“Kansas”, a short story by Antonya Nelson, explores how place can define people. “Wichita was just that size, big enough for lesbians and psychoanalysis, small enough for impractical, coincidental cross-pollination.” Indeed, the characters in Nelson’s story embody this split-personality, toeing the line between the exotic and the mundane.

In The Talk of the Town’s “No Mercy”, columnist Malcolm Gladwell writes about the new age of zero tolerance, highlighting a case about a young American physicist doing undergraduate work at Cambridge in 1925. The student, apparently depressed, dosed an apple with noxious chemicals and gave it to his tutor. Luckily, the tutor didn’t eat the apple, but school officials did find out about the attempted poisoning and put the student on probation. Yep, folks, that’s right—probation. Gladwell points out that if the incident occured today, in this age of zero tolerance, the punishment would have been much harsher, and the important contributions the student went on to make non-existent. So who was this student that Cambridge saved? None other than Robert Oppenheimer. How would the world be different if Oppenheimer lived in the age of zero tolerance indeed…

And since this is the education issue, I must point out “The Searchers” by Dana Goodyear, who takes us into Deep Springs College, a working cattle ranch near Death Valley. Established in 1917 by L.L. Nunn, the college has retained its traditional all male enrollment policy of twenty-five, its restriction with any outside influences, and its devotion to academic prowess. The two year program often places students into Ivy league academies.

For an entirely different perspective into schools, read “The Lunchroom Rebellion” by Burkhard Bilger. Ever wonder how the lunchroom is run? And what can be done about feeding children healthier meals? This article is a fascinating look into one woman’s quest to revamp the lunchroom in the Berkeley school district.