“Less than a third of Illinois’ eighth graders are being taught math by teachers who have even an undergraduate major in the subject,” notes James Krohe Jr. in Illinois Times (August 1-7). “Parents wouldn’t dream of sending their children to a plumber to have their teeth filled but they willingly send them to English majors to learn their fractions.”
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Now they tell us. The nuclear-power-industry trade association, the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, arguing recently for streamlining nuclear-power-plant licensing procedures: “The old two-step system for licensing nuclear power plants [one license for construction, another for operation] was appropriate for plants built in the 1970s and 1980s. It is no longer appropriate for plants that will be built in the future, because of fundamental changes in industry practice. In the past, utilities received construction permits based on preliminary, conceptual designs; design details were not known and as a result, questions about plant safety could not be resolved until the plant was built. In the future, nuclear power plants will be fully designed before construction begins.”
The good news is the bad news is no worse than it was two generations ago. According to a study published in Pediatrics (July), “The prevalence of sexual abuse as determined by adult questionnaires or interviews appears to have remained steady at about 12 percent for females over the past four decades.” The apparent recent increase may be due to increased reporting.
Dept. of architectural ironies, from the U. of C.’s Martin Marty, speaking in June at a Chicago conference on religious-property stewardship: “One cannot help but note with regret that the only places worth restoring are in locales where it is financially difficult to do so, and that where it is fiscally feasible to build new ones, congregations tend to favor structures that will not be worth preserving or restoring some day!”
