Book Review: Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

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Commencementis one of two recent novels-the other, A Fortunate Age by Joanna Smith Rakoff, will be the subject of another post-that is a 21st century update of Mary McCarthy's 1953 classic, The Group.

Like The Group, this novel begins in New York with the wedding of a classmate from a woman's college. The classmate, Sally, is one of four friends who have grown up together since freshman year. She comes from a wealthy family, as does Bree, another classmate, while the other friends, Celia and April, come from more modest circumstances.

The Group, set in Depression-era New York, was probably unique for its day. The women were career-oriented, less the circumstances back then. And the married couple had a spouse in the arts who was less confident than his wife. Also unusual.

But in Commencement, the marriage is a lesser part of the story and careers are more expected. The life directions of April, Bree, Celia and Sally dominate. April is a committed feminist; she joins up with an activist filmmaker. Bree enters college engaged to a hometown boy, breaks it off, enters into a lesbian relationship and later graduates from Stanford Law School. Sally has an affair with an English professor in college, becomes the first to marry, and the first to start a family, though unintentional. Celia is raped in college, and she becomes less trustful of men inside and outside of work.

This story shines because it shows the impact of a woman's college, Smith, on the individual lives. Smith is one of the three Seven Sisters woman's colleges that has not become co-ed or merged with a male-dominated school; the others are Mount Holyoke and Wellesley. There is a greater meaning to a woman's college in this story than The Group, because there are fewer woman's college around today. These colleges have changed since The Group, too. In 1933, as well as 1953, these school had career-oriented women, but they also taught etiquette and posture to students headed for the Mrs. instead of the MD, MS or MBA.

Another strength of Commencement is April's character, who would not have existed during the Thirties or the Fifties; there were fewer feminist causes in those eras and fewer feminists in the news. April's mentor and boss, Ronnie, is even more radical, but also more self-serving, more determined to break a story her way than advance woman's lives.

I'm probably not the target audience for Commencement, but it gave me a great sense of life and character at a woman's college. If I had a daughter or niece who wanted to go to Smith, Mount Holyoke or Wellesley I would buy her this book and encourage her application.

Solutions to College Affordability and Accessibility Might Be Under Our Noses

Imagine the Great State University system. It has two campuse centers: Capital City, and Boomandbust.

The Capital City campus is the university as most people know it: it has the big-time football team, boo-lah boo-lah songs, the gorgeous brick and marble buildings and the massive library that nobody seems to study in expect around exam time.

Capital City gets the lions share of the research grants from the Great State corporate community. And it is a regular stop for corporate recruiters in good times and bad; in the best of times they get their pick of the top graduates and there are more than enough to go around. In the worst of times, they might get to take in a basketball game after a light interview schedule.

As college costs became a greater concern, Capital City became more larger, more competitive and more selective. Thirty years ago, a B average and a couple of teacher recommendations got students through the door. Today, this it is the stop for hundreds of Ivy League wannabees. And there is no room for to make room for more students, even commuters.

The Boomandbust campus opened after World War II; there was not enough room for returning vets in Capital City, so a new campus opened on the outskirts of Boomandbust, Great State's largest employment center at the time. Boomandbust was one of the leading manufacturing and office centers in America's heartland. Notice that I say "was."

Boomandbust opened as a commuter school because housing was affordable for the vets who could get a mortgage on the GI Bill. They stayed in the community after graduation. They were happy with the education they had gotten at Boomandbust. But they wanted to prosper to send their children to Capital City.

Over the next forty years, the Boomandbust campus became residential; there were not enough commuting students in the market. Boomandbust shedded jobs like a golden retriever for the next forty years. But Great State U still had a campus to run and politicians to please, so as enrollment at Boomandbust continued to shrink, deferred maintenance went sky-high, making the campus even less desirable.

Great State eventually became a net-exporter of college students. Even though there was plenty of room at Boomandbust, so it was accessible. Boomandbust University was affordable, or at least more affordable than the private schools.

But Great State's government did not believe that they could make Boomandbust more attractive to students and business. So, deferred maintenance continued on and interest in campus expansion lingered. Even a supportive mayor, an alumnus of the university, couldn't make the case for more money for Boomandbust.

I've told this little fable to make a point about accessibility and affordability. So often, the solution to both problems is under our noses. In this case, the solution would be to make Boomandbust into a strong urban university that could help attract business and reverse the local brain drain. My fictional Boomandbust is no different than any major urban university in America, from Brooklyn College of New York to Wayne State in Detroit.

In better times one solution to the brain drain was to open another campus in a more bucolic setting, as the University of California has done. Or open small branches, as Penn State has done. Either way, the imapact on the urban campuses was more deferred maintenance.

But if we want to maintain a marriage of affordability and accessibility, we have to pay more attention to the campuses that are in the most accessible cities. We can never have enough good schools in our states.

Back-to-School Savings Support Child Literacy

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy's have teamed up to launch Book A Brighter Future™, a national partnership to raise awareness and support of children's literacy. The Book A Brighter Future campaign is an annual promotion held at Macy's stores during the back-to-school season to help raise money for local RIF programs,providing reading resources to children who need them most.

This campaign provides an opportunity for Macy's shoppers to have an impact on literacy in their community. From July 1 through August 31, 2009, shoppers can give $3 and receive a coupon for $10 off a $50 in-store purchase at any Macy’s nationwide. Macy’s will donate 100 percent of every $3 to RIF.

"We are proud that, last year alone, more than a million Macy's customers participated in Book A Brighter Future helping to raise more than $3 million dollars for children who lack access to books," said Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy's, Inc. "It is a great way for our customers to support the education of children in their own community while enjoying special savings for their back-to-school shopping at Macy's."

For every $3, $1 will support local RIF programs near the Macy's store; $1 will support RIF's Multicultural Literacy Campaign; and $1 will help RIF's ongoing efforts to provide reading resources to millions of underserved children across the country.

"RIF's vision is a literate America in which children have access to books and discover the joy and value of reading," said RIF President and CEO, Carol H. Rasco. "Nearly two-thirds of low-income families do not own any books for their children. This campaign with Macy's allows RIF to provide free books and literacy resources to the children at greatest risk for developing reading difficulties."

Since 2006, Macy's and RIF have raised more than $7 million through the in-store promotion, which has had a profound impact on RIF's mission. Macy's has helped provide over 3 million books to 1.2 million kids and has donated 750 hardcover multicultural book collections to schools, Head Start centers, and libraries in every state and U.S. territory. Macy's also supports RIF's Multicultural Literacy Campaign, a multi-year effort to promote and support early childhood literacy in African American, Hispanic, and American Indian communities—where reading scores are the lowest.

To help Book A Brighter Future for children through literacy, supporters can Tell-A-Friend at http://www.rif.org/brighterfuture. They can share with friends the importance of reading to young children and how they can save at Macy's on their next purchase when they support the Book A Brighter Future campaign. Supporters who tell a friend will be entered into a sweepstakes where they are eligible to win a $1,000 Macy's shopping spree from RIF.

To learn more, visit the Book A Brighter Future campaign.

What If There Were No College Sports Scholarships?

When I started blogging, I wrote about an organization called the Rutgers 1000, a volunteer association of students, alumni and faculty that wanted the university to de-emphasize college football. Back then, I opposed their position, and I still do, but the recent developments about the Alabama football team and the Memphis basketball team made me ask myself: what if the Rutgers 1000 expanded to other colleges and universities, and what if a national movement succeeded in ending scholarship sports?

I'm re-reading The Last Amateurs, a John Feinstein book about the Patriot League, to guide me. The Patriot League has a mix of scholarship and non-scholarship schools in basketball and their champion receives a bid into March Madness. It's usually a low seed, but a bid's a bid. But in football, Patriot League schools that award scholarships are not eligible to compete for the league title.

Now, imagine no more non-need athletic scholarships in all sports. Everyone goes to college based on their ability to get accepted and receives aid based on need and academic achievement. Who would the winners and losers be?

I'd guess you could say athletic departments.Scholarships would not be on their budgets. But they would lose influence over who got them. Top academic schools would not get athletes who could not get in. In theory.

But even when there are no scholarships there would always be athletic booster groups who would try to direct presidents and coaches to favor an athlete. But now, the athlete would compete against the rest of the student body for financial need. There would be more resentment of the athletes, too. The more serious athletes would definitely take places from the more serious students.

Looking at the schools, the winners appear to be those with less selective admissions standards, as it was in the past. For instance there are stories that Johnny Unitas played his football for Louisville because he could not pass the entrance examination to go to Pitt. Mark Krigel wrote in his excellent biography of Joe Namath that Broadway Joe was supposed to enroll at Maryland, but his test scores were too low. Alabama, however, had the room to accept him and make him their first star who was not a son of the South.

If the Alabama of the Sixties had room for Broadway Joe, then I'm sure that major college football powers will make room for a 21st century quarterbck who can lead them to the promised land. Sometimes, when you try to change things, you have to realize some things will stay the same. There will be a small number of dominant schools, just as there are now.

