Published May 20, 2010

Another day, another tree falling and blocking Green Line service.

Previously: http://twitpic.com/1p41q3

Update: UHub says “the D Line must have been jealous.” Ha!

Published May 20, 2010

A roundup of the news on what looks to be a very warm Boston Thursday:

1. Council President Ross Condemns Firefighters Deal

   Mike Ross’s threat to kill the deal — which the council has the power to do if a majority of its 13 members oppose it — is the most significant hint of opposition yet to the controversial award. Ross first made the news Wednesday on WBUR’s Radio Boston. The union says the council is legally bound to support the award. (Andrew Ryan/Globe)

2. Mass. May Scrap MCAS Test

   Massachusetts education officials are quietly putting together a proposal to scrap the controversial MCAS exams in English and math and replace them with new tests they are developing with about two dozen other states. Officials have long regarded the 12-year-old MCAS exams and the academic standards on which they are based to be superior to other states. (James Vaznis/Globe)

3. The New Republic Publishes Wheeler’s Resume

   The New Republic received — and denied — an internship application from Adam Wheeler, the accused ex-Harvard fraudster. In his two-page resume, Wheeler claims he is writing several books, that he can speak French, Old English, Classical Armenian and Old Persian, that and he is in demand on the lecture circuit.

4. Autistic Kids Have An Affinity For Music

   Because it calms them down and gives them a way to express themselves, music therapy has become popular for many autistic kids. But one Boston program is specifically for kids with autism — and it has nothing to do with therapy. (Sacha Pfeiffer/WBUR)

5. Man Jumped Off Mass Ave Bridge To Save Friend

   A Dorchester man watched as his childhood best friend leapt from the Massachusetts Avenue bridge, then jumped in after in a failed attempt to rescue him from the cold, swirling Charles River, family members said. (O’Ryan Johnson and Laura Crimaldi/Herald)

What sources am I missing? What should I be reading? Speak up in the comments.

Published May 19, 2010

Guberfest 2010 is down to four: Deval Patrick, Charlie Baker, Tim Cahill, Jill Stein.

Democratic challenger Grace Ross didn’t get enough certified signatures.

Published May 19, 2010

Pir Khan, a cab driver from Pakistan, is one of three men arrested last week as part of the Boston-area FBI raids in connection with the failed Times Square bombing. WBUR obtained his hackney license (PDF) as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

Continue reading →

Published May 19, 2010

News on a drizzly Boston Wednesday:

1. Alleged Harvard Fraudster ‘Not A Stand-Out’

   A former high school classmate said Adam Wheeler, accused of fooling the nation’s most august university, was a class clown who delighted in pranks such as tossing ketchup packets around the halls like little red landmines. (O’Ryan Johnson/Herald)

2. Trust-Based Admissions Leaves Elite Colleges Open To Fraud

   The former Harvard College senior accused of duping one of the world’s most selective universities seems to have exploited an application system at elite colleges that is largely based on trust and where admissions officers verify credentials only when they suspect that something is awry. (Tracy Jan and Milton J. Valencia/Globe)

3. Mass. Senate Approves Bill To Contain Health Costs

   The bill would let businesses with 50 or fewer workers form cooperatives to purchase insurance at a lower cost. Another provision presses insurers to spend at least 90 percent of premium dollars on care and 10 percent or less on administrative costs. (AP)

4. Not All Red Meats Are Heart-Unhealthy, Study Says

   The researchers looked over nearly 1,600 studies and were startled to find that even though the health risks of red meat seem well-established, the evidence for that is actually mixed. (Sacha Pfeiffer/WBUR)

5. Paul Levy Is A Good Guy, But He Doesn’t Get It

   Forty-five minutes with the Beth Israel CEO provided an extraordinary view into so much of what’s wrong with life in the city’s higher altitudes, where macho favor-trading, undue influence, and complicit governing boards are the way of the day. (Brian McGrory/Globe)

Published May 18, 2010

In the Web age, it would seem difficult to plagiarize and get very far. Can’t an admissions officer just, you know, Google it?

