Scottish Universities to Charge Other Britons Tuition but Scots and Other Europeans Go Free!

Dear Commons Community,

The NY Times has an interesting story from across the pond on  a decision by Scotland to charge other Britons tuition.  When the United Kingdom decided last December to impose a steep increase in university tuition, Scotland flatly rejected the idea. Instead, it held firm to its long tradition of a virtually free university education but only for Scots.  Furthermore, under European Union law, Scotland cannot charge students from other European Union countries more than  it charges its own.  In sum, students from France, Denmark and Greece will be offered a free education in Scotland, even as those from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have to pay as much as $56,000 for a four-year degree. A legal confrontation looms for the Scots in terms of this policy since universities receive some of their  funding from the central(UK) government.  On the one hand, I guess we should applaud the Scottish government for its commitment to a free higher education for its citizens but on the other hand,  question why it is tweaking its UK cousins where it hurts the most.

Cheerio!

Tony

 

The University of Wherever: Bill Keller Column!

Dear Commons Colleagues,

Bill Keller in a column today in the NY Times, touches on many of the key issues in the discussion of higher education’s future:  Will it be brick and mortar OR online environments OR both.   Using Stanford University as an example, he refers/quotes John Hennessy, Stanford’s president, who has just put in a major bid to build a new university for 100 faculty and 2,200 students here in New York City in response to Mayor Michel Bloomberg’s request for proposals to establish a first-class school of high technology and engineering.  This in many ways will be a traditional campus with a classes, library, dormitories, etc.

He also quotes one of Stanford’s most inventive professors, Sebastian Thrun, a German-born and largely self-taught expert in robotics, who is famous for leading the team that built Google’s self-driving car. He is offering his “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course online and free of charge. His remote students will get the same lectures as students paying $50,000 a year, the same assignments, the same exams and, if they pass, a “statement of accomplishment” (though not Stanford credit). When The Times wrote about this last month, 58,000 students had signed up for the course. After the article, enrollment leapt to 130,000, from across the globe. Thrun’s ultimate mission is a virtual university in which the best professors broadcast their lectures to tens of thousands of students.

Which way does higher education go?  Keller concludes:

“I see a larger point, familiar to all of us who have lived through digital-age disorder. There are disrupters, like Sebastian Thrun, or Napster, or the tweeting rebels in Tahrir Square. And there are adapters, like John Hennessy, or iTunes, or the novice statesmen trying to build a new Egypt. Progress depends on both.”

Well worth the read!

Tony

 

 

Ross Douthat on Conservative Populists!

Dear Commons Community,

The NY Times columnist, Ross Douthat, has an insightful piece today on the Republican presidential primary race.  His main point is that conservative populists are not able to sustain momentum – at least not in these early stages.  He reviews the ups and downs of Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Tim Pawlenty, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain.   Besides their poor showings and gaffes during the debates and interviews, he connects their rise and fall to Fox News:

“…the weird celebrity culture that Fox News creates around conservative politicians, which can make Republican presidential campaigns feel like cable news auditions. Thanks to Roger Ailes’s network, the right’s populist folk heroes have career incentives to choose superficiality over substance — the better to follow in Huckabee’s and Palin’s footsteps, and segue into a career as host of “Bachmann Overdrive” …

This is the irony of Fox’s impact on Republican politics. In a sense, the network’s shows have given right-wing populism a larger megaphone than it’s ever had before. But by turning populism into mass entertainment, they’ve made it less and less likely that a conservative populist will ever actually deserve to win.“

He concludes that this bodes well for Mitt Romney.

Tony

 

 

Police Arrest More Than 700 Wall Street Protesters on Brooklyn Bridge!


Dear Commons Community,

The Wall Street protesters (Occupy Wall Street) upped their actions yesterday by blocking the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge.  The police likewise upped their response by arresting 700 protesters.   This follows last week’s confrontation when police used pepper-spray to disperse the protesters.  The NY Times is reporting that:

“protesters … believed the police had tricked them, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across, only to trap them in orange netting after hundreds had entered.

“The cops watched and did nothing, indeed, seemed to guide us onto the roadway,” said Jesse A. Myerson, a media coordinator for Occupy Wall Street who marched but was not arrested.”

The walk across the Brooklyn Bridge was a major change in the way the protest has been conducted.  For the past two weeks, the protest has been confined to the Wall Street area with protesters staying on the sidewalks.

Tony

 

 

You Love Your iPhone. Literally!

Dear Commons Community,

Joel Spring, a professor and colleague (Queens College and the Graduate Center), alerted me to a piece on addiction to cellular phones in the NY Times today.  Written by the popular author, Martin Lindstrom, it raises the question of whether we are addicted to or simply just in love with our electronic handhelds.  Citing neuroscience research including his own, a case can be made that we are becoming addicted to or at least overly in love with these devices.  His conclusion:

“As we embrace new technology that does everything but kiss us on the mouth, we risk cutting ourselves off from human interaction. For many, the iPhone has become a best friend, partner, lifeline, companion and, yes, even a Valentine. The man or woman we love most may be seated across from us in a romantic Paris bistro, but his or her 8GB, 16GB or 32GB rival lies in wait inside our pockets and purses.

My best advice?  Shut off your iPhone, order some good Champagne and find love and compassion the old-fashioned way.”

Tony