My generation never ceases to amaze me!

I had an unpaid internship this summer, working at an economic development agency. I don't know what Footman's talking about when he says he expected a learning experience and didn't get that. The work, even if it is menial, is still teaching him about the business: much of my work was interesting and substantial, but some of it wasn't. Sometimes, I was just needed to make copies and perform gofer tasks, but even then, I got the chance to observe people at work in the office.

Obviously, there's a line - if the only thing they're doing is janitorial work and there really is nothing that could be considered "learning" about the business, then maybe they should be compensated - but they could've quit and found paying work. If they needed that recommendation letter, then I would probably tell them to suck it up and do the work, because as Beasley says, an internship recommendation really is valued in today's world.

I'm currently using the Mankiw (macro) textbook in my macroeconomics class. I can't speak for his micro textbook, but the macro textbook presents multiple theories in a largely unbiased manner. I suspect Professor Mankiw teaches his class the same way he writes his textbooks - intelligently and from multiple perspectives.

And frankly (and I could be very wrong here, I admit - I'm no more than a year older than them, and I don't want to claim to know everything, as they are) I don't think an introductory economics course needs to have an abundance of primary sources or features from journals. It's not called "economic studies", it's flat-out economics. It's basically a math class. But I suppose the liberal practice of ignoring facts has to start somewhere! Might as well be freshman fall!

Co-ed floors are universal here. That status does not extend to bathrooms, though, with the exception of a very-limited number of "gender-neutral" suites (additionally, women are allowed to enter men's bathrooms in dorms, but men may not enter women's bathrooms). As far as I know, Dartmouth doesn't have any policy preventing anyone from sleeping over. If we do, it is not enforced in any way.

A more interesting case is Vassar College. A friend of mine there has told me all about the College's efforts to end "heteronormativity," which according to Wikipedia "involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender-identity, and gender roles." All housing at Vassar is "gender-neutral" and (I believe) all bathrooms are coed. I don't know if those specific policies are in the future for colleges across the country, but in my intro anthropology class last year, while discussing sex versus gender, a majority of students agreed with the professor that the alignment of biological sex with social gender was outmoded and oppressive.

Like Andrew, I was fortunate enough to attend a high school with excellent writing instruction, and even at the wonderful school I attend now, I have found that many of my classmates do not know how to write. Ideally, all students should be able to write fluently upon matriculation to college, but I definitely think collegiate expository writing courses are necessary now that the nation's public education system has failed so thoroughly. We need meaningful reform of public education in order to restore K-12 writing instruction to what it should be. For my generation, though, college writing courses will have to suffice.

B-b-but... I don't understand how this is feasible; Target Groceries don't carry arugula!

First comment, though I've been reading Ricochet for several months now!

As a college sophomore, I would (anecdotally) say that most people my age are apathetic and ignorant about politics. My best friend is completely unashamed that he does not read the news or engage in politics, or national or world affairs. However, he is convinced that Obama is the best thing for this country and that Obama will be reelected due to his "high personal popularity." My friend is intelligent, but also ignorant. He also plans to vote in November 2012. I don't think he plans on doing any research before Election Day. From most of the people I have talked to, I can gauge that this is a widely held set of beliefs and intentions.

On the other hand, I do think AmishDude and Ethan are right - a minority of "apathy" is definitely a mask for conservatism: faced with a liberal majority that uses comedians' punchlines rather than facts to "prove" their "points," it's often not worth voicing our views, especially if we aren't rock-solid in our ability to defend them.

I just hope my age group gets politically informed over time.