NextDraft

Why Employers Still Want to See SAT Scores and Other Fascinating News on the Web

February 26, 2014

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  1. Waiting for Your Test Scores

    According to the WSJ, many employers still want to see your old SAT scores, even if you’ve had a long track record in college and the workplace, and you’re currently in your 40s or 50s. (I always knew my inability to score in high school would come back to haunt me.) If I ran a human resources department today, I think I’d be less concerned with someone’s standardized test scores from high school and more interested how they did at Codeacademy.

    + The New Yorker’s Elizabeth Kolbert: When Mom Takes the SAT.

  2. And Baby Makes Four

    In Washington “a government advisory committee began debating a new technique that combines DNA from three people to create embryos free of certain inherited diseases.” Think of it as a Mitochondria à trois.

  3. Divided Loyalties

    Tensions and uncertainty are rising in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military exercises and “members of the dissolved police force were immediately offered sanctuary in the pro-Russian Crimean Peninsula, further stoking concerns about divided loyalties in Ukraine.”

    + Jon Lee Anderson in The New Yorker: “It is an age of protest and volatility. In the face of entrenched authoritarian governments, ineffectual parliaments, and insufficient rule of law, chronic instability is becoming the norm.” I wonder how big a role social networking technology is playing in the rise of the protest age.

  4. Take a (very) Little Off the Top

    In the NY Review of Books, Alma Guillermoprieto provides some insight into the life and times (and capture) of El Chapo: “And then there was all the money requiring cleaning, tons of that too, literally, barrels and cratefuls of cash coming in every week: What to do with the boxes of it left over once the bodyguards, spies, goons, hit men, police officers, judges, mayors, governors, customs officials, army generals, prison guards, railroad workers, trucking bosses, journalists, ranch hands, relatives, cabinet ministers, bank officers, helicopter, jet, and airplane pilots, business associates, and barbers have been paid off? This last item is not negligible; the person who comes in to wield scissors very close to your neck once a month or so and monitor your half-hearted attempts at a disguise — a moustache, a dye job — is someone you definitely want to tip richly if you’re Joaquín ‘Chapo’ Guzmán.”

    + Michael Daly: Drug Cartel Beauty Queens Face an Ugly End.

  5. Paper or Nothing

    In many cities in California, it’s already impossible to opt for a plastic bag at checkout. And soon, California could be the first state to completely ban the bags. Why? “Plastic bags are used once or twice but can last up to a millennium.”

    + A New York co-op wants to ban plastic bags from every corner of its store. And, as Slate’s Miriam Krule explains: Ain’t No Meeting Like a Park Slope Food Co-op Meeting.

  6. Keep Your Glass on the Road

    According to Reuters, Google lobbyists are working “in at least three U.S. states to stop proposed restrictions on driving with headsets such as Google Glass.” This seems like a non-issue. Everyone who wears Google Glass takes Uber anyway.

    + In an SF bar, a woman wearing Google Glass was attacked by bar patrons worried about being videotaped (and here’s the video).

    + “Taken together, we’re observing the emergence of tech that doesn’t just augment our intellect and lives — but is now beginning to automate and outsource our humanity.” Wired’s Evan Selinger: Today’s Apps Are Turning Us Into Sociopaths.

  7. The New Uniform

    Want to develop your own unique look? Striving for an authenticity that’s entirely your own? Sorry, that’s totally out. The in thing these days is “sameness” or normcore. Want to be edgy? Get yourself a pair of dad jeans, a nondescript t-shirt, and a wrinkled fleece.

    + Apparently, facial hair transplants are growing amid the hipster beard craze. This is incredible. I’ve spent the last decade dressed like a slob and forgetting to shave and suddenly I’m stylish.

    + Buzzfeed: Behind The Scenes Of The Abercrombie Boardroom Battle.

  8. The New Holiday

    Whenever my friend Dave takes on a job at a company, he makes sure his new employers include one key provision in his contract: He gets baseball’s opening day off. If some people have their way, Dave won’t be alone. Should opening day be a national holiday?

    + Frank Deford argues that it’s time to shrink home plate. (Someone would just use ‘roids to pump it back up.)

  9. Pizza Powered

    “I used to eat ‘regular food’ like every normal American, but when I was 15 or 16, I made the decision to become a vegetarian based on ethical reasoning … I also hate vegetables.” Vice on the man who has survived on pizza alone for 25 years.

    + NPR crunches the numbers and figures out why you should always order the bigger pizza.

  10. The Bottom of the News

    “So, let’s step outside and handle this like two grown men who happen to collect Star Wars figurines.” From McSweeney’s: I hope you enjoy this artisanal knuckle sandwich.

    + 7 ways to be the most interesting person in the room (this is a bit redundant for NextDraft readers.)

    + Forget game theory and Jeopardy. How do you win at Wheel of Fortune? (My parents and I often bonded over our shared contempt of those players who purchased unnecessary vowels.)

    + BBC: The hazards of urban skiing.