Dear Commons Community,

If you are looking for a biography to read this summer, I would recommend, Jonas Salk: A Life, by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs. It is a good retelling of the story of Salk, who was raised in the Bronx, attended City College and NYU, and goes on to develop the vaccine that stems polio in this country and around the world.

Jacobs is a good story-teller and is at her best when telling of the trials and tribulations of developing vaccines. Here is an excerpt from the New York Times Book Review:

“Jacobs, a professor emerita of medicine at Stanford, neatly splits “Jonas Salk” into two “acts.” The first is a vivid if by now familiar retelling of Salk’s early life, medical training, foray into polio research and fateful connection to Basil O’Connor, president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, known as the March of Dimes. Unlike other researchers, who were inching along in search of a live-virus vaccine, Salk had produced a killed-virus version with impressive results. It may not have been perfect, but it took a lot less time to develop. With polio raging each summer, a sense of urgency prevailed, giving Salk the upper hand. As O’Connor put it, “He sees beyond the microscope.”

In 1954, the March of Dimes sponsored the Salk vaccine polio trials. More than a million schoolchildren took part, some getting the real vaccine, others a look-alike placebo. Parents frantically pushed their children into line. They didn’t need to be educated about the risks and rewards of the vaccine. The evidence was everywhere: children in leg braces, wheelchairs, iron lungs — and coffins. The Salk trials rank among the great successes of modern medicine, and Jacobs tells the story as well as it’s ever been told. This is science writing at its best.”

I especially liked the sections on Salk’s competition with Albert Sabin (Sabin Vaccine) and the development and struggles of the Salk Institute in La Jolla. Jacobs also does not neglect Salk’s personal life (early childhood, marriage, divorce, remarriage).

Good biography!

Tony

Dear Commons Community, 

Hillary Clinton put the fight for higher wages for everyday Americans at the heart of her economic agenda yesterday and talked tough against Wall Street in the first major economic policy speech of her White House bid. As reported by several news outlets:

“Clinton said the U.S. economy will only run at full steam when middle-class wages rise steadily along with executive salaries and company profits.

“I believe we have to build a growth-and-fairness economy. You can’t have one without the other,” she said at The New School in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

“Corporate profits are at near-record highs and Americans are working as hard as ever but paychecks have barely budged in real terms. Families today are stretched in so many directions and so are their budgets,” Clinton said.

The former secretary of state promised to push for a broader reform of the U.S. corporate tax code.

She talked tough against Wall Street, promising to go beyond the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that imposed stronger regulations on the financial industry.

“Too many of our major financial institutions are still too complex and too risky and the problems are not limited to the big banks that get all the headlines,” she said.

Clinton warned that “serious risks are emerging from institutions in the so-called shadow banking system including hedge funds, high-frequency traders, non-bank finance companies” and other entities “which receive little oversight at all.”

She will unveil more specifics of her economic policy in a series of speeches in coming weeks.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced today his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. The Chronicle of Higher Education thought it appropriate to review Governor Walker’s “war” on the University of Wisconsin. Here are several excerpts:

“Since he was elected Wisconsin’s governor, in 2010, Scott Walker has been waging war against higher education…

As governor, he has earned a reputation for pushing controversial, conservative-minded reforms. Now, as he sets his sights on the White House, here’s a look back at how a few of his efforts to reshape higher education in Wisconsin have fared.

Attack on Collective Bargaining

Mr. Walker took office in January 2011. In February he announced a controversial “budget repair” bill, which, among other things, would strip public-college faculty and staff members of the collective-bargaining rights they won in 2009. Mr. Walker argued that the measure was crucial to plugging a big hole in the state budget.

..

Autonomy, at a Price

Mr. Walker was behind two proposals to grant public colleges autonomy from the state. First, shortly after he took office, the governor unveiled a plan to grant the Madison flagship autonomy from the larger system, and to lay the groundwork for the Milwaukee campus to do the same. The flagship’s leaders argued that the measure would give them much-needed flexibility (even though it would result in a cut of $250 million in state funds over two years), while system officials opposed it.

