In Sunday's NY Times Magazine Kirn writes,

The reason that most thinking Americans consent to our modern procedures for advancement (and the reason some seek to correct their "cultural biases," in the words of Sotomayor, with policies like affirmative action) is that we esteem the ideal on which they're based, namely that of equal opportunity. [...] From the first time I raised my hand in kindergarten, eager to prove that I'd memorized my alphabet, to the day I sat down with three sharpened No. 2 pencils to demonstrate my mastery of analogies on the SAT, I held it as self-evident that being created equal was just Step 1 in the process of proving myself somewhat superior. I eagerly gave myself over to this program, because I believed that its principles were just and that any benefits it conferred on me would be deemed legitimate by all, and especially the students I'd surpassed.

Here he handily encapsulates the prevailing middle-class liberal attitude toward meritocracy — the secretly but deeply held idea that some people are always better than others, and what's important is finding a "fair" way of determining who's the best. As Kirn points out, the SAT certainly isn't it — the test would have ranked him above Sotomayor, even though she graduated from Princeton with the highest honors while he spent his time there practicing "shoddy, pretentious dodges."

The "cultural biases" Sotomayor mentions are well-documented. Black students, for instance, have historically performed worse on the SAT than white students, perhaps due to entrenched negative stereotypes about black achievement. A disturbing graphic related to this gap went up yesterday at Sociological Images (Gawker found it last year). The graph purports to show which books "make you dumb," by correlating favorite books listed by university students on Facebook with the average SAT scores of their universities. At the high end of the graph — books that purportedly make you smart — are Lolita, A Hundred Years of Solitude, and Crime and Punishment. At the low end are the Bible, Fahrenheit 451 (reading books about burning books make you dumber?) — and The Color Purple, True to the Game, Flyy Girl, The Coldest Winter Ever, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, all by black writers. The graph's methods are totally unscientific, and the readers of the books aren't differentiated by race, but "Books That Make You Dumb" does offer a crude graphical representation of a possible bias in the SAT: people who like books by black writers, whether these books are classics like The Color Purple or more contemporary "urban fiction," seem to do less well on the test.

This supports the notion that the SATs don't really test one's "aptitude" (which Kirn defines as "some quotient of promise and raw mental agility thought to be crucial to academic success and, by extension, success in general"), but rather one's comfort level with a certain dominant (read: white) culture. One solution to this is affirmative action, or, as Kirn states more broadly, periodicially "amending" our "systems that seek to rank human beings according to "merit.'" But maybe the problem is that we have such systems at all. Obviously not everyone should be a judge or a firefighter, and we need some way of making sure people are good at their jobs before we give them power over others' life and liberty. But do we really need a way of determining beforehand who will be good at the job of being a college student? Does our current admissions system, in which the best schools try to pick the best students, before most of them have even taken a college class, really make sense? What would happen if everyone got the same college education?

Of course, educational inequalities start long before college. My brother and I both graduated from the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the most problem-plagued in the country, but we both got IQ tested at an early age (I was five) so that we could attend well-regarded "magnet" schools. I loved the schools I went to, and I've always assumed that I escaped a lot of nerd-shaming by being in classes with other nerds. But I also (and I'm far from alone in this) suspect that the schools I went to perpetuated existing class and race divisions in LA, and that kids in general might be better off if magnets didn't exist.

Segregating students by ability or by aptitude, at any level, not only presumes that it's possible to perform the segregation fairly, but that there is a reason to do it. Some people argue that the reason is to challenge smart students who might otherwise get bored and not achieve their potential, and this argument has a certain amount of value. But another argument, less often openly articulated but perhaps even more broadly believed, says that good education is a scarce resource, and that we should allocate it to "good" students — because they may make better use of it, but also because they may in some way deserve it more, as Kirn once believed he did. No one deserves better education than anyone else, though, and our methods for determining who will use their education the best are deeply flawed. Isn't it time not only to question how we're testing kids for "merit," but why we're testing them for this at all?

Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Aptitude [NYT]
"Dumb" Vs. "Smart" Books [Sociological Images]

Earlier: These Books Will Make You Dumb [Gawker]

Guildenstern: (1:16:18 AM): "This distinguished her from the other girls I’d dated during my first two years at college. They were slimmer than
Maura, their features more symmetrical, but their facial expressions were harder and more anxious, particularly at mealtimes. "
Guildenstern: (1:16:28 AM): How can you tell if a person's features are symmetrical?
Guildenstern: (1:16:31 AM): This guy is a doof.
Rosencrantz: (1:16:48 AM): you could draw them
Guildenstern: (1:17:03 AM): How would you know that your drawing is accurate?
Guildenstern: (1:17:06 AM): Wait wait.
Guildenstern: (1:17:16 AM): I mean, let's not be technical.
Guildenstern: (1:17:23 AM): We're talking at a glance.
Guildenstern: (1:17:27 AM): Or not at a glance.
Guildenstern: (1:17:30 AM): But by the eye.
Guildenstern: (1:17:33 AM): Even a long look.
Rosencrantz: (1:17:48 AM): yeah, i guess it's dificult
Guildenstern: (1:17:49 AM): How can you tell if your girlfriend has less symmetrical features than some girl at the end of the bar?
Guildenstern: (1:17:57 AM):
Here
Guildenstern: (1:18:01 AM): He's saying, what?
Rosencrantz: (1:18:03 AM): maybe your girlfriend has a lazy eye
Rosencrantz: (1:18:09 AM): or a stroke
Guildenstern: (1:18:14 AM): Yeah, with some people it's obvious.
Guildenstern: (1:18:39 AM): But he's saying . . . some guys don't date beautiful women, they date beautiful women.
Guildenstern: (1:18:44 AM): So be confident!
Guildenstern: (1:19:07 AM): And he doesn't seem to have any trouble meeting women, either . . .
Guildenstern: (1:19:11 AM): I don't like him.
Rosencrantz: (1:19:14 AM): why are you reading this?
Guildenstern: (1:19:19 AM): Just 'cause.
Rosencrantz: (1:19:32 AM): but i mean
Rosencrantz: (1:19:33 AM): i guess
Rosencrantz: (1:19:35 AM): how
Rosencrantz: (1:19:38 AM): did you come to be
Rosencrantz: (1:19:42 AM): reading it
Guildenstern: (1:19:43 AM): Haha.
Guildenstern: (1:19:44 AM): Haha.
Guildenstern: (1:19:46 AM): Haha.
Guildenstern: (1:20:07 AM): When I closed out of my mail - and I didn't have any mail, naturally, Yahoo linked to it.
Guildenstern: (1:20:24 AM): "Pretty girl is not always the sexy girl.... find out why!"
Rosencrantz: (1:20:35 AM): haha
Rosencrantz: (1:21:11 AM): did you see when yahoo did this?
Guildenstern: (1:21:12 AM): Page three.
Guildenstern: (1:21:48 AM): No, I didn't.
Guildenstern: (1:22:39 AM): I saw the one about Prince Harry and some mix up with the headline because I am lame and actually load up digg from time to time to give time a slow, heinous death.
Guildenstern: (1:23:00 AM): This guy is just surrounded by women.
Guildenstern: (1:23:16 AM): I wish I was surrounded by so many women that there'd be women enough to ignore!
Guildenstern: (1:23:35 AM): Effing Walter Kirn. If you didn't work at fashion magazines . . .
Rosencrantz: (1:24:03 AM): haha
Guildenstern: (1:24:05 AM): And it seems like he picks up on their flaws.
Guildenstern: (1:24:07 AM): Too easily.
Guildenstern: (1:24:25 AM): He knows exactly what a woman isn't supposed to be, and then says these women were that.
Guildenstern: (1:24:46 AM): He doesn't quite convince me that he just loves women.
Guildenstern: (1:24:53 AM): It's . . .
Guildenstern: (1:24:55 AM): I dunno.
