Of Degrees and Debutantes Feb 14, 2014

Whit Stillman's 1990 film Metropolitan chronicles the adventures - more accurately, elaborate and annoying conversations - of a group of rich, young toffs during debutante ball season. I remember seeing the film with friends my first year of college. Having grown up in Canada, the world...
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American Hustle Jan 31, 2014

"Don't put metal in the science oven."

One of the best scenes in recent movie history occurs midway through American Hustle, the acclaimed David O. Russell film. Jennifer Lawrence is the scene-stealing, fire-setting wife of the con-man protagonist who is given a revolutionary new product: a microwave, or as she...
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Avoiding the Pause Jan 17, 2014

I don't spend an undue amount of time in karaoke bars. My failure to inculcate this habit is undoubtedly due to the fact that my brother (of spit take fame) has a strict policy of only performing gangsta rap songs, which in this correspondent's humble view are ill-suited to his very...
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Higher Education in 2014 [The Chinese Wedding] Jan 3, 2014

If The Onion was your only source of news last year, this report would have told you everything you need to know about the state of higher education...
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Mickey Mouse Move? Dec 13, 2013

As the year comes to a close, we ask this question: What was the year's most important development in higher education? Few would nominate the November announcement by Bridgepoint Education that an agreement with Forbes Media would allow it to rename Ashford University's business...
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Rob Ford for Secretary of Education Nov 29, 2013

Thanksgiving comes late this year. But it always seems late to me. That's because I grew up in Canada, where - due to the earlier harvest - Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. It is typically Canadian that Americans never hear about the fact that the...
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College Ratings: We Want Less Nov 15, 2013

In college, I had this sign on the door to my room, "borrowed" from the serving line in the dining hall...
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Can't Anybody Here Play This Game? Nov 1, 2013

My experience in intercollegiate athletics started and ended as catcher of the Yale Law School softball team. We'd compete in the University of Virginia Law School softball tournament - the World Series of law school softball. Each participant received package with welcome...
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The Skills Gap and the Spit-Take Oct 18, 2013

One of the most pressing challenges facing America is the so-called "skills gap" - the gap between labor market needs and what higher education supplies. A new OECD report comparing literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of adults in 22 developed countries shows that...
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Saving the Baby, Throwing Out the Bathwater Oct 4, 2013

It was a head-scratching moment when I learned that our community colleges are scrambling to offer housing to students. In an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Kim Linduska, Executive VP at Des Moines Area Community College, defended her institution's effort to build...
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