U.S. News evaluates educational quality by looking inside colleges at measures like faculty-student ratios, admissions selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.
I think the U.S. News rankings ought to get a D. They're roughly equivalent to evaluating a chef based on the ingredients he or she uses. At the Center for College Affordability & Productivity, a two-year-old research organization in Washington, D.C. with a free-market bent, we evaluate colleges on results. Do students like their courses? How successful are they once they graduate? In short, we review the meal.
Our measures begin with student evaluations posted on Ratemyprofessors.com, a nine-year-old site with 6.8 million student-generated evaluations. We look at college graduation rates (as does U.S. News). We also calculate the percent of students winning awards like Rhodes Scholarships and undergraduate Fulbright travel grants. For vocational success we turn to Who's Who in America. Though imperfect, it is the only comprehensive listing of professional achievement that includes undergraduate affiliations.
Ireland's more than 7,000 pubs elected not to take part - in part because of the risk that Saturday night revelers could end up smashing glasses, falling down stairs, or setting themselves on fire with candles..
After Cute Knut and Flocke, Germany on Friday got a new polar bear cub to ooh and aah over -- and this time one which hasn't been rejected or eaten by its mother.
Wilbaer is the name of the new fluffy white arrival, a play on words combining Wilhelma and Eisbaer -- German for polar bear -- and although he was born on December 10 his existence has been kept secret until now.
Wilbaer's mother Corinna appears to have decided to do her maternal duty and not abandon her progeny while still in cubhood, Stuttgart zoo director Dieter Jauch in southern Germany said.
Singling out ace hurler Daisuke Matzuzaka, Bush made reference to the large group of Japanese reporters who were on hand, joking, "His press corps is bigger than mine." He then noted another similarity he said he shares with "Dice K": "We both have trouble answering questions in English."
Throughout, Bush was effusive in his praise for the Red Sox franchise.
"I love the fact that you've got some of the game's biggest stars. I mean, 'Big Papi,' the guy lights up the screen," Bush said of Ortiz. "He brings a great personality."
But he couldn't help but note the absence of Manny Ramirez, who also did not attend the first Red Sox visit to the Bush White House after the 2004 World Series.
"I'm sorry [Ortiz'] running mate, Manny Ramirez, isn't here. I guess his grandmother died again," Bush quipped, drawing laughter form he crowd but quickly adding, "Just kidding. Tell Manny I didn't mean it."
"And how about Jonathan Papelbon? The guy pitches almost as well as he dances. And I appreciate the dress code. Thanks for wearing pants."
Even though they didn't win the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots will still be champions in several countries around the world.
Before major NFL events, like the Super Bowl, participating teams often pre-print victory apparel. The winning team sells its items right away, but the losing team is left with large quantities of merchandise that cannot be sold.
In this case, World Vision is partnering with the NFL and Reebok to help children in need receive the treasure of new clothing. Instead of throwing it away, the losing team's pre-printed victory apparel will bring joy to children in need around the world.
A college student has been given probation for repeatedly ramming his car into another man's vehicle last year on Interstate 95 in Maryland, claiming the man was a terrorist and he was the character Jack Bauer, a federal agent on the Fox television show "24."
However, the victim, 30-year-old Marlon Cantoral provided a false address to police and did not appear at the court proceedings [not a terrorist, just an illegal immigrant], prompting prosecutors to enter into a plea deal with the student, 23-year-old Edgar Sullivan of Elverson, Pa.
According to charging documents, Sullivan twice struck Cantoral's van, then ran after him into the lobby of a prison building shouting, "He's a terrorist." Sullivan was further quoted as saying that his name was Jack Bowers (Bauer) and that he worked for the FBI and the Secret Service.
Sullivan pleaded guilty to drunken driving in September and apologized in court Thursday. His attorney, Charles Broida, says his client is embarrassed but doesn't remember what happened.[I think he was on something stronger than alcohol.]
