February 4, 2016


News Clips For The Day


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/florida-gov-declares-state-emergency-counties-zika-virus/story?id=36696887

Florida Gov. Declares State of Emergency in Counties With Zika Virus
Virus
By GILLIAN MOHNEY
Feb 3, 2016

Play Video -- Zika Virus The Basics


Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency today in the four counties where people have been diagnosed with the Zika virus.

There have been nine people in total who have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Florida, though health officials believe that all of them contracted the disease while outside of the U.S.

Scott said he wanted the state to be prepared for the chance that the virus could start to be spread from mosquito to person within the state. The Aedes aegypti mosquito that is the primary vector of Zika virus infections is present in the southeast portion of the country, including Florida, though in winter the mosquito populations are low.

"Although Florida’s current nine Zika cases were travel-related, we have to ensure Florida is prepared and stays ahead of the spread of the Zika virus in our state," Scott said in a statement today. "Our Department of Health will continue to be in constant communication with all county health offices, hospitals and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We know that we must be prepared for the worst even as we hope for the best.”

There have been no reports of the virus is being [sic] transmitted from mosquitoes to people in the U.S., though officials are concerned that small outbreaks could happen as the weather warms. A rare case of sexually transmitted Zika virus was reported in Dallas on Tuesday by the local health department.

Scott's executive order requires the state health officer to "take any action necessary to protect public health" and allows the commissioner of agriculture to issue a "mosquito declaration" in the affected counties to reduce populations of the insects that can spread the disease.

The Zika virus usually results in mild symptoms including fever, rash and fatigue that last up to a week. However, the virus has also been associated with the rise of a dangerous birth defect in Brazil called microcephaly, characterized by an abnormally small head and brain.



“Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency today in the four counties where people have been diagnosed with the Zika virus. There have been nine people in total who have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Florida, though health officials believe that all of them contracted the disease while outside of the U.S. …. "Our Department of Health will continue to be in constant communication with all county health offices, hospitals and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We know that we must be prepared for the worst even as we hope for the best.” …. Scott's executive order requires the state health officer to "take any action necessary to protect public health" and allows the commissioner of agriculture to issue a "mosquito declaration" in the affected counties to reduce populations of the insects that can spread the disease.”


In many ways I’m not fond of Governor Scott, but his effort to counter mosquitoes and “take any action necessary” to avoid the spread that has occurred in Central and South America. At this point there are nine Zika cases in only four counties, which means more than one in some counties, and when recent travel is considered to be the means of contracting the virus, that implies more travel than I would have expected. The well-separated locations of the cases does make spread by mosquito less likely, however.”

“Any action necessary” probably includes mandatory quarantine and self-reporting in the case of a mosquito bite or the several symptoms listed. If there are more local cases in the counties involved, there will probably be more statements from the Governor. When Ebola erupted last year, there was one patient who should have known better – a nurse – who declared her personal “right” to deal with it in her own way, including taking herself out of quarantine. The Constitutional guarantees of personal freedoms should include exceptions in cases like this when the disease in question causes severe problems for patient or her fetus. Also, if there are enough Zika infected people in a given area the nasty mosquitoes can more easily find a carrier and sample their blood, then begin a more rapid spread.

The governor hasn’t done the one other thing that he probably should, though, which is to spray insecticide to reduce the mosquito population. One Central American city was mentioned as having initiated such nightly spraying on its’ own. When I was young, the DDT truck used to come down the streets of my home town in NC. We can’t use DDT, but hopefully they have some safer modern insecticides. Luckily, like AIDS and Ebola, the virus is not spread by casual contact through the air. Sexual activity is almost as bad as spreading it by air, however, given the casual way that many people, especially young people, have sex with multiple partners.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-muzzled-martin-shkreli-taken-to-task-by-lawmakers/

A muzzled Martin Shkreli taken to task by lawmakers
By KATE GIBSON MONEYWATCH
February 4, 2016

Photograph -- smirkingmartin.jpg, Martin Shkreli laughs during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Feb. 4, 2016. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES, Florida Republican John Mica suggested calling him into contempt.
TWEET -- Martin Shkreli ✔ @MartinShkreli, Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government. 10:17 AM - 4 Feb 2016
TWEET -- Charles Cooper ‏@coopeydoop 2h2 hours ago, @MartinShkreli Is this guy serious? Bad form and disrespectful in the extreme.
TWEET -- Martin Shkreli ‏@MartinShkreli 2h2 hours ago, I had prior counsel produce a memo on facial expressions during congressional testimony if anyone wants to see it. Interesting precedence.
TWEET -- Ted Lieu @tedlieu, You know what's sort of cool @MartinShkreli? That I represent the people and you are under federal indictment. https://twitter.com/MartinShkreli/status/695264859907317761 … 10:51 AM - 4 Feb 2016
TWEET -- Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders Although Martin Shkreli’s greed is in the national spotlight today, skyrocketing drug prices are a daily struggle for many Americans. 9:36 AM - 4 Feb 2016
Related article: Martin Shkreli was one terrible investor, SEC document shows


Martin Shkreli showed up for a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, with the much-vilified former hedge fund manager and Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO pleading his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination [sic] in repeatedly declining to respond to questions.