Rosencrantz: (1:25:03 AM): yeah.
Guildenstern: (1:25:15 AM): "Straight hair, straight posture, straight in every way. Flat, too. And wearing glasses. Yet she was provocative as hell, like a stripper who was working under deep cover. She had a disciplined, stealthy sensuality that seemed to whisper to me as she slipped by: 'What you see isn’t half of what you’ll get.' "
Guildenstern: (1:25:25 AM): What?
Guildenstern: (1:25:31 AM): You were struck by her?
Guildenstern: (1:25:43 AM): I wasn't struck by the last woman I fell in love with.
Rosencrantz: (1:25:52 AM): i am agreeing with you
Guildenstern: (1:26:06 AM): I hope I do not sound like, uh, what's-his-face.
Guildenstern: (1:26:11 AM): I am just providing running commentary.
Guildenstern: (1:26:21 AM): You can steer if you like.
Rosencrantz: (1:26:28 AM): i'm reading the article Guildenstern: (1:26:45 AM): Did you know that Ben Jonson used the word "also" an awful lot?
Rosencrantz: (1:27:03 AM): i didn't even know ben jonson's name
Guildenstern: (1:27:20 AM): Can you tell I just finished a book about Shakespeare? I was thinking of my justs. Elizabethan/Jacobean playwright.
Guildenstern: (1:27:41 AM): Confident that he'd face little competition?
Guildenstern: (1:27:43 AM): what a wad!
Guildenstern: (1:27:48 AM): What a dick hustler.
Rosencrantz: (1:28:26 AM): he sayd that?!
Guildenstern: (1:28:30 AM): YES
Rosencrantz: (1:28:31 AM): says*
Rosencrantz: (1:28:35 AM): wow
Rosencrantz: (1:28:37 AM): wow
Guildenstern: (1:29:14 AM): There's a gap in the narrative, I think, at "Click here to see Father's Day ideas."
Guildenstern: (1:29:23 AM): Or right after.
Rosencrantz: (1:29:50 AM): yeah
Rosencrantz: (1:30:20 AM): i think i hate walter kirn
Guildenstern: (1:31:00 AM): He doesn't have many examples. I suspect that he's used to dating Cinderellas.
Rosencrantz: (1:31:07 AM): HE IS MARRIED TO A MODEL!
Guildenstern: (1:31:11 AM): He is?
Rosencrantz: (1:31:18 AM): Walter Kirn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rosencrantz: (1:31:31 AM): oh, now they're divorced
Rosencrantz: (1:31:52 AM): i wonder if that whole article was a stab at his ex wife
Guildenstern: (1:32:00 AM): I duno.
Guildenstern: (1:32:04 AM): Dunno.
Guildenstern: (1:32:05 AM): But.
Guildenstern: (1:32:10 AM): It sounds like he's bullshitting.
Rosencrantz: (1:32:14 AM): yes it does
Guildenstern: (1:32:38 AM): And then, later on, I went out with a model. She wasn’t shallow or ignorant, this model, but she wasn’t stimulating either.
Guildenstern: (1:32:46 AM): He said his wife wasn't stimulating.
Guildenstern: (1:33:13 AM): Who looks for scars on flawless skin?
Rosencrantz: (1:33:14 AM): that's his daughter's mother
Guildenstern: (1:33:22 AM): Who even looks for flawless skin?
Guildenstern: (1:33:33 AM): I would be kissing that skin by that point.
Guildenstern: (1:33:41 AM): If she were evan half-nude.
Guildenstern: (1:33:46 AM): If she even has a shoulder exposed.
Guildenstern: (1:33:49 AM): had
Guildenstern: (1:35:29 AM): "Thank you, sleeping model."
Guildenstern: (1:35:42 AM): He's trying to convince himself. He's a shallow, unchanged man, I think.
Guildenstern: (1:36:07 AM): And the undertone of entitlement through the whole thing offends me.
Guildenstern: (1:38:58 AM): Tesla.
Rosencrantz: (1:39:19 AM): it's all bullshit
Rosencrantz: (1:39:23 AM): what about him?