The Demands We Place on Toys on Screen

This weekend I read that Transformers has grossed over $200 million. Only The Dark Knight, one of my favorite movies of all time, has done better. But what makes Transformers showing a surprise is that toys that sound like Imperial storm troopers are the stars. There is no major box office star in this movie, no action hero actor to take the attention away from them. Yes, Shia LeBouf was in the last Indiana Jones movie, but he is hardly Harrison Ford.

I saw Transformers this weekend. It's not a great movie, but it's not a bad one. It has everything you'd expect from a Michael Bay picture: great effects and pyrotechnics, "wise" humor, and the right battle settings. I loved Armageddon and Con Air, and I probably watch those films once or twice a year. But I can't relate to a movie where toys are the stars. Especially when I did not grow-up playing with them.

This was one movie where I wish I had a niece or nephew under 10 to guide me through the characters. I probably would have asked something stupid like: why are the good guys called Autobots when there were no cars in their past? It took half way through this movie, and I saw the first, to know that there was a powerful race (is that the right word?) of Primes in the past. It would have made the kids feel good. I know how it feels when my ten-year-old niece asks me about the original Star Wars movies.

I know this was a marketing pitch to kids, but Hasbro had a chance to extend the Transformers brand through collectors cards, so did Chevrolet, and they blew it. If I was under 10, I would have appreciated a plastic yellow Camaro in my cereal box. Chevy pitched the car to their parents instead. Not that they need help selling Camaros; dealers are selling them for $2,500 over list. But the previous generation of Camaro had a long lifespan; it's quite possible that the 10 year-old would be in the market for a Camaro before their mom or dad.

But still, the parents with kids old enough to watch Transformers are probably looking more towards mini-vans (ugh!) and sport utilities. But they'll get the nudge for more Transformers, I'm sure. I would not be surprised to see mothers and fathers kick themselves for taking their kids to this movie.

It's a coincidence that the new Transformers came out about a year before we will see a new Toy Story. Woody (Tom Hanks) is back, so is Buzz Lightyear (was Tim Allen, don't know who will do the voice next time). But so are a bunch of toys I grew up with. I saw Slinky, Mr. Potato Head and the plastic army in less than a minute. In Toy Story, toys are the stars, but past and present work together, and not necessarily to make a marketing pitch. I've always admired the Pixar folks. They respect family bonding.

Some Thoughts on the Clery Act and Campus Security

Campus security was among the education issues that I dealt with in research for Defending College Heights, my new novel. A university provost took me through the process in the event that a murder had been discovered on campus. He took me through the notifications to the police, the family of the deceased (should it be a student) and the news media. We also discussed crime reports, which are mandated by the federal government.

Crime reports are mandated through the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act passed in 1990; it is better know as the Cley Act. The Act was named for a Lehigh University student who was murdered on campus in 1986.

Administered by the Department of Education, compliance with the Clery Act is tied to a college's participation in federally funded student financial aid programs. So, with the risk of losing aid, the Act is taken seriously. In addition, colleges are fined for non-compliance.

Which takes me to a story I read last week about Dominican College, a 2,000 student institution in New York State, located not far from the New York/Bergen County, New Jersey border.

An investigation by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, found that Dominican had under-reported crime statistics in its student handbook for several years, including misreports about sexual assaults on campus. The school was fined $20,000 and ordered to make several changes in their crime reporting procedures. The college's legal counsel said that these changes are underway.

Cuomo’s investigation grew from a complaint by Gloria Allred, lawyer for the mother of a former Dominican student -- Megan Wright -- who was sexually assaulted on the campus in 2006 and later committed suicide. Allred filed a federal lawsuit against the college in 2008, which is still ongoing, and called on the attorney general to investigate the college's crime statistics after identifying a suspicious lack of reported sexual assaults during the time Wright was a student.

In addition to fining Dominican, Cuomo's office sent a letter to all other New York state colleges and universities urging them to review their crime reporting procedures. No doubt the Attorney General's office will find more schools to investigate.

I am not writing to fault the intentions of the Act, or of Cuomo's office. The Clery Act is one of those pieces of legislation that gets passed in any Congress, no matter which party is in power. The Act has, in fact, been amended four times during the previous three presidential administrations to expand reporting, and to better address the issues of sexual assault and sex offenders. Cuomo's office is doing what an attorney general's office is supposed to do: enforce the law.

But I have concerned that while acts such as the Clery Act, while popular and well-intentioned, do not necessarily improve the perception and reality of security on college campuses. Enforcing more reporting requirements may be counter-productive.
The Act does not state where fines will go, but it seems foolish for a state government to collect monies that a college could put into compliance. The Act, if properly enforced, already has sufficient teeth. Unless the Attorney General is trying to recover some of the costs of the investigation (which we don't know in the Dominican case).

I do not call for a repeal of the Act, but to put more responsibility in the hands of students to help reduce campus crimes.

Most campus crimes are crimes against property, the school's and the student's. So, here is a suggestion. Whenever a common area or the structure of a residence hall is damaged, then fine every student who lives there. Damages might range from a broken lock (this, by the way, was one of the reasons that the Clery family took legal action against Lehigh)on the entrance door to broken windows and blasted walls. Put the fines in the next semester's tuition bill. If there is damage to non-residential buildings, such as graffiti on bathroom walls, then fine every student on campus. Even the smallest of fines can add up.

I realize these solutions are along the lines of the "broken window" theory advocated in New York City during the Giuliani Administration, but students need to be taught to respect their school. They cannot be allowed to sow wild oats against inanimate objects. And perception usually dictates that a cleaner campus is also likely to be a safer campus.

Book Review: Match Day, One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors by Brian Eule

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I am related by marriage to an emergency medical doctor, so with that and my emphasis on education books I took a look at Match Day. The author, Brian Eule, is a journalist who is also married to Stephanie Chou, one of the three doctors profiled in the story. So, it is safe to say that he has first-hand knowledge as an observer to the process that matches medical school graduates to the hospitals where they will do their residencies.

Eule divides this story between the match process and the first year of residency for three doctors: his wife, an aspiring surgeon; Rakhi Barkowski who wants to become an intenist, and Michele LaFonda who is interested in radiology. LaFonda's fiance, Ted, is also in a medical residency while Scott, Rakhi's husband, is a graduate student. There is more in this story about maintaining relationships than about the work involved a medical internship and residency.

But for me, the match process was more interesting, because I knew nothing about it before reading the story.

According to the author, post-graduate medical residencies have been a part of a physician's education since the early 1920's. The first year was, and still is, called an internship. Subsequent years, where a physician delves into a specialty, are called the residency. They are called the residency because aspiring physicians once lived at the hospital. These days, with the work schedules demanded of them, the hospital is still very much their home.

The idea of the Match came about during the 1940's because hospitals rushed to recruit the top medical students as early as their second year in medical school. The Association of Medical Colleges tried to level the playing field by refusing to release transcripts and recommendations until after the third, and next-to-last, year of medical school. But this only reduced the amount of time that the fourth year students were given to consider offers. By the end of the decade, medical students were given only 12 hours to respond.

After a trial run with 1951 medical school graduates, the Match, a computer algorithm, became the process to consider student preferences and medical specialties against the needs of the hospitals. A Harvard economist, Alvin Roth, has refined the algorithm since the 1980s. His academic colleagues called him "Mr. Matching." Roth's algorithms are used for other purposes as well: to place children in classrooms and select compatible kidneys and patients for transplants in a process known as paired donations.

During the early 1980s, Roth determined that the Match's success had to do with stability, meaning that there was no hospital and candidate not already matched to each other in which both parties wished they were. In the early years of the Match, the hospitals "proposed" aka recruited the students, which created a suspicion of hospital bias.

The American Medical Students Association and the Health Research Group-a division of a consumer advocacy group formed by Ralph Nadar-proposed a student-optimal algorithm, hoping that students would earn a spot at an institution they had ranked higher on their list. During the Nineties, Roth successfully proved that changes in the computer algorithm didn't matter. Only one in a thousand medical students would get a better match.

The Match, however, eliminated the free market for employment for medical school graduates. Students were forced to accept the conditions, including the low salaries, of the hospital with which they were matched. And The Match, by act of Congress, cannot be challenged under Federal anti-trust laws.

The Match means that medical students must become conscientious shoppers who must consider not only their academic and professional interests, but also their personal relationships. An unattached physician can work wherever they want, but the attached cannot, which is a major part of Eule's story. All of the doctors he profiles have had to make very complicated choices based on the give and take in their relationships. One or both careers might be sacrificed in some way.

Match Day is an interesting story for anyone considering a medical career, no matter what stage they are at in their pre-medical or medical education. The road to becoming a physician is quite long-for example, a surgical residency is seven years atop college, medical school and the internship-and it has become only more expensive, rising faster than the wages to be earned during internship and residency. And it's gut-wrenching to hope that the Match will go your way.

