"Friends, Until I Delete You"

The NY Times covers the art of defriending people. Read the article here.

Altruism Meets a Weak Job Market

Katherine Atwill bypassed potential consulting jobs and joined Teach for America.

More people are applying to socially-oriented careers this year, such as Peace Corps and Teach for America. Here's a preview of the article:

"Young people ... are part of the growing ranks of college graduates who, amid a worsening job market, are contributing to a surge in applications and enlistments at public-service agencies like Teach for America and the Peace Corps. Indeed, only 59% of employers surveyed expect to hire 2008 graduates by the end of the summer, down from 76% the year before, according to a survey of about 1,000 employers by job-search company Monster Worldwide Inc.

But organizations cite another impulse behind this generation's embrace of nontraditional postgraduate employment: a simple desire to change the world."

Read the Wall Street Journal article here.

The Last Professor

Stanley Fish argues in a NY Times article that higher learning isn't what it used to be, and never will be again. Check out the article here. (It's not a light read, but it's short).

"My Genome, My Self"

Steven Pinker of the NY Times writes and article about finding out details of your genetic code. Will insurance companies use against people legally? Will details of human DNA force the government to adapt universal health care? If you have the option of learning about future diseases you might have, would you want to know? Read the article here.

The new Valley Girls

"The tech world has a new inner circle. They're young, they're global, they have power marriages and little kids. And unlike their predecessors, they're relying on a unique social network to get ahead." Read the article here.

An honest mistake or shady dealings?

"Timothy F. Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for Treasury secretary, failed to pay more than $34,000 in federal taxes over several years early this decade, and also faces questions about the employment papers of a former household employee, suddenly complicating what had seemed to be an easy confirmation process in the Senate."

How can someone overseeing the IRS make such a huge mistake in his own taxes? And if it wasn't a mistake, should he be trusted with appropriating the funds for the bailout? Read the NY Times piece here.

"Time to Reboot America"

In the midst of the financial crisis, Thomas Friedman writes his vision for a new America. Read the NY Times Op-Ed piece here.

"The Sin in Doing Good Deeds"

"If a businessman rakes in a hefty profit while doing good works, is that charity or greed? Do we applaud or hiss?" Read Nicholas Kristof's response here.

We are sinking

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU