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Blog Glob: "Lawsuit challenges policy that lets some grads skip bar exam"

Excerpt:

A federal appeals court has revived a class-action lawsuit that challenges Wisconsin's diploma privilege, a one-of-a-kind policy that allows graduates of the state's law schools to practice law here without taking the bar exam.

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard A. Posner's decision raised several questions about the state practice - causing Wisconsin law schools to prepare evidence as the case goes forward.

The plaintiffs, graduates of Oklahoma City University School of Law, argued the policy violates the commerce clause of the Constitution by discriminating against graduates of out-of-state law schools. They said the state should extend the diploma privilege to graduates of these schools. Their suit named the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Click to read the rest of "Lawsuit challenges policy that lets some grads skip bar exam" (Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel).

Blog Glob: "Neuroplasticity gets your brain in shape in a very literal way"

Excerpt:

It has long been understood that there is a high degree of brain plasticity in young people. (To see an astonishing video showing a remarkable example of child brain plasticity after surgery removing half the brain, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSu9HGnlMV0. This video also contains an interesting conversation with surgeon Benjamin Carson, who performed the surgery.) What is new is that there appears to be significant plasticity in adult and even older adult brains.

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Alvaro Pascual-Leone, chief of the laboratory for magnetic brain stimulation at the Harvard Medical School, has conducted a number of interesting studies on the way our thoughts can change our brain. For example, he "taught two groups of people, who had never studied piano, a sequence of notes, showing them which fingers to move and letting them hear the notes as they were played." One group physically practiced; the other imagined their practice. In the end, the mental practice group performed nearly as well as the physical practice group, and with a single two-hour physical practice session, the group performed at the same level as the physical practice group ("The Brain that Changes Itself"). Other studies have been done on obsessive compulsive disorder patients and patients suffering depression with similar results ("Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain," Sharon Begley).

Click to read the rest of "Neuroplasticity gets your brain in shape in a very literal way" (Mormon Times).

Blog Glob: Is this the future bookstore?: Machine downloads books from a massive database while the customer waits

Excerpt:

The Northshire Bookstore, in quaint Manchester Center, Vt., has all the classic trappings: exposed beams, wood tables stacked with hardcover bestsellers, comfortable leather chairs nestled into alcoves.

And then there’s “Lurch,’’ a hulking jumble of machinery that is often groaning and shuddering in a corner behind the sales counter.

Officially known as the Espresso Book Machine, Lurch, as the employees call it, is a “print on demand’’ setup the size of a meat freezer that creates books for customers while they wait.

The publishing world is closely following the experiment at Northshire, the first independent bookstore in the United States to install the clattering book machine. If Northshire can make money printing books downloaded from massive online catalogs, it will show how small brick-and-mortar bookshops might be able to match the overwhelming variety of products offered by a giant online retailer like Amazon.com.

Click to read the rest of "Is this the future bookstore?" (Boston Globe).

Blog Glob: "Centenarians show it's never too late to tweet"

Excerpt:

Three percent of U.S. centenarians questioned in a new survey said they use the service that allows users to send short text messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters at least once a week to keep in touch with their friends and family.

Another 10 percent sent emails to stay connected, 12 percent shared photos on the Internet and 4 percent downloaded music from the web.

"These centenarians are really inspiring because they are starting to embrace newer trends and newer technologies," said Sherri Snelling, senior director at Evercare, one of the nation's largest care coordination programs, which commissioned the survey.

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Evercare said it believes the results support the belief that longevity is based primarily on lifestyle rather than genetics.

Click to read the rest of "Centenarians show it's never too late to tweet" (Reuters).

Blog Glob: "The Evidence on Online Education"

Excerpt:

Online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning, according to a new meta-analysis released Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.

The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Further, those who took "blended" courses -- those that combine elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction -- appeared to do best of all. That finding could be significant as many colleges report that blended instruction is among the fastest-growing types of enrollment.

