Regular readers of this space know that MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski is one of our favorites, serving up heaps of grist for our mill with her regular injections of liberal opinion into her newsreading on "Morning Joe," as here.
We'd been searching for an apt nickname for Brzezinski, and as of this morning, Mika herself has supplied one. Meet "Bubbles" Brzezinski. Mika was reading headlines from the morning's crop of newspapers, when she came across an item from the Boston Globe.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Boston Globe: "Many colleges ignore SAT writing test." I find this very interesting because SATs were not my strong suit. I probably would never have been allowed to go to college if it was based on just my SAT scores. But apparently hundreds of universities, including several top schools, are ignoring or paying little heed to students' scores on the writing section of the SAT in admissions. I never had a writing section, just bubbles.
View video here.
The witty Willie Geist [that's his hand in the screencap giving Mika a sympathetic squeeze], sitting in for the ailing Joe Scarborough [to whose discomfiture we certainly hope our item of Tuesday didn't contribute] added a bit of ageist insult to injury.
WILLIE GEIST: By the time I came around, we had writing.BRZEZINSKI: Really?
GEIST: Yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: Are you that much younger?
GEIST: Just kidding.
BRZEZINSKI: Thanks a lot, Willie!
In all seriousness, credit Mika for her self-deprecating candor. How many among us would bare this kind of detail?
Mika Brzezinski: henceforth and forevermore, "Bubbles."
Aside: Mika graduated from Williams, one of the most highly-selective colleges in the country. According to this college admissions website, only 18.8% of applicants are admitted, and even students toward the bottom of the student body average 670 on their SATs. So if, as Mika mentioned, she "probably would never have been allowed to go to college if it was based on just my SAT scores," how did she win admission to Williams?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Bubbles: SATs were not
September 20, 2007 - 07:19 ET by USA4freedomBubbles: SATs were not my strong suit.
No $hit..
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
I wonder too how this
September 20, 2007 - 07:20 ET by Gat New YorkI wonder too how this brainless Mika got into Williams too - and got this job she has?
And the answer is...
September 20, 2007 - 07:55 ET by inquiringmindDaddy
...and without daddy, Mika
September 20, 2007 - 08:20 ET by Senior Chief...and without daddy, Mika could have wound up working jobs that no Americans would do. It's not what you know...it's who's your daddy.
Daddy' girl
September 20, 2007 - 08:53 ET by GalvanicAbsolutely. He's a member of the poltical elite.
The real answer is...
September 20, 2007 - 10:29 ET by Dr_LibertyBubbles was a South Carolina beauty queen.
<insert witty signature here>
If I recall it is the
September 20, 2007 - 08:17 ET by Free ThinkerIf I recall it is the writing section that not only tests an understanding of grammer, but is also the only part of the exam that requires any type of logical and critical thinking. Why am I not surprised to hear this is not her strongsuit?
In ancient times
September 20, 2007 - 08:32 ET by sarcasmoWhen I took it (I suspect I did better than Mika...) they still had questions in the format: "This is to this as that is to that." They got rid of those, sadly, but those types of questions required logic, for sure. I find it interesting that they continually change the bar/numbers on SATs, so that it effectively becomes impossible to compare my score to modern kids' scores.
Maybe that's for the best...I'd probably get upset.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
I fear we both fall in the
September 20, 2007 - 08:51 ET by Free ThinkerI fear we both fall in the "older" category perhaps, but I recall education as being just that - asking challenging questions and forcing us to think. I talked to a friend who is a teacher and she told me her curriculum now has more to do with teaching how to pass mandatory testing than encouraging active thought. Even subjects such as math and science now focus more on the memorization of the formula than the old word problems that first asked the student to figure out what was the problem to solve and how to do it.
The other thing I noted in the article above was that the bottom half of students at her school scored a 670 on the SAT's. That sounds really low. It seems to me we would have had a better football team if that was all it took to get into school.
Back when I was at UF
September 20, 2007 - 09:10 ET by sarcasmoThe football-rivalry with UGA was, shall we say, intense. When it came-out that some of their players flunked literacy tests (not the SATs!) we started saying "let the big dog READ!" :)
Anyway, out of a total 1600 possible right back then, I somehow got a 1350, mostly due to lousy/slow math as I was largely computer-dependent even back then. It was a pretty-good score, but the Asian kid in our class -- as I expected -- kicked my ass with something like 1520, IIRC. He deserved it, he's a very smart guy, and I hear he's a doctor now. I'm just sad they took away the "this is to this" stuff because I think it really did measure logical thinking and vocabulary quite well, even if the results tended to be politically-incorrect.
The problem I see with a written section is just how to score it. Writing is a matter of taste, so I might score Dave Barry 100 and Carl Hiassen 90, and Blonde might score 'em both exactly the opposite. Who's "right"? Who can say...They're both great writers. Filling in the bubble with a #2 pencil solves this problem handily.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Sarcasmo, I'm really
September 20, 2007 - 09:26 ET by Free ThinkerSarcasmo, I'm really laughing out loud now that I am even having this conversation with you and we are cordial about it since I went to UGA for my undergraduate degree! I hope none of my friends know I am discussing academics with a Florida grad. Just kidding. Good luck to your Gators this weekend and perhaps we can have a cocktail in Jacksonville someday.
To be totally-honest
September 20, 2007 - 09:31 ET by sarcasmoI was drinking/workout buddies with a few of our football players, and I'm not sure they were big intellects, either! ;) And I love Jacksonville -- for one thing it has that wonderful-smelling Folgers plant. And what a party! (I think there's a college football game involved, too, but I can never seem to remember after drinking at a keg all day!)
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Mark, It's more likely that Joe Scarborough is out because
September 20, 2007 - 09:15 ET by RJhe's in mourning for what he calls his "beloved" Boston Red Sox. :(
How She Got Her Job
September 20, 2007 - 09:21 ET by mattmAffirmative action. Nepostism. Looks. Sexual favors. Payola.
Who knows? It could even be talent...TV talkers are a dime a dozen. I doub't it takes much talent to be decent at it.
I certainly can't be journalistic credentials...
"SATs were not my strong
September 20, 2007 - 09:25 ET by bassndude"SATs were not my strong suit. I probably would never have been allowed to go to college if it was based on just my SAT scores."
I think that the same can be said about all MSM journalists.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Forget the cowbell, let's
September 20, 2007 - 10:32 ET by Dr_LibertyForget the cowbell, let's have more Bubbles!
Tiny bubbles
On my test
Makes me feel giddy
I'm thinking less!
<insert witty signature here>
Writing
September 20, 2007 - 16:03 ET by iveseenitallI believe the writing section of the SAT's is a good idea. Unfortunately, like all good ideas in education, it has been corrupted by the liberals who use the often subjectively graded writing sample as a way to boost student scores and lower objective standards. Most liberals would have the SAT's eliminated altogether. They are working toward this goal. After all, it smacks of one of their most dreaded words, competition.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Alec Baldwin
September 20, 2007 - 16:14 ET by iveseenitallI'm reading a report here that says Alec Baldwin had a combined SAT of 1500. Take that, you right-wing nuts...... Oh wait, that's a combined score of 500. Sorry.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
I've, I'll probably go to
September 21, 2007 - 00:26 ET by MikeBI've, I'll probably go to perdition for asking this, but I just can't help myself. That combined score of 500 for Alex Baldwin: is that the combined score for the 50 times he took the test? Or, did he manage to get that all in one try?
Now, I'll take my punishment like an ogre and go wash my fingers off with soap for typing that. <sigh>
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan