“Thucydides” on Higher-Ed Funding

This “over the transom” piece is from a colleague who has chosen the pseudonym “Thucydides.” It owes a considerable debt—is in many respects an homage–to the legendary Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko. _________________________ Moose McGillicuddy wiped down the bar at his tavern. Moose’s was a typical downtown Ohio bar. Politicians, college students, construction workers, and…

New Alliance Defends CUNY

BY HANK REICHMAN “CUNY is for the People” read some of the signs at a highly-charged rally outside New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s midtown office in New York City yesterday. Organized by a new and broad coalition, CUNY Rising Alliance, the rally kicked off a community-based campaign to demand increased public investment in the City…

The Candidates’ Positions on Higher-Ed Issues

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administration (NASFAA) is maintaining a list of positions on higher-education issues taken by all of the presidential candidates in this election cycle, including those who have suspended their campaigns. The list, which seems to be updated regularly, is available here. Even a cursory glance through the list will…

Electing A President Without Facts

BY KELLY WILZ “We need media literacy as much as we need to learn to read.”- Jennifer Pozner “The world will not be a better place when these fact-based news organizations die.  We will be propelled into a culture where facts and opinions will be interchangeable, where lies will become true and where fantasy will…

In Ohio, More Higher-Ed “Innovation”

Here is the lead item, a legislative update, in the latest weekly communication to our members statewide from the Ohio Conference’s Communications Committee:   On February 22, Department of Higher Education Director John Carey unveiled changes and new initiatives to Ohio’s higher education system that will be addressed in a mid-biennium review (MBR) bill. The highlights…

Where Are All the Good Guys with Knives?

BY MARTIN KICH These are the opening paragraphs of an article published by New York magazine: “A 27-year-old man was slashed in the face early on Sunday morning after arguing with a woman he didn’t know in a Harlem subway station. The New York Post reports that the fight occurred around 3 a.m. on the southbound platform of…

“Scott Walker and Higher Education in the Media”

BY MARTIN KICH In “Scott Walker and Higher Education in the Media,” the article that I have contributed to the January-February issue of Academe, I have tried to show that it matters how professional journalists frame attacks on higher education, especially when the attacks are ideologically driven. I have focused on Scott Walker’s attempts to…