As would be expected, that didn't stop members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from expressing outrage, with Maryland's Elijah Cummings lecturing Shkreli on Turing's behavior, which included a decision to increase the price of a life-saving pill to $750 each from $13.50.

"It's not funny Mr. Shkreli, people are dying, and they are getting sicker and sicker," Cummings, the panel's ranking Democrat, said. "Testimony from drug companies today will be the same, the difference today is we have looked beyond their smoke screen," he added, referring to research by congressional investigators.

While refraining to answer lawmakers, Shkreli did turn to social media to express his views shortly after leaving the hearing.

His insulting tweet drew a quick and taunting response from California Democrat Ted Lieu, a member of the panel that called Shkreli to Capitol Hill.

Shkreli, who is facing unrelated securities fraud charges, stood with others on a panel being sworn in following the opening comments.

Other than answering "yes" to one lawmaker asking whether he had pronounced his name correctly, and then to another when asked if he were listening, Shkreli invoked his Fifth Amendment rights five times before being escorted out of the hearing less than an hour after it began.

At one point, Shkreli's new lawyer, high-profile defense attorney Benjamin Brafman tried to address lawmakers in the midst of their attempts to get Shkreli to speak, but he was cut off by Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, the committee's chairman.

While in the hearing room, Shkreli smiled broadly to the clear annoyance of lawmakers, who continued their criticism after he was dismissed from the proceedings.

Tennessee Republican John Duncan Jr. noted what he called Shkreli's "childish, smart-alecky smirks," saying the 32-year-old had even turned away and posed for pictures as a ranking panel member was speaking.

Duncan said Shkreli's attorney should better advise his client against such behavior. "Because a jury would love to convict somebody if he acts that same way on trial."

In another message posted on Twitter following his appearance, Shkreli referred to his facial expressions.

Brafman told reporters Shkreli outside a court hearing in Brooklyn on Wednesday that his client would no longer be speaking to the press until the criminal charges against him were resolved.

While members of the House panel failed to get Shkreli to talk about drug price hikes, the current poster boy for corporate greed did speak on that very same topic in an appearance Wednesday on the syndicated radio show called The Breakfast Club.

"The number one thing I'd say, in law, cause a lot of people don't understand this, it's kind of interesting, you can be prosecuted for not maximizing profits," Shkreli said. "You have to do everything in your power to make as much money as possible, in the system that we've got. That's business."

The proceedings captured the attention of at least one presidential candidate, who also weighed in on social media.



CBS -- “As would be expected, that didn't stop members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from expressing outrage, with Maryland's Elijah Cummings lecturing Shkreli on Turing's behavior, which included a decision to increase the price of a life-saving pill to $750 each from $13.50. …. While refraining to answer lawmakers, Shkreli did turn to social media to express his views shortly after leaving the hearing. His insulting tweet drew a quick and taunting response from California Democrat Ted Lieu, a member of the panel that called Shkreli to Capitol Hill. Tennessee Republican John Duncan Jr. noted what he called Shkreli's "childish, smart-alecky smirks," saying the 32-year-old had even turned away and posed for pictures as a ranking panel member was speaking.”

Is it possible that the bribe money which lawmakers get under the table from monopolistic drug companies is paying off royally in immoral favoritism? Our legislators should reflect on the fact that they have a duty to prevent such monopolistic practices – it is illegal and immoral. Doing that may well mean a strong examination of the FDA practices, rules and privileges, as well. The FDA should be enjoined from making moves that cause such economic problems. Drug prices are sky high already and do contribute to damaging our economy. The less money John Q Public has to spend on goods and services, the more we as a nation will move into recessions that stall and cripple us, causing things like small businesses going out entirely, joblessness and increasing the level of poverty rather than reducing it. It’s the butterfly effect in action.

Republicans are always interested in the economy, right? They should be in favor of rewriting FDA regulations as necessary to prevent what may well be collusion with the monopolistic power, in this case Shkreli. If the congressman who is essentially taking bribes is a Democrat, I feel the same way about it. It’s evil, whoever is doing it. Shame him, or boot him out. Have you ever noticed that so many young politicians enter office as poor as church mice, but end up Millionaires?

If Citizens United is a part of the cause, let’s rewrite the election laws in such a way as to eliminate it as a legal possibility. When the Supreme Court makes a decision, the legislatures need to make a law that doesn’t have the particularly problematic characteristics that the Court wants to avoid. Receiving huge amounts of money from businesses to smooth their way into office – which Citizens United allows -- clearly makes the corruption in the legislature worse every day, and puts the ordinary consumer at a huge disadvantage financially. Too often you can’t pay your mortgage if you must get braces for your kids’ teeth and fill up your cupboards. When more and more citizens are priced out of the market on essential things, our Middle Class will be further destroyed, giving the Billionaires more and more. It’s very much a vicious cycle.


