Open Letter

2022 - 12 - 23

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Image courtesy of "Electric Literature"

An Open Letter to The Nutcracker Ballet - Electric Literature (Electric Literature)

Dear Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow King and Queen, Dewdrop Fairy, Dewdrops, Turkish Twirlers, Mother Ginger, Mother Ginger's Bébés, Dancing Flowers, ...

The Nutcracker was invented in 1892 and in 130 years nothing has changed! At least in my books I have a goal, face obstacles, and always learn a lesson at the end. And someone needs to inform PETA about the treatment of animals onstage. Alice is a mouse of color, and the Pinkpaws twins aren’t always the nicest but still, none of us have ever been able to cross over. Has anyone but me realized that Clara is a minor when she’s sent off to the Land of Sweets with a man twice her age??? There isn’t a single mouse in the entire second half of the ballet.

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Image courtesy of "Varsity Online"

HSPS open letter demands the return of lecture recordings (Varsity Online)

The letter criticises the decision, taken at the start of this academic year, that lectures in the HSPS tripos will not be recorded as standard. The letter ...

The writers of the letter have said that it is directed at the HSPS faculty because their policy “has been having the greatest negative impact on the most students”. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges. At the time the departments were widely criticised, including by the SU Disabled Students’ Officer, Elia Chitwa, who said the decision “shows a distinct lack of care and respect for disabled students”. The letter notes that students who are registered with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre can request permission for lectures to be recorded. The letter states that unwell students will either be forced to miss lectures entirely or attend lectures while ill, threatening the health of fellow students. The letter especially attacks this move in light of the University’s own education committee

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Image courtesy of "NNN"

HSPS open letter demands return of conference recordings (NNN)

The letter criticizes the decision, made earlier this academic year, that lectures on HSPS midterm exams will not be recorded as standard. The letter especially ...

The letter especially attacks this move in light of the University’s own education commission which recommended in July that the University should have an “institutional goal to provide recordings for all lectures as standard.” [University Student Access](https://nnn.ng/hsps-open-letter-demands-return-of-conference-recordings/#University Student Access) To maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website do not receive funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent colleges. The History faculty also has a policy similar to the one criticized in the open letter to the HSPS faculty. [y](https://nnn.ng/videodownload/youtube-downloader/), the University’s own education committee recommended that the University should have an “institutional aim to provide recordings for all lectures as standard”. At the time, the departments were widely criticized, including by SU Disabled Students Officer Elia Chitwa, who said the decision “shows a clear lack of care and respect for disabled students.” The letter notes that students who are registered with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center can request permission to have the lectures recorded.

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Image courtesy of "Twin Cities Business Magazine"

Open Letter: Why Johnny Can't Read? | Twin Cities Business (Twin Cities Business Magazine)

We can do much more to improve Minnesota students' math and reading scores, writes MSP Communications owner and CEO Vance Opperman.

It is our duty and that of the next gubernatorial administration to do a lot better. In Minnesota, the average per-pupil expenditure in public school is approximately $13,000 a year; compare that to the average prison costs of $40,000 per inmate. If the Minnesota Department of Education revealed that May Day would be a new education day devoted to the study of satanic fertility rights, complete with requiring all students to develop a fertility plan in consultation with their teacher, my fear is that a number of citizens would believe it. My guess is that charter schools, which are public schools, enjoy the confidence and support of families to a greater degree than other public schools. In the 1950s, the threat to a school might have been a switchblade knife. Teacher salaries vary a great dexal in Minnesota, but the average teacher salary, according to ZipRecruiter, is approximately $38,000 a year. [which indicated that only 45% of students were proficient in math and only 51% were on track in reading in the spring of 2022](https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-students-low-math-reading-test-scores-offer-glimpse-of-pandemic-challenges/600201104/?refresh=true). That news, which in the past would have been on the front page, was covered in four short paragraphs on page B6 inside the local newspaper. Prior to the recent election, three people were cut down by a drive-by shooting in front of Minneapolis South High School at 3 p.m. The reality is that ACT test scores dropped to the lowest in 30 years nationwide. The National Center for Education Statistics concluded that the country saw [its largest decrease in reading scores in three decades](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/math-reading-test-scores-decline-pandemic-covid/). At the same time, a movie was released that highlighted the status of education in urban high schools: Blackboard Jungle.

An open letter to singers (Evening Observer)

Anyone who has attended a live musical performance knows how wonderful singing can be when performed on a stage with a powerful sound system and spectacular ...

We may not all be great singers, and we may not all have the ardent desire to perform. We sing at Easter to re-imagine how Christ suffered for us and to rejoice in his resurrection. It might serve as a battle cry in the locker room, or as a prelude in the car on the way to a concert. We sing at weddings and birthday parties and anniversaries to signal new chapters in people’s lives. It is as meditative and mystical as it is physically exhilarating. But whatever the package, singing is as natural and healthy as the breathing of good air.

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