutional awareness assure an on-going stream of offerings, as does their success in profiling new offerings that involve tuition to continue the student's coursework beyond an initial "free sample."

12. The author of this piece is anti-MOOC

To the contrary, I am very bullish on MOOCs. As noted, there is much that they already do well. With greater attention to instructional design, student retention and secure learning outcomes assessment they can and will become important vehicles for increasing global access to knowledge.

WATCH: This May Be The Best Surprise Ever

2013-05-24T18:01:44Z

This might just be the best surprise ever.

Lori Clark, a U.S. Army major stationed in South Korea, had planned to watch her son Cameron VanVooren's graduation from Illinois State University via video teleconference.

She did him one better: earlier this month, she surprised VanVooren -- whom she hadn't seen since July 4, 2012 -- by showing up to his pre-graduation reception. Check out the video above for VanVooren's reaction -- and make sure you have tissues handy!

According to Illinois State University, Clark was a single parent when she enlisted in the military in 1994, though she has since married.

It's not the first time a military mom has pulled off a surprise reunion. In April, single mom Army Maj. Laura Byrd surprised her 15-year-old daughter at a school assembly.

Click through the slideshow below for more heartwarming homecoming stories.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Divorce on Facebook and Twitter.

Jon Whitmore: Answer to a Tough Question

2013-05-24T17:49:39Z

For as long as there have been schools, each fall teachers have probably looked at the uneven readiness of their new students, shaken their heads, and quietly wondered to themselves, "What were those other teachers thinking?"

ACT's National Curriculum Survey policy report was recently released, and describes that sentiment in stark statistical terms. While 89 percent of high school educators believe they have prepared their graduates for success, only 25 percent of college educators agree their incoming students are "well" or "very well" prepared for college-level work in their content areas.

That's a dramatic difference, but perhaps not so surprising.

Even in the earliest grades, kindergarten teachers express concerns that too many five-year-olds arrive at school unready to learn--they don't know their ABCs, how to count to 10, or even how to hold a book. In other words, on Day 1 they're already behind.

By fourth grade, if students are still "learning to read" rather than "reading to learn," the teachers have bigger problems. The third grade teachers may have made heroic efforts, but the fourth grade teachers are still saying to themselves, "These kids just aren't ready."

The same is true for the transitions from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, high school to college (as documented by the 89-to-25 percent difference of opinion), and even college to career. Employers--many of whom desperately need qualified workers--may see transcripts loaded with impressive GPAs, but few will hire applicants without rigorous interviews, work samples, or independent validations of workforce readiness.

ACT's policy report suggests three ways educators can make these transitions smoother, and the perceptual disconnects smaller.

First, ensure all parties are working toward the same goals. The Common Core State Standards align educators toward international-class standards of readiness. If a high school thinks it should be teaching "A," but a college expects "B," no matter how well the teachers teach the professors are still going to be disappointed. Standards need to be aligned on the front end.

Second, foster collaboration so curricula and classroom materials reflect the skills needed across the Kindergarten through Career Continuum. "P-20 councils" that include stakeholders from preschool ("P") through 12th grade, postsecondary institutions ("16th grade"), and graduate school ("20th grade"), can help ensure students master the most important skills at each step along their educational journeys.

Third, states and schools should do what they can to invest in the infrastructure necessary to enable the next generation of assessments. Innovative assessments will provide teachers, parents and students meaningful and immediate results that can tell richer stories, and provide greater insights, than are possible today--and more importantly, create millions more happy endings to those stories each year.

The answer to the question posed at the beginning of this piece, "What were those other teachers thinking?" may be as simple as "Something different"--and we can fix that.

By working toward common standards, collaborating with peers in different classrooms and even different campuses, investing in technology that can support these aligned efforts, and by measuring progress on a consistent basis, there will not only be fewer surprises--but more success.

That's an answer we can all agree on.

Jon Whitmore is CEO of ACT, a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is "Helping people achieve education and workplace success."

Kelli Rhodes-Stevens: Why Do I Live in Moore?

2013-05-24T17:41:30Z

It's a question I've been asked countless times before and it's a question that I'm sure to hear many more times over the coming days, months, and years.

I was a college sophomore on May 3, 1999, the day that Moore became the poster child of tornado alley. I watched on television from a dorm 20 minutes away at Oklahoma City University as the mile-wide EF5 barreled straight toward my childhood home, where my parents were hunkered down in a closet. They narrowly survived that day and so did their home.

Fast forward 14 years and 17 days later. As a professor at my alma mater on summer vacation, I was spending the day at home with my 22-month-old son while my husband was at work in north Oklahoma City. My son was in his crib, doing his best to avoid his daily nap. It was a normal day. I was enjoying the beginning of my summer as a stay-at-home mom.

Growing up in Oklahoma, you learn to be "weather aware" at a young age, so I was watching the radar closely on the local television stations. "Severe thunderstorm warning" read the map in my county. I changed my son's diaper, got him out of his crib, and poured his cup of milk.

As that short period of time elapsed, the anxiety in the meteorologist's voice had grown. This storm had rotation. This ordinary thunderstorm had decided that it wanted to be extraordinary. Moore escalated to a "tornado watch," which quickly converted to a "tornado warning," which escalated even more quickly to a tornado on the ground in Newcastle. I readied our pantry, the most central location in our home, with pillows and blankets to cover our bodies and prepared to hunker down, much like my parents had more than a decade earlier.

I realized quickly, hearing the voice of the meteorologist, that spending this storm in a pantry was not going to cut it. He said that coming out of this storm alive meant being underground. Around that time an opportunity presented itself to join my friends at their parents' home just two blocks away. The tornado sirens were already blaring. I hesitated, but after a text from my husband made it through the already jammed cellular lines I made the decision to leave.

