Archives for May 2015

“Platinum Pay in Ivory Towers” Op-Ed Shows Frank Bruni is on to Something – That’s Good

The excessive salaries of some college presidents send a message at odds with higher education. Source: Platinum Pay in Ivory Towers – NYTimes.com I commented as follows. “..ostensible mission of academia..” Great word, “ostensible”. Here is how they get away with fooling us. “..advantage can..be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions..the student estate […]

Doonesbury, See this May 17th, 2015 Strip

Source: Doonesbury Strip

“The In-State Tuition Break, Slowly Disappearing” is a Symptom

Source: The In-State Tuition Break, Slowly Disappearing I wrote this Here is Clark Kerr’s warning. “…I am concerned..that…the greatest threats to the university will be those which arise from within the university…” Right now the threat is not to the university itself – at least not to its financial and research arms. The present threat […]

Stanford, Cargill? Partnership?

millions of dollars the company is giving to the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and at Stanford University’s Center on Food Security and the Environment. In 2012, a Stanford study claiming to disprove the health benefits of organic food was widely questioned after critics claimed that Cargill had influenced […]

Added Copy of the “Purloined Proof”

In “The Purloined Proof” I told the story of…well, a purloined proof.  I did not include the actual proof, though.  I have now added it, though I have not said who did the “purloining”.  The interested reader may be able to find out for themselves.  Certainly, mathematicians should be able to if they want to […]

Jon Krakauer ‘Universities Seem So Quick to Protect Their Brand’

Jon Krakauer says he was discouraged by what he learned about how colleges handle assault investigations. Source: An Author’s Take on Campus Sexual Assault: ‘Universities Seem So Quick to Protect Their Brand’ – Students – The Chronicle of Higher Education I have read his book and I recommend it.  From my viewpoint, which is education, […]

Low Productivity, What Impact Does Education Have?

US innovators claim they have never been busier, but their ideas are persistently failing to transform the country’s economic data. Labour productivity fell an annual 1.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, while unit labour costs rose Source: Low productivity alarms US policy makers – FT.com I commented but more in […]

Is Bauerlein’s “What’s the Point of a Professor?” a Demonstration?

We used to be mentors and moral authorities. Now we just hand out A’s. Source: What’s the Point of a Professor? – NYTimes.com I don’t know if it is a demonstration, but it may be.  He has been in this blog before.  The link is within the comment I made. I wrote, “I’m a former […]

Maybe One Reason Why So Many Graduates Don’t Get Good Jobs.

Campus clubs spring up for early birds to rouse classmates; 9 a.m. is ‘really late’ Source: In China, Sleepy University Students Experience a Wake-Up Call – WSJ I commented. “They should come here for college. According to the well-researched Academically Adrift, American students only need to study about 13 hours a week, leaving lots of time […]