That proposal ultimately failed. ..Another version of the autonomy plan was unveiled by Mr. Walker last year. The proposal would have granted the entire system more autonomy from the state while dealing it a budget cut of $300 million over two years. Lawmakers rejected the plan in May, leaving the proposed budget cut intact (it has since been reduced to $250 million).

The ‘Wisconsin Idea’ in the Cross Hairs

One of the most vocal protests against Mr. Walker’s administration erupted in February, when it was revealed that a proposed version of the governor’s budget would strip the state’s revered Wisconsin Idea of its public-service mission. While news outlets turned up evidence that Mr. Walker’s administration had directed budget writers to replace the public-service mission with a focus on meeting “the state’s work-force needs,” the governor tweeted that the changes had been the result of a “drafting error,” which was subsequently corrected.

Mr. Walker, who attended Marquette University but left without a degree, has presided over another attack on a few cherished features of academe: tenure and shared governance. In May a state legislative committee voted to strip protections of tenure and shared governance from state law as part of the state-budget proposal. The Legislature approved the changes, much to the chagrin of faculty members and their advocates on University of Wisconsin system campuses. The system’s regents voted quickly to enshrine those protections in system policy, but faculty members have worried aloud whether that step would be enough to keep tenure intact.

The New Budget

Mr. Walker on Sunday signed the much-debated state budget, which sets in stone the two-year $250-million cut in the University of Wisconsin system and the removal of tenure protections from state statute. The chancellor of the system’s flagship, Rebecca M. Blank, had publicly asked Mr. Walker to exercise his broad veto powers to reverse the controversial tenure measures. He did not.”

Walker is a long shot to win the Republican nomination and even a longer shot to win the presidency. In the meantime, he has done everything possible to destroy one of America’s great public higher education systems.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Pope Francis on his tour of South America offered his most impassioned comments on the “sacred rights of the poor” to labor, lodging, and land and to shun policies of corruption and “unbridled capitalism”.  As reported by Reuters:

“Pope Francis appealed to world leaders on Saturday to seek a new economic model to help the poor, and to shun policies that “sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit.”

It was the second time during his trip to South America that Francis, the first pope from the region, used a major speech to excoriate unbridled capitalism and champion the rights of the poor.

In Bolivia last Thursday, he urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land.

“Putting bread on the table, putting a roof over the heads of one’s children, giving them health and an education, these are essential for human dignity,” he said.

He urged politicians and business leaders “not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit.”

He said those charged with promoting economic development must ensure it had “a human face” and he blasted “the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.”

“Corruption is the plague, it’s the gangrene of society,” he added during a heavily improvised speech at the rally.”

Viva el Papa!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement yesterday of the American Federation of Teachers. As reported in The Huffington Post:

“The executive council of the 1.6-million member AFT voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of backing the early frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, according to an announcement from the union. It marks the first endorsement from a major national labor union during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“Hillary Clinton is a tested leader who shares our values, is supported by our members, and is prepared for a tough fight on behalf of students, families and communities,” Randi Weingarten, the union’s president, said in the statement.

Weingarten and Clinton have been personal friends for years and the union threw its weight behind the Democrat during her 2008 campaign as well. In the resolution declaring its endorsement, the AFT said it polled its members twice and held two town halls before deciding which primary candidate to back.

The endorsement comes at a helpful time for Clinton as Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders surges in polls. Still considered a long shot, Sanders has proven to be an attractive candidate to progressives in the labor movement, particularly those turned off by Clinton’s unclear positions on President Barack Obama’s looming trade deal. A number of local labor federations are flirting with the idea of getting behind Sanders, Politico reported.”

While early in the presidential cycle, the AFT’s endorsement is not a surprise given the relationship of Clinton and Weingarten.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Today was a special day in New York City as it honored the Women’s National Soccer Team and their great victory in the World Cup Championship. This was the first time a women’s athletic team was honored with a ticker tape parade down NYC’s Canyon of Heroes. It was so well deserved.

