January "Articles of Interest:" India Republic Day; Cracking Teens' Online Codes; Did iPad Steal Your Job?; Death of Joe Pa; & MVS ALum on College Jeopardy!

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Greetings Upper School Community:

Today is India Republic Day, celebrating the start of modern India, as a country independent from British rule.  During today’s Morning Announcements, Dr. Aswhi Birdi sang the Indian National Anthem; what a very MVS way to start the day!

And talking about great starts, Samoa began 2012 with a resolution to beat all others; it jumped the International Date Line by a full-day, moving from last to now being the first region of the world to start each day, and in this case, usher in the new year.

Pamela Paul sheds light on the generational divide of tech use and online lingo in her insightful profile of Danah Boyd: “Cracking Teenagers’ Online Codes of Behavior.”

Sunday’s NYTimes presents a fascinating article.  Using over-seas manufacturing locations for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, it reveal the change in American jobs with the growth of the global market.  It includes a stunning graphic depicting the largest domestic employers in 1960, compared with that of 2010.

With all the attention on collaboration and working as a team attributed to essential 21^st Century skills, Susan Cain’s story “The Rise of the New Groupthink” (and recent book) highlights the indispensible role of introverts and solitude in this day of information over-load.

Considering all the recent news of venture capital, international markets, and the potential collapse of the Euro, the story of a small, single branch bank in Cattaraugus, New York that focuses on local community investment makes for a refreshing read.  For comparison sake, the bank reported a profit last year of $5,000 (and yes, that is in “thousands,” not millions or higher).

Joe Paterno, long-time football coach at Penn State, died early this week at the age of 85, a mere 84 days following the termination of his coaching career for the Nittany Lions.  Though history has yet to determine how recent events might tarnish his memory, I am hopeful that his legacy as a coach who truly looked after his players will endure.

And with a big call-out for next week, Tyler Benedict (MVS Class of 2009), following his successful record as captain of the MVS Academic Challenge Team, is representing Columbia University in the Jeopardy! College Championship.  Tyler’s first match airs Friday, 3 February at 7:30PM on Dayton’s WDTN, channel 2.  For additional details, check out the weekly Show Guide at: http://www.jeopardy.com/showguide/

With sincere regards,

Sam Wagner

Head of Upper School