Book Review: The Islamist, Why I Became an Islamic Fundamentalist, What I Saw Inside, and Why I Left by Ed Husain

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In writing my novel, Defending College Heights, I had to do research into military recruiting practices on college campuses. I gathered information from the news and from the U.S. Army Recruiting Command as well as conversations with military recruiters and college career services officers.

In The Islamist, Ed Husain, a former campus activist, then later a banker and representative of the British Council, a non-profit educational and cultural organization, did a different kind of campus recruiting at British schools. He recruited converts to Islamism, a belief that Islam is both a religion and a political movement to create a sovereign Islamic State. More radical factions of Islamism believe in the overthrow of modern governments, including the British and American systems, in favor of rule under their interpretations of Islamic law.

Islamism is to be separated from Islam, the religious faith; the vast majority of practitioners separate religion from politics. Muslims may study and observe rituals in their holy work, the Koran in varied degrees, just as there are Orthodox and Reform Jews and Episcopalians and fundamentalist Christians. And members within religious factions do not necessarily share the same political beliefs; it is not uncommon to meet spiritual people who are apolitical.

But the mistake most often made is that Islam, the faith is misrepresented as a link to terrorism. This reached a head in the U.S. after 9-11 when Keith Ellison (D-Minn) was sworn in as the first Muslim member of Congress. Ellison, who was born and raised in the U.S., asked to be sworn in over the Koran instead of the Bible. One Republican Congressman, Rep Virgil Goode (Va), said that Ellison's decision to use the Koran was a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America." Conservatives also used Barack Obama's Muslim parentage as a reason to ask voters to rebuke his candidacy.

Husain goes to great effort to separate how the various political factions in Britain believed, and the extent to which they pushed their beliefs on other Muslim students. He adds that Al Queda, led by Osama Bin Laden, is an organization with mixture of Wahhabi or literalistic religious beliefs, and terrorism. Husain adds that politically radical factions are tied to Saudi wealth, and that their leaders are not necessarily welcome in every Muslim nation.

As an adult, Husain studied the Koran in the original Arabic. He provides explanation of some of the beliefs and teachers of the Prophet Mohammad, among them the concept of jihad. In our country, jihad is a phrase that we associate with holy war. However, Husain explains that the Prophet did not use the term to symbolize a call for cowardly and suicidal attacks against innocent people.

The Islamist is interesting, but also troubling. Like the U.S., Britain has its share of extremists-Husain mentions that over 3,000 have been documented in his home country-but also that people, including media pundits, do not take the time to explain the basic tenets of an unfamiliar faith. This contributes to acts of bigotry and ignorance. While the U.S. can never become a nation under one faith, or a single interpretation of a holy book, the same is true of a nation dominated by the Muslim faith.

Anyone Have a Job for a College Football Hero?

Last night I went to the summer meeting of the Rutgers Touchdown Club, the fan club that supports the Scarlet Knights football team. The agenda for these meetings is the usual: Head Coach Greg Schiano or Assistant Coach Joe Susan gives a talk about the progress of the team and recruiting commitments. But this meeting was special. We also had a second guest speaker, former Scarlet Knights kicker Jeremy Ito.

Jeremy Ito is to Rutgers what Billy Cannon was to LSU in 1959, a symbol of a Cinderella season that turned a college football program around. Ito kicked the winning field goal against Louisville, then the number three team in the nation, on November 9, 2006. The Scarlet Knights clawed back from a 25-9 deficit at halftime. Ito kicked the game-winning field goal to win the game with 21 seconds remaining and Rutgers went to 9-0 and moved up to seventh in national rankings.

November 9, 2006 is a turning point in Rutgers football history. It was the Scarlet Knight's first win over a high-ranked opponent and the game set the stage for three consecutive seasons that have ended in bowl victories. Rutgers is one of only nine teams in major college football that has accomplished this feat.

The following season, Ito kicked three field goals and three a pass off a faked field goal and that led to a key first down in an upset win against second-ranked South Florida.

After he graduated last year, Ito signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints, but he did not make the team. The odds were actually stacked against him as the Saints had brought three kickers to camp. Last night, he told the Touchdown Club that he had just been released by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League before he had a chance to compete for a job.

He said that his agent is trying to get him on to a team in the fledgling United Football League, which will begin play with four teams this summer. In the meantime, he said that he was working on his golf game at the Rutgers course, but also said that he was open to job opportunities.

I felt bad for Jeremy. He spent the evening fielding questions about the game-winner against Louisville, with occasional breaks to answer questions about why he came to Rutgers from Northern California. I was just as bad: after he spoke I asked if he had ever thrown a pass in a high school game, or any other game before that night against South Florida. He said 'no' but he added that he wished he had tried to play quarterback in high school. Then I excused myself so a he could autograph a jersey for a fan. But I thought: the cheering hasn't stopped for Jeremy Ito just yet. However, as years go by, it will die down.

Jeremy has helped his Rutgers develop their current kicker, who was quite consistent as a sophomore. But there has to be room for Jeremy in a coaching or public relations position, if nothing else. I don't know what Jeremy Ito studied in college, but he deserves a chance to get on with his life if he cannot continue to play football.

Book Review: No Bed of Roses, My Sideline View of the Wisconsin Badgers' Return to Greatness by Chris Kennedy

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Last week, I attended the Write-By-The-Lake program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Whenever I travel, especially to a college town, I look for unique books about the local politics and sports teams, something that I'm unlikely to find close to home in New Jersey. On this trip, I bought, among other books, No Bed of Roses, a walk-on player's view of the progress of the Wisconsin football team during the Barry Alvarez era.

Chris Kennedy, the author, is a walk-on wide receiver for the Badgers, a sort of Rudy for the team. Kennedy, like Rudy of Notre Dame, gets on the field for only one college football play. But unlike Rudy, who was carried off the field as an inspirational figure, Kennedy attended Wisconsin for four years and graduated with little fanfare (though he had one of the highest grade point averages on the team). And, based on misunderstandings with his assistant coach, he is not allowed to dress for the Rose Bowl, the final game of his senior season. The highlight of his career comes when he is allowed to run out the tunnel towards his parents before the last home game of his senior year.

If you're a college football fan, you'll find No Bed of Roses interesting. Kennedy describes in good detail what it means to be used and abused as a walk-on--you get some of this in the Rudy movie, too--but you also see a player who tries to deal with the unfair nature of the system. For instance, he points out how he never got a chance to compete against freshman scholarship players for a higher place up the depth chart.

In another anecdote, Kennedy is offered a job as a model for a sportswear store and is paid for his efforts. Yet his coaches tell him that the job is against NCAA rules because he is profiting on his likeness as a football player. However, Kennedy successfully persuades the coaches and the NCAA to let him keep his income because he is a non-scholarship player and he has never affected the outcome of a football game.

While Kennedy reports that he was treated unfairly at times, he shows considerable respect for Alvarez, the most successful football coach in Wisconsin's history. After a 1-10 debut, Alvarez averaged eight wins a season for fifteen years and won eight bowl games, including three Rose Bowls. In addition he has had 28 players drafted in the first four rounds of the NFL draft. But Kennedy states that Alvarez rarely got to know his players beyond those in starting roles, even when his assistant coaches might have made the wrong decisions. And he adds that while race relations on his team were good, black players did not have it easy in Madison during the early Nineties.

I like books like Kennedy's because they are not game-by-game accounts of a team or a player, but rather what it takes to survive in a competitive college sports program when you're low on the totem pole with little hope of climbing up. Chris Kennedy could have quit football at any time. He earned an academic scholarship midway through college. He owed his team absolutely nothing, and they had invested practically nothing in him. But he's given college football fans a good story.

Suspended Teachers Paid to Do Nothing

This morning I read on Yahoo News that the New York City Department of Education is paying approximately 700 teachers their full salaries as they report to work in an off-campus facility before their disciplinary hearings are to take place. This facility, called a reassignment center where teachers may surf the Internet, or just stare at the walls is not so fondly referred to as the "rubber room." According to the story, similar practices exist in other cities; Los Angeles and Philadelphia were mentioned as examples.

These teachers await hearings on charges ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct to whistle-blowing on principals who falsified test scores. But their union contract requires them to report for work at a Department of Education facility; they cannot stay home.

This practice, according to the story, costs New York City taxpayers $65 million. While the teacher's union representative is quoted as saying that the union and city government are working to reduce the time spent in reassignment centers, he also states that teachers cannot be denied their rights to due process.

In a sense the teachers have it good. They receive their salary. They have the rights to face their accusers in a hearing and defend their position. They get a chance to save their careers, and possibly be reassigned to a new teaching position in friendlier surroundings. I've been terminated from a job before, so I can appreciate those workplace rights.

But the major question, at a time when parents, school boards, state and federal governments are demanding greater accountability from teachers is: how long can school systems and taxpayers afford these contracts, especially in a bad economy?

