Blogs

Half of new bachelor’s degree grads are either unemployed or underemployed, according to the Associated Press. The market isn’t ready to absorb them.

Government policies from the late 1990s have stimulated competition between existing universities in England and lowered the barriers to entry for new providers. This process has been accelerated under the coalition government which took office in 2010 — its 2011 White Paper sets out a number of measures intended, apparently, to encourage greater private sector involvement in English higher education – for example, by making it easier to gain a university title, and to remove legal impediments to private companies buying existing universities.

jcpenney, formerly J.C. Penney, is generating a lot of buzz this year. Forbes reports that company officials are revising their pricing, changing their logo, and redesigning the inside of their stores. They are trying to remain competitive by reinventing their brand. Higher education institutions are doing this as well.

According to James A. Roberts, professor of marketing at Baylor, we have evolved into a nation of irresponsible spenders. The central thesis of Shiny Objects is that many of us have replaced traditional values of community, family, and hard work with those of thoughtless consumption.

Nalo Hopkinson's latest YA novel, The Chaos, is a moving and fantastical examination of race, gender, bullying, slut-shaming, and identity.

My son graduated from high school almost one year ago. He opted not to go to college. Of course, the economy makes this a particularly challenging time for a young kid with no work experience and no college degree.

Elizabeth's April 25 post about Nick's uncertain academic future moved me strongly, in part because of the excellent writing and in part because we have had many of those nail-biting moments in Ben's history. He is one of those students who seems destined to give teachers TMJ; a gifted underachiever, as his mother was before him.

This is the season. Winter gray is replaced by the color of spring and the blank spots on my schedule are filled with more and more end of the semester, as well as end of the academic year, activities. Plus my school board activities also escalate as the Board works to provide a clear understanding of the proposed budget before the community votes and hopefully approves the budget.