Our media has conditioned us to focus on the moment, on the immediate situation. It is very seldom that the media encourages us to take a longer perspective. And in those few instances in which a longer view is attempted, very often the immediate situation is simply projected outward–multiplied as if the current conditions will…
These are my alternatives to the list created by Melia Robinson and Melissa Stanger for Business Insider. I am excluding works of nonfiction and listing my top three choices for each state. Titles included in the list compiled by Robinson and Stanger are indicated in boldface. Massachusetts The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Infinite Jest David…
One of my posts this past week was on John Kasich’s appointment of Gordon Gee to explore ways of increasing affordability at Ohio’s public universities. Given Gee’s continuing status as the highest paid administrator at any public university in the United States, I expressed my skepticism about the appointment, a skepticism based in part on…
This map comes from the U.S.Census Bureau (and thanks, Rodger Cunningham, for alerting me to it). It is based on self-reporting on the 2000 census. What is fascinating to me is the number of people who identified themselves simply as “American.” Their location covers almost all of Appalachia and, I suspect, if you took out “African…
The following is excerpted from a Columbus Dispatch article by Charlie Boss and Jennifer Smith Richards. The article is titled “Education Roundup: Retired Gee’s Wit Still Working Overtime,” and it briefly surveys a series of stories from around Ohio. _________________________ E. Gordon Gee might not be in the daily spotlight since retiring as president of…
An “On the Issues” Post from the Campaign for the future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org] _______________ The Oregon legislature recently passed a law requiring the state to study a “Pay It Forward” model for higher education. Under the plan, students could attend college with no upfront costs but with a payback over 24 years amounting…
The purpose of the letters in this toolkit is to provide material that can be edited to be sent to listserves, to be posted on blogs or to be shared on social media sites, and to be submitted as op-eds to campus or community newspapers. Some of the letters may be too lengthy to be…
In my previous post, I remarked on the incongruities John Kasich’s appointment of Gordon Gee to lead a statewide study of how to increase affordability at Ohio’s public universities. I did not anticipate that I would then almost immediately come across an unsettling, related article at Cleveland.com. Written by Henry J. Gomes and Brent Larkin of…
On Monday, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Governor Kasich has appointed Gordon Gee, President Emeritus of Ohio State University, to “lead a study looking for ways to make college more affordable and relevant for Ohio students.” More specifically, Gee will “spend the next year working with other college presidents, K-12 education leaders, and the business…
These are my alternatives to the list created by Melia Robinson and Melissa Stanger for Business Insider. I am excluding works of nonfiction and listing my top three choices for each state. Titles included in the list compiled by Robinson and Stanger are indicated in boldface. Hawaii From Here to Eternity James Jones Heads by…