I realize that teachers unions have great political power in this country, but there are college graduates who want to become teachers, and more alternate paths to teacher certification than ever before. I can't help but think that the principals who push teachers into the rubber rooms believe that suitable replacements can be found,quite possibly at lower salaries and without the protection of tenure. But there are also serious acts of misconduct, sexual harassment being one, that are cause for separation in any field. A principal meeds the power to enforce against such misconduct.

So, here is my proposal for future contracts. Keep the due process rights; unions would never give them up anyway. But hire more hearing officers to move the process along. This story mentioned that some teachers have had to wait more than a year for their hearing. They should be told to wait weeks.

Another option, to discourage the more obvious acts of misconduct is to suspend the teacher on half-pay and full health benefits, but have them stay home. If the teacher prevails in due process, then return the balance of her pay, with interest. The potential loss of income is likely to make potential miscreants think twice.

Aspiring Eagle Scout Launches Book Drive for a Philadelphia Elementary School

After I reviewed Alvin Townley's book: Spirit of Adventure, Eagle Scouts and the Making of America's Future, I asked Andrew Edkins, a senior at Radnor (PA) High School, and an aspiring Eagle Scout, to tell his own story about his ongoing project. Andrew's parents are among my closest friends, so I, among others, want him to succeed. I hope after reading this short interview that you will be in his corner, too.

1) What made you interested in becoming involved in Scouting, and what do you enjoy most about being a Boy Scout?

I initially became involved with Scouting because three of my close friends where members of the troop, although they have since quit Scouting. My favorite part of the Boy Scout experience is definitely camping.

2) I read that a Scout needs to have earned at least 21 merit badges before he can try to earn the Eagle. How many have you earned, and which were the most challenging and rewarding?

As of now I have earned a total of 19 merit badges and am working on my last three eagle required badges (Personal Fitness, Family Life, and Citizenship in the World,) during the summer. Personally I found the first aid merit badge to be particularly difficult to obtain. In fact, on my first attempt I failed the test that scouts are required to pass in order to earn the badge. However, the first aid merit badge is certainly one of the more rewarding badges due to its usefulness.

3) I also read that a proposal must be written and approved by your Eagle Board. What are you, and any other aspiring Eagle Scout, required to include in the proposal, and why? Are you allowed to have help in developing the proposal, or do you do it completely on your own?

Creating the Eagle project proposal is one of the more difficult requirements in earning the rank of Eagle. Not only is it very time consuming, (I spent roughly ten hours writing and refining mine) it must also be painstakingly thorough. The rule of thumb is that if you were to die, someone should be able to follow your proposal and execute your project in exactly the same way you would. In regards to receiving outside help on one’s proposal, that is certainly allowed. I for one know that I never would have been approved by the Eagle Board without the help of my mom.

4) What made you decide to do a book drive as your project?

Truth be told, it was my mother who originally came up with the book drive idea for my project. One of the main reasons why I chose to do this drive is because I had previous contact with the school through days of service with my church. This gave me a firsthand look at the condition of Mitchell Elementary, and more importantly, the poorly stocked library.

5) What is your time line and what are your goals for the book drive?

In terms of goals, I hope to obtain a minimum of 1,000 quality children’s books for donation to Mitchell Elementary School. Although I have finished the portion of the book drive involving my local high and middle school, I plan on opening the drive in my church on the first Sunday in July. In early August, I will bring the books to Mitchell Elementary and spend a few days organizing them within the library.

If you have some used (but not abused) non-fiction, historical fiction or classic fiction stories for a child in grades K-5, I hope you will support Andrew's efforts. To learn more about the drive contact Andrew at mitchellbookdrive@gmail.com.

Pretty Campus Buildings Pay

Last week, as I waited in the Madison (WI) airport to fly home after a writer's workshop, I skimmed through the recent issue of Money magazine. One of the letters to the editor stated that "rising (public college) costs can also be attributed to extras like beautiful campuses and well-appointed dorm rooms. These things are nice, but when do we say "Stop!" to tuition increases and cut some of the nonacademic expenses?"

I see comments like this all the time from people outside the education world, and sometimes I laugh. I used to be an urban planner and I got involved with campus planning issues, so I can confidently say that pretty buildings pay dividends in the long term.

And in this age of helicopter parents, mom and dad feel safer knowing that their son or daughter is on an attractive, and therefore a perceptually safe, campus. As tuition rises how many helicopter parents will be satisfied if their student lived in a dormitory that closely resembled a military barracks?

I would believe that they would be angry that they were getting little for their $20 to $30K each year. And consider this: whenever a residential college cannot afford to house every student who needs housing, hundreds, quite possibly thousands of students are left to the conditions of the local housing market where they and their parents have no control.

It's amusing that I read this quote after spending a week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is one of the most picturesque college campuses in the country. Founded in 1848, UW-Madison blends brick, marble and wooden structures from the 19th century with the precast concrete monoliths of the mid 20th century. Then, there are a few buildings, including the business school, that were built in this century. The oldest and the newest structures are among the most attractive on campus.

Those 19th century buildings were designed when energy efficiency was not a thought. They were not designed to accommodate air conditioning and most other modern conveniences. They were certainly not designed for networked computing. And while their facades and structures could be maintained by the skilled tradesmen of their day, imagine the fees required for a stone mason today. It's a much rarer, though no less appreciated skill.

But colleges keep these buildings because they are a part of the school's history. They get registered with the National Register of Historic Places. They are the buildings you see on the covers of the catalogs. Don't expect a school to demolish them in the name of budget-cutting. They are an important part of the school's identity.

Then there are the monoliths of the Fifties through the Seventies made with chrome plating,glass or smooth concrete. They too, were not built with energy efficiency in mind. How many times do you walk by a campus or office building from that era and notice that many doors remain locked? How many blind corners do you spot? Or, have you noticed that windows cannot be opened because the building was designed for the heating and air conditioning systems to operate all year long? So, they're no more efficient than the old buildings, though they are certainly less attractive.

Colleges are not building new buildings to make visual statements. Colleges,like corporations, have to correct their inefficiencies in design and energy consumption, or to make housing more accessible to their students and more presentable to their parents. And they are building while construction costs have gone down and created construction jobs. If campuses are more attractive and safer for their efforts, then so much the better.

Texas Congressman Proposes to Expand G.I. Education Benefits for Dependent Children of Fallen Service Members

Yesterday Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) introduced a provision to the Defense Department appropriation for 2010 to extend G.I. Bill education benefits to all surviving dependents of military veterans. Currently, education benefits can be extended to only one dependent.

Edwards proposed no minimum term of military service for veterans. Currently, a veteran who wishes to transfer the education benefits to a dependent son or daughter must serve 6 years with an additional 4 year commitment.

The provision, authored by Edwards as a member of the conference committee, expands the current GI Bill education benefit to cover the full cost of a college education for all children of fallen soldiers. The benefit will be known as the “Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry” Scholarship in honor of a fallen soldier with three young children from Edwards’ district.

Edward's provision brings much-needed equity into the benefit. A soldier's widow should not be asked to choose between children when it comes to the possibility of a college education.

I know this will be another case of "government spending" with a dramatic increase in the cost of an entitlement to dependents. However, their parents volunteered to sacrifice their lives in the service of our country. They were not forced into service through a draft.

In addition, approximately half of our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are citizen soldiers; they are Reservists or National Guardsmen, many with families. Today's armed forces that have been deployed have the highest percentage of citizen soldiers in their ranks since World War II.

I hope that Rep. Edward's provision passes with overwhelmingly bi-partisan support. So should you. We have an obligation to the families of the fallen to help take care of their next generation.

Gay Bullying, Religious Education and the Tender Age

I am a Democrat, moderate to liberal on some issues, conservative on others. But sometimes I love to read the thunder from the right.

Today, I am reading a story on New American entitled: Schooling in the Third Millennium: Bible Out, Sodom In. Whatever your views check it out for yourself.

In this story, the author compares the outcomes of two legal cases. In one, a the mother of Philadelphia area kindergartner read her son's favorite book, the Bible, in her son's All About Me class. This led to a law suit in Federal district court, and the school won. According to the story, the school also won in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica beat the separation-of-church-and-state drum and said, “Parents of public school kindergarten students may reasonably expect their children will not become captive audiences to an adult’s reading of religious texts.”

Of course, there was a way out of this before the courts got involved. Let each child in the class pick their favorite passage from a religious work from church, Hebrew school, mosque, or choose something equally inspirational from a secular book. All of this could start a dialogue about religious freedom and respect for individual beliefs. Religious bullying happened when I was in grade school and middle schools. I can tell you how the word "Jew" was badly misused.

Then the author brings up a case in Alameda, California where a "Safe Schools" curriculum is being used to help stop anti-gay bullying. He argued that children were too young to understand the messages in the elementary grade books. I might not argue about that, but messages about tolerance and respect have been taught in K through 5 since there have been teachers.

