Wednesday's Most Active Thread

Fully half of yesterday's top ten most active threads were ones that I have previously discussed. That includes the most active thread overall which was the thread about Usman Shahid, the young Virginian whose speeding resulted in a collision and the death of two high school girls. He was convicted of two charges of involuntary manslaughter yesterday. The first thread that I will discuss today was titled, "Nate Silver: ‘Go to a state school’" and posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Most readers are probably familiar with Nate Silver, a stats-whiz who founded FiveThirtyEight and has been a leader in data-driven journalism. The original poster of this thread linked to an article by Silver in which Silver argues that most students should choose state schools over Ivy League or other selective private schools. Those who have paid attention to Silver over the past few years will know that he transitioned from a purely data-driven, "let the stats tell the story", analyst to a leader in the "take industry". These days, Silver seems to pay a lot more attention to "vibes" than to data. This article is no exception. Silver claims that the Ivy League has lost its luster. His evidence for that? A poll showing declining perceptions of higher education. Not Ivy League education, but higher education in general. The Nate Silver of a decade ago would have been embarrassed to offer such flimsy, and misleading, support for an argument. To be sure, for many students state schools are compelling options. It would be interesting to see an analytical study comparing various outcomes such as salary level, employment opportunities, and other factors between top state schools and top private schools. At one time, that would be the sort of thing to expect from Silver. But not anymore. Instead, we get things like suggestions that Ivy students are "coddled". Exactly how do you quantify that? Silver's article is more a collection of right-wing memes than serious analysis. In the thread, there are those who agree with Silver, including posters who agree that Ivy students are coddled. But plenty of posters disagree as well. Like Silver's article, most of the posts in the thread are based on perception. Perception is affected by many things, not all of them accurate. The value of Silver's past brand of data journalism was that it distinguished what is believed from what is real. We don't get that from him any longer. There has been thread after thread lamenting various aspects of today's Ivy League, yet I doubt that a single poster would turn down the opportunity (for either them or their child) to attend if it were reasonably available (i.e. not financially out-of-reach). As for those claiming that they would not apply, as I have written before, that's like me deciding not to try out to be the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The next most active thread was also posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "Is the future of higher ed in the South?", the original poster linked to an article in "The Free Press" arguing that students are giving up elite colleges in the North in order to attend colleges in the South. The article itself is not particularly convincing, concentrating mostly on a few Jewish students who said they were worried about anti-Semitism at northern colleges. Whether these students had a practical chance of being accepted at the colleges they claim to have rejected is another matter. For some reason the college forum has a constant flow of threads promoting colleges in the South. To an extent, this reflects the political environment and is somewhat related to the Nate Silver thread above. As universities in general are perceived as hotbeds of liberalism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and activism, southern colleges are promoted as exceptions. In addition, posters promote the weather and, strangely but consistently, the "beautiful people" at southern universities. It should be noted that "The Free Press" was founded by Bari Weiss who is also a founder of the University of Austin, a privately-owned, unaccredited school in Austin, Texas. As such, the publication has an incentive to promote southern colleges. As at least one poster noted about the Free Press article, "The actual stats they quote don’t show any kind of massive shift…it’s honestly fairly lite on stats in general." This is another characteristic of the threads supporting southern colleges. They tend to be more aspirational or, perhaps, wishful thinking than grounded solidly in reality. To be sure, there have always been some great colleges in the South that have been attractive to students from all over the US. So finding examples of students from the North choosing a college in the South is not difficult. The question is whether this is an increasing trend. I think a key point was made by a poster who noted that "when you actually look at certain Northern schools, their applications have grown almost the same. Pitt went from 31,000 in 2019 to 58,000, while Tenn went from 29,000 to 57,000. I don't get how Tenn is ‘hot‘, but Pitt is not." In contrast to the claims about the weather and beauty of the people are concerns about reproductive rights in southern states. As common as the threads promoting southern colleges tend to be, equally common is their disruption by posters claiming that it would be irresponsible to send a daughter to a school in those states. These concerns are brushed off by those promoting southern schools who normally suggest that female college students simply refrain from having sex.

