1. College Grads Preferred

It’s called “degree inflation,” and it means that more and more jobs are requiring a college degree, even those that never used to, such as dental hygienist, clerk or claims adjuster. As an example, The New York Times reported on an Atlanta law firm in which every employee has a college degree, even receptionists, file clerks and administrative assistants. As a result of degree inflation, less educated people are being pushed even farther down in the nation’s economy. The unemployment rate for workers with no more than a high school diploma is 8.1 percent, compared to 3.7 percent for those with college degrees. To many employers, people without college degrees may seem less capable. The newspaper is a good source of information about what jobs are available if you are right out of college — or out of high school and not planning to attend college. In today’s newspaper, find a job that interests you in the Help Wanted section. Or find one using an online job bank. Write out the qualifications, training and education needed for the job. Then write a short plan for how you could get the necessary training.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

2. Women’s History at Daytona

Five-time NASCAR champion Jerry Johnson won his second Daytona 500 victory last month, but his feat was overshadowed by another performer. The other performer was Danica Patrick. She was the first woman driver to win the pole position for the start of the auto race and the first woman to lead the race, running inside the top 10 most of the time before fading to eighth place at the end. Patrick has made racing history before. She was the first woman to lead the famous Indianapolis 500 race when she was a rookie in 2005. “She’s going to make history all year long,” predicted Dale Earnhardt Jr., who placed second in this year’s Daytona 500, which is also called the “Great American Race.” Women have achieved success in many new ways in sports over the last generation. Find a story about a female athlete who is successful today. Write a paragraph describing how her competitive career would have been different 25 or 50 years ago.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

3. Pilots Stress from Afar

Using drones means less risk for pilots than sending manned planes into combat, but surprisingly, drone pilots experience mental health problems at the same rate as those who fly into harm’s way. They may work thousands of miles from the battlefield, but drone pilots apparently have the same rate of depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder as fighter pilots, the U.S. Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center reports. One possible explanation is that unlike fliers who drop bombs and then get out of an area as quickly as possible, drone pilots actually witness the destruction they have caused. The number of pilots of remotely operated aircraft is growing, and by 2015, the Air Force expects to have more drone pilots than fighter pilots. And those estimates do not include drones operated by the CIA intelligence agency. The U.S. drone program has been in the news a lot in the last year. With the newspaper or Internet, find a story about U.S. drones. Write a summary of the story and discuss why it is important to the nation.

Common Core/National Standards: Using technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently, as well as to interact and collaborate with others; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

4. ‘Negro’ Now a No-No

The Negro will no longer exist in future U.S. censuses. The U.S. Census Bureau is replacing the term “Negro,” starting next year, with “black” or “African American.” First used in the 1900 Census, “Negro” replaced “colored.” During the 1960s civil rights movement, black activists began to reject “Negro” in favor of “African American.” The change will take effect next year in the annual American Community Survey mailed to more than 3.5 million households. As a class, talk about how changes in attitudes are reflected in changes in language. Then talk about words or descriptions that are either more accepted or less accepted today than they were in the past. With your teacher’s guidance, use the newspaper or Internet to find words used today that may not have been used in the past. Pick one and write a paragraph or two describing why you think attitudes have changed about the word.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

5. Playing Under Stress

An hour-long psychological assessment has been added to the battery of tests facing college football players who take part each year in the National Football League’s scouting combine. This is in addition to having their strength tested, their speed timed and their intelligence measured through a special quiz. Expanding the tests is designed to determine and quantify the qualities that coaches are looking for — such as motivation, competitiveness, passion and mental toughness. Many consider the Wonderlic Personnel Test, a 50-minute quiz that has been administered for several years, to be highly useful in evaluating the potential ability of quarterbacks and offensive linemen to decipher complex defenses. Now it is hoped that the new test will provide clearer insight into a broader range of players. The new test resembles those given to firefighters because, like them, football players must be able to assess a situation quickly and decide how to proceed under stress. As a class, talk about the qualities you would look for if you were an NFL team leader drafting college players. Write a sports column for the newspaper giving your views on using testing to determine the potential of players.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.