.....Researchers at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinios have conducted an experiment said to demonstrate that saliva testosterone and a proclivity to add more hot sauce to a beverage are both elevated in men who choose to disassemble a handgun in an empty room, versus a board game. Perhaps subsequent research will determine whether handling guns is also associated with a higher likelihood of men driving recklessly and eating take-out double-bacon cheeseburgers with supersized fries.

....Four hundred "educators" and students showed up at a special conference last weekend in South L.A. to hear why rap music should be used more in the classroom to teach kids basic language skills.

Teachers ran workshops in classrooms at John Muir Middle School. Michael Cirelli, who heads Urban Word NYC, an after-school and youth poetry program in New York, outlined lesson plans that had students write their own hip-hop songs, helping them become more comfortable with writing. Workshops covered a variety of topics, including showing how hip-hop lyrics can be analyzed to identify metaphors, puns, assonance, similes and personification. The event was sponsored by UCLA graduate students as well as local youth, hip-hop and community groups.

A better idea: give the kids a sheet with definitions of words such as "assonance," "dissimilar," "symmetry," "fortitude," "challenge," "cheapen," "condescend," "reprehensible," "enhance," and "diametrically." Discuss. Then require them to write a grammatical sentence using each. Repeat often, measuring progress.

....Healing, Eastern-bloc style: "Stalin's World" theme park in Grutas, Lithuania has celebrated its fifth anniversary. Pogroms, forced starvation, class war, millions killed...hey, what's not to revel in?

....Disability is a many-splendored thing, legally speaking. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports today:

A nuclear-reactor operator, who once admitted drinking 11 beers five hours before reporting for duty at the Perry power plant, says he was unjustly fired because he has a disability - alcoholism. The 11th Ohio District Court of Appeals agreed in part, ordering a trial judge to determine whether FirstEnergy discriminated against Gary Minshall by failing to accommodate his disability.

....Disturbing news from Florida. Thanks to animal rights activists, it's gettin' so ya cain't even rassle a gator no more. Sheesh.

.......Ohio taxpayers - your dollars at work:

Columbus -- A group of Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles employees uses an Internet search engine, two slang dictionaries and advice from drug and gang experts in the State Highway Patrol as they screen motorists' requests for personalized license plates. The group meets each weekday morning to look for references to drugs, sex and gangs that must be censored among the proposed plates. For example, Ohioans can make references to beer and other alcoholic drinks, but not to drunkenness....Columbus resident Charles Van Fossan says the bureau didn't catch two plates he thinks refer to drugs: GOTDUBZ and UZADIME. "You see these guys driving these cars, and it's obvious what they're referring to," he said. But after checking with the panel, BMV spokesman Fred Stratmann said GOTDUBZ refers to the tires on an automobile and UZADIME to a good-looking woman.

DISBDUM.

.....Two Boston College theologians are circulating for signatures a letter to other faculty there expressing concern about the scheduled commencement speech by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on May 22, and the awarding of an honorary law degree to her at that time. They and the 200 of 1,000 faculty who've signed the letter so far, fear the appearance could be construed as support for the Bush administration's actions in Iraq. At a rally yesterday, opposition to Rice's appearance was registered by a retired feminist theologian who had barred men from her classes at BC.

.....An Alameda County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary ruling yesterday in favor of tossing out the current California high school exit exam because it discriminates against students from low-income families and those with limited English proficiency. Indeed. Why should they be held to the same standard as others? Lower the bar!

TECHNORATI TAGS: KNOX COLLEGE, GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, GUNS, TESTOSTERONE, HOT SAUCE, LOS ANGELES, RAP MUSIC, READING, WRITING, STALIN'S WORLD, GRUTAS, LITHUANIA, GARY MINSHALL, FIRSTENERGY, ALCOHOLISM, DISABILITY CLAIM, FLORIDA, ALLIGATOR WRESTLING, ANIMAL RIGHTS, COLUMBUS, OHIO, LICENSE PLATES, BOSTON, BOSTON COLLEGE, CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SPEECH, CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM, LEGAL CHALLENGE

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 9, 2006 10:51 AM