Bacon Bits

bacon_bitsThere are so developments today in stories that Bacon’s Rebellion has been following that I am compelled curtail my usual bloviating and turn the commentary over to readers.

A wise policy. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise has earned a worthwhile distinction: It is ranked 1st nationally in public liberal arts colleges for graduating students with low debt (based on the latest US News & World-Report annual college guide data). “More than half of the UVa-Wise Class of 2015 graduated without any debt, and the average amount of debt for UVa-Wise graduates who used student loans totaled $14,424 in 2015,” says the university.

How did the university manage the feat despite having a student body in which three-quarters qualify for financial aid and one-third come from families that make zero contribution toward tuition? Well, its annual tuition & fees, at $9,220 this year, are the third lowest in the state. And it dedicates about 60% of its $80 million endowment to scholarships. (Hat tip: Marvin Gilliam.)

VDOE steps in. Responding to a Norfolk school scandal, the Virginia Department of Education will review a measure to curtail the practice in which schools move students with low grades into different classes to avoid having them take their Standards of Learning test, reports the Virginian-Pilot.

Steven Staples, Virginia’s superintendent, said he supports schedule changes to help the student but not to avoid testing. “The department has tried to clearly communicate to all divisions that manipulating schedules or changing courses for the purpose of avoiding accountability is not acceptable,” he told the Pilot.

Dueling protocols. Tests conducted by the James River Association and the Southern Environmental Law Center show elevated levels of lead and arsenic in sediment and water samples near the Chesterfield Power Station. “One thing this tells us is that we should be getting more data,” said SELC attorney Brad McClane.

The findings follow tests that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) conducted in July that raised no red flags. “DEQ found no violations of the water quality criteria in the sampling locations that SELC,” spokesman Bill Hayden told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. … The data presented to DEQ do not conform to the testing regimen used in Virginia.”

Results can vary depending upon tidal conditions, the depth of the water column sampled, and how far from the station the samples are pulled, McLane said. “We’re performing sampling in a way to find problems if they exist.”

Dominion Virginia Power, which operates the Chesterfield station, is still reviewing the law center tests, a company spokesman said.