Next was a thread titled, "I can't with the acrylic nails trend" and posted in the "Tweens and Teens" forum. The original poster rants that her 6th and 8th grade children (presumably daughters) are begging for acrylic nails but that she finds them to be expensive and impractical. She can't believe other parents are funding this sort of thing. Almost immediately this thread became a debate about acrylic nails in general. A huge number of posters have a visceral hatred of such nails, with posters repeatedly describing them as "gross". Having no daughters, I can't say that I was previously aware that acrylic nails are a trend. I don't really know much about them, but I am fairly certain that this is a trend that I prefer over tattoos. A solution frequently cited by other posters was to tell daughters that they could get acrylic nails if they paid for them with their own money. In many cases, the kids still got the nails, but in others the decided it was not worth it. Other posters recommended getting daughters involved in sports were such nails either are not allowed or are so impractical as to dissuade the girls from getting them. Several posters recommended press-on nails as a cheaper alternative. A number of posters, including some that hate the nails, said that their daughters had turned the nails into an art form and created elaborate decorations on their nails. That seems laudable to me. Another reason that a number of posters cited for opposing acrylic nails is that they allegedly destroy the natural fingernails. Others argued that the nails are unsanitary. Several posters said that they were put off by acrylic nails in professional settings and one poster quoted "Dress for Success" to argue that such nails might hinder professional advancement. In reaction, posters pointed out that these are middle and high school girls who are not immediately going to be making their Wall Street appearances. Acrylic nails have their fans in the thread. "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my nails and so does my [husband]", wrote one poster. Many of the acrylic nail fans reacted by suggesting that critics were just, well, old. "Don't you know your failure to understand it makes you look frumpy and out of date?", asked one acrylic nail proponent. The most convincing argument against acrylic nails was provided by a physician who told stories of women getting their acrylic nails caught on something and having their natural nail ripped off as a result. That sounds painful and very unappealing. Two unfortunate arguments that took place in this thread involved whether acrylic nails are "trashy" and whether they are particularly common among Black women. At least one poster seemed convinced that "trashy" is something that can scientifically be proven rather than just a subjective opinion. Other posters repeatedly made racial linkages to the nails, prompting one poster to ask whether there is a requirement for Black women to wear such nails. Contrary to popular belief, some Black women apparently find acrylic nails to be, if not trashy, at least gross.

The last thread that I will discuss today was originally posted in the "General Parenting Discussion" forum but I moved it to the "Schools and Education General Discussion" forum where it is more appropriate. The thread was titled, "Competitive academics - what to tell the smart, hard-working kid who isn't ‘the best’" The original poster, in a rather lengthy post, explains that her daughter is a good student who studies hard, gets good grades, and does well on standardized tests. However, the original poster's daughter is not very competitive and is in school with a handful of very competitive students who excel academically and, in some cases, athletically as well. These other students tend to win all awards given out at school and get all the accolades. This has caused the original poster's daughter to begin having negative thoughts about herself such as thinking that she might not be academically inclined or is not a smart person. The original poster wants to know how she can help her daughter understand that she is very capable and is able to succeed and should not be discouraged by the  competitiveness of some of her schoolmates. Many posters report having similar kids or knowing of similar kids. Many of them say that these kids eventually made peace with their situation and were successful at whatever they pursued. Much of the advice offered is repetitive or things that the original poster is already doing such as stressing that her daughter should "run her own race" and praise other positive characteristics that her daughter may have. One thing a number of posters stress is that for nearly all people, there will always be someone better than them. This is something the original poster's daughter should understand and not let upset her. Another perspective offered by some posters is that the awards on which the original poster's daughter misses out are normally given for very specialized areas of knowledge. However, there is something to be said for being a generalist with lots of strong skills even without dominating in a particular area. One poster compared this to honoring one student who is particularly good at basketball, while ignoring another student who is a strong runner, swimmer, and weight lifter, while not being the best in any of those sports. Despite the first student's basketball skills, it is still unlikely that the student will end up in professional sports. While the same is true of the second student as well, by having all around skills the student might be better prepared and stronger overall.