I saw the headline "Arkansas to grade kids on obesity" on the news today, and all I could think was: "At least they'll pass something..."

In other news, I received a somewhat depressing email at work today. A college student emailed the museum to ask for permission to use an article on our website in a paper she is writing for her World History course. I had to find a tactful way to tell her that she was welcome to use any published work in her paper, so long as she cites it correctly, thus avoiding plagiarism, and that requesting permission was not necessary. She even has to turn in said article as a source. I have a sinking sensation that some professor, somewhere (she sent the email from her parents' personal account, so I can't figure out where) is going to receive a stack of books, photocopies, and print-outs in response to his request that his/her students turn in their citations. What are they teaching kids in high school now? Could you imagine trying to track down every author or publisher for every source you ever cited in a paper to ask if it was okay that you cited them? Using images copyrighted to them or another source or extensively quoting them is one thing, but this is ridiculous.
I suppose I should be grateful that if she thought she needed permission, she went to the trouble of asking for it. But I doubt I'll be so charitable if I receive a reply tomorrow asking why I spelled "site" wrong so many times in my reply...