21st Century Scholar

In an age of rampant capitalism we have the capacity to direct every dollar in a particular direction that the capitalist state desires. In my last blog I wrote about the ability of the state to change its financial aid system so that public universities can get more state aid while the private institutions get [...]

Let’s assume we’re friends and you’re hungry and out of money. You come to me and say, “I need some money for lunch.” I look in my wallet, pull out a 10, and say, “Keep the change.”  You come back in an hour and sheepishly say, “I need another five bucks.” I shake my head [...]

I admit it. I am a fan. I get misty-eyed every year when they play One Shining Moment (CBS’s montage of highlights of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament). My heart beats a little faster when I hear CONQUEST and call for Traveler. And I will drop everything at a moment’s notice and travel to South [...]

After the last school bell rings, teenagers have a variety of options to occupy their time. The number of options multiplies due to several factors. First, older age correlates to increased freedom. In addition, parents or guardians are likely to work after school lets out. Second, in urban neighborhoods, teenagers have access to a variety [...]

I do not see the current environment as a viable option. If we want to maintain the status quo two actions would need to occur. First, state governments would need to provide many more resources to higher education than they are currently doing. Second, consumers would need to be willing (and able) to pay much [...]

To figure out where we want to go, we first need to figure out what we want to do. For most of my academic life I have harped on Ortega y Gasset’s statement about the importance of understanding the mission of higher education and if we do not, then everything else is “love’s labor lost.” [...]

Recently, a friend asked us for a loan. This is someone we have known for a long time and because of the vagaries of the stock market and a downturn in the economy he has seen his savings diminish at the same time as he lost his job. The prospects in this economy for a [...]

Last week, Governor Jerry Brown described his 2012 budget proposal, which included a $5.2 billion cut in education if voters do not approve a tax increase on the ballot this November. Of the total, Brown plans to cut $4.8 billion in K–12 public school funding—the equivalent of three weeks of schooling—and $200 million to the [...]

“Yes, we can,” exclaimed Senator Barack Obama after winning the presidential primary in South Carolina nearly four years ago. The slogan signified hope and change for a country that desperately needed it. By alluding to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, it also hinted at a promising new future for the working class and [...]

We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. –John Gardner What we have seen over the last two years or so is California’s lauded systems of higher education struggling to adapt to the new fiscal realities of state funding. How have the systems responded? Although the boards, the [...]