“Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself….
That which is really beautiful has no need of anything”…
— Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
Cheap Clothes and Costly Consequences
Could be us pic.twitter.com/QBk908qbWA
— Prep Propaganda 👔 (@prep_propaganda) August 20, 2025
Women’s fashion 1910’s-2010’s in 30 seconds using AI
[📹 Russell Klimas]pic.twitter.com/zXfpQDa96N
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 16, 2023
Evaluating devices to reduce microfiber emissions from washing machines
Traditionally favored by private and parochial institutions, school uniforms are being adopted by US public schools in increasing numbers. According to a 2020 report, the percentage of public schools that required school uniforms jumped from 12% in the 1999-2000 school year to 20% in the 2017-18 school year. School uniforms were most frequently required by elementary schools (23%), followed by middle (18%), and high schools (10%). (Encyclopedia Britannica)
PRO
School uniforms may deter crime and increase student safety.
School uniforms keep students focused on their education, not their clothes.
School uniforms create a level playing field among students, reducing peer pressure and bullying.
Wearing uniforms enhances school pride, unity, and community spirit.
School uniforms may improve attendance and discipline.
Uniform policies save valuable class time because they are easier to enforce than a standard dress code.
School uniforms prevent the display of gang colors and insignia.
School uniforms make getting ready for school easier, which can improve punctuality.
School uniforms can save parents money.
Most parents and educators support mandatory school uniforms.
Students’ legal right to free expression remains intact even with mandatory school uniforms.
Students dressed in uniform are better perceived by teachers and peers.
Students can express their individuality in school uniforms by introducing variations and adding accessories.
So lovely to welcome Ailsa, Georgie and India from @mowden_hall to Robertson House 🦋🩵last night. Enjoy your @SedberghSchool taster experience! pic.twitter.com/5FqWOYtFXL
— Robertson House (@Robertson_Sed) October 7, 2024
CON
School uniforms restrict students’ freedom of expression.
School uniforms promote conformity over individuality.
School uniforms do not stop bullying and may increase violent attacks.
School uniforms do not improve attendance, academic preparedness, or exam results.
The key findings used to tout the benefits of uniforms are questionable.
School uniforms emphasize the socio-economic divisions they are supposed to eliminate.
Students oppose school uniforms.
Uniforms may have a detrimental effect on students’ self-image.
Focusing on uniforms takes attention away from finding genuine solutions to problems in education.
The push for school uniforms is driven by commercial interests rather than educational ones.
Parents should be free to choose their children’s clothes without government interference.
School uniforms in public schools undermine the promise of a free education by imposing an extra expense on families.
School uniforms may delay the transition into adulthood.
Northville (Michigan) Christian School Dress Code
Parkway Christian School Dress Code | Sterling Heights Michigan
Everyone would basically be 50% happier if everyone dressed a little better. Clothes are everywhere. Everyone doesn’t have to be a clothes hound, but if the girls looked pretty and the guys looked nice, people would be happier and even more optimistic about the future. pic.twitter.com/iQcNPL1cMl
— O.W. Root (@NecktieSalvage) July 17, 2024
Casual reminder that Wisconsin has more bars than grocery stores pic.twitter.com/dG8YYRkoKd
— Midwest vs. Everybody (@midwestern_ope) March 30, 2025
The purpose of the American Standard for Nursery Stock — ANSI Z60.1 — is to provide buyers and sellers of nursery stock with a common terminology in order to facilitate transactions involving nursery stock. This standards establishes common techniques for
(a) measuring plants,
(b) specifying and stating the size of plants,
(c) determining the proper relationship between height and caliper, or height and width, and
(d) determining whether a root ball or container is large enough for a particular size plant.
This document — prepared under a grant to ANSI by AmericanHort — is a communication tool for the exchanges of products and services but does not provide buyers with any assurance of the health or quality of the nursery stock being specified or sold. It does not cover labor resources.














The American Hort standards landing page is linked below:
American Nursery Stock Standards
CLICK HERE for the current edition of ANSI Z60.1 2014
The 2014 revision should be entering another revision cycle though the pandemic has slowed standards setting among many non-profits. We encourage front-line staff to participate directly in the American Hort standards setting enterprise. CLICK HERE for contact information.
We sweep through the status of best practice literature for anything related to exterior assets in education communities during our Bucolia colloquium. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [18-160]
Category: Bucolia, Pathways
This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.
The education industry in the United States is steward to large tranches of land assets; either through the Morrill Land Grant Act or municipal set-asides for public schools. In terms of square footage, the spaces between buildings far exceeds the square footage of the built environment — and the locus of public interest and environmental regulation. All of that square footage — usually measured in hundreds and thousands of hectares and acres — requires consideration of the competing interests of many stakeholders.
We display the accomplishments of employees devoted to the landscaping and gardening of educational organizations in a dedicated post:
Landscape and garden assets have their own set of construction and maintenance tools, many of which are continually improved by global equipment manufacturers, and fall within the scope of Subcommittee 13 under parent Technical Committee 23 Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry administered by the Association Française de Normalisation; the French national member body to the International Organization for Standardization.
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) is ANSI’s US Technical Advisory Group administrator and the Global Secretariat for ISO TC/23/SC 13. The work program for Subcommittee 13 is linked below:
ISO/TC 23/SC 13 / Powered lawn and garden equipment
Note product standards cover many equipment classes and accessories for engine powered lawn movers, snow blowers, gardening machinery and the like.
ANSI encourages relevant stakeholders to participate in discovering standardization solutions in a broad range of technologies and markets with like-minded experts in other national standards bodies. The full sweep of ANSI’s participation in consensus documents developed by the ISO is described in the link below:
We encourage our colleagues in exterior grounds and landscaping units in the education facility industry to participate directly as a User interest in the OPEI standards development process. OPEI Standards Staff Contacts are listed on the OPEI Standards home page linked below:
Product Safety Standards Listing














We review the developmental status of consensus products that set the standard of care for equipment used to maintain pathways, lawns and gardens in education communities. Automation of the maintenance of these spaces is gathering pace; reducing cost and risk. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [18-155]
Category: Facility Asset Management, Grounds and Landscaping, International
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
From time to time we break from our interest in lowering the cost of our “cities-within-cities” to enjoy the work of our colleagues responsible for seasonal ambience and public art. We have a dedicated post that celebrates the accomplishments of our gardeners and horticultural staff. Today we dedicate a post to campus fountains–a focal point for gathering and a place for personal reflection for which there is no price.
Alas, we find a quickening of standards developing organizations growing their footprint in the spaces around buildings now. They used to confine the scopes of their standardization enterprises to the building envelope. That day will soon be behind us as an energized cadre of water rights social justice workers, public safety, sustainability and energy conservation professionals descend upon campus fountains with prescriptive requirements for evaporation rates, bromine concentrations, training, certification and inspections. In other words regulators and conformity functionaries will outnumber benefactors and fountain designers 1 million to 1.
We will deal with all that when the day comes. For the moment, let’s just enjoy them.
We are happy to walk you through the relevant structural, water safety, plumbing and electrical issues any day at 11 AM EST during our daily standing online teleconferences. Click on any image for author attribution, photo credit or other information.

University of Michigan College of Engineering
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“Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail, and Apologies to the Grandchildren” | William Ophuls
A great weekend! pic.twitter.com/9QQS6xvzVx
— Huw Llandre (@Llandre) April 2, 2024
English royal family tree traced back to the 9th century pic.twitter.com/DSQIqWq6dU
— ThinkingWest (@thinkingwest) August 6, 2024
What a view. What a place. pic.twitter.com/AOzAvxmYok
— University of Kansas (@UnivOfKansas) August 23, 2023
Talk about a perfect night to 🏈 kick off 🏈 football season. pic.twitter.com/ElqIbEjTKP
— University of Kansas (@UnivOfKansas) September 2, 2023
KU’s School of Business received a $50 million commitment from an anonymous donor — the largest donation in the school’s history. The transformative gift supports the school’s ongoing commitment to research and its student success initiatives.https://t.co/ZaohgKnVZ6
— University of Kansas (@UnivOfKansas) September 8, 2023
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
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