How's this for junk science - even with three Gold Gloves, Yankees captain Derek Jeter has been labeled the worst fielding shortstop in baseball.
But the numbers prove it, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania said yesterday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in (of course) Boston.
Using a complex statistical method, researchers concluded that Alex Rodriguez was one of the best shortstops in the game when he played for the Texas Rangers.
When Rodriguez became a Yankee in 2004, he moved to third base while Jeter stayed at short.
But that may have been a mistake, said Penn researcher Shane Jensen.
Researchers looked at every ball put in play from 2002 through 2005 and recorded where the shots went.
Jensen said a player's success de pended on his range as well as how effectively he made decisions and positioned himself on the field.
Players were then ranked in each position from best to worst, with Mr. New York Baseball - Jeter - coming in dead last among major league shortstops during the research period.
A-Rod, who won two Gold Gloves as a shortstop, was ranked No. 2.
"The Yankees have one of the best defensive shortstops playing out of position in deference to one of the worst defensive shortstops," said Jensen.
Sweet! Where can I get a top like that?!Unpopular at home and in much of the world during the last year of his presidency, George W. Bush is basking in rare adulation on his African tour.I have no doubt that history will judge Bush kindly, as it did Reagan, once people get some perspective and the irrational hatred fades.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete poured praise on Bush in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, the second day of his five-nation African tour, each compliment applauded warmly by members of the east African country's cabinet.
Although around 2,000 Muslim demonstrators protested against Bush on the eve of his visit, many thousands more cheering, waving people lined his road from the airport on Saturday.
Banners across the route, decorated with Bush's image against a backdrop of Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro, read: "We cherish democracy. Karibu (welcome) to President and Mrs Bush."
Others read: "Thank you for helping fight malaria and HIV." Dancers at the airport and at Kikwete's state house to greet Bush on Sunday, wore skirts and shirts decorated with his face.
...
Bush has spent more money on aid to Africa than his predecessor, Bill Clinton, and is popular for his personal programs to fight AIDS and malaria and to help hospitals and schools.
Bush has stressed new-style partnerships with Africa based on trade and investment and not purely on aid handouts.
...
Bush's legacy in Africa would be saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of mothers and children who would otherwise have died from malaria or AIDS and enabling millions of people to get an education, he said.
"I know you leave office in about 12 months' time. Rest assured that you will be remembered for many generations to come for the good things you've done for Tanzania and the good things you have done for Africa," Kikwete said.
Ever wanted to be a popstar? Just find a suitable vinyl album cover, hold it over your face and you can join in the internet's latest - and silliest - craze...I thought these two were the best. Black and white seems to help.
Booze bra gives women a wine rackFor those occasions when booze just isn't allowed a wine-holding bra has been created for the ladettes of this world.
Be it a rock concert or simply a trip to the women simply need to fill up the sports bra device with their favourite tipple and then once inside suck the liquid out of the special teat.
The bra serves the double purpose of also making the wearer's (wine) rack look more full – until the alcohol is all drunk down that is and the woman goes from a big chested beauty to a big bellied Betty.
The £20 polyurethane bladder can contain 750ml of liquid (a normal wine bottle) and boosts a woman's chest by two cups.
It is not the first time Metro has reported on illicit booze drinking devices. In 2006 we brought you the polyurethane beer belly for men.
Buy here in Britain.
Great article from the main page on Page 2, explaining how most of us outside of New England are feeling:
WE ARE ALL GIANTS
In this glorious moment, when words seem so inadequate to express the joy all non-frontrunning sports fans feel, the first thing that comes to mind is this: We are all Giants. We are all New Yorkers, just as surely as JFK declared himself to be a Berliner in 1963. How can we not feel profound brotherhood with Eli Manning, with Tom Coughlin and all the others to whom we owe both the sight of little Billy Belichick sprinting off the field in an ungracious, you-took-my-Legos huff and our collective freedom from the Boston Globe's "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England's Unbeatable Patriots?"
