good morning. It’s Tuesday. We’ll see why Columbia University slipped to No. 18 in the US News & World Report university rankings. We’ll also look at how Manhattan’s congestion pricing plans affect air quality in the Bronx.
Columbia University was downgraded from 2nd to 18th in US News & World Report’s annual university rankings on Monday. The last time Columbia was his 18th was in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was president, Edward Koch was mayor, and Michael Sovan was president of Colombia. The following year, it jumped to eighth place.
College admissions officials are careful not to include a certain amount of exaggeration in student applications. Extracurricular activities, debates, participation in her tournaments, and performances in the school orchestra are more than one student can squeeze in. Top US news rankings?
Michael Thaddeus, a professor of mathematics at Columbia University, claimed his school did just that. Disputed Colombia’s second-place ranking in a statistical analysis that said. Thaddeus said he found discrepancies when comparing Colombian statistics with data from publicly available sources.
Columbia initially defended the data, but said in July that it would withdraw from the 2022-23 rankings.
But US News changed its mind and reinstated Colombia in its rankings released Monday. He said he relied on outside sources to gather information on Colombia on his own. Columbia ranks 17th in the national college rankings, behind Cornell University (an Ivy League university) where she ranks 19th, the University of Notre Dame.
Last week, Columbia admitted that it had miscalculated at least two metrics Thaddeus questioned: class size and the highest degree faculty it could award in a given field. Columbia, which blamed the error, at least in part, on the “complexity” of reporting requirements, said it had changed its methodology.
After the new rankings were released on Monday, Thaddeus said he did not intend to draw any conclusions about the quality of Colombian education from the rankings, whether Colombia ranked second or 18th.
“The broader lesson that everyone should keep in mind is that US News has shown that its operations are very poor and both pointless,” he said. told Anemona Hartocollis, who is in charge of “If an agency lets him drop from No. 2 to No. 18 in a year, it just discredites the entire ranking operation.”
US News has been grading colleges since 1983 and likes to say it offers consumer services, but given the cost and importance of education, parents and students need some guidance. more important than ever.
“For most of these students and their families, going to college is the most important investment they will ever make, other than buying a home,” U.S. News CEO Eric Gertler said in a statement. .
The ranking is based on 17 criteria, including reputation (20%) and student selectivity (7%, of which SAT and ACT scores are weighted by 5%). Many critics are particularly troubled by the reputation factor, according to a survey sent to presidents and deans.
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Clean Manhattan air, dirty air in the Bronx?
How infamous is the Cross Bronx highway?
You can count how.
I could count the three long, often painful miles from Arthur Avenue to Zelega Avenue. According to his Inrix, a traffic research firm, these are he one of the busiest corridors in the United States.
A proposed congestion toll plan in New York City could count 704 additional trucks each day on top of the 27,000 already passing through the Cross Bronx.
Air pollution starts with soot from truck traffic and can increase by about 5%. The New York Times analyzed his MTA data and found that overall soot (from boilers in buildings, factories and elsewhere) increases by 1%.
Or you can count how much money a driver could save by bypassing Manhattan below 60th Street, where the new toll applies, and bypassing the Bronx.
Congestion Fees are intended to reduce pollution and congestion in Midtown and Lower Manhattan while fundraising for public transit. But as my colleague Ana Ray explains, the South Bronx could get dirtier air from the traffic that now passes through Midtown on its way to beyond five boroughs. I have.
The South Bronx isn’t the only area affected. Motorists avoiding the new toll could add traffic and soot to parts of the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island’s Nassau County and New Jersey’s Bergen County, according to an environmental assessment released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. There is a possibility
The MTA board has not yet approved congestion charging, but it is expected to do so in some form. Governor Kathy Hochul, who manages the board, endorses it. The MTA is exploring options for how much the toll will be. Officials say they are also continuing to investigate the environmental report and collect public comments.
The MTA had enough concerns about the Bronx that it tinkered with a plan to consider a flat toll for all vehicles, rather than levy high levies on heavy trucks, the main source of air pollution. . The hope behind flat tolls is that fewer trucks will be sent to the Bronx. But the benefits are probably diminished in Manhattan’s congested zones.
Congestion pricing proponents say it will be a key factor in the fight against climate change. They note that the MTA’s research shows that the drastic reduction in pollution in Midtown outweighs the small increases around the Cross Bronx and other hot spots.
Residents along the Cross Bronx say even one more truck is too many. For 40 years, Earlene Wilkerson, 63, has lived near where the ramps around her Interchange cross the Bronx, where she intersects with her Expressway, Major Deegan. She says she suffers from asthma, just like her children, and has memories of the years her oldest daughter spent in the hospital unable to breathe properly.
“They often skipped school,” said Mr. Wilkerson, who was too breathless to walk to his fifth-floor apartment as he rested on a bench at the bus stop. “Now my grandchildren are going through the same thing.”
Metropolitan Diary
Do you have time?
Dear Diary:
I was on 125th Street and was in a hurry. I didn’t have a watch and I needed to know how late I was running. I looked at the man who had it and asked him if he had time.
“What,” he said.
Surprised by his reaction, I stopped. He also stopped and stood facing me.
“Because I remember buying this watch,” he said.
Unable to keep his cool, he held back the laughter he had been suppressing.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Someone said that to me and I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever heard in his life. I just thought I’d share.”
He laughed and walked away, leaving me with a new answer if someone on the road stopped me with the same question.
— Patrick Cornville
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Submit Submission Here When Click here for more on The Metropolitan Diary.
It was nice to be here with you. see you tomorrow. — JB
P.S. here today mini crossword When spelling contest. You can find all puzzles here.
Ashley Shannon Wu, Francis Mateo and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.
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