Dear Commons Community,

There will be many stories of victories, losses, and redemptions in this year’s Olympics but those of the United States women’s gymnastics team will be among the most happy in London.   As described by several media outlets:

The five teenagers put forth a series of stunning performances that kept them in first place from start to finish, with a slim lead eventually turning into a landslide. Still, with hearts pounding, they saved their celebration until it was official.

Minutes later, when the United States appeared at the top of the leader board announcing that the Americans had won the Olympic team gold medal, the gymnasts could no longer contain their joy. As chants of U-S-A roared throughout the arena, they smothered each other in hugs and wiped away happy tears.

“We knew that we could do it because we did it at worlds, but you just never know,” said 16-year-old McKayla Maroney, who competed only on vault. “Now I can’t believe I have an Olympic gold medal hanging around my neck. It’s really unbelievable.”

The Olympic victory was a long time coming — it was the first one for the United States women’s team since the Magnificent Seven’s gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

In an otherwise blah presidential race, Mitt Romney has provided a couple of interesting moments.  Last week, in a well-publicized foot-in-mouth comment, he managed to insult the British because of their handling of the Olympics.  Yesterday, he offended Palestinian leaders by suggesting that cultural differences explain why the Israelis are so much more economically successful than Palestinians.  The New York Times commented:

“His remarks drew a pointed rebuke from the Palestinian leadership, which angrily noted that Mr. Romney had failed to mention the years of trade restrictions imposed by Israel.

The comments came after he questioned London’s preparations for the Olympic Games while in that city, drawing criticism from the British prime minister and others. And they once again overshadowed a trip that was designed to show his dexterity on the foreign policy front, as his remarks put him in the choppy crosscurrents of Israel-Palestinian affairs where American presidents have often served as mediators.”

In addition, a number of politicians and the media continue to push Romney to release his past income tax returns.  Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader was quoted as saying:

“His poor father must be so embarrassed about his son,” Reid said, in reference to George Romney’s standard-setting decision to turn over 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president in the late 1960s.

Saying he had “no problem with somebody being really, really wealthy,” Reid sat up in his chair a bit before stirring the pot further. A month or so ago, he said, a person who had invested with Bain Capital called his office.

“Harry, he didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years,” Reid recounted the person as saying.

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” said Reid. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?”

Thank you Mr. Romney for giving us voters something to think about!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The fallout from the study released yesterday entitled,  For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success by the U.S.  Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin, is all over the media today.  Anyone interested in this sector of higher education will cringe at the findings.  It will also cement in many people’s minds that for-profit colleges are nothing but rip-offs preying on vulnerable student populations.  This is unfortunate since some of these institutions provide a valuable service and are an important outlet for many students to develop career skills.  However, some of the bad apples  are threatening to rot the entire barrel of for-profit higher education. Below is a reprint from today’s New York Times editorial on the study and referring to the “oily subgroup of for-profit schools”.

Tony

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False Promises!

New York Times July 31, 2012

It has long been clear that an oily subgroup of for-profit schools were doing very well for themselves by recruiting students who had no real chance of graduating, pocketing their federal financial aid and leaving the students with valueless credentials — or none at all — and crippling debt.

A dismaying study released this week by Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat of Iowa, suggests that this predatory behavior — which costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year — may extend well beyond the unscrupulous few to the industry as a whole. The study reveals a disturbing pattern in which companies use misleading tactics to lure poorly informed students into certificate and associate degree programs that average about four times the cost of similar programs in comparable community colleges.

According to the study, taxpayers poured about $32 billion into for-profit colleges in the most recent year — much of it spent on marketing or pocketed as profit. Meanwhile, 96 percent of their students were forced to take out loans, as opposed to about 13 percent in community colleges and 48 percent in four-year public colleges. A majority leave without degrees. And while the for-profit sector accounts for only about 13 percent of enrollment nationally, it accounts for nearly half the loan defaults.

The companies are clearly doing far better than the students. Publicly traded companies that operate for-profit colleges had an average profit margin of 19.7 percent, while paying an average of $7.3 million to their chief executives in 2009, the report says.

This is a politically charged issue, with the Democrats generally favoring tougher regulation and the Republicans favoring the for-profits as a useful alternative to overcrowded community colleges and important sources of vocational education. The good ones may be both. But too many of them look like nothing more than profit centers. Congress, which has largely been looking the other way on this issue, needs to rouse itself.