HCRHS’s new cell phone policy

This is really interesting. Apparently Hunterdon Central, my high school alma mater, is revamping their cell phone use policy to allow kids to use their cell phones during lunch and between classes and listen to iPods in the hallway if “one ear is left clear for attention to external input.”

That seems so weird to me — that kids can use their cell phones during school. Who are they talking to during school hours? Aren’t all of their friends in school?

I guess we’re able to use our cell phones in college in between classes, but for the most part we use it to complete errands or call parents, who we don’t see on a daily basis. It just seems weird to me that high school kids would need to use their cell phones during the day. Who do they need to talk to that they won’t see on the bus ride home or in some club after school or in their next class?

The new policy, after the jump.

J.Warner to announce his future plans

Well, he said wait for September, but the Politico and Richmond Times-Dispatch are both reporting that Sen. John Warner will announce his plans for re-election on Friday, Aug. 31.

The senator plans an announcement at the University of Virginia’s Rotunda at 2 p.m., according to Carter Cornick, Warner’s chief of staff.Warner “has not shared with me his final decision,” Cornick said (Times-Dispatch, 8/30).

Warner is planning a 2 p.m. news conference on the grounds of the Charlottesville, Va., school, where he took his law degree over 50 years ago. The Virginian will give his speech near the statue of Thomas Jefferson on the steps of the school’s famous Rotunda, adding a fitting Warner flourish to the event (Politico, 8/30).

Classic.

GW slips in 2008 college rankings

My recent article in The Daily Colonial about GW’s latest college rankings. You’ll notice a quote about the impact of social networking sites on the college selection process; its a story that hasn’t fully been explored yet or monitored, as the quote says. I remember when I was a senior, my friends and I were on College Confidential almost all the time. I’m sure today’s high school seniors do the same, and more. Are universities tracking these sites to make sure that their word of mouth buzz is positive? WOM is the strongest type of marketing, and the last thing you want is bad buzz.

The George Washington University dropped another spot for the second year in a row in U.S. News and World Report’s latest college ranking release this morning. However, the University did improve in its rankings for undergraduate business programs and student debt.

GW slipped to 54 on the prestigious “America’s Best Colleges” list, tied with Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. and the University of Maryland, College Park. GW was 53 in the 2007 rankings, and 52 in the 2006 and 2005 editions.

The influence and value of these rankings is mixed. Though they are prestigious and highly scrutinized by both universities and prospective students, GW officials say they don’t react too drastically to the standings.

Kathy Napper, the director of admissions, said that these rankings must be taken with a “grain of salt.”

“All one has to do is look at the admissions criteria for a number of the schools in the “top 50″ (versus GW) to see the irrelevance of the rankings,” said Napper in an email. “Since we continue to increase our application numbers as well as selectivity, there is no reason to believe that the rankings will affect admissions numbers – students are looking for the ‘right fit’ for college as opposed to a ranking.”

Knapp out of silence, ready to start working

My most recent feature in The Daily Colonial ran this week; it is a report about incoming GW president Steven Knapp, who gave his first interview to student media since December 2006, when he was selected.  He invited student media to his farm in Sparks, Md., for a food and fun… and then sat down for an hour-long interview with the DC and the GW Hatchet. 

Six weeks before he steps into the role of GW’s new president, Steven Knapp is packing up his Maryland sheep farm and preparing to move to the “international capital,” as he calls it, that is Washington.

In an interview with student media at his farm in Sparks, Md., Knapp discussed the ideas he hopes to bring to the University and his activity the past few months.

Knapp has not been seen publicly at GW since the announcement in December 2006 that he would replace current President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg on Aug. 1. Before now, he has been inaccessible to most of the student population, including student media; this was his first conversation with student reporters since that December announcement.

Knapp said this absence has been “out of respect of the current president, who’s very actively engaged as president as we speak,” and because he was still serving as provost of Johns Hopkins University throughout the semester.

“We really didn’t want to create confusion between my role and President Trachtenberg’s role,” he said. “He is the president until July 31 and… it’s probably better for people to meet with me in larger groups when I’m actually there as the president, rather than (as) someone who is going to be the president while the (current) president is already there.”

 More at www.dailycolonial.com…

Stop crying

My favorite Hotline Spotlight ever, from 5/26:

The liberal netroots self-consciously compares itself to the conservative counter-revolution of the ’60s: brash, disaffected, ideologically principled gate-stormers. After yesterday’s war funding vote, there is another apt comparison: like the Christian conservatives who flooded into the GOP only to find that, after 25 years, abortion remains legal and gay rights are on the advance, the netroots are learning that they can move heaven and earth for their candidates and still wind up disappointed.
– Reactions are predictably inner-directed: Dem leaders are “lying whore[s]“; have “bizarre fear[s],” they’re more afraid of Bush than they are of a “demoralized grassroots base”; they’re avatars of “learned helplessness.”
– Valid or not, these criticisms give rise to two options: fight on or give up. The netroots will never believe the argument that “political realities” forced the Dem leadership hands, so they’ll never acquiesce. Markos tells his fellow activists to, essentially, grow up. “Heck, politics is about perpetually fighting battles, and no one — no one — has an undefeated record.” That’s a lesson conservatives learned the hard way, too.