There we were: 15 people -- members of the neighborhood, many of us strangers until that moment -- and my two dogs, crammed together in a small in-ground storm shelter. We waited, relieved to be somewhere safe. It simultaneously felt like an eternity and an instant. We listened to the radio: "The tornado is approaching 4th and Bryant." We were located off of 1st and Bryant. I expected to hear the freight train cross over our heads at any moment. We waited. We listened. That train never came.

Aside from everything being covered with a stew of debris, insulation, and mud, we all emerged unscathed. Not only was I lucky enough to have my life and that of my son spared, we had a home.

I sit on my laptop now, looking at the walls of my home, reliving the horror of the scariest day of my life, fully realizing that my horror ends there, in the shelter, safe, grateful, and in disbelief. I pray for the others who were not so fortunate. Their nightmare continues. The park where we once took our son to play is rubble. The geography of the streets I've traveled for the majority of my life is unrecognizable. Yet my life remains virtually unchanged. But I am changed.

So back to the original question: Why would you live in Moore, Okla.? Natural disasters happen everywhere, from coast to coast of this country and from pole to pole of this planet. If we weren't dealing with tornadoes, then we might bear the burden of impending earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, or volcano eruptions. I received an incredible public school education in Moore from outstanding teachers, where my love of education and teaching others was first cultivated. My affection for dance developed at my dance studio, further shaping my future vocation. This is where I built my childhood memories and friendships, friendships that endure today. Our family lives here, my parents, my husband's parents and siblings, my grandmother, and our cousins, aunts, and uncles. I could go on and on listing the many reasons why I love Moore, but the overarching reason is this: This is my hometown. Love lives here.

People in Moore don't live their lives in fear. We aren't "dumb." We aren't "hillbillies." And we most certainly don't "deserve this." We wake up each day and get ready for work and school. We make our way home in the evening to share conversation around the dinner table with our families. We are just like you. We love our community. In 10 years, 20 years, 50 years from today, you will more than likely find me here. Just one thing will have changed, I will never forget May 20, 2013, and the lessons I learned that day.

WATCH: Check Out These Idiots Fighting

2013-05-24T16:31:59Z

Step one: Get drunk. Step two: Buy fencing gear. Step three: Recording yourself fencing with your idiot friend, forgetting that you have no idea how to fence.

Los Angeles based comics Matt Ingebretson and Dave Ross successfully completed all three steps, and the resulting video quickly gained viral traction. The two idiots in question also featured on the upcoming stand-up comedy album Holy Fuck, based on the popular Los Angeles show of the same now. It's available for pre-order here.

Leslie Lofgren Berger: Unthinkable Tragedy Brings Unprecedented Response

2013-05-24T15:59:44Z

What does a native Okie do when driving home from work early to beat severe weather? Tune in to the radio, think about protecting your family and listen to some of the world's best-trained meteorologists track developing storms.

So goes May 20, 2013. However, the approaching storm would bring no typical tornado. May 3, 1999, has been remembered as a once-in-a-lifetime tragic event by Oklahomans. Anything surpassing it was unthinkable. Until now.

Not only was the size unthinkable, but so was the loss. In some ways, it miraculously took fewer lives than anyone reasonably would expect. But in the most important way, it took 24 too many. And, at Plaza Towers Elementary, especially, it took seven far too soon.

As a native Oklahoman, I have watched dozens upon dozens of live tornado reports. I considered myself narcotized to media coverage of disaster damage. Not the case Monday. Veteran and Emmy-winning journalists broke down on camera as they reported the horror from Moore.

It was as bad as it gets. The places we consider safe suddenly looked like a war zone. Teachers used their own bodies to shield students, keeping them safe from falling debris as an entire school collapsed upon them. Thank God for these selfless guardians of our children.

Immediately following the storm, help pours in from across the state, the country and the world. Only with well-trained volunteers and well-organized local efforts does aid achieve such a massive reach. Back at my work at Oklahoma City University, I work with an amazing team of colleagues to organize a response effort for the members of our campus community who were affected, as well as for all victims of the storm.

For every need, an Oklahoman is willing to step up and help. For every person who lost their home, a bed will be available. For every heartache, there is a prayer. Perhaps the only match for what could be the world's most destructive tornado is the world's most heartfelt response. In that case, Oklahoma has it covered. That's why this place is unique. That's why Moore will rebuild. That's why Oklahoma is the heartland of this nation.

Scouts Are Now 'Boy Sodomizers of America,' Says Right-Wing Pundit

2013-05-24T15:45:09Z

The Boy Scouts of America's decision to allow openly gay Scouts has generated a divided response from parents and other officials.

Not surprisingly, a number of conservative pundits and lawmakers quickly denounced the outcome. Among them was Texas Governor Rick Perry, who said he was "greatly disappointed" by the organization's decision.

"The Boy Scouts of America has been built upon the values of faith and family for more than 100 years and today's decision contradicts generations of tradition in the name of political correctness," Perry noted in an email statement.

Similarly riled was the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer. Fischer, whose anti-gay declarations have become a near-weekly staple of his "Focal Point" radio show, noted on Twitter:

BSA now stands for Boy Sodomizers of America, because that's what will happen. Mark my words.
â�� Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) May 24, 2013

Fischer also noted:

Jesus to BSA: "It would be better...if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea." Luke 17:2
â�� Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) May 24, 2013

Take a look at some other conservative responses to the Boy Scouts' decision to allow gay Scouts below: