About this column:
The policies, problems and pluses of public education, as seen by a former high school teacher turned UGA professor. I used to be a regular listener of Michael Feldman’s humor, interview, and quiz show radio program, Whad'Ya Know? During one show, a member of the audience asked, “How do you know when jazz is bad?” As a jazz lover for over 40 years, I had to laugh. A complex music form that stretches boundaries can be difficult to evaluate. “Smooth jazz” is probably the most popular form within the genre, but hard-core jazz fans consider it boring because it eliminates all the challenges. But the most challenging jazz can be atonal and cacophonous—it might sound terrible to ears that aren’t ready for a wild…