And I can tell you how terms like "gay," "faggot," "homo," and "queer" have been badly misused in these grades. It's within a teacher's purview to quash such misuse of these words, just as it is their job to stop misuse of the word "Jew," "Haji," or "Rag head" in their classrooms, court yards and hallways.

I agree with the author's premise: that the courts cannot determine the degree in which free-speech rights are afforded to minors and what they may be exposed to at a given age. This power is typically reserved for local school boards who should be working closely with parents and teachers. And they should all promote the meaning of freedom and respect.

But conservatives, who are supposed to believe in protecting the rights of the individual, muddy this up when they make comments such as "gay rights is part of a leftist agenda" or "the left wants to destroy Christmas." There are gay economic conservatives and, of course, there are political conservatives in all organized religions. Devout Muslims are also economic and social conservatives, as are Orthodox Jews, even though they do not read from the same scripture.

While political correctness often goes overboard, I believe that Americans can all agree that respect for the individual and their personal beliefs should be reinforced in the schools.

Book Review: Heart of a Husky by Mel Thomas

I am researching and working on a third novel, Tip Offs, which revolves partly around girl's high school basketball.

There are not many non-fiction stories about the sport, let alone fiction. Heart of a Husky, by former Connecticut point guard Mel Thomas, is probably the first journal kept by a college player in woman's hoops.

Thomas, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, graduated U-Conn in 2008 with a business degree. This past season, she played professional basketball in Ireland. Thomas might have begun a professional career in the WNBA, but she suffered a serious knee injury that forced her to miss the last 22 games of her senior season. However, she scored over 1,000 points in her career, playing for one of the best programs in the nation.

Heart of a Husky begins approximately one year before Thomas' graduation from U-Conn. A co-captain of one of the best college teams in the country, she reflects on how she came to U-Conn--she had considered Cincinnati, Ohio State and Duke--and why she believed that she made the right choice of school. She also validates media comments about Coach Geno Auriemma's brand of tough love.

During the 2007-2008 season there was considerable pressure on Thomas and her senior teammates: Ketia Swanier, Charde Houston and Brittany Hunter. While U-Conn has been what most schools would call a successful program during their time in school, this class has not been part of a national championship team. Nor have they played in a Final Four. At the start of this story Thomas and Houston have made the team that represented the U.S. in the 2007 Pan American Games. That team won the first U.S. gold medal in 20 years.

Thomas takes us through pre-season conditioning and the regular season schedule. She is part of a U-Conn team that lost only one regular season game (to Rutgers, my alma mater, by two points) and played in a Final Four, losing to Stanford in the opening round. You feel for Thomas, who is not able to play, but you respect her team-first attitude.

It's hard not to call Thomas, or this book, a winner. Heart of a Husky is not so much about her as it is about being part of a great woman's basketball team. She tells us that Auriemma is a very difficult coach but later shows that he is effective at developing players to think for themselves and work as a cohesive unit on and off the court. He is also a master at motivating his players through the media. Those who followed U-Conn games this past season, an undefeated championship run, remember how Auriemma pumped up center Tina Charles and forced her to bring her A-game.

Heart of a Husky was written for U-Conn fans and girls who love basketball. U-Conn fans will like it. Rutgers fans might not. But aspiring ballers will be inspired. Buy one at www.MelThomas.com.

Book Review: Growing Up Dead, The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead by Peter Conners

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When I was doing research for my novel, Defending College Heights, I found much inspiration and introspection from the counter-culture of the Sixties and the early Seventies. I even had one of my major characters, a seductive community organizer and Web master born in '67 during the Summer of Love.

I wished I had Growing Up Dead as a resource while working on my book. The Grateful Dead were an important part of the Summer of Love and Peter Conners has done a great job to tell me what it was like to go to a Dead show (they're not called concerts), and what it meant to be a Deadhead.

For some readers, Growing Up Dead may be a familiar memoir. Conners will help any Deadhead recall their own experiences: their first show, first great high, and so on. For me, this was cultural or social anthropology. Until I read this book, all I knew about the Grateful Dead was that they made tie-dyed t-shirts famous, and that they allowed fans to make bootlegged copies of their shows.

I simply wasn't part of the culture. In fact, I resented Deadheads twenty five years ago when they filled the parking lot of the Meadowlands Arena, causing me to miss the first quarter of a Giants game! Those were the Parcells Era teams that ran over everybody at the height of their powers. The Deadheads had their show at the Meadowlands, but they forced me to miss part of mine.

As I read Growing Up Dead, I could imagine me asking to tail along with some Deadheads to go to a show. And I laughed hard about it. Back in high school I was more the bookish type and I largely kept to myself. Someone like that is often the target of bullies. But I had no such problems after my freshman year in high school because I knew some Ambassadors to the Cool People. These were the folks who told the bullies to leave me alone, and got away with it. Or they told me which bullies to avoid.

Anyhow, I imagined I asked one of these Ambassadors to tell his buddies that I wanted to ride in the "bus" (Conners says it's not a van) to the Dead show. The conversation would likely go something like this.

Ambassador to the Cool People: Y'know, Stu asked if he could come with us to the show.
Deadhead 1 (looking at me in background): Huh?
ACP: Yeah, he asked. I said I'd ask you guys.
Deadhead 2: Him?
ACP: Yeah, he's all right
Deadhead 3: You're kidding, right?
ACP: Yeah, okay. I'll handle it

The Ambassador would have come back and told me there was no room on the bus--he'd share the lingo with me--one of them had a friend (or relative) who lived near the arena. I'd nod, say okay, and move on. No hurt feelings.

Years later, Conners did me a favor. He told me what it was like to be on tour and go to a show. What would I like? The caraderie, the "miracles" where someone might give you a beer or an unused ticket without asking for even a 'thank you', the freedom of being on the open road with only the show times to guide you, and quite likely some of the music. Dead musicians were inspired by folk and R&B legends, among others.

What would have scared me? The drugs. But from Conner's descriptions of shows, I could have walked in looking totally lost, but I would have fit in just fine as long as I was "properly dressed." Despite the thick glasses--technology would take care of that later--and braces on my teeth, all I'd need is an un-tucked flannel shirt, a t-shirt and torn, faded jeans

Deadheads will enjoy this book for the memories. I enjoyed it because it made me more curious as I read it. I give it thumbs-up.

Two California Municipalities Step Up to Defend Their Law on Military Recruiting

Last November, two Northern California suburbs, Arcata and Eureka, passed similar versions of a Youth Protection Act. The Act is now the focus of a case that is being argued in a San Francisco federal district court.

The Act provides that "No person who is employed by or an agent of the United States government shall… in the execution of his or her job duties, recruit, initiate contact with for the purpose of recruiting, or promote the future enlistment of any person under the age of eighteen into any branch of the United States Armed Forces."

One month after the Act was overwhelming approved by voters in both communities, the U.S. Department of Justice, acting on a complaint from the U.S. Department of Defense notified both municipalities of their intentions to challege this local initiative. Both munipalities are represented by high-profile legal counsel, as well as their in-house attorneys.

Arcata is represented by Brad Yamauchi of the prestigious San Francisco law firm of Minami and Tamaki. This firm won a U.S. Supreme Court case representing Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-America who had refused to be relocated to an internment camp in 1944, and was subsequently convicted for his actions. The firm successfully argued that the conviction was unconstitutional, paving the way for federal reparations for interned Japanese Americans. Their representation is pro-bono for this case.

Eureka is being represented by Dennis Cunningham, a noted San Francisco National Lawyers Guild attorney, famously won a multi-million dollar civil rights case against the FBI and the Oakland Police on behalf of environmental and labor activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney.

In pre-trial motions filed with the court, Yamauchi and company argue that United States' recruiting policies are in violation of U.S. law,specifically a treaty, or a protocol, ratified by the U.S. Senate in 2002 concerning the involvement of children in armed conflicts.

The international treaty expressly prohibits children under the age of 17 from being recruited, trained or used in any armed forces. But, U.S. military recruiting manuals clearly target minors for recruitment. However, the federal government has argued that the Act goes beyond the purview of local governments and that military recruitment campaigns serve a vital national interest, maintaining the readiness of the country's armed forces to mount a national defense.

Nonetheless, both legal counsels expect to lose the case. However, Yamauchi et al have argued that many such military recruiting violations are reported annually. One story covering the case states that defense counsels for both municipalities plan to Yamauchi believes that an appeal, should defense counsel lose the case, will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court, and then later in the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the Obama Administration has advanced the nomination of a new Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, and Rep. Mike Honda (D. Ca.) has introduced new legislation in Congress to revise the military recruitment provisions under No Child Left Behind, the outcome of this case may open the door to further legislation to revise military recruiting practices as well as Junior ROTC.