MySpace to hold presidential primary

[Originally posted on the IPDI Blog on 4/3/07]

While some people try to extrapolate friends-on-MySpace as actual support, the MySpace people will give us something more conclusive: an actual presidential primary.

MySpace announced today that they will hold a presidential primary for all users on January 1-2, 2008, weeks before Iowa and New Hampshire. MySpace execs are dubbing this the “first presidential primary of 2008.”

MySpace VP Jeff Berman tells us that MySpace expects a huge “turnout” for the primary. MySpace has an average of 65 million American visitors a month and users from all age groups, and the primary idea was a result of users “asking for ways to engage with candidates and express themselves,” said Berman.

About 85 percent of MySpace users are 18 or older. 34 percent of the users are between 18 and 34. (Interestingly, 40 percent are between 35-44). Those stats coupled with the trend of increased voter turnout shows that the youth demographic is active and waiting to be tapped. Berman agrees: “Anyone who forgets the youth vote does so at their own peril.”

Google’s April Fools Joke 2007

New! Introducing Gmail Paper

Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well, you asked for it, and it’s here. We’re bringing it back.

A New Button
Now in Gmail, you can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and we’ll send it to you in the mail.

Simplicity Squared
Google will print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post.

Total Control
A stack of Gmail Paper arrives in a box at your doorstep, and it’s yours to keep forever. You can read it, sort it, search it, touch it. Or even move it to the trash—the real trash. (Recycling is encouraged.)

Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe
Google takes privacy very seriously. But once your email is physically in your hands, it’s as secure as you want to make it.

Learn more about Gmail Paper

Months before his start, Knapp stays away from GW

[Published in The Daily Colonial on 3/29/07]

When Steven Knapp was selected as the next president of GW in December, he and members of the Board of Trustees said that Knapp would be back soon – during the spring semester – to get to know the GW community.

Halfway into the spring semester, however, Knapp has yet to make a single public appearance on campus and has, at the advice of GW vice presidents, stayed away from meet-and-greets and media interviews until he ends his full time job at Johns Hopkins University.

“He’s still very much in a listening/learning mode, but as far as bringing him out proactively to the community… waiting until after Commencement would be more appropriate timing,” said Director of Media Relations, Tracy Schario.

“He’s got a full plate at Johns Hopkins and I think his attitude is that I’m the president until July 31 and then he’s the president,” said current President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. “So he’s not spending a lot of time worrying about GW and I’m not spending a lot of time worrying about Johns Hopkins.”

I’m that guy

From the Onion — the story of my life:

Friend Who’s Into Politics Makes You Feel Stupid Again

CHICAGO—Nate Carney, 28, your well-read, politically minded friend of eight years, made you feel ignorant again Tuesday with his incisive breakdown of the current Democratic presidential candidates.

“With former Daschle staffers like [early-state adviser Steve] Hildebrand and a reform-minded message guru like [media consultant David] Axelrod, Obama’s got the team in place he needs to appeal to everyone from the netroots to the AARP set,” said Carney, whose impromptu analysis reminded you that you still haven’t gotten around to reading the Obama cover story in that issue of Time magazine you purchased five months ago. “But even if the youth demo[graphic] increases its already improved turnout from ’04 and ’06, Obama’s still going to need to win over a significant number of rank-and-filers who support [Sen.] Hillary [Clinton] in order to gain a competitive number of convention delegates. Especially considering all the proposed changes to the primary calendar next year.”

After listening to more than 20 minutes of his well-reasoned extrapolation, you were too bewildered and disoriented to ask him what’s up with McCain.

[h/t Adam Conner]

“Harry Potter 7″ book cover revealed

Scholastic released the cover to Harry Potter and the Death Hallows today, the final book in the HP series.

“The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people,” David Saylor, Scholastic’s art director, said in a statement.

“For the first time, the cover is a wraparound. On the back cover, spidery hands are outstretched toward Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood.”

The covers for the British books were released too.  The British children’s book shows a grown-up-looking Harry, Hermione and Ron. The adult book has a photograph of a locket bearing a serpentine “S” — believed to be the “horcrux” in which Lord Voldemort keeps a fragment of his soul. (AP)

More pix after jump.  The British children’s cover is really lame. God bless America.