On price gouging in general: “http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-fda-can-single-handedly-stop-20160105-column.html. The FDA can single-handedly reduce drug price-gouging. Why is it waiting? By Michael Hiltzik Contact Reporter, The Economy Hub.”

“Addressing monopolistic conditions that give rise to sudden price hikes is a means to 'prevent future shortages.' - Jeremy A. Greene, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine”


The crisis in soaring drug prices has produced not merely a new class of public enemies to skewer -- step forward, Martin Shkreli! -- but the best evidence yet that the nation's healthcare regulatory priorities are out of whack.

How badly the regulators have failed is the theme of an article by Jeremy Greene of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. His argument is that the Food and Drug Administration has ample authority to quell profiteering in the generic drug market, but hasn't used it.

Addressing monopolistic conditions that give rise to sudden price hikes is a means to 'prevent future shortages.' - Jeremy A. Greene, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Greene pegs his analysis to the run-up in prices of generic drugs whose manufacturers face little or no competition, and therefore almost no disincentive to keep prices reasonable. The poster child for the issue, of course, is Shkreli. He's the brash young investor whose Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim, a treatment for a parasitic disease especially threatening to HIV and cancer patients, and jacked up its price 5,000%, from $13.50 a pill to $750.

But Shkreli was not a pioneer and was hardly alone, as Greene documents. Valeant Pharmaceuticals last year raised the price of two generic heart medicines by 1,886% and 3,650%. In some cases, shortages of generics with only one or two manufacturers prompt "gray market" middlemen to rush into the breach, providing supplies of vital drugs at huge markups. These activities have generated plenty of political smoke, including policy statements from presidential candidates and congressional investigations, but so far no action.

“Sometimes FDA action itself prompts a price run-up. That's what happened with Makena, a drug to prevent premature births, which won FDA approval as an "orphan drug" in 2011. As hydroxyprogesterone caproate, the drug had been in common use by physicians at a cost of about $15 per injection. The FDA approval, however, gave its manufacturer, KV Pharmaceuticals, exclusive rights to market the branded generic and keep competitors out of the market for seven years. KV raised its price 100-fold, driving the cost of a full treatment to $25,000, from $250, and ending access to the treatment for thousands of women. Gilead harmed patients by overpricing its drugs. But did it miscalculate?”




latimes.com -- “Addressing monopolistic conditions that give rise to sudden price hikes is a means to 'prevent future shortages.' - Jeremy A. Greene, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.” The crisis in soaring drug prices has produced not merely a new class of public enemies to skewer -- step forward, Martin Shkreli! -- but the best evidence yet that the nation's healthcare regulatory priorities are out of whack.” …. “But Shkreli was not a pioneer and was hardly alone, as Greene documents. Valeant Pharmaceuticals last year raised the price of two generic heart medicines by 1,886% and 3,650%. In some cases, shortages of generics with only one or two manufacturers prompt "gray market" middlemen to rush into the breach, providing supplies of vital drugs at huge markups. These activities have generated plenty of political smoke, including policy statements from presidential candidates and congressional investigations, but so far no action.”


Monopoly has been in the news several times recently, but no one dares to sue or prosecute them over it. I looked for laws on monopoly several months ago and found several, not just one, yet prosecutions are not occurring yet. Is that a matter of payoffs, perhaps? Or does the Supreme Court need to weigh in on it? Maybe this Shkreli case will produce enough public ire that action will result in reducing the size or corporations, fine them severely or, better still, put them out of business. With all those lawyers in the government I’ll bet somebody knows how to do that. “-- but the best evidence yet that the nation's healthcare regulatory priorities are out of whack.”

That statement by the writer of this article, Hiltzik, doesn’t merely cite stupid or inept rules on the part of the FDA, but a “priority” that is misguided. Cynical as I am, I tend to see a possible/likely quid pro quo in operation here. Perhaps in addition to coming down hard on Shkreli, which Congress certainly should do, there is a need to severely moderate the power of the FDA to aid or promote such extraordinary greed, even by accident. Negligence is prosecuted in many courts, such as the Honda and other small cars with the exploding air bags, so why not at the FDA. Shkreli’s extraordinary price hike amounts to a street mugging on those patients who need an AIDS medication or any other necessary drug.

If you want to see Shkreli giving his very irritating grin, see the photo at http://www.npr.org/sections/news/, The Two Way, No Comment From Grinning Martin Shkreli At House Hearing On Drug Prices. His smugness and disdain for the court proceedings is clear. I'm not recommending it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone shoots him one day as he is walking down the street – if such wealthy and spoiled people ever do “walk down a street.”



http://www.npr.org/2016/02/04/465530121/unpaid-water-bills-in-flint-could-hinder-repairs

Unpaid Water Bills In Flint Could Hinder Repairs
STEVE CARMODY
Updated February 4, 201611:16 AM ET
Published February 4, 20165:11 AM ET

Photograph -- The city of Flint, Mich., may not have enough money in the future to pay for repairing broken water mains and replacing sewer lines.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Photograph -- Gov. Rick Snyder, R-Mich., delivers his State of the State address last month, in which he apologized for the state's response to the Flint water crisis.
Al Goldis/AP


High levels of lead in their drinking water have Flint, Mich., residents relying on cases of bottled water for just about everything. So it may come as no surprise that thousands of them have stopped paying their water bills.

