The United States is losing its dominance in basic research. “Even analysts worried by the trend concede that an expansion of the world’s brain trust, with new approaches, could invigorate the fight against disease, develop new sources of energy and wrestle with knotty environmental problems. But profits from the breakthroughs are likely to stay overseas, and this country will face competition for things like hiring scientific talent and getting space to showcase its work in top journals.”
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Where All The Students Are Above Average
What is with the psychology of grade inflation where every student must be above average? “Several years ago, Harvard awarded ”honors” to 90 percent of its graduates. For its part, Princeton has disclosed that A’s have been given 47 percent of the time in recent years, up from 31 percent in the mid-1970’s. Perhaps grade inflation is most severe at the most elite colleges, where everyone is so far above average that the rules of the Caucus Race in ”Alice in Wonderland” apply: everybody has won, and all must have prizes.”
Classical Winner – But Of What?
This week the BBC televises the finals of its BBC Young Musician of the Year. The live broadcast is a rarity. “In an age when the competition’s viewing figures have plummeted from 20 million in its heyday to an anticipated 1.5 million this weekend, what kind of future can the winner look forward to? Is classical music living on death row? Is it really a tougher place to be than ever before? And what pitfalls lie in wait for an unsuspecting young musician suddenly catapulted to fame?”
Are Greece’s Olympic Dreams About To Become Nightmares?
“The Athens Olympics were supposed to be the moment when the Greeks proved once and for all that they were an efficient European country, and when they shamed the British into handing back the Elgin Marbles. Architecture was critical to their vision, particularly the New Acropolis Museum, planned as a masterly propaganda stroke.” But with the games only months away, many of the Olympics’ most important buildings are nowhere ready…
Congress To Investigate NJ Symphony Violin Deal
Congressional investigators say they’ll question the New Jersey Symphony on its purchase of 30 rare string instruments. “This transaction raises the question of why someone would sell a multimillion-dollar instrument collection for what he claims is less than half of its appraised value, and what tax benefits he may have received in return.”
Brits Buy More Art Books Than Americans
Although the American book-buying public is considerably larger that that of Great Britain, it buys fewer books about art than the British.”
Shocker: Survey Says Museum Staffs Paid Horribly
“An independent survey published today by the Museums Association reveals that museum and gallery staff earn significantly less than all equivalent professions – such as librarians, university lecturers, journalists – and many earn less in real terms than they did 15 years ago. The MA report shows that starting salaries for highly trained curators and conservators can be too small to pay for all the training the job has required.”
Paris Cemetery Would Love To Give Morrison The Boot
Paris’ Père Lachaise cemetary drew 2 million visitors last year. It’s home to many famous people. But the cemetery would love to get rid of the resident who gets by far the most traffic – rock star Jim Morrison. “We’d like to kick him out, because we don’t want him, he causes too many problems. If we could get rid of him, we’d do it straight away.” Unlike many of the tombs, Morrison’s is on a perpetual lease.
Music – Industry In Decline?
“The music industry grew into a $40 billion sector at its peak in 1996. That figure has since fallen by almost 25%. During the last eight years, there has been a drop in global earnings of almost 25% – which record companies blame on massive counterfeiting and downloading music from the internet. Are we therefore looking at the death throes of a once invincible industry?”
Scottish Opera’s Sad Death Rattle (Part 23)
Poor Scottish Opera. In death throws over funding provided by the government, the company is in dancer of having to lay off staff and reduce operations. Now, “the company – providing few details – confirmed that it aims to spend more than a third of any future budget on education and “outreach” programmes. The opera is funded with a £7.5 million annual grant from the Scottish Arts Council. It currently spends about 11 per cent of its core budget on such programmes.”