I still argue, as I have in prior posts, that there are solutions which can be adopted by Congress:

+ Allow direct mail contact-no phone calls- during a student's senior year in high school
+ Do not allow recruiters to appear in school buildings more than once a semester (as colleges and employers do) and do not allow them to solicit students as they travel to classes.
+ The military should pay one hundred percent of the costs for Junior ROTC, excluding facilities maintainance that is already handled by the school.
+ The military instructors should be allowed to recruit only for JROTC at the start of the school year.

I believe these solutions would help preserve a strong military, as well as a better-educated one-all members of our armed forces should be high school graduates--that is easier to train.

At the same time, recruiters would receive sufficient face time with prospective recruits. In addition, no prospective recruit would be denied the opportunity to visit military recruiters at recruiting stations or to speak with a recruiter within the confines of their own home.

I find Brad Yamauchi's argument compelling. It should be addressed in Congress this fall. That would in the best interests of the students in the Class of 2010.

Bringing Veterans To Capital Hill - As Part of the Political Process

In Farenheit 9-11, there is a scene where producer Micheal Moore confronts members of Congress on Capital Hill and asks them if they have a son or daughter serving in Iraq. At the time Moore produced the movie, I had read that only one representative had a son who had served. Today, I am aware of at least one Iraq veteran who has been elected to Congress, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D.PA), though I'm sure there are others, too. And I know that the sons of Joe Biden and John McCain also serve.

Last week, Representative Rush Holt (D.NJ) introduced legislation calling for the inception of the American Veterans Congressional Internship Program. If passed, this legislation would allow each Member of Congress to make one additional staff allowance for a military veteran to serve as an intern for one full year at a salary of $25,000.

Since Congress has been comprised of fewer mothers and fathers of service members as well as fewer military veterans in recent years, it makes sense to invite them to become part of the political process.

Veterans already have a short route to become exposed to Congressional politics through the Veterans Congressional Fellowship Program, which gives fellowship recipients a ten week housing scholarship as well as a small stipend. This program is funded through a private foundation.

It is not only be sensible to bring veterans into Congress as interns, but to also provide full-time opportunities for those who successfully complete their internships. Please visit Rep. Holt's Web site to express your support as his bill is navigated through Congress.

T. Rowe Price and Stevenson University Hit Pay Dirt

Today's Baltimore Sun has an interesting story of a deal that was profitable for a financial firm and a university. In fact, both sides chuckle that they might have hit "pay dirt."

According to the story, Stevenson is building a $7 million gym for its Owings Mills (MD) campus, just in front of the old Baltimore Colts training facility..

The university needed a heap of dirt to level ground for a parking lot and was prepared to pay about $250,000 for it. But someone at the university heard that T. Rowe Price needed to clear a large amount of dirt after adding two buildings to its corporate campus. T. Rowe Price was prepared to have the mound hauled to a nearby rubble fill.

But the firm and the university reached a "win-win." T. Rowe Price donated the dirt, 25,000 cubic years delivered in 2,500 dump trucks, to the university and saved $300,000 in transportation costs. The university will save almost as much in construction costs while coming closer to reaching its fundraising goal of $20 million. And T. Rowe Price might be able to get a write-off, too.

I couldn't resist posting the results of this unique transaction. "Win-win" scenarios have been very rare in education these days.

Book Review: Decide Better for College by Michael McGrath

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I spent ten years working with colleges and universities as a businessman. As part of the process of educating myself about my customers I read numerous college profile books, career advice books and college admissions and selection guides. I still read them, but as a reviewer rather than a business researcher.

I met Micheal McGrath, who is the creator of a series of DecideBetter! books at BookExpo America. McGrath, a Harvard MBA who has also been an extremely successful management consultant and business executive, initiated the series as a way of "giving back" to others by sharing his knowledge.

While McGrath has never worked for a college or university, he has served as a trustee of a college (school undisclosed) for ten years, the last five as a vice-chairman.

More important, he completed his undergraduate degree in computer science and his MBA in the early seventies, a time when computer and information sciences was also called decision sciences. The thought processes required in writing complex computer programs rely heavily upon operations research techniques used in manufacturing management. In DecideBetter! for College, McGrath puts management science to use to help college-bound students and parents make difficult decisions.

For most college-bound students the decision to select a school is simple: the community college close to home or a state-supported four-year school. But for others, especially those who are considering several similar private liberal arts schools, the decision science techniques in DecideBetter! have value. This book offered perhaps the best analysis tools for weighing admissions and financial aid offers that I have seen to date. It also demystifies the admissions process for parents and students quite nicely.

There are other pleasant surprises. This book offers different perspectives to guide student and parent decisions in other areas, too. For example, the chapter on options to take the year off between high school and college was well thought out, as were chapters on budgeting, selecting a major, choosing between internship options and transfer admissions. The latter is not covered well in other college admissions guides.

DecideBetter! ventures into social situations as well, such as dating and drinking, and that is one place the book falls short because those situations are grounded more in emotion than systems thinking. It would have been better to keep the theme of this book to decisions that require an analytical mindset. Issues of repaying student loans and choosing between work and immediate entry to graduate school come to mind. Perhaps these will be part of a future edition.

DecideBetter! for College is an excellent tool for parents and students to use to work together through the college admissions process, and during the undergraduate experience, too. While the writing appears oriented to the student, this book is more likely to remain on Mom and Dad's shelf at home because of the content. Since this guide could be destined for a long shelf life than most, the author has provided access to support materials and updated information online. This is a true and welcome addition to the tried and true college guides.

Book Review: Making the Most of College, Students Speak Their Minds by Richard J. Light

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As I worked on the two posts about the Clemson University ranking saga, I read a copy of this book. Originally published in 2001, Making the Most of College, is a student of student engagement conducted primarily at Harvard, but also based on the author's findings from speaking with students at 90 other institutions.

This book has been getting more play as of late from its publisher, Harvard University Press, because student engagement has become an increasingly important issue in higher education. Student engagement is another term for programs and interventions that are meant to help students succeed academically. Engagement has become a buzzword of late as President Obama has made improved college graduation rates a national priority.

Light, a professor at Harvard's education and public policy schools, conducted interviews with over 1,600 Harvard students over ten years at the request of two past presidents of the university. Making the Most of College is loaded with amusing anecdotes from these interviews, as well as constructive advice for college students, parents and educators.

Until reading this book, I had never thought of Harvard students as "troubled" with the academic side of their school, but they face the same anxieties and concerns as students at any other college. And, like their peers, they change their minds about their academic and career interests. The anecdotes are the best part of this book.

Light's research brought out some interesting conclusions worth sharing:
1) The most memorable academic learning came from outside the classroom.
2) Students said they learned more in highly structured classes with frequent quizzes or small assignment, so they knew their progress.
3) Professors encourage students to work together on their homework assignments.
4) Non-credit mentored internships were the most valuable academic experiences.
5) Students consider diversity to be a highly positive development on campus.
6) The happiest students focus on substantive academic work, working on their own or in groups.
7) Students care deeply about good writing and how to improve their writing skills.
8) Students have developed effective study techniques on their own, with little help from academic advisers.
9) Students place more importance on foreign language courses and value language instruction highly.

It would be easy to say "well, that's Harvard" and leave Light's conclusions alone. But these thoughts, among others, do help educators develop student engagement programs at their schools. And they require no more resources than most colleges already have. Probably the major difference, Harvard being Harvard, is that students appear to be quite capable of helping each other.

If there is a flaw with Making the Most of College, it is the author's writing. His audience, based on my read, appears to be educators first, then possibly students and parents interested in the Harvard community. The latter audience would be more likely to appreciate an updated work; these anecdotes are more than a decade old, and some are much older. However, Light has written a good guide for defining student engagement for academic advisers and faculty. Educators should hope that he, or another scholar, will expand on his body of work.

Why the Rag on the Tiger Rag?

Today's Inside Higher Ed revealed more of the Clemson University rankings saga, namely that the president of the university ranked his institution as equal or superior to other high-ranking national research universities, including Michigan, Cal-Berkeley and the Ivy League. Clemson's provost was more modest; she rated her school among the top 30.

Why shouldn't Clemson's administration toot their own horn? As I wrote in a prior post, the university has dramatically improved its graduation rate, while maintaining a very high freshman retention rate over the past eight years.

And more remarkably, Clemson is South Carolina's land grant and technical university. Clemson is to South Carolina what Georgia Tech is to Georgia. This is not an easy school. If Clemson has worked harder to graduate more valued engineers and scientists than other so-called "high ranked" schools, then they have every right to burst in song.

Clemson's administration has unintentionally revealed major flaws in the ranking process: the importance of the peer assessment by college presidents. Asking college presidents to rank the best schools, other than their own, is preposterous. For one thing, they will place their own school in higher regard than others. They have done their work there. With respect to other schools where they have not worked, they can only go on what they know from past reputations, or acquaintances with their presidents. How do you rate the present, as well as the future potential, of a school based on the past?

