Today's Talkers: Homosexuality Vs. Church; Peer Sex Ed

Published May 20, 2010

We’re always talking about the “talkers” — the stories everyone’s talking about. Today we’ve got two of them, totaling 40 minutes of sex talk on Radio Boston. I promise it wasn’t planned this way.

Talker No. 1: A Catholic school in Hingham kicked out un-admitted an 8-year-old boy after finding out his parents are two lesbians. Mom and Mom signed their names on application forms at an open house, and the rest is history. Now Cardinal Sean O’Malley, of the Boston archdiocese, blogs that he supports the decision for “the good of the child.”

The intersection of Church & Gay in Knoxville, Tenn. (Wyoming_Jackrabbit via Flickr)

The intersection of Church & Gay in Knoxville, Tenn. (Wyoming_Jackrabbit via Flickr)

O’Malley illuminates his explanation with the story of a little girl, begotten by a murdered prostitute, too abused and ashamed by her peers to attend school. Apparently O’Malley equates homosexuality to prostitution.

Yes, the Catholic church condemns homosexuality as immoral, but parochial schools have a tradition of including all in the flock — Jews, Muslims, children of divorced parents. The kid isn’t gay, his parents are. So how is this case any different? Meghna puts that question to Father Bryan Hehir of the Boston archdiocese.

On the other hand, one wonders why two gay people would submit their child to an education that condemns the very structure of their family. Not that it’s any of my business. My colleague Jessica Alpert says it reminds her of “Trembling Before G-d,” a documentary about orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their homosexuality with their faith.

Talker No. 2: What would you do if you found out a college student was teaching your 9th grader about sex? That’s exactly what Boston Public Schools is doing, to save money. It’s a program called Peer Health Exchange. The idea is that the kids will learn more from people who are, you know, cool.

My colleague Lisa Tobin remembers her tenure as head of the peer sex ed group at Gig Harbor (Wash.) High. She was put in a difficult situation when two of the peer leaders were caught having sex in the music room closet. The big question was: Did they use protection?

Interestingly, Boston’s new program doesn’t require a permission slip.

Thursday Morning Reading: Firefighters, MCAS, Wheeler's Resume

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.

Grace Ross Is Out

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.

Pir Khan's Hackney License

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.

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Wednesday Morning: Class Clown, Health Care, Red Meat

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)

Hubbub Explainer: Suspect Plagiarism? Turnitin.

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.

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Paul Levy In The Hot Seat

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.

Tuesday Morning: Casinos, Shakespeare And Yes, Obama's Aunt

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)