Bill, the Wikipedia page about the dam, and the restoration project, says that there was debate about gradual vs. quick draining, and the conclusion was that quick draining would have less overall impact.
As you rethinking that, bear in mind that car drivers are less cautious near cyclists with a helmet than those without. That research was mentioned in the article.
From when I researched it a few years ago, helmets were effective for racers, but not for slower cyclers. Also, something like 90% of helmets are worn incorrectly.
ted: No one has explained how this is better than roll call, other than that it places less work on the teachers. My analysis suggests it doesn't save much, if any time or money. It seems as well to place more responsibility on the students to be early enough to go through scans, but you (incorrectly, in my opinion) seem to say students cannot handle responsibility.
Most of the schools mentioned in this article are elementary schools, and the core classes by Florida's constitution must have no more than 25 students in them. If the teacher can't tell who the fake student is during a test then there's a much more serious problem.
This situation therefore has nothing to do with the types of exam taking you are talking about, with photo ID and fraudulent test writing, and those points are clearly irrelevant.
I've been in a number of malls which don't have cameras - your point is ... ? And in my high school I held it all day rather than use the open door toilets.
In any case, this isn't fully an issue of privacy. This is a question of benefits and costs. What does the school system gain with this, and what does it lose? Are there alternatives which are more beneficial? How do you judge the overall success? How does one judge if this is more an issue of "ooh, flashy new thing!" than good education?
Since you have thoughts on this topic: how is a biometric system better than the current manual system?
Vmax: "the student scans their finger or swipes their card when entering the building"
I'm trying to understand the setup. A school with 3000-4000 students (where you say this is being used) must surely have multiple entrances. My high school was that size and had at least 8 doorways.
That said, Chipley, FL is a rural county and not one of the large schools you're talking about. The entire district of 8 schools plus the Department of Juvenile Justice school has 3,400 students.
Assuming each scan takes 1 second, which isn't possible, then 3000 students takes 50 minutes to process. Since each station "has a staff member to monitoring the process", that's at least one staff hour spent on monitoring, and more likely two. You'll want students processed within a few minutes of arrival, so you'll need multiple scanners going.
With a manual system, teachers take attendance. Figuring 25 students in a "core" class (which is what Florida law requires) and two minutes per class, that's about 5 hours of staff time. (Four for in-class counting and one for accumulating the results).
That's a savings of three staff hours per day, or about a 0.5 staff role, or about $15,000 per year per large school of about 3,000 students. That's the best case scenario: you also need to factor in training, backup plans in case the hardware is broken, power is out, how to handle kids with a bandaged finger, etc. Overall I just don't see much savings for the school.
Do you have numbers otherwise? Is my analysis wrong?
When you argue "unfortunately as the school enrollment goes up, school staff does not", then you don't know that the Florida Constitution sets "limits on the number of students in core classes (Math, English, Science, etc.) in the state's public schools" between 18 and 25, depending on the grade. Staff must go up as enrollment goes beyond a certain point.
Vmax: "Can you imagine calling the school and having them NOT know where your kid is?"
And this system helps precisely how? Are the students scanned all the time? What happens if one of the students leaves campus during lunch? In 2nd grade I remember skipping some special class and hanging out under an outside stairwell.
Vmax: "anyone who flies on a plane these days gets a full body scan and some even get a nice groping too"
Yes, and I nearly get nervous breakdown each time and have to force myself to do it. I last year even took Greyhound instead of a flight because I didn't want to risk breaking out crying again.
Plus, by every test which has been made public, the additional screenings have not lead to measurably better security. For example, getting a gun past security is as easy now as it was 12 years ago.
"a kid will never misplace a fingerprint" until they break a finger and it's in a split and can't be scanned, or newly bandaged stitches, or worse; have lost the finger in an accident. To say nothing of those who don't have fingerprints, either temporarily (hives, psoriasis, chemicals) or permanent (a genetic condition).
The students are already "surveilled", in that attendance is taken. The question is more should surveillance be done with humans in the loop or out of it? Is that the kind of culture we want?
What I can't figure out is, how did we ever have schools before the days of fingerprint scanners, ID cards, and other high tech gear? Is the quality of the education measurably better as a consequence? Do fewer students get kidnapped?
Frankly the "more money from the state in many districts" tells me this is a Prisoner's Dilemma sort of thing. There's $X million to spend on schools, which is allocated to the schools which can prove the highest attendance. One school uses a new technology to improve those rates, so gets more money from the pot. Less money goes to other schools, so they respond by using the same technology.
Once everyone has it, the proportion of money handed out reverts to the original level, except now there's the cost of maintaining all this near gear. The only benefit is to the companies which manufacture the equipment, and that's money taken away from education.
"the deadliest terror attack on American soil until the Oklahoma City bombing 75 years later"
Here I thought it was the Bath School disaster in 1927, which killed 45 people including the bomber. If I count right, one was killed in the first bombing of the day, 38 in the second, and 5 in the third.
Mr. Awwsome, tsunamis when they hit land are going no more than about 50 mph. Videos of the 2004 Boxing Day and 2011 Japan tsunamis clearly show speeds under 100mph.
