Sixty five years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — better known as the GI Bill. It’s been heralded as one of the most important pieces of legislation to ever come out of Washington. This single measure alone helped build the middle class for which post World War II America was renowned. It did it by puting a college education and home ownership within reach of millions of veterans returning home after the war.

The original legislation gave $500 in annual tuition for four years of education and training to GIs and guaranteed 50 percent of home, farm and business loans — up to $2,000 — at an interest rate no higher than 4 percent. That led to an explosion of the college educated population. For example, In the peak year of 1947, about half of the two million students on university or college campuses were veterans. And the nation as a whole gained immensely from having so many well educated and knowledgeable citizens.In addition, four million veterans took advantage of the home loan benefits.

Unfortunately, the GI Bill benefits received by veterans who served in the less popular Korean and Vietnam wars were much less generous. But the “new” GI Bill, which takes effect August 1 for post 9/11 veterans offers greater opportunities.

If you would like to read more about this fascinating episode in American history, there is a new book out by Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin called “The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans.” For more information, go to
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryAmerican/Since1945/?view=usa&ci=9780195182286

Posted by Marion Blank at 01:30 PM
Read post | Comments (0)

What is the longest English word? Interestingly, this question, which often intrigues both children and adults, offers no ready answer.

If you are a fan of Mary Poppins, your selection might well be the 34 letter 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from the song of the same name. However, those with a serious interest in the field often reject words such as these because they are deemed to be nonsense words. .

When I was a kid,

the most common answer was 'antidisestablishmentarianism,' with its impressive 28 letters and 12 syllables. The meaning of this word is as complicated as its long sequence of sounds. It referred to a political position originating in nineteenth-century Britain, that opposed proposals to remove the Church of England's status as the state church of Ireland and Wales. (For those interested in what happened to the movement, it went as follows: In Ireland the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871. In Wales four Church of England dioceses were disestablished in 1920, subsequently becoming the Church in Wales. Antidisestablishmentarian members of the Free Church of Scotland delayed merger with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in a dispute about the position of the Church of Scotland.)

But as we well know, language is steadily changing and the relatively meager 'antidisestablishmentarianism' has been superseded many times. Currently, according to the Oxford English Dictionary and the 2007 edition of Guinness Book of World Records , the longest word is the 40 letter 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon'. It is a medical term coined to describe a lung disease caused by the "inhalation of very fine silica dust from volcanoes." The condition restricts breathing, and is more commonly referred to as "silicosis".

If you would like to explore, with your school age children, this totally non-essential but appealing topic, you can turn to http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_longest.html

Posted by Marion Blank at 02:55 AM
Read post | Comments (0)

Puns--at least the good ones--offer a win-win situation. They simultaneously make you think and make you laugh.

Here are a few that you might enjoy.

No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery. (It's amazing to think that in another generation, kids raised in a paperless high tech world, may not even know what this pun means).

A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's Round Table was Sir Cumference.
He acquired his size from too much pi.

I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

A rubber band pistol was confiscated in an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, You stay here, I'll go on a head.

A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said, Keep off the Grass.

A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, No change yet.

The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy, your vote that counts. In feudalism, it's your count that votes.

When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

Posted by Marion Blank at 01:39 PM
Read post | Comments (0)

If you have a teen age child or know someone who does, high school is likely to be an important topic. If so, you may find it helpful to turn to the latest report on the top 1500 high schools in the U.S. The public schools are ranked according to a ratio which takes into account such factors as the number of Advanced Placements relative to the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list are in the top 6 percent of public schools measured this way.

First on the list? A school aptly titled Talented and Gifted in Dallas Texas. For the complete list, go to http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160

Posted by Marion Blank at 05:20 PM
Read post | Comments (0)

English is said to contain more words than any other language on the planet. (Mandarin Chinese comes in second with about 450,000 words.) And this week, our mother tongue added its millionth word--Web 2.0! The term refers to the second, more social generation of the Internet. Given that over a dozen words are added to our language on a daily basis, it seems fitting that the landmark word identified this week deals with something that is so representative of the modern age.

The arrival was announced by the Global Language Monitor, a Web site that uses a math formula to estimate how often words are created. Of course, claims like this do not go unchallenged.

For example, some linguists claim that it's not possible to count the number of words in a language because languages are always changing. Others maintain that clear decisions cannot be made about whether a word is a word. For example, "great-great-great-great grandfather" could be considered a word, but it isn't in the dictionary. (The Oxford English Dictionary, by the way, has about 600,000 entries.) There are also the complications of trying to count words that have one spelling but several meanings (such as bear, mean, minute, race, read, shift, wind and on and on.)

Paul Payack, president and chief word analyst for the Global Language Monitor, acknowledges that "It's always an estimation... It's like the height of Mount Everest is an estimation. The height of Mount Everest has changed five times in my lifetime because as we get better tools, the estimates get better."

He goes on to say that the million-word estimation isn't as important as the idea behind his project. His goal is to show that English has become a complex, global language that steadily "swallows up new words." This contrasts with other languages, like French, which intentionally put big walls around their vocabularies.

English has long been characterized by its ready incorporation of new terms. For example, recent events related to politics and the economy have resulted in the creation of "Obamamania," "defriend," "wardrobe malfunction," "zombie banks," "shovel ready" and "recessionista." This trend has accelerated in the modern era of Internet, global commerce and global travel --since it has put English in contact with many other linguistic groups.

For anyone interested in language, this is a fascinating and fun topic--regardless of how you think the counting should be carried out--or even if it should be carried out. Should you want to learn more about the project and the many areas it touches upon, go to http://www.languagemonitor.com/

Posted by Marion Blank at 03:37 PM
Read post | Comments (1)

The figures about high school graduation rates in the United States are more than disheartening. The estimate is that approximately twenty-five percent of our nation's youth do not receive high school diplomas. it is a figure that is troubling at every level--for the students, for their families, and for the nation.

Against that background, the achievements of a high school in North Carolina are exhilarating.

Bob Herbert, a columnist for the New York Times recently reported what has happened at that school where most of the students are black, and many come from low-income families. Under a Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) the school set up a disciplined environment, including a school day that lasted from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The kids also attended classes every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer.

It was not easy, but with a dedicated staff, the school flourished. And now out of the 48 seniors, an astounding 48 will be going on to college. A success rate of 100%! And all will be attending college in the fall.

If you would like a fuller account of this remarkable and important story, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/opinion/06herbert.html?scp=2&sq=herbert&st=cse

Posted by Marion Blank at 12:51 PM
Read post | Comments (0)