I am writing regarding the article that appeared in the October issue of Vogue titled "Blended family, separate expectations." I am not a journalist and I have never written a letter such as this; however, as the mother of PFC Zach Bruha, I feel the need to voice my dismay at the tenor, theatrics and dramatization set forth in this article.


It is unfortunate that most families in America are now blended; however, it is a reality that a great deal of us must live with and accept. In spite of this sad statistic, in the sense of traditional families, our children are born with one father and one mother and at times are blessed to have other people who are influential in their lives. Regardless, I truly believe major decisions relating to one's children should be discussed between the natural parents of the children with the goal that the children's best interests be considered. In blended families, stepparents (significant others) play a very important role in the lives of children; however, it is my belief that there is a fine line between stepparents (significant others) and natural parents when both natural parents are actively involved in the upbringing of their children.


The facts regarding Zach's return to Livingston to live with his father are far more in depth than those expressed by Ms. McGuane. I find it insensitive and despicable that she would take it upon herself to state that when Zach left my home, he left "in a blaze of confrontation." Obviously, she was not at my home when my son was second guessing his choice to return to Livingston. Ms. McGuane was not present to observe the tears running down his face and the genuine sadness he and I both experienced. The decision for my son to return to Livingston is a decision I regretted immediately, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. In the end I do not believe it was the best thing for Zach.


I am truly aghast at the way my son is depicted throughout this article. Although Zach may not have had the drive to excel in his academics throughout his school years, he most certainly was highly motivated in numerous activities outside of his academics and interest in "the opposite sex." Zach is a tremendous athlete, which was obvious as early as his fifth grade year when he and three fellow classmates were selected to represent the Northwest Region at the Hershey's National Track Meet held in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Although Zach may not be a book worm, when he is presented with a challenge that requires physical interaction combined with thought process, he is hard to beat. He excels with such a challenge. This has been proven over and over again by his years of playing soccer, participating in track as well as high school football, and in his extracurricular activities such as kayaking, hiking, skiing, and most recently in his enrollment with the Army National Guard.


Regarding my son enlisting with the Army National Guard, as a supposed professional journalist, I would think it would be Ms. McGuane's obligation and duty to accurately reflect a person's quote. Her statement about when Chris spoke to me about Zach's decision to join the military and I responded with a "few more syllables beyond 'Fine'" was ridiculous —a whole lot more than "fine" was said.


For clarification purposes, my son and I spoke in depth about the pros and cons of such a decision. We discussed the financial and educational benefits of joining the military, as well as the reality that he could be called to active duty, thereby placing his life on the line, and the reality that he may be hurt or killed or that he may witness this scenario with a battle buddy. We spoke about the families who lost loved ones as a result of their role in the military, as well as the long-term commitment he was making. Having not exhibited any real interest in a career outside of high school, my son was making a life-changing decision to become a member of our Armed Forces. "Fine" doesn't even begin to describe how I felt or how I responded to such news.


When Zach was sworn in as a soldier for the Army National Guard, my fear turned to extreme pride for my son.


During the summer between Zach's junior and senior year of high school, he attended Basic Training at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Every Sunday morning Zach would call me. During our first few conversations, I could hear the fear and loneliness in Zach's voice; however, it wasn't long after that I began to hear the strong and confident voice of a young man who spoke with pride. At the conclusion of his Basic Training, I flew to Kentucky to attend his graduation ceremony. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived. I immediately felt humbled to be in the presence of such admirable men and women. When Zach left to attend Basic Training, I recall feeling that he was very insecure, scared and did not possess much confidence in himself. When I saw my son at Ft. Knox I no longer felt that way. He was no longer an adolescent teenager with questions in his eyes, but rather an extremely confident and self-assured young man who held his head up with pride.


I cannot describe the emotion and pride I felt when I watched my son in his military dress uniform march into the parade grounds before the Generals and other guests attending the ceremony. I have never experienced such an emotion nor the comfort in being in the presence of such remarkable individuals. Listening to the soldiers recite their creed almost brought me to tears. All of these young men and women have chosen to become military personnel and it was a decision I'm sure was not made while dining on Sushi and drinking Pellegrino. Although we may not all agree with the present Administration's policies or the wars we are presently fighting, I do know without a doubt that if my son is called to duty, he will give everything he has to protect our nation and his fellow soldiers. Zach is most definitely a gentle soul. However, he will defend to the end those he loves and needs to protect.


I am somewhat confused by Ms. McGuane's reference to Zach's "grim" military photo which she hung on her refrigerator. I believe I know the photograph she is referring to, as I have the same photograph. This photograph was taken when Zach first arrived at Ft. Knox. There is a definite sign of fear and/or uncertainty on his face, but the picture also reflects the face of a young man who has made the decision and commitment to join the military, and who one day may be putting his life on the line so that we can enjoy the freedom of being an American citizen. I proudly display this photograph and have not once ever considered it a "grim" photograph.


After graduation from high school in June 2007, Zach was immediately sent to Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas, to complete his AIT training. Although Zach may not have excelled in academics during his elementary and high school years, he is excelling in his training at Goodfellow. I am so proud to hear the pride in his voice when he calls to tell me he's received a 92% or better on his tests, and that he participates in study groups. It may have taken Zach a little longer than some to find his motivation in education, but he has it now and is excelling in every aspect of his life.


I say this with pride—I am the mother of PFC Zach Bruha.

Robin Krusemark

"She'd let herself go, this girlfriend. She truly had. By our six-month anniversary, she cast a perfectly oval shadow and was aware enough of her condition to choose theater seats beside the aisle. This allowed our fellow moviegoers not to have to climb onto their seats when she went to refill her jumbo Cokes and empty what was, by then, her jumbo bladder."

Page 46: Editor Roberta Myers labels cover girl Jessica Biel "unwaiflike"
Page 227: To which Biel basically replies: "What do you mean? This is the thinnest and least muscular I've been in a long time! I'm so lean and feminine!"
Page 152: Even the ravishingly-thin Susan Cernek (left) can find things about which to unconvincingly and/or half-heartedly claim she is insecure while on a Victoria's Secret shoot. Haha! She got locked out of her cabin! Oh wait, maybe her knees aren't cute?
Page 156: The best way to feel better in a swimsuit, finds Megan Deem, is to lose weight. Also: Highlights! And something about surfing that doesn't actually require, you know, surfing. Plus: she's kept the weight off! Now she actually buys swimsuits!! The triumph!
Page 170: Elna Baker begins her story: "Let me tell you how I survived the Great Depression." The last sentence: "In a world plagued by so many inconvenient truths, who am I not to recycle?" The story is about liposuction.
Page 206: "Now that I've been clued into stretch marks, I see them everywhere, even places they don't probably exist." Same with droopy boobs. Kinda makes you want to hook up the article's writer, Walter Kirn, right? (Yeah, he's the one responsible for "jumbo bladder", too!)
Page 176: Writer Gina Kolata, the New York Times' resident fat-apologist (and, btw, 100-mile bike racer!): "I've never really had to worry [about my weight.] If I did, the book would look like special pleading."
Page 187: Writer Rachel Coombe: "Maybe I need to start thinking of those five pounds as ballast, to keep me steady in my destabilized life."

Oh Jesus Christ! And yes, that is about the sanest sentiment in the entire issue. And that is all we have to say about it. (Fuck kickers. Also: Fuck kick-boxing. By the way, we ate a Snickers bar today: 290 calories!).