Lynna Kaucheck of the not-for-profit group Food and Water Watch delivered 21,000 signatures to the Flint mayor's office last week calling for a moratorium on drinking water bills.

"All of this is a lot for people to handle, and enough is enough," she said. "Flint residents need relief."
More than a quarter of Flint water customers stopped paying their water bills last fall after it was confirmed that their drinking water was contaminated with lead.

That's cost the city millions of dollars. As a result, the city may not have enough money in the future to pay for repairing broken water mains and replacing sewer lines.

Gov. Rick Snyder, R-Mich., who has come under withering criticism for the state's role in the crisis, agrees that Flint residents shouldn't have to pay for tainted drinking water. He is asking the state Legislature to give $30 million to Flint to cover the cost of water. But he says residents should still pay the part of their bill that supports the water and sewer system.

The governor's plan would provide credit for water bills dating back to April 2014, when the city's tap water source was switched to the Flint River. It was the failure to properly treat the river water that damaged the city's pipes, which continue to leach lead into the drinking water.

Snyder says he and city officials still have to figure out exactly how to credit Flint water customers for the tainted water they already paid for.

A federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of Flint water customers is seeking $150 million in refunds and damages.

Attorney Billy Murphy says the lawsuit he filed this week will compensate Flint residents for paying for water that he calls "incredibly dangerous."

"The city, the state, the local government officials, the governor, all know that this was catastrophically wrong," Murphy said. "The citizens should not be made to add insult to injury by having to pay for dangerous, dirty, non-drinkable, non-usable water."

Flint residents still receive a monthly bill for water they can't drink, at rates about eight times the national average.



“High levels of lead in their drinking water have Flint, Mich., residents relying on cases of bottled water for just about everything. So it may come as no surprise that thousands of them have stopped paying their water bills. Lynna Kaucheck of the not-for-profit group Food and Water Watch delivered 21,000 signatures to the Flint mayor's office last week calling for a moratorium on drinking water bills. "All of this is a lot for people to handle, and enough is enough," she said. "Flint residents need relief." …. He is asking the state Legislature to give $30 million to Flint to cover the cost of water. But he says residents should still pay the part of their bill that supports the water and sewer system. The governor's plan would provide credit for water bills dating back to April 2014, when the city's tap water source was switched to the Flint River. …. A federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of Flint water customers is seeking $150 million in refunds and damages. Attorney Billy Murphy says the lawsuit he filed this week will compensate Flint residents for paying for water that he calls "incredibly dangerous."


“Flint residents still receive a monthly bill for water they can't drink, at rates about eight times the national average.” A statement to this effect was made in an article when this all hit the news, and apparently they are still liable for the ridiculous water bills. The Class Action suit may prevent the city from being able to collect, plus as was mentioned above, reimburse those citizens who have continued to pay – about ¾ of the residents. If the state gives Flint the requested $30 million, the city will still be bankrupt, I imagine, since it has to compensate the citizens for their money outlay on unusable, unsafe water. The situation doesn’t seem to be getting much better, yet. The main good news is that the city (and maybe others) is providing safe bottled water at the present. I hope I see some good news about all this soon.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-you-have-outrun-a-t-rex/

Could you have outrun a T. rex?
By AMY KRAFT CBS NEWS
February 3, 2016

17 PHOTOS -- Titanosaur takes New York by storm
Photograph -- track-press.jpg
Photograph -- A fossilized tyrannosaur footprint. SEAN SMITH, DIRECTOR OF THE GLENROCK PALEON MUSEUM IN WYOMING


Paleontologists have always disagreed about how fast a T. rex could run. One camp says that because of the large size of this fearsome dinosaur, it would be physically limited in its ability to run fast. Ecologically speaking, though, others believe that the predator must have been able to run fast to catch its prey.

Dinosaur bones offer little evidence about speed because researchers can't know for sure where the muscles went and how they were used for locomotion.

Trackways, footprints made by a single animal, are studied to determine how fast an animal was moving when they made the tracks. However, fossilized footprints are extremely rare because of the conditions needed to leave them (muddy ground that solidifies quickly). And even rarer in the case of a top predator like a T. rex, whose population would be small to maintain its position in the ecosystem.

But recently discovered fossilized footprints dating from about 66 million years ago, found in Wyoming's Lance Formation, a division of rocks known for its Late Cretaceous fossils, offer some evidence about how tyrannosaurs moved.

University of Alberta paleontologist Scott Persons and Sean Smith, Director of the Glenrock Paleon Museum in Wyoming, identified three sequential tracks that they believe belonged to either a sub-adult Tyrannosaurus rex or its smaller cousin, a Nanotyrannus lancensis.