Congratulations to our women athletes!

Tony

(The actual removal is at about the 9:00 minute mark).

Dear Commons Community,

Congratulations to the political and civic leadership of South Carolina for deciding to bring down the Confederate Flag in the state capital. 

We wish all the people of South Carolina well as they move on from the tragedy in Charleston.

Amen!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The latest negotiations over revising the federal government’s signature education policy, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), is making its way through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.  As reported by the Associated Press:

“Trying to strike a bipartisan chord, the Senate worked Thursday on a major revision of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, a day after a Republican-led rewrite just barely passed the House.

The Senate bill would narrow the federal role in the nation’s public schools by giving states and local school districts more control over assessing the performance of schools, teachers and students. It keeps the law’s requirement for annual math and reading tests but prohibits the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific sets of academic standards, such as Common Core.

As the Senate considered amendments, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., appealed to his colleagues to work together and not saddle his bipartisan bill with changes that would imperil Democratic support.

The Senate rejected a proposed amendment by Republican Steve Daines of Montana that would have allowed states to opt out of No Child requirements completely but still receive federal money in the form of block grants. It was co-sponsored by nearly a dozen other Senate Republicans, including presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.

“This amendment is well-intentioned, unnecessary, won’t pass and undermines the bipartisan agreement that we have reached,” said Alexander, who spent months negotiating the bill in committee with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

The Senate was expected to continue debating the bill next week.

Thursday’s appeal for unity was in sharp contrast to a day earlier when the House cleared a Republican-written bill by a 218-213 vote. Not one Democrat supported it, and 27 Republicans voted against it.

The House bill sponsored by Minnesota Republican Rep. John Kline is more conservative than the Alexander-Murray legislation.

It dramatically lessens the federal role in education policy by transferring more power to the states on accountability for school performance. It also allows federal money to follow low-income children to public schools of their choice — something not in the Senate bill. The White House had threatened to veto the Kline bill.”

No Child Left Behind has been up for reauthorization since 2007, and as the AP article indicates, both houses have yet to agree on a revised bill. While the vast majority of Republicans and Democrats agree that it needs to be re-worked, they differ on how to do that. Even if both houses pass a new revised version of NCLB, it has to be approved by President Obama. This is not likely in either house’s current versions.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The Online Learning Consortium’s Blended Learning Conference ended yesterday.  I must say it was very well done.  In addition to catching up with friends and colleagues, the entire conference was well planned and the program was excellent.  My congratulations to Liz Ciabocchi and Kelvin Thompson for their work on this.  I was amazed at how many attendees participated in the Technology Test Kitchen with Phylise Banner and her colleagues.  It seemed every time I went by, there were dozens of people participating in these “how to” sessions and demonstrations. 

Among the presentations, I thought Ryan Baker’s plenary session on Educational Data Mining, was first rate.  In fact, it was the best presentation I have ever heard on data mining and learning analytics.  It is obvious that he is a doer in the field of big data and not just a talker.  Dr. Baker, an associate professor at Columbia University, described his work on developing models using large-scale data from  student interactions in online learning environments. Much of this data represents student behavior in a fashion that is both longitudinal and fine-grained. This has allowed him to model and track many elements of student learning that were not previously feasible at scale: engagement, affect, meta-cognition, and collaborative skills. In turn, these models can be used in prediction of long-term student outcomes, and to analyze the factors driving long-term success.  He also proposed that the modeling techniques used do not have to be highly complex and that basic linear regressions are fine for most of what a faculty member or institution would want to do in this area.

In sum, a most enjoyable three days. Congratulations OLC and all involved with putting on this conference!