Of course, there’s more to the Web than what Google knows about. That’s where Turnitin comes in, a service that helps teachers root out plagiarism. Seems it could have saved a lot of trouble in the case of Adam Wheeler, the ex-Harvard student accused of an elaborate and calculated lie. The district attorney’s press release alone reads like a scene from “Catch Me If You Can.” (Wheeler pleaded not guilty in superior court Tuesday.)

The company was started about a decade ago by grad students, including an MIT math guy, who couldn’t believe the amount of plagiarism they found while grading papers. Now there’s a spinoff of the service for university admissions — apparently a highly requested feature.

The Turnitin people have a huge database of existing work. I’m talking huge. Imagine the entire Internet. Petabytes of data. Millions and millions of gigabytes. Turnitin has a copy of all of that plus newspaper archives and paid academic journals, plus all of the documents ever submitted to the service previously — something like 120 million homework assignments and terms papers.

[pullquote]Lorton’s BS detector goes through the roof. He says “ideas and inspiration” means “copy and paste.”[/pullquote]

When a student’s work is uploaded to the service, Turnitin’s ever-evolving algorithm flags any derivative patterns and alerts the client (the university). What fascinates me is how the company keeps up with new forms of plagiarism.

I talked to Jeff Lorton in Oakland, Calif., who runs Turnitin for Admissions.

“There are literally thousands and thousands of companies and websites that you can commission just about anything you want, including everything through your Ph.D. thesis, if you could convince your review board that you wrote it,” Lorton tells me.

Continue reading →

Published May 18, 2010

On Tuesday’s Radio Boston, Meghna interviews Beth Israel Deaconess CEO Paul Levy, who has admitted to an improper relationship with a hospital co-worker that may have lasted for years.

The hospital board fined Levy $50,000 and asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to review its handling of the transgression. Levy openly and plainly apologized, saying he looks forward to “putting this chapter behind us.” Now Levy embarks on a speaking tour to rebuild his image — reminding people of his reform work at the hospital and at that other agency in the news lately, the MWRA.

I want to know what you think about all the hubbub at Beth Israel. Can Levy focus on running a major hospital after a high-profile embarrassment? Is his personal life any of our business? Meghna’s conversation is being recorded in advance of the live broadcast, so we can’t take calls. But you can shout out in the comments.

Published May 18, 2010

What’s happening in the Boston news universe on a cloudy Tuesday morning.

1. At Harvard, Kagan Won More Fans Than Foes

   Even critics say Elena Kagan’s tenure as dean of Harvard Law School was largely successful. But some take issue with her management style and legacy on minority recruitment. (Nina Totenberg/NPR)

2. Palmer Goes All In On Casino Hopes

   There’s a sense of inevitability in Palmer when it comes to casinos. Right on Main Street is a Mohegan Sun office, which has been there for a year. If Massachusetts allows casinos, one thing seems pretty clear: Palmer is ready. (Bob Oakes and Lisa Tobin/WBUR)

3. Ex-Harvard Student Accused Of Living A Lie

   He crafted an elaborate web of lies to con his way into Harvard University, authorities say, but Adam B. Wheeler wasn’t content to graduate quietly and get away with just a degree. (John R. Ellement and Tracy Jan/Globe)

4. Sentenced To Shakespeare

   When juveniles break the law and get convicted in court, part of their punishment usually involves community service or rehabilitation. But in western Massachusetts, some young offenders are being sentenced to Shakespeare. (Andrea Shea/WBUR)

5. Obama’s Aunt Can Stay In Southie

   It remains a mystery how the Onyango Zeituni’s legal team got the immigration judge to reverse himself on deportation, but the White House insists the president had nothing to do with it. (Laurel J. Sweet/Herald)

Published May 17, 2010

OK, how is this thing still missing?

Crews are slated to begin excavating parts of the Charles River bed Monday, continuing the search for a massive pipe coupling that failed earlier this month, cutting off potable water to more than two million people in Greater Boston.

Fred Laskey, the beleagured director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, says: “We won’t give up until we get to the bottom of it.” Apparently they won’t get to the bottom of it till they get to the bottom of it.