A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the New York Times, there were plenty of stories about the economy again, but seeing as I am getting pretty depressed while reading those, I tried to steer clear and read about some other stories that caught my eye. Still, it's hard to completely pass stories by about the economy when I know that the second I get out of college I may easily be in way over my head with debt from school and without a job.

Monday: Today I found a very interesting article that really appealed to me, since I am really into cooking and also nutrition and eating well. This article looked at the cookbook The Joy of Cooking to see if the calories of the recipes increased from its first edition in the 1930s to today. With obesity such a problem in America, I was very interested to see if calories in the cookbook recipes had increased. I usually think of huge portions in restaurants and too much fast food and fatty foods being served at restaurants as the biggest problem in the US' struggle with obesity. However, according to this article, the meals we cook at home may not be helping. This article reported that 18 recipes in the 1930s edition of The Joy of Cooking had an average calorie count of 196.6 calories, while in today's edition, in these same recipes all but one had an increased calorie count of 39 percent! The new average calorie count is 273.6 calories. This really surprised me, and also made me realize how out of control portion sizes and the consumption of fatty ingredients and foods has become in this country.

Tuesday: Today I read more about the Catholic Church, a subject that really interests me as a Catholic and a person who attended a private, Catholic school for most of my life. While last week I read about the reinstatement of giving out indulgences in some NY churches, this week I read about the continuing scandals surrounding the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. From rehabilitating a group of schismatic bishops, one of whom denied the Holocaust ever happened, to appointing a priest known for saying that it was the sins of New Orleanians that caused Hurricane Katrina as an auxiliary bishop in Austria, Pope Benedict XVI has been making choices that have angered many Catholics, including myself.

To me, all of these decisions are showing that the Church, which with the Vatican II council had liberalized itself some, is going back to some of its more traditional ways and ideas. In other words, when the rest of the world is moving forward, the Church seems to be moving backwards, or at least trying to. Many Catholics are discouraged by Benedict's decisions as pope and are leaving the church. And while church officials are trying to make these decisions seem anamolous, many people believe that Benedict has always had more traditionalist views.
I worry about decisions made by the pope such as these recent ones, as I personally believe the Church should be attempting to move forward with the rest of the world and become a bit more liberal. While I understand that there are fundamental beliefs of the Church that go against some of today's more liberal views, such as the view that gay marriage should be legalized and that women should have the right to make their own choices about abortion, there is absolutely no reason why the Church should become more traditional and conservative. To me, they should really consider their views on gay marriage and abortion, but if those cannot be changed, I hope they will at least stop moving backwards towards old ideas.

Wednesday: Today the story that really caught my eye was about student's expectations and feelings of entitlement, which are leading to grading disputes in college. This article definitely hit home with me, since I know many people who complain about grades and agree with many of the ideas put forth by students in this article. I definitely think part of the problem is that many students believe that their effort, as opposed to the quality of their work, should be the determining factor of their grade. To me, this is just not true. While it is obviously important to give a great amount of effort in school, and this should be encouraged, it should not be what makes a student's grade. This kind of grading would create a sense of entitlement among students, and I think this kind of thinking on lower levels of education and even extra-curricular activities is what it making this a problem in colleges.
I personally believe that parents and teachers today are afraid of telling children they have failed.

Education is so full of trying to make every student think that they are special and just as good as every other student, and building self-confidence. And while it is obviously important for students to have high self-esteem, I think it is just as important for them to fail. If you tell a young student that their work was not as good as someone else but that since they tried they will get the same grade, they will always believe that effort is the key to getting high grades. However, giving a student a lower grade for work of less quality might actually increase their level of effort, resulting in a higher (and rightfully so) grades in the future!

One of my teachers in high school, who yelled at my class for an entire period about this issue after getting too many complaints about the grades he was giving out, said that this kind of teaching style, which attempts to boost children's self-esteem as opposed to boosting the quality of their work, is simply breeding mediocracy. In some ways, I kind of agree with him. In my life, it was not a teacher telling me I put in a good effort that made me try harder in school or become a better writer or better at math, it was failing that made me try harder. It was contructive criticism, and the knowledge that a higher quality of work existed that made me become a better student. This is so important in education, and the lack of it will only increase a sense of entitlement among students.

Thursday: Today was a day when I couldn't escape the economy. With the talk of the government's plan to help pay the mortages of people whose homes are going to be foreclosed all over the news last night (which I personally think may just make people less likely to really try to pay their mortgage on their own), the economy was on my mind. So, when I saw an article in today's Times talking about the increase in people needing to go to soup kitchens, I was very intersted. This article definitely shocked me- demand at food banks increased 30 percent from 2007 to 2008? That is such a huge number, and it really made me realize just how hard the economy is for people now. The article highlighted the "new layer of people" that now have a need to go to a soup kitchen or food pantry- people who once lived well above the poverty line, such as bankers, nurse's aides, secretaries, and even people who work at software and marketing firms, are losing their jobs and in some major financial trouble. I guess this article also made me realize how lucky I am that both of my parents still have their jobs, and that it is very unlikely they would lose them.