The study, reported in Cretaceous Research, identifies the second multi-step tyrannosaur track site known to science and the first belonging to a T. rex or Nanotyrannus.

Because of the size of the footprints (the largest measured 18.5 inches long and 14.5 inches wide) and the imprint of a small fourth claw at the rear of one of the tracks, Persons and Smith identified it the prints as belonging to a carnivorous dinosaur. The age of the trackway and its location narrowed it down even more to a species of tyrannosaur.

"The tracks are just a bit too small to belong to a full grown T. rex," Persons said in a press release. "But they could very well be the tracks of an adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex, or they could belong to the closely-related smaller tyrannosaur Nanotyrannus. We really can't say which."

The dinosaur's stride measured about 10.9 feet long. Persons and Smith were also able to calculate the speed at which the dinosaur was walking at the time, which they estimated between 4.5 and 8 km per hour, or 2.7 to 5 mph. To put that in perspective, a human walks at an average pace of about 3 mph.

It also shows that, even when walking, tyrannosaurs moved faster and covered more ground in a single step than large herbivores like the duckbilled dinosaurs that also roamed the area at that time.

The dinosaur who left these tracks was walking at a slow pace, which is indicated by its footprints being spaced wide apart. Persons also noted that the fossils are of a tyrannosaur walking over muddy ground, so it was probably going at an even slower pace than usual.

But if you think it sounds like you could take that slow-moving dinosaur in a foot race, think again. Persons told CBS News there's little chance a human could outrun such a massive predator. "If you went back to the Cretaceous Period and jumped out of your time machine, then you would get eaten by a tyrannosaur," he said.



“But recently discovered fossilized footprints dating from about 66 million years ago, found in Wyoming's Lance Formation, a division of rocks known for its Late Cretaceous fossils, offer some evidence about how tyrannosaurs moved. …. University of Alberta paleontologist Scott Persons and Sean Smith, Director of the Glenrock Paleon Museum in Wyoming, identified three sequential tracks that they believe belonged to either a sub-adult Tyrannosaurus rex or its smaller cousin, a Nanotyrannus lancensis. The study, reported in Cretaceous Research, identifies the second multi-step tyrannosaur track site known to science and the first belonging to a T. rex or Nanotyrannus. …. The dinosaur's stride measured about 10.9 feet long. Persons and Smith were also able to calculate the speed at which the dinosaur was walking at the time, which they estimated between 4.5 and 8 km per hour, or 2.7 to 5 mph. To put that in perspective, a human walks at an average pace of about 3 mph. …. It also shows that, even when walking, tyrannosaurs moved faster and covered more ground in a single step than large herbivores like the duckbilled dinosaurs that also roamed the area at that time.”


I was at a religious retreat in West Virginia, and a group of us were walking in the woods. We came across a relatively dry creek about 20 feet wide, which had a smooth layer of sedimentary rock. Running right down the length of the creek, and inside the banks, were tracks all in a line, which didn’t look like more than one animal. They were about nine inches long and almost as wide. They didn’t have the distinctive claws like I expect a tyrannosaur or raptor to have, but were more rounded like the feet of an elephant.

At the time I thought they were dinosaur tracks, but looking back on it, I think they may have been mammoth tracks. The prints were about 2 feet apart, looking like the animal was going at a moderate walk. That was as exciting as when my father found a 6,000 to 8,000 year old Indian grindstone 8 inches or so across. It was roundish and angular rather than fully round, made of a hard sedimentary rock and with a distinctive and beautiful round grinding area in the middle, about 4 inches across. We took it to the Anthropology Department at UNC. A professor there answered and said we should bring in on over. That was a very nice thing for him to do, because rain was pouring down non-stop, and I’m sure we all got wet.

He looked at it and gave its’ probably age and use. He then showed us the other artifacts in his lab. Those Indians didn’t have corn yet, but they did eat acorns and other nuts, which he said was the probable use. It weighs some 10 to 15 pounds, but I still have it, along with two other large specimens from my old rock and mineral collection. One is a clear white quartz crystal 9 or 10 inches long and weighing maybe five pounds.

Daddy was as interested in that kind of thing as I was, and we both contributed specimens to our collection. I have always loved things that carry my mind back hundreds or thousands of years, and being in touch with the population of the time. That gives me a unity with mankind that I don’t get from going to a cocktail party. Parties are good if I know the people well, but a treasure like that stone gives me a deeper contact that satisfies my inner person.



http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/04/461942790/making-science-teaching-more-than-a-backup-plan

Making Science Teaching More Than 'A Backup Plan'
ANYA KAMENETZ
Updated February 4, 20162:09 PM ET
Published February 4, 20169:00 AM ET

