When the great equalizer shuts down: Schools, peers, and parents in pandemic times

<p>Central Asia is one of the most tectonically active and orographically diverse regions in the world and is the location of the highest topography on Earth resulting from major plate tectonic collisional events. Yet the role of tectonics versus climate on erosion remains one of the greatest debates of our time. We present the first regional scale analysis of 2526 published low-temperature thermochronometric dates from Central Asia spanning the Altai-Sayan, Tian Shan, Tibet, Pamir, and Himalaya. We compare these dates to tectonic processes (proximity to tectonic boundaries, crustal thickness, seismicity) and state-of-the-art paleoclimate simulations in order to constrain the relative influences of climate and tectonics on the topographic architecture and erosion of Central Asia. Predominance of pre-Cenozoic ages in much of the interior of central Asia suggests that significant topography was created prior to the India-Eurasia collision and implies limited subsequent erosion. Increasingly young cooling ages are associated with increasing proximity to active tectonic boundaries, suggesting a first-order control of tectonics on erosion. However, areas that have been sheltered from significant precipitation for extensive periods of time retain old cooling ages. This suggests that ultimately climate is the great equalizer of erosion. Climate plays a key role by enhancing erosion in areas with developed topography and high precipitation such as the Tian Shan and Altai-Sayan during the Mesozoic and the Himalaya during the Cenozoic. Older thermochronometric dates are associated with sustained aridity following more humid periods.</p>

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Taking it to the Grave: Gender, Cultural Capital, and Ethnicity in Turkish Death Announcements

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.2190/om.60.2.e ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 175-197 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Murat Ergin

Keyword(s):

Cultural Capital ◽

Social History ◽

Turning Points ◽

Minority Status ◽

Daily Newspaper ◽

Religious Minority ◽

Self Image ◽

Great Equalizer

Popularly considered a great equalizer, death and the rituals around it nevertheless accentuate social distinctions. The present study focuses on a sample ( N = 2554) of death announcements in a major Turkish daily newspaper ( Hürriyet) from 1970 to 2006. Out of the liminal position of Turkish death announcements between obituaries and death notices emerges a large decentralized collection of private decisions responding to death, reflecting attitudes toward gender, ethnic/religious minority status and cultural capital, and echoing the aggregate efforts of privileged groups to maintain a particular self-image. Class closures lead to openings for traditionally under-represented minorities, such as Jewish Turkish citizens and citizens of Greek or Armenian origin. Results reveal that signs of status and power in announcements are largely monopolized by men of Turkish-Muslim origins. Although the changes in the genre-characteristics of death announcements are slow, they correspond to major turning points in Turkish social history.

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The great equalizer

Coronavirus Capitalism Goes to the Cinema ◽

10.4324/9781003173472-7 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 67-77

Author(s):

Eugene Nulman

Keyword(s):

Great Equalizer

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Going to School in Unequal America

Making Education Work for the Poor ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190621568.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Willliam Elliott ◽

Melinda Lewis

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Postsecondary Education ◽

National Education Association ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

National Education ◽

Starting Point ◽

Education Association ◽

Developed World ◽

Great Equalizer

In the United States, the education system is more than just a mechanism for transmitting knowledge. It is the nation’s most powerful tool for creating economic opportunities and helping individuals secure a good quality of life and parents’ primary plan for securing the well-being of their children. As such, educational attainment is often touted as the proverbial “key to the kingdom” that puts those who hold it on the path to prosperity. This link between economic mobility and education sets the United States apart from much of the rest of the developed world, where most countries have strong welfare systems that allow individuals to succeed routinely without postsecondary education. This international contrast provides an important framework for understanding how the role of education aligns with how Americans see themselves and their futures. More specifically, Americans vest their hopes in education as a means of getting ahead instead of relying on a generous welfare state that ensures that “nobody is in need”—the predominant view, for example, among Europeans. Crucially, the institution of education is supposed to work equally for all Americans, regardless of their starting point. This belief in education as a force for equity as well as opportunity was ensconced in its foundations, as articulated by Horace Mann in 1848, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance wheel of the social machinery.” It persists, extolled by Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration, “In America, education is still the great equalizer” and National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel, “Education is the great equalizer . . . opening doors of opportunity for all.” However, there are signs that Americans increasingly doubt the viability of these egalitarian ideals and question whether education can truly realize the promise of a better future. In 2014, only 64% of Americans reported that they still believe in the American dream.

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