As I read the comments from this story, I have to laugh. There is still an assumption that the higher the ranking the better the undergraduate experience. But one has nothing to do with the other. An expensive well-endowed private university might have impressive facilities, but it may have aging facilities, too. It might also be surrounded by an economically depressed neighborhood.

And a Sunbelt public university with less history might have newer facilities because its expansion has been more recent, and it might be located in a picturesque mountain range. The quality of life at the Sunbelt school might be better for its students, and they may be no worse off academically. Yet the other school is perceived to be "better" because of history.

I wish the president of Clemson well, and I hope he blasts the Tiger Rag from his office window today. He's earned the right to take a few bows.

The Magic of Debbie Dadey, Children's Book Author

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This past weekend I met Debbie Dadey, an author of more than 140 children's books, as she was signing her books for kids, and no doubt for some parents, too, at my local Border's.

A former elementary school teacher and school librarian, Debbie has been writing children's books for seventeen years. Debbie not only writes her own works, she also co-authors stories with child readers. Her Web site is child-friendly (and bat friendly, as animated bats fly past as you read the home page). Visit her site and you're left with the impression that Debbie enjoys what she is doing.

Debbie is the most prolific author that I have met. She also develops crafts and games that children, parents and teachers can use with her books. Horror, magic, fairy tales, among other stories, are part of Debbie's repertoire. Curious about what it takes to write children's books, I asked Debbie a few questions.

1) You have written so many books over two decades. How do you know, at a given time, what children like to read?

I have three children, which is very helpful. I used to teach, but I still visit schools often. I also get great feedback from fan letters and on my website's Kid's Talk section. (www.debbiedadey.com)

2) Have reading preferences changed among boys and/or girls over time, or have you found that some of your books have become classics?


I certainly like to think that some of my books, like Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots and Werewolves Don't Go To Summer Camp, are classics (see covers below). I think kids are still drawn to stories about friendship and adventures,like in my new series Keyholders (This Side of Magic and The Other Side of Magic are the first two titles)..

3) How involved do you become with the illustrations in your books? Do you and your publisher look at the eye appeal of the cover from the standpoint of the parent, the child, or both?

Unfortunately as an author, I'm usually not able to be directly involved with the illustrations. I guess the old adage, the illustrator doesn't tell the writer how to write so the writer shouldn't tell the illustrator how to draw still applies today. I do think illustrations are very important, and I know a lot of thought goes into them.

4) How many book projects do you take on at one time?

I'm usually working on two or three at the same time, but in different stages.

5) You have co-written one book with one of your children and will be co-authoring a book with another? How often do you "consult" with your children and other children as you develop your stories?

I "consult" all the time! I listen to my kids and their likes and dislikes, as well as s kids who write me. It was great fun writing Slime Wars and Slime Time with my son Nathan. My daughter and I have written a book and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it gets published.

Children's books are works of art as well as writing. I encourage you to visit Debbie's Web site, check out some of her titles, and drop her a line. Better yet, check out her books at the store near you.


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Book Review: The GI Bill, A New Deal for Veterans by Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin

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Approximately one year ago, U.S. Senator James Webb (D-Virginia) sponsored the Post 9-11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, which was passed by overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress and later signed into law by former President George W. Bush. Webb's legislation is the most recent iteration of the G.I. Bill, which defines educational benefits for former service members in the Armed Forces.

But, according to Altschuler and Blumin's new book, The G.I Bill, A New Deal for Veterans, Senator Webb's legislation pales in comparison to the original G.I Bill passed and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. The concerns about the economic well-being of returning World War II veterans were far greater than any president had to address until then, and afterwards. Considently, the 1944 legislation was signed in June, just as Senator Webb's bill was signed into law fifty four years later.

The treasure trove of facts in this book about the original G.I. Bill and subsequent modifications (higher mortgage limits being one) is too vast for a single blog post. The economic adjustments brought on by the G.I. Bill were as great, if not greater, than those that resulted from the implementation of the Marshall Plan for Europe.

Ten years after World War II, according to the authors, the Census Bureau found that 15.4 million military veterans had returned to civilian life in the United States. Of that number 12.4 million (78 percent) benefited from the original G.I. Bill. While the passage of the bill did not end discrimination against women and minorities in their access to education and housing, it became a catalyst for future acts that did.

The original G.I Bill, then called the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944 was actually a bi-partisan collaboration of Republicans and conservative Democrats. Roosevelt had lost the majority of the House in the 1942 mid-term elections. The Act not only covered educational benefits, but also an unemployment benefit, and government guaranteed (up to $2,000) small business and farm loans and home mortgages. The issue of the unemployment benefit was historical; previous veteran's benefit legislation from prior wars had dealt with transition payments and pensions. The Bill also appropriated $500 million for the construction of veteran's facilities,including hospitals.

The education benefits of the bill were originally quite unpopular. Only 23 percent of military veterans had completed high school and less than four percent had a college degree. The authors report the suspicions that veterans would take the education benefit and loaf their way through school without earning a degree. Those suspicions proved unfounded; the veterans were among the best students at most colleges.

In 1944, a veteran who had served in the military for at least 90 days was eligible for a tuition payment of up to $500 as well as a living allowance of $65 to $90 per month depending on the service member's marital and family status. These benefits could be applied to the costs of a college degree, or vocational training.

This resulted in a college enrollment boom in larger universities that can best be described in this post as supersonic. For example, at Purdue, enrollment jumped 5,600 to 11,500 students form 1945 to 1946, and Syracuse University's enrollment leaped from 4,300 to 15,200 during the same period. The $500 per student was a windfall for many public universities; it often exceeded out-of-state tuition charges at the time.

Universities grew faster than their ability to house new students and their families, so the military aided in the provision of new housing by dismantling structures on bases, then reassembling them on college campuses. Within New York alone, three colleges were established upstate. These were later closed as enrollments declined, and New York became the last state to establish a state university system.

Also interesting is the transition of the G.I. Bill from an all-encompassing piece of legislation into separate acts, especially for housing finance and access as well as education. Until Senator Webb's bill was signed into law last year, G.I Bill educational benefits were a match where the military matched $2 for every dollar the service member paid. The benefit was promoted more as a military recruitment tool than a veteran's benefit. However, past policy meant that the amount of the college benefit was tied to a soldier's savings and, that the benefit became less significant as college tuition increased faster than inflation.

Senator Webb's bill provides a tuition benefit that is equal to the highest tuition charged to in-state students in the veteran's home state. So, for example, in New Jersey, the tuition benefit should be equal to the tuition at Rutgers-New Brunswick (approximately $9,300).

The original G.I Bill was a remarkable act. It eased the demobilization of over seven million veterans and helped to return them into more lucrative civilian employment opportunities than many had thought possible. It is also remarkable that the colleges, especially the larger universities, sustained their enrollment growth even after the last of the Greatest Generation had used their benefits (former service members were given ten years to accept the benefit and complete their education).

Anyone who has doubts about what government "can do" should read this book. It provides a detailed example of the successes that were achieved when government "did."

A Top Southern State University Moves Up the U.S. News Rankings and Causes a National Uproar

Over the past two days, I have read stories about Clemson University and its recent jump from 38th to 22nd among large national public and private research universities in the 2009 U.S. News College Guide.

The uproar has been caused by a report by a former university administrator over how the school might have gamed the rankings. The report supposedly acknowledged that the university had systematically lowered class sizes below the U.S. News threshold of 20 while increasing class sizes where the additional students wouldn't hurt its standing in the rankings; and that they had regularly given low scores on the rankings' "reputational" survey to other colleges and universities in order to make Clemson look better.

But while the university and educators have criticized Clemson for so called "scam tactics" the institution reported that the number and proportion of its undergraduate classes with 10 to 19 students rose to 790 and 32.8 percent, respectively, in 2008, from 356 and 18.8 percent in 2004, while the comparable figures for classes of 20-29 have fallen to 360 (15 percent) in 2008 from 591 (31.2 percent) in 2004.

Clemson's six-year graduation rate has also risen: from 72 to 78 percent. However, Clemson has maintained excellent freshman retention rates since 2001; they have risen from 87 to 92 percent, an excellent performance for a large state university that is primarily a technical school.

However, better performance has come at the cost of large tuition increases to compensate for state legislated budget cuts. With approximately 13,000 undergraduate students, Clemson, according to the U.S. News guide, charges in-state students $9,600 for tuition. By comparison, the University of South Carolina charges $8,300.

In reading the comments on stories in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed I see blame placed on the rankings, as if Clemson was using them to guide a business strategy. I can't see how a university could do this: the ranking formula is periodically changed.

But, really, all the rankings are meant to do is collect numbers based on one formula developed by one magazine. But here's the kicker: they don't mean a darn thing to a future freshman class. What matters is value and student satisfaction with the undergraduate experience. Did the people ahead of me get what they wanted academically and socially, and did they leave smarter and without a huge mound of debt?

