My position on the Lakers is well known, no need to repeat them.

I've been grading midterm exams for the course for which I am a TA. This is a general education class, so the expectation for students' ability is low. Very low. So low that I believe a highly trained chimpanzee could probably pass the class. We make the tests open book and open notes, thinking this should be enough.

A particular student's test caught my eye. There is a question on cholesterol absorption and margarine product called Benecol. He wrote a paragraph of highly jargonized sentences that didn't have much to do with the answer. Then in the parentitheis he wrote that the information above is taken from www.benecol.com, the official site for Benecol Inc. I was very puzzled by this. Then I suddenly realized that our classroom has access to wireless network. Students are allowed to use laptops. And this guy probably had a wireless card. So he was surfing the web, searching for answers!!

Lowered expectations is a slippery slope.