Of Pigs and Bees:

Michael Pollan, in his article in the NYT, "Our Decrepit Food Factories," wonders whether the notion of "sustainability" has lost it's meaning now that it's the hip thing to be. He looks at two cases -- massive anbiotic usage in pig farms and migrant-worker bees -- to examine the unintended consequences of cheap food.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16wwln-lede-t.html?em&ex=1198040400&en=e7a91eb098532b78&ei=5070

The Super Bowl of High Schools

Mary Tedrowe's opinion piece "The Rankings Game," in Teacher magazine decries our fascination with rankings in public schools.

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/12/12/14tln_tedrow_web.h19.html?levelId=1000&

So what if you're not always perfrect?

This semester I have asked my rhetoric students to write weekly for ten minutes on a famous quotation. The goal is that it will build fluency and comfort. There's a rough format for their responses: paraphrase, show how it's true (using examples from your life and the real world), then show how it might have some unexpected consequences if we really took it to heart. Sometimes students see that the veneer on common, uplifting, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps quotations is pretty thin, and leaves those who try and fail in a funk. This article in the New York Times talks about the unintended negative consequences of believing in the ubiquitious maxims of perfectionism in the American culture:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/health/04mind.html?em&ex=1197608400&en=12509c9b97c24d7f&ei=5070

Mind over Mind-over-body

In this article, "I'm not really running, I'm not really running," published in the New York Times, Gina Kolata writes "No matter how high you jump, how fast you run or swim, how powerfully you row, you can do better. But sometimes your mind gets in the way." My rhetoric class took a look at this today in class.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/health/nutrition/06Best.html?em&ex=1197435600&en=2dad7bfa34bfa04a&ei=5070

Also, for the students who wrote about teen drinking, and unhealthy choices, here's an article that shows why it's such a confusing and complicated issue, especially for teens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/09RTEEN.html?em&ex=1197435600&en=3e50e0cff26142c7&ei=5070

Need a book to read?

Here's the New York Times' list of the ten best books of 2007:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/books/review/10-best-2007.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin

Need 90 more? Here's the NYT's list of 100 notable books. Get reading!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/notable-books-2007.html