Photograph -- Amelia Westerdale works with physics students during a tutorial session at the University of Colorado Boulder. Westerdale is part of the Learning Assistant Program, tasked with helping to coach and tutor students.
Theo Stroomer for NPR
Photograph -- Learning assistant Michael Byars (standing) talks with (from left) students Anna Eydinova, Aaron Higa and Austin Reed during an evolutionary biology class. Theo Stroomer for NPR
Photograph -- Katie Dudley is a junior aerospace sciences engineering major at CU Boulder. Theo Stroomer for NPR
Photograph -- Students Geya Kairamkonda (left) and Patrick Murphy perform an experiment on electric charge using Scotch tape during a physics tutorial session. Their class uses learning assistants as tutors. Theo Stroomer for NPR
Photograph -- Professor Steven Pollock teaches a physics class at the University of Colorado Boulder. Pollock helped found the Learning Assistant Program and conducts research in physics education. Theo Stroomer for NPR
Photograph -- Learning assistant Michael Byars (standing) talks with (from left) students Anna Eydinova, Aaron Higa and Austin Reed during an evolutionary biology class. Theo Stroomer for NPR


"Squat! Squat! Squat! Higher! Faster!"

In the basement of the Duane Physics and Astrophysics building at the University of Colorado Boulder, a science demonstration is going on, but it looks more like a vaudeville act.

One by one, students balance precariously on a rotating platform. Then they are handed what looks like a spinning bicycle wheel, holding it by two handles that stick out from either side of what would be the hub of the wheel. When you flip the wheel over, like a pizza, your body starts rotating in the opposite direction.

The principle at work is called angular momentum, explains Katie Dudley: "You can move or stop yourself by changing what you do to the wheel."

Dudley is a blonde 20-year-old junior with glasses, an aerospace engineering major. She's in charge of today's session, tutoring a roomful of students who are her own age or even a bit older. She's a learning assistant — an undergraduate trained and paid to help teach fellow students.

Most science and engineering classes around the country are a lot less interactive, a lot more intimidating, and daresay it, a lot less fun than this one. CU Boulder has started a movement to improve the quality of science education around the country, not only on campuses but in K-12 classrooms. And the LAs, as they're called, are at the center of this work.

The efforts here began with professors like Steven Pollock, who team-teaches the Physics 1110 course where Dudley is an LA. As we sit upstairs in his office, he tells me that about 15 years ago, he switched his research specialty from nuclear physics to the teaching of physics.

"I just sort of saw myself in 2000 looking forward 20 or 30 years to retirement," he explains. "I could either have learned a little bit more about the strange quark content of the proton, or how people learn physics and how to teach it better. And it seemed like that was way more important to the world."

Not everyone agreed. When Pollock came up for tenure here, the department was split in half, for and against. Since then, he has been named a national Professor of the Year.

His former colleague Carl Wieman, who earned the Nobel Prize in physics in 1995, has carried on similar research at Stanford. Pollock and Wieman are both leading colleagues, across disciplines from astronomy to physics, in researching how people learn science, and then applying that knowledge in the classroom. (Watch out for an upcoming piece on Wieman as part of our 50 Great Teachers series!)

One major point that the studies have proved is something you might already guess: Lectures don't really work. They leave most people without a solid grasp of even basic concepts, Pollock says.

"If you just teach by standing at the blackboard and try to transmit your understanding of physics just by words, then even a minimal standard typically is not reached," he explains. "Students aren't learning that stuff."

CU Boulder still has big lectures, but science and engineering classes also feature weekly small group discussions, labs and demonstrations facilitated by the LAs, sometimes under the supervision of grad students. The LAs take a course on pedagogy that emphasizes the use of open-ended questions and other research-driven teaching techniques. As a side effect, these bright young scientific minds get curious about the process of teaching and learning itself.


"I use my engineering thought with students, to figure out what they already know and are good at," Dudley says. "I have to figure out where they are, where we need to get them, and what steps might work best with each individual student. So every student is like a new engineering challenge to solve."

With the help of the LAs, "We can use pedagogy that is very effective, but needs a good teacher-student ratio," Pollock says. "We've got lots of people here in the room to help out."

The program has a "sneaky" faculty-development angle as well, Pollock adds. That's because, in order to take advantage of the LAs' help, professors have to shake up their old passive, lecture-based teaching methods.

In weekly training sessions, instead of asking content-based questions, the LAs are likely to ask professors about common student misconceptions or other pedagogical matters. "It improves our own teaching when we have to think about teaching with these undergrads," Pollock explains.

The department's own research shows that use of LAs improves students' understanding of science concepts in physics, astronomy and biology. Students who take LA-supported courses are more engaged in their studies and up to 10 percent more likely to graduate.

The students in the basement demo session report the same thing.

"Katie's the best," says Brenda Ortiz, a junior studying psychology and education. "I feel supercomfortable asking her questions. If you don't get it one way, she has multiple ways of explaining it to you."

Evan Dong, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering who's sitting at Brenda's table, admits he's actually here just "for fun."

His own section of this course was earlier in the afternoon, but he often shows up at Katie's section, also: "I've been riding on that wheel for the past two hours. It makes me dizzy, but that's part of the fun!"

