higher education

Late last night, in a shameful example of editorial cowardice, the Chronicle of Higher Education fired Naomi Schaefer Riley. Naomi is a good friend of mine, a sometimes contributor to THE WEEKLY STANDARD, and a fine writer. And the story of what happened to her is highly instructive.

Mary Ann Glendon begins her chapter on Rousseau by recounting the story of Napoleon’s visit to the grave of that worthy on the estate of the Marquis René Louis de Girardin at Ermenonville and saying, “It would have been better for the peace of France if this man had never lived.” When the marquis sensibly pointed out that, without the impetus given by Rousseau’s writings to the French Revolution, Napoleon himself would not have existed, at least not as Napoleon, the first consul replied that only the future

Via the Twitter feed of Fareed Zakaria, a brief snapshot into the terrifying future of higher education. Currently, more American students are majoring in visual and performing arts than engineering:

If you want a glimpse of the way Rick Perry operates as an executive and a politician, consider the issue of higher education reform in Texas, which no one in Texas knew was an issue until Perry decided to make it one.

Politico: "In money race, it’s advantage Democrats"

Robert Barro: "Keynesian Economics vs. Regular Economics"

Seth Lipsky: "A Missing Monument to Religious Freedom"

Of course he does: "Obama Seeks to Win Back Wall St. Cash"

$800 billion in taxpayer cash didn't create any jobs? That's HILARIOUS: "Obama jokes about 'shovel-ready projects'"

Anthony Weiner: Car registration and fees are for the little people

University of Illinois at Chicago professors Barbara Risman, William Bridges, and Anthony M. Orum write this letter to the editor in response to “Fat City: Thank you, Illinois taxpayers, for my cushy life,” which appeared in a recent issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD:

The Washington Post  has a review up of the new book by Andrew Ferguson, Senior Editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD. The new book, Crazy U, tells the story of Ferguson's struggles getting his son through the college admissions process.

Ferguson's regular readers are unlikely to be surprised by this, but the Post's nonfiction editor gave Crazy U a rave review:

A shocking story in the New York Post today. At a hearing about whether ROTC should return to Columbia University now that Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed, students openly mocked a disabled Iraq war veteran arguing in favor of the program:

"Racist!" some students yelled at Anthony Maschek, a Columbia freshman and former Army staff sergeant awarded the Purple Heart after being shot 11 times in a firefight in northern Iraq in February 2008. Others hissed and booed the veteran.

Maschek, 28, had bravely stepped up to the mike Tuesday at the meeting to issue an impassioned challenge to fellow students on their perceptions of the military.

Its stated purpose may be higher education, but for the storied University of California system recent times have brought with them the lowest of lows.

Twice in the past six months, California’s leading public universities up and down the Golden State have endured raucous protests over a planned 32% increase in student fees that would help offset a $637 million budget cut to the university system. Once in effect, it’ll send resident undergraduate fees past the $10,000 mark for the first time in state history (by comparison, in-state tuition at the University of Virginia runs around $9,850). One such dust-up, last December in Berkeley at the campus home of UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, resulted in broken windows, lights and planters, lit torches tossed at police cars, and eight arrests.