Trade Offs

Flagship universities and liberal arts colleges, it is sometimes argued, should reshape their curricula so that their classes can be put to better use… you know, like a trade school. The New York Times has a nice bit on the trade offs of trade school, all worth bearing in mind for managerialists who want to downsize the university and exclude the core liberal arts curriculum from the list of requirements.

Flash in the Pan

The numbers are in. The CRU hack had its day in the sun. Not much to see here. Move along. Move along.

Despite recent news reports questioning the credibility of climate science, the vast majority of Americans continue to trust the scientists who say that global warming is real, according to a new Stanford University study.

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Stanford University communications researcher Jon Krosnick has released an analysis of his latest public opinion survey on American’s perceptions of global warming. A synopsis of the survey analysis is below, including a video interview of Professor Krosnick. (See links at left for figures used in story below, complete survey results and working papers that provide in-depth analysis of survey results.)

Survey results indicate:

• 75% of Americans believe that the world’s temperatures have probably been going up;
• Public confidence in what scientists say about the environment has remained constant over the last few years with 70% of respondents trusting scientists a lot or moderate amount;
• More people believe that weather has been relatively cooler and more stable in 2008 and 2009 compared to previous years; and
• Climate skeptics are having some affect on the public’s belief that there is agreement among scientists that global warming is happening

Matt Nisbet has some interesting commentary.