Tony

Institutions Receiving the Most Graduate-Student Loan Disbursements, 2013-14

Dear Commons Community,

An analysis by the Center for American Progress reveals that a small group of institutions is responsible for a huge share of graduate-student debt. Of the total volume of graduate loans issued by the department, nearly one-fifth — $6.6 billion — went to one of just 20 institutions. What’s worse, the share of graduate-student debt emanating from those 20 institutions outstrips their share of enrollment. Together, the 20 colleges accounted for 12 percent of all graduate students but almost 20 percent of the loans. As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required):

“The 20 institutions that are leaders in graduate debt occupy significant yet different roles in higher education. But regardless of mission or type, they have capitalized on the growing demand for higher levels of education credentials, encouraging more debt in the process…
The disproportionate level of graduate-student debt at certain institutions has been enabled by policy choices. The Higher Education Act permits graduate students to borrow much more per year than what dependent undergraduate students may borrow. Graduate students may borrow up to $20,500 per year in direct Stafford loans and may supplement that borrowing with as much in graduate PLUS loans as their institution allows. Combine those two loan programs, and students can quickly accumulate $50,000 or more in debt a year, and are typically enrolled in multiyear programs.

Many students pursue graduate education to improve their employment prospects and earn higher salaries. But it appears that a majority of debt taken on to attend those institutions is not for costly law or medical degrees, but for nonterminal degrees. Among the 20 institutions responsible for the most graduate debt, 81 percent of graduate degrees conferred in the most recent year were master’s degrees. Borrowers should think carefully about how much debt should be required to achieve a level of education that is typically not the highest offered in a field of study.

The 20 institutions that are leaders in graduate debt occupy significant yet different roles in higher education. But regardless of mission or type, they have capitalized on the growing demand for higher levels of education credentials, encouraging more debt in the process.
Eight of the top 20 institutions in graduate-student loan debt are large colleges operated by publicly traded, for-profit education companies like the University of Phoenix, which is third on the list. Its graduate students borrowed $493 million last year. But even Phoenix pales in comparison to Walden University, whose $756 million in loans leads the nation in graduate-student debt. Walden, which is owned by Laureate Education and is expected to become publicly traded soon, focuses on graduate education, including teacher preparation; more than 80 percent of its students were enrolled in graduate programs in 2013.

Five prestigious nonprofit colleges make the list too, with two in Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University and George Washington University), two in New York City (NYU and Columbia University), and one in Los Angeles (University of Southern California). As at other universities on the list, most graduate students at those institutions earn master’s degrees, in disciplines like journalism, fine arts, government, and the sciences. Graduate students at those universities borrowed $207 million to $472 million.

For some lesser-known colleges, online learning is a student’s path to gobs of graduate debt. For example, graduate students at Liberty University, in Virginia, borrowed $352 million last year. Founded by the evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, the college has grown from 8,000 students in the fall of 2002 to 80,000 in the fall of 2013. Ninety-eight percent of Liberty’s graduate students are enrolled in distance-education programs. At Nova Southeastern University, in Florida, graduate students borrowed $532 million, and 59 percent of them learned online.

Four universities focused on health care also make the top 20, but they’re not the prestigious medical schools one might expect. Ross University and St. George’s University, both foreign medical schools operating in the Caribbean, each make the list. Those institutions often recruit students whose scores don’t qualify them for admission to American medical schools, but enrollment at the Caribbean institutions offers a less-sure path for students whose goal is to practice medicine. Two others on the list — Western University of Health Sciences, in California, and Midwestern University, which operates campuses in Arizona and Illinois — focus on osteopathic medicine and other health-care fields, including dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing.

Only one public-university system, Rutgers University, makes the list, with $192 million in debt among its students.”

The article concludes:

“Policy makers should consider how much graduate lending is sustainable and examine the value of graduate credentials. They should also think about the interplay between undergraduate and graduate borrowing, since students who carry loan balances from their undergraduate education can quickly find their monthly payments unmanageable if they add too much graduate debt.

Graduate education is associated with positive economic returns. But graduate programs should not force students to devote all of those hard-earned economic returns to servicing high loan balances. Amid the national concern about student loans, we must pay greater attention to the colleges that may be running away with graduate debt.”

Tony