The Princeton Review reported that Clemson has the happiest students of any of the 368 colleges and universities they study. Clemson is also famous for an acronym, IPTAY, which means: I Pay Ten a Year. IPTAY has driven athletic department fundraising since 1934. Clemson has won only one national championship since then, but the alumni keep giving.

It is just as impractical for state-supported schools to try win an academic "arms race" by pursuing highly noted researchers as it is to pay a football coach seven figures with the promise of a national championship. But Clemson has tried to advance in both arms races with more successes than failures. I'm more inclined to give Clemson a tiger's smile instead of a fierce-sounding growl. So should you.

Will Today's Entry Level Hires Stay Five Years With Their First Employers?

Prior to blogging and writing I spent ten years working with college career services directors and became quite interested in entry level hiring trends. Today, there are many stories about college graduates--the Millenials--and their attitudes towards corporate culture.

I've read those stories, as well as accounts of past generations, all the way back to the 1950's. If you picked up a copy of William H. Whyte's The Organization Man, Sloane Wilson's novel The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, or if you had the chance to see Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road, you would might get the same perception as older generations feel about the Millenials: they don't respect authority, they want to know why things "must be," and they want more immediate recognition from their superiors.

One of my friends, Dr. Richard White, is the director of career development at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Since 1990, Dick has directed an office that serves 24,000 students at multiple campus locations. Before coming to Rutgers, Dick managed college recruiting programs at Nabisco, International Paper and Brown Bros. Harriman. Recently, when asked about college recruiting for this year, Dick compared hiring to the last major recession in 1982, the year I graduated Rutgers.

Dick mentioned that, while at International Paper, college recruiting was cut during this lean year. Five years later, when executives asked where the "five-year men," the persons who had entered the company from entry level positions after college, the persons who were ready for more visible responsibilities, Dick explained that they were nowhere to be found. Then, he explained that entry-level hiring is still important in bad times, because you want employees who are ready to assume more responsibility and leadership during good times.

I asked Dick five more questions about "five year men (and women, too)" because I was curious. Dick's opinions on the job market are always sought by the media this time of year, just after colleges have concluded commencement. My questions, and his answers, are below.

1) Have recruiting employers changed their expectations about retaining their entry level hires over the past few years? Do they expect their hires to move on earlier than in the past?

--Recruiters are still hoping to hire for the long term--retaining people not only cuts down on expensive recruiting and training costs, but also builds cumulative experience, productivity, and loyalty--but they understand the realities of the "millennials" and the fact that many of them will not stay for more than a few years. This current recession is forcing some workers to stay at their jobs, where they might have left a few years ago.

2) Have they changed benefits to new hires as well?

--Young workers are asking for more flex time, work/life balance, and even time off for community services. While some employers are providing some accommodations to meet these wishes, I have not seen a major shift in benefits.

3) Have these employers made changes in rotational and/or management development programs for entry-level hires?

--Rotational and management development programs are still popular and effective in providing entry-level employees with a broad exposure to an organization. Such programs also satisfy the young workers' desire for variety and change.

4) Do Rutgers students who consider employment with recruiting firms typically expect to remain with their first employer for five years? If no, do they have more fears than in the past (for example, being outsourced)

--I believe that most entry-level workers leave before five years to take another job or pursue graduate school. The current recession has certainly prompted much more fear and anxiety, but back-up plans include living at home or attending graduate school.

5) Has undergraduate recruitment started to supplant graduate student recruitment? I recently heard a presentation at Wharton where a dean said that McKinsey now hired more undergrads over MBAs and was curious if this might become a trend.

--MBAs from the top 10 schools are probably still marketable. Recent bachelor's grads do bring impressive resumes to the table, many with multiple internships with top employers. They are eager, hard working, and less expensive, although they are also at a stage in their career where they are thinking short term, rather than long term.

Dick also added, in a column that appeared in the Trenton Times, that rising juniors and seniors who have found internships are well positioned for full-time employment as the economy improves over the next two years.

All of this goes to show that the rules for finding rewarding employment have not changed whether you are a Baby Boomer or a Millenial: learn what you love to do, get experience doing it and make the right impressions whether you want to be an executive or entrepreneur.

Q and A on Sex Ed with Dr.Jenn, The #1 Teen Girl Expert in America

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Last weekend I attended Book Expo America, the national gathering of authors, agents, book publishers, publicists and readers. I must have visited close to a hundred booths and came home with three packed bags of books to review for you through the fall.

One of the more interesting persons I met was Dr. Jenn, aka Jennifer Austin Leigh, a San Francisco area psychologist who has built a brand around advice about sex and relationships to teenage girls and their mothers. Dressed in slumber wear and a fake tiara, she took me aback. But this was part of her branding, an effort to connect with her fans. As women came over to her display to speak with her, I became concerned that I was overstaying my welcome, so I moved on to another booth.

Then I went home and visited her Web site. While Dr. Jenn writes books with titles such as Laid or Loved? The Secrets Guys Wish You Knew About Being a DREAM GIRL Instead of a JUST-IN-HIS-JEANS GIRL, her content gets the point across.

I could not equate Dr. Jenn with a pop psychologist such as a Dr. Phil or Tony Robbins. She talked straight with teens and parents online and she covers a broad set of topics online. One of the most interesting was a comparison between Facebook and MySpace. She wrote the post to help young women decide where to maintain a profile, and went on the side of Facebook.

While Dr. Jenn does not discuss the act of sex on her site or in her book, she is a sex educator because she covers the more important human side of relationships. She explains that young men get hurt in relationships, but also that women need to be themselves without going sexually overboard.

Her site had very little information about sex education, so I dropped her a line and asked six questions.

1) Do you believe in a comprehensive approach to sex education, content weighted towards abstinence, or something else, and why?

Sex ed needs to be taught as honestly as possible. It needs to include all realms about sex, such as emotions, physical sensation, religious views, morality, reproduction, media messages, orientation, etc. To simply teach the basics that one plus one could equal three, doesn't help our children enough. To reduce the curriculum to abstinence vs. safe sex also sells our children short. Both are viable options, however, there is far more to sex than either refraining or using proper birth control. We need to teach our children about "respectful sex."

2) Is there anything that you believe is conspicuously missing from sex education classes in the schools, regardless of the approach they take?

We don't talk enough about the emotional aspect of sex. We don't teach how sex can bond kids together due to the neurochemicals released and then what it feels like to break up. Nor do we teach enough about using one another for our own sexual gratification, and how that is damaging to others, and ultimately, ourselves. We defiantly fail when it comes to talking about male virginity. It's still a taboo topic that stays hidden under a stereotype the media perpetuates. We also don't talk about the sacredness of sex. It is an amazing act that can result in new life!

3) If you believe that something is conspicuously missing from sex education classes, how would you train teachers to teach it?

The topic of sex ed creates a limbic reactions in our brains. That is, we get scared, defensive, angry etc, and we don't have enough access to our pre-frontal cortex, the logical decision making area of our brains. Teachers would benefit from learning about how they feel about sex themselves and what triggers them. Holding safe groups where teachers could work through their own issues so they can in turn teach the subject without becoming limbically activated would help. Emotional safety for both teachers and students is a priority.

4) In general, what do teenage girls and their mothers believe about the quality of the sex education that is delivered in schools?

I've only heard this topic mentioned a few times, so I am not an authority here. But the teen girls feel that sex ed is "stupid" and boring. They try to get more info (correct or incorrect) from a Google search.

5) Do you believe that sex education classes should be co-ed or single sex classes?

Single sex classes would allow more emotional safety. What guy wants to talk about his wet dreams in front of a girl? Best case scenario would be to hold separate classes and then a few combined at the end so boys and girls can then talk to each other about their concerns with the opposite sex. Allowing kids to ask questions or share their feelings in sex ed class is important! Learn to use "circle talk" techniques.

6) What are some constructive ways (other than opt-out) that parents can become involved with their student's sex education classes?

Parents can roll up their sleeves and read the text books, offer to come in and talk to the children. Sex ed would be a great venue for parents to share their fears, concerns etc. And a great place to hear what the children have to say about sex today. What an amazing thing it would be if the sex ed classroom became a safe place where listening could take place! Parents can talk to the sex ed teacher and simply ask, "how can I be helpful?" But parents have to want to help in the first place, instead of hoping the school system will do all the work. Sex ed is about teaching kids how to act in the community, not just in the bedroom. Their actions affect so many.

In my e-mail, I shared my own opinions about sex education, one of them being that I believed abstinence should be respected as a choice. She came back with an interesting response:

I agree, abstinence is an option, but it's not used very much these days. But yes it should be noted that it's quite ok to refrain. However, what does that mean? Refrain from oral sex? Anal Sex? Masturbation? Most teens think abstinence means refraining from vaginal intercourse. However, the risks with other types of sex are still there. So, abstinence needs to be more defined if one is going to use the term.

Dr. Jenn gave me permission to edit her answers, but I decided not to, except for two corrections for spelling. For more advice and information about her books, pay her a visit.