Broader Applications

The LA program is shifting the momentum at another level, too.

There's a lot of talk about the importance of STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — for America's future competitiveness. But across the country, very few undergraduate math and science majors go on to become classroom teachers.

"One a year — that's a high-producing institution," explains Valerie Otero, referring specifically to physics majors going into the K-12 classroom. Otero helped start up the LA program soon after she came to CU Boulder's School of Education in 2003.

The lack of teachers with science backgrounds means that most students get their first introduction to STEM disciplines from teachers who are less familiar with the subjects — and who may even be intimidated by them. This "math anxiety" gets transferred to students, research says. Even at the middle school level, about a third of math and science teachers nationwide either did not major in the field or are not certified to teach it.

With the introduction of the Learning Assistant Program, today about 16 to 20 LAs every year at CU Boulder get their teaching certificates while they're still undergraduates.

The number is small in absolute terms, but it means a lot for access to quality science and math teaching. Especially in places like the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where Ian Her Many Horses, a Ph.D. student in computer science, is planning to return to teach.

"Coming out of the College of Engineering, I would not have had access to becoming a teacher," he says. "This was a way for me to get my foot in the door."

In the meantime, he's teaching the pedagogy course to other LAs, keeping his teaching skills sharp.

Otero says their research — following former LAs into the classroom — shows that they continue to be more likely to use more evidence-based teaching techniques, like group discussions.

This effect on the STEM teacher pipeline is a big reason the LA program is now being copied at 88 universities around the country.

"It's spreading like wildfire," says Otero, who has set up a website sharing their training materials. The program leaders often travel to teach and speak about the model. Nationwide there are about 3,000 LAs right now, and all told they're working with tens of thousands of students.

Katie Dudley is one LA who plans to go into teaching, even though she could make a lot more money in an engineering job. I asked her if she ever gets pushback from people, even family members, who feel like she should be taking some other, more lucrative career path. "All the time," she says.

Carissa Marsh, a former LA, is working at CU Boulder toward a certificate to teach high school. She admits that changing the image of science education is part of the challenge of the LA program. "When I tell somebody that I'm going into education but I studied biology, their first response is, 'Why aren't you becoming a doctor?' or 'You're too smart to go into education!' or 'There's no money in education.'"

Those comments "grate on me every single time," she says. "This is my passion. I don't think anybody can be too smart for education. I want my kids to have first-rate teachers who know the science and aren't going into it as a backup plan. I wish that more people could see education the way I see education."



“CU Boulder has started a movement to improve the quality of science education around the country, not only on campuses but in K-12 classrooms. And the LAs, as they're called, are at the center of this work. …. Pollock and Wieman are both leading colleagues, across disciplines from astronomy to physics, in researching how people learn science, and then applying that knowledge in the classroom. …. One major point that the studies have proved is something you might already guess: Lectures don't really work. They leave most people without a solid grasp of even basic concepts, Pollock says. …. "I have to figure out where they are, where we need to get them, and what steps might work best with each individual student." …. The lack of teachers with science backgrounds means that most students get their first introduction to STEM disciplines from teachers who are less familiar with the subjects — and who may even be intimidated by them. This "math anxiety" gets transferred to students, research says. Even at the middle school level, about a third of math and science teachers nationwide either did not major in the field or are not certified to teach it. …. Otero says their research — following former LAs into the classroom — shows that they continue to be more likely to use more evidence-based teaching techniques, like group discussions. This effect on the STEM teacher pipeline is a big reason the LA program is now being copied at 88 universities around the country. …. "This is my passion. I don't think anybody can be too smart for education. I want my kids to have first-rate teachers who know the science and aren't going into it as a backup plan. I wish that more people could see education the way I see education."


“Students who take LA-supported courses are more engaged in their studies and up to 10 percent more likely to graduate. The students in the basement demo session report the same thing. "Katie's the best," says Brenda Ortiz, a junior studying psychology and education. "I feel supercomfortable asking her questions. If you don't get it one way, she has multiple ways of explaining it to you."

Science, in particular, is a hands on project. When all a student has is a book, even if there are lots of photographs and diagrams, grasping the content is a very linear process. When you have a real live frog in a dish on the desk you can examine it very closely and even touch it. I know some of you will say “EEEWWW!” about that concept, but I love animals and love making physical contact with them. I am afraid of certain animals and will do my best to stay at least a foot away from them, but I still want to look at them closely. That’s even true of spiders and bats.

I learn more deeply in a lab, along with the old fashioned, but important “book/professor” way, of course. A well-written book is probably essential as it gives more than the professor will decide or remember to bring up. The other thing is that in labs there are almost always our fellow students, who sometimes will know more and other times less, but students talking among themselves adds a great deal. Modern-day teachers don’t want a completely silent classroom, anymore. Of course chaos in the class will prevent concentration.