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While the new study provides a strong endorsement of online learning, it also notes findings about the

Blog Glob: What the class of 2009 graduates think about the world they inherited

Excerpt:

We were startled by the fact that, circumstances be damned, we found very little bitterness at all—caution, yes; worry too—but judging from the responses to our questions, this is a reflexively optimistic cadre of graduates, feeling, if anything, existentially freed up by this era of radical change. They’re nervous about the job market but figure it’ll sort itself out. They describe their parents with shocking regularity as their “best friends.” They’ve lived online for so long it’s a default setting, one they believe lends them a more global-minded perspective than that of their elders. Their tone overall was more bemused than outraged: “I’m a mixture of excited and nervous for the future,” says Forrest Petterson, a graduating senior at Friends Seminary. “But there’s no point in getting upset, because it’s not the end of the world.”

Click to read the rest of the article (from New York Magazine).

Blog Glob: Finding an ‘on ramp’ back into law practice

Excerpt:

There was a time when graduating law students held an almost uniform vision of success: go to a firm, work your way up to partner and spend a career there.

“We are seeing all that change,” said Carolyn Elefant, an attorney and author of the book Solo By Choice and the blog MyShingle.

At a recent workshop in Washington for lawyers who are looking to transition, restart or reinvent their legal careers, Elefant and attorney Julie Tower-Pierce, author of Staying at Home Staying in the Law and the blog, Darling Hill, said getting a stalled legal career back on track just takes some out-of-the-box thinking.

Click to read the rest of Finding an ‘on ramp’ back into law practice (Lawyer USA Online blog).

"The CEO As Storyteller In Chief"

Excerpt:

"The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms," wrote the poet and social activist Muriel Rukeyser. To the schooled and scientific mind, that may sound sacrilegious, yet we know there is some truth in it. Our lives are a series of stories woven together--our own stories and the stories of those around us.

Great leaders--religious, political or business--realize this and are good storytellers. Jesus spoke in parables. Krishna and Rama came to life through the stories they told. The Torah, Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious text, the first five books of the Old Testament, is not a boring list of rules but a set of moral lessons and commandments intertwined with a wealth of life stories.

In the business world, many successful top executives are very good storytellers. They entice us with their stories all the time, telling us how they started their businesses, what they stand for and where they are going. ...

Click to read the rest of "The CEO As Storyteller In Chief" (Forbes).

Blog Glob: What You Don't Know About Creating a Happy, Meaningful Life

Excerpt:

Some people show a preference for seeking out new knowledge and experiences for their own sake. In fact, they often accept psychological, social, and even physical risks to obtain these experiences. Each of us feels this way sometimes but there are some people who show a preference to expand the boundaries of who they are, what they know, and what they do. We can call these people "curious explorers."

It requires a willingness to recognize that what we know is limited and that as soon as we think we understand something, we stop paying attention. It requires an ability to tolerate the pain, ambiguity,

Blog Glob: Can Memory Loss Be Prevented?

Excerpt:

Memory is among the least understood areas of neuroscience, and the sad truth is that there is no magic pill or potion at present that will prevent our parents’ minds from failing. But a panel of 30 experts from the United States and Europe recently issued a consensus statement on what we do know about maintaining brain fitness (which includes not only memory, but also reasoning, attention and speed of processing). The verdict was that three things are crucial: physical exercise, mental challenges and good health habits in general.

But wait! What about the supplements and software programs we’ve been stocking up on? “There’s a lot of snake oil out there,” warned Dr. Laura Carstensen, director of the Center on Longevity at Stanford University, who co-chaired the panel. In short, don’t count on supplements. (The rationale behind ginkgo biloba is plausible, but there is no scientific evidence it works.) Steer clear of anything that promises to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. ... And look skeptically on software programs. (Most improve performance only on the games themselves, not mental function in general.)

Instead, Dr. Carstensen said, get moving. Exercise may sound like an impractical way to boost Mom’s cognition when her energy levels are dwindling. But multiple studies show it helps. In a study published