The Swedish word "älg" is "moose" in American, Australian, and New Zealand English, but "elk" in British English. Most Swedes learn English from a British influenced source, so often translate it as "elk."
My problem wasn't knowing the ratio, it was translating 9.5 times the basketball circumference into linear distance. 23 feet or 7.1 meters is the answer. 29.5 inches around a basketball. 4.1 inches around a tennis ball gives a ratio of 8. Moon is 6790 miles around, Earth is 25,000 giving a ratio of 3.7 . As a double check, I know the angular width of the Moon from the Earth is 0.5 degrees, and the other way around is 2 degrees, giving a ratio of 4.
In other words, the tennis ball is too small! (or the basketball is too large)
As you rethinking that, bear in mind that car drivers are less cautious near cyclists with a helmet than those without. That research was mentioned in the article.
Basically this whole debate is detailed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Science:_testing_the_hypothesis_that_helmets_are_effective and there's scant evidence that cyclists with helmets are any safer overall than those without.
Most of the schools mentioned in this article are elementary schools, and the core classes by Florida's constitution must have no more than 25 students in them. If the teacher can't tell who the fake student is during a test then there's a much more serious problem.
This situation therefore has nothing to do with the types of exam taking you are talking about, with photo ID and fraudulent test writing, and those points are clearly irrelevant.
I've been in a number of malls which don't have cameras - your point is ... ? And in my high school I held it all day rather than use the open door toilets.
In any case, this isn't fully an issue of privacy. This is a question of benefits and costs. What does the school system gain with this, and what does it lose? Are there alternatives which are more beneficial? How do you judge the overall success? How does one judge if this is more an issue of "ooh, flashy new thing!" than good education?
Since you have thoughts on this topic: how is a biometric system better than the current manual system?
I'm trying to understand the setup. A school with 3000-4000 students (where you say this is being used) must surely have multiple entrances. My high school was that size and had at least 8 doorways.
That said, Chipley, FL is a rural county and not one of the large schools you're talking about. The entire district of 8 schools plus the Department of Juvenile Justice school has 3,400 students.
Assuming each scan takes 1 second, which isn't possible, then 3000 students takes 50 minutes to process. Since each station "has a staff member to monitoring the process", that's at least one staff hour spent on monitoring, and more likely two. You'll want students processed within a few minutes of arrival, so you'll need multiple scanners going.
With a manual system, teachers take attendance. Figuring 25 students in a "core" class (which is what Florida law requires) and two minutes per class, that's about 5 hours of staff time. (Four for in-class counting and one for accumulating the results).
That's a savings of three staff hours per day, or about a 0.5 staff role, or about $15,000 per year per large school of about 3,000 students. That's the best case scenario: you also need to factor in training, backup plans in case the hardware is broken, power is out, how to handle kids with a bandaged finger, etc. Overall I just don't see much savings for the school.
Do you have numbers otherwise? Is my analysis wrong?
When you argue "unfortunately as the school enrollment goes up, school staff does not", then you don't know that the Florida Constitution sets "limits on the number of students in core classes (Math, English, Science, etc.) in the state's public schools" between 18 and 25, depending on the grade. Staff must go up as enrollment goes beyond a certain point.
And this system helps precisely how? Are the students scanned all the time? What happens if one of the students leaves campus during lunch? In 2nd grade I remember skipping some special class and hanging out under an outside stairwell.
Vmax: "anyone who flies on a plane these days gets a full body scan and some even get a nice groping too"
Yes, and I nearly get nervous breakdown each time and have to force myself to do it. I last year even took Greyhound instead of a flight because I didn't want to risk breaking out crying again.
Plus, by every test which has been made public, the additional screenings have not lead to measurably better security. For example, getting a gun past security is as easy now as it was 12 years ago.
The students are already "surveilled", in that attendance is taken. The question is more should surveillance be done with humans in the loop or out of it? Is that the kind of culture we want?
What I can't figure out is, how did we ever have schools before the days of fingerprint scanners, ID cards, and other high tech gear? Is the quality of the education measurably better as a consequence? Do fewer students get kidnapped?
Frankly the "more money from the state in many districts" tells me this is a Prisoner's Dilemma sort of thing. There's $X million to spend on schools, which is allocated to the schools which can prove the highest attendance. One school uses a new technology to improve those rates, so gets more money from the pot. Less money goes to other schools, so they respond by using the same technology.
Once everyone has it, the proportion of money handed out reverts to the original level, except now there's the cost of maintaining all this near gear. The only benefit is to the companies which manufacture the equipment, and that's money taken away from education.
Here I thought it was the Bath School disaster in 1927, which killed 45 people including the bomber. If I count right, one was killed in the first bombing of the day, 38 in the second, and 5 in the third.
The Wikipedia page for the Wall Street bombing even notes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_bombing#cite_note-1) "It was surpassed in fatalities by the Bath School bombings in Michigan seven years later."
I suppose the Smithsonian is considering a single bomb explosion, rather than three within a short span of time done by the same person?
(See http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Älg#.C3.84lgen_i_kulturen )
In other words, the tennis ball is too small! (or the basketball is too large)