Most professors nowadays will include class discussion with the sometimes dry and long “talkathon” of lecturing for a whole hour, thank goodness. Learning literature without all this involvement is possible, though NOT desirable. Science, however will simply result in much less learning and more futile attempts at memorization. Science is not a memorization exercise, but an observational and thinking exercise. All that extra contact and delving into concepts are both hugely important, cementing knowledge into a logically retained framework in the mind, while arousing more curiosity for the future and preventing the need to memorize. An exception to that statement would be the Periodic table in Chemistry and the animal classification groups in biology.

Science is very interesting and exciting to me. I have been unhappy at the apparent decline in learning the STEM subjects in high school, as they will be used repeatedly during life, especially in college where more and harder subjects that BUILD on the high school knowledge will be presented and often required.

Failing to learn the basics will cripple a student for their college courses. The way subject matter is presented from Kindergarten to the PhD, should you go for one, is important to building a solid understanding of it all. Keep on your kids if they start getting lazy or preoccupied with group activities, or simply need extra help on one or more subjects as they often will. You’re the parent, and as a parent you will sometimes have to push the kids into the direction they need to go. Teachers can only do so much.




http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/03/465300655/the-education-secretary-calls-for-fewer-better-tests

Education Secretary Calls For Fewer (But Better) Tests
ANYA KAMENETZ
Updated February 3, 201612:53 PM ET
Published February 3, 20167:12 AM ET


Acting U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. wants states and districts to focus on streamlined, higher-quality tests in a broader effort to win back some classroom time.

And here's the kicker: The feds will actually pay for (some of) the transition.

"Good assessments can be part of great learning experiences. But simplistic or poorly constructed tests just take away from critical learning time without providing useful information," King said in a video announcement. "Despite good intentions, there are too many places around the country where the balance still isn't quite right."

The federal law, recently updated, still requires that students be tested once a year in math and reading between third and eighth grade and once more in high school.

But a report last year found that students take an average of eight standardized tests annually, in kindergarten through 12th grade. And these tests are being administered for a wide variety of purposes: among them diagnostics, benchmarking and practice tests.

The announcement put some flesh on the bones of a high-profile call to reduce unnecessary testing made by President Obama last fall. To help schools cut down, the Education Department has announced more details of how federal money could be used to "audit" testing programs, to eliminate redundancy and get rid of "low-quality" tests. The department included links to resources on how to conduct such an audit.

The department also says federal money can be used to improve tests, and to help teachers and parents better understand and learn from the data they get from those tests. Officials singled out sites from Louisiana to Rhode Island that they say are making good changes in their assessment programs.

As the department notes in its letter, improving testing is a path to "help schools recruit and retain highly qualified teachers." That's because overtesting has become a huge sore point for teacher morale nationwide. It has also drawn ire from families.

But King's call for "ensuring assessments move beyond bubble tests" to "multiple measures," including "writing, problem-solving and critical thinking," may be a tall order. With the adoption of the Common Core (followed in many states by the rejection of those standards), states have already seen rapid turnover in their assessment regimes in the last decade or so.



“Acting U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. wants states and districts to focus on streamlined, higher-quality tests in a broader effort to win back some classroom time. And here's the kicker: The feds will actually pay for (some of) the transition. "Good assessments can be part of great learning experiences. But simplistic or poorly constructed tests just take away from critical learning time without providing useful information," King said …. But a report last year found that students take an average of eight standardized tests annually, in kindergarten through 12th grade. And these tests are being administered for a wide variety of purposes: among them diagnostics, benchmarking and practice tests. The announcement put some flesh on the bones of a high-profile call to reduce unnecessary testing made by President Obama last fall. To help schools cut down, the Education Department has announced more details of how federal money could be used to "audit" testing programs, to eliminate redundancy and get rid of "low-quality" tests. …. But King's call for "ensuring assessments move beyond bubble tests" to "multiple measures," including "writing, problem-solving and critical thinking," may be a tall order.”


When I went through school it was before this modern mania for testing. The kids are weary of those tests and undoubtedly afraid of failure, which in some schools can make them actually fail their grade level and have to repeat it. I think the important thing is, as Secretary King said, more skills need to be measured including “writing, problem and critical thinking.” I do remember being given writing assignments in grammar school. I’m sure our essays were mediocre at best, but it’s a start. Teachers should teach better writing and thinking skills on a daily basis, so that they will be a core part of the child’s learning on which he can build, to be a much better student by high school, and be ready to go on to college afterward. When I took the College Board there was a writing sample on the test. If I remember correctly it was mandatory rather than voluntary. That means kids do need to be prepared for that. In a couple of the lower grades, maybe 5th and 7th grades we had an “achievement test,” with a writing test. We didn’t have a long and exhausting test every year, however, and those achievement tests were used by teachers and parents to assess where more work needs to be done, rather than the basis of failing the student. It also wasn’t used as a basis for firing or demoting any teachers. In fact, relatively few kids were flunked, but rather sent to summer school for remedial work. I know we all tend to look back on our own childhoods as an ideal place and time, but in the matter of these highly pressurized tests, I think it is harming education rather than helping it.