...February 3, 2008, marks the ushering in of a new age that seems so far from the promise of another historic day, Feb. 2, 2008 [the Patriots still undefeated, Tom Brady still upright], and a somewhat historic season, 2007-08, which we thought might conclude with a New England title and Belichick publishing "The Passive-Aggressive Manager's Handbook to Grumpy, Self-Serious Perfection in Football and Life." The first decade of the new century instead reminds us that games are worth playing, that odds primarily exist to enrich bookies, that America's preeminent advertising platform can still deliver a compelling sports experience and that Boston fans can now add 18-1* to Bill Buckner and Bucky F'n Dent.
In their ruthless professionalism and obsession with offensive metrics, in their ends-justify-any-means subterfuge and Only-Sing-When-You're-Winning single-mindedness, the Patriots embodied the most disturbing, dehumanizing aspect of modern athletics: Transforming play into work. In the long term, this attitude is untenable, because football is really nothing more than a complicated version of 5-year-olds chasing a soccer ball around a park, falling into each other and having a good time. It is the gap-toothed smile of Michael Strahan, crusty Coughlin enjoying a Gatorade bath. Joylessness, even under the pretext of competitiveness or dressed up in an extra-colorful Patriots hoodie, is never a force that can make sports worth watching or caring about. That is why today we are all Giants.
--Patrick Hruby
...Responding to the negative ad, Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, accused the Clintons of using the "politics of deception," and he compared the former president to the late Lee Atwater, a
Republican operative from South Carolina who was known for his tough tactics.
In response, Bill Clinton said Harpootlian's comments were a distraction, and he accused the Obama campaign of funneling smears through the media.
"They are feeding you this because they know this is what you want to cover. This is what you live for," he told CNN reporter Jessica Yellin, who asked him for a response to Harpootlian at an appearance in South Carolina. "They just spin you up on this and you happily go along," Clinton said. As aides steered him away, he scolded: "Shame on you."
In Washington, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who endorsed Obama last week, castigated the former president for what he called his "glib cheap shots" at Obama, saying both sides should settle down but placing the blame predominantly on Clinton.
"That's beneath the dignity of a former president," Leahy told reporters, adding: "He is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party."
That concern was also voiced by some neutral Democrats, who said that the former president's aggressive role, along with the couple's harsh approach recently, threatens to divide the party in the general election.
A few prominent Democrats, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), have spoken to the former president about the force of his Obama critiques. There is some fear within the party that if Obama becomes the nominee, he could emerge personally battered and politically compromised. And there is concern that a Clinton victory could come at a cost -- particularly a loss of black voters, who could blame her for Obama's defeat and stay home in November.
"I'm not underestimating that this could be divisive, but I think both camps know how important this is, that it doesn't go beyond repair," said Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.), the most vulnerable Democrat up for reelection next year, who is unaligned. ...
Anonymous residents on Lindy Lane claim Jean Mansel isn't picking up after her dogs, so to entice her to do so, they took something close to her heart.
Those residents say their Mansel's wiener dogs leave their leavings in their yard.
So, they stole her 80 pound statue of Jesus.
..."The note reads:“We are holding Jesus ransom until you clean up the poopie from your wieners and trust us we see you take your wieners for long walks w/out picking up their poopie in our yards. This has upset us dearly so please clean up all the weiner poopie, if you want to see Jesus unharmed. Sincerely, Lindy Lane Residents.”
This is "Nong Oui", Thailand's amphibian answer to the Hell's Angels.
There is nothing the black-spotted frog likes better than taking her Harley out for a spin - even if she is a bit of a poseur.
For one bride, her perfect wedding had to have that extra layer. So American Chidi Ogbuta had a life-size wedding cake made in her own image.
Standing over 5ft tall, the spectacular cake, made up of butterscotch and polymer clay, was an exact replica of the bride in her wedding dress.
