Fitting Quote

I thought this Martin Luther King Jr. was fitting for this week's events...as we deal with situations and people who bring hate towards us, I think it is important that we bring the light and love of a bigger cause to the situation.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html#ixzz1LJI3EpgI

Love this quote !!!!!

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

— Aristotle

This quote is very important for the work that I do. Being a student  in higher education (to me) is more than attending class (especially being that  a lot of issues discussed I am already aware of) but learning how to be the change you want to see. If administrators, professors, and other higher education officials understood the essence of this quote students would be into the tangible and intangible practices of humanity. The heart is what inspires people to be forward-thinking, imaginative, thoughtful, innovative, and conscious. Education is about improving the state of society and without intriguing the hearts and minds of people the status quo will always stay the same. People always say follow your heart, but the heart needs to be fueled by love, education and motivation in order for that journey to stay true and progressive. As scholars and master teachers let's promote basic principles of humanity, that encourages us to really put our learned theories into practice. In this, we do not go into our work with selfish and unthoughtful motives but staying critical and reflective in what we do. Take advantage of spreading ideas, giving hugs, articulating profound knowledge and celebrating who we are. There are millions of people (including us) who are in need of the knowledge and practices that fuels the heart and soothes the soul.

I recognize there are a number of new posts available to comment on this week, however I wanted to add one more. I will make it brief.

Disability can be a ‘hidden identity’, as we discussed a couple weeks ago. The concept of ‘hidden’ as an excuse for ‘neglected’ should be further discussed. Especially hidden are cognitive/learning disabilities.

NPR did a story recently on what is being done for students with Autism in college. Although the focus of the story is on ‘progress and success of students’, anyone with a cognitive/learning disability recognizes the stigma/obstacles AND invisibility of their condition.

Personally, I immediately recognize that i do not perceive/understand students with learning disabilities in the same way I view students of other diverse social identities: race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith… or even physical disabilities... Why is that…? Also, do administrators think the same way as I do (you bet)? If so, how does that affect the services and accommodations provided and college experience of students with learning disabilities?

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/13/135345982/colleges-address-autistic-students-struggles

Do you think gay history should be added to the curriculum?

http://atlantapost.com/2011/04/21/should-gay-history-be-added-to-public-school-curriculums/
Here is an article that discusses California might be the first state to add Gay history to the textbooks. What do you think about this? Should gay history be added to the textbooks?
These battles over what and whom should be included in public school curricula are far from over; e.g., Texas State Board of Education approves revising textbooks to eliminate the civil rights movement, and Mississippi becomes the first state to implement a civil rights curriculum for grades K through 12. But it appears that public school curricula may undergo an entirely new makeover with the recent news that the state of California is close to becoming the first state to require the teaching of gay history.

According to the Associated Press, the California Senate approved the landmark measure a week ago, but it still needs to get a seal of approval from the Democratic-controlled Assembly and Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. If the legislation is a success, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that schools must include in social studies lessons. As early as the 2013-2014 school year, the California Board of Education and local school districts would be required to adopt textbooks and other teaching materials that would cover the contributions of LGBTs throughout history.

Those who are opposed to the curriculum change, including some churches and conservative groups, believe that homosexuality is being forced upon students. Some also add that how a child learns about homosexuality should be determined in the home by the parents.

When is diversity too much ?

The article provided is a great example of what may happen when a student's beliefs and actions inteferes with their institutions' mission and beliefs. Several openly gay and lesbian students have been ejected from their schools becuase of their sexual orientation. I understand that institutions have to stand by their beliefs and missions, but when is their a desire to change, adapt or reconsider those beliefs and mission statements acccording to our ever changing student population. Rather than ignoring the situation, the schools mentioned should at least be willing to accomodate students' needs by incorportating Gay Alliances or other inclusive clubs. What was most shocking to me was reading that an institution blocked access to a particular web page due to the content, I thought that was a bit extreme.

What are your thoughts on the attached article ?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/19gays.html?_r=1&ref=education

Comprehensive transcripts?

This article: http://chronicle.com/article/To-Give-Clearer-Picture-of/127204/

talks about, in a snippet (from a newsletter I got):

"reported on UNC Chapel Hill's adoption of "contextualized transcripts," which will provide additional data about the courses students take beginning next year. Transcripts "will include information about the median grade in each course a student takes, along with students' rankings by percentile against their peers in every class." The transcripts will also contain a "Schedule Point Average" that shows students' GPAs in the context of other similar students, along with other data. "Graduate and professional schools at Chapel Hill gave their input about what statistics would be useful on transcripts." Andrew J. Perrin, an associate sociology professor and chair of the committee behind the new transcript system, "said he's not sure how -or if-employers will use the data, but he expects that the new system will show them that the university is 'serious about maintaining and increasing educational quality.'"

If you go to the webpage, you should be able to see an example of a transcript with some clear explanations of what will be added to it. I think this will fit nicely for classes that grade on Bell curves, but what about those classes that don't? For those classes that grade on Bell curve, as the article indicates, the new transcript systems might serve as a motivation to excel in the class.

What are your thoughts?

How do you respond to 'racist' emails?

Recently we sent out a Federal Alert to all alumni asking them to write their legislators in support of Pell Grant funding as well as Federal Research funds. Anything that we send out we receive a lot of response from the alumni...ranging from people that may not quite be with it anymore (some of the messages are very 'interesting') and we always receive many supporting the chief, no matter what the issue may be (for this email we received many back that said they will no longer support the U of I because the chief is no longer here, and we as an alumni association did not take a stance). Well, as I was going through emails from the above alert, I read one that was extremely upsetting...how would you respond? Should there be a response? Remember, working as part of the University I am acting on behalf of them whatever I do...but it is hard to ignore the personal defense I take in emails such as these; the ignorance, racist comments, and so forth. The person remains confidential...but I can tell you that they graduated in '62...does it change the reaction/response? This is their response to our email: "Research grants... Yes. Sorry I am very tired of my tax $$ going to support minority students in any way shape of form. I would like ot know how many "illegal" immigrant children I am as Illinois resident I am funding. Sorry...I worked my was thru the University of Illinois as a veteran. I have given enough of my tax dollars...no more if I can help it which I am sure with this Obama Debacle I can not...what Muslim Grants next!?"** **Please note, I left in all of the typos as they were in the email (cut and pasted). The email was supporting the Research Grants...but obviously against Pell Grants...and note that this person made it a "minority" issue, and not a socioeconomical issue.

Texas passes legislature for traditional values centers

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/04/03/texas-consider-traditional-values-centers-state-universities

Texas recently passed legislature that would require "a university that has a "gender and sexuality center" to equally fund a center that teaches 'traditional values'."

Renn's article for today's class has this quote:
The professor "asks whether the parents and taxpayers of the state of __ shouldn't have some say in whether or not they pay for and therefore enable students to engage in activities they find morally questionable.

Although Renn's article referrs to the curriculum, given how LGBT resouce centers can impact campus climate, I would like to hear what the rest of our class have to say. I find it very offensive how this legislature basically says "traditional" values are defined by one's sexuality and how it continues to privilege heteronormativity.

Budget Deal That Averted a Federal Shutdown Largely Spares Education, Obama Says

Here is an article from the Chronicle that talks about the new budget plan and Education...and it talks about Pell Grants and their funding for this coming year (yes!). I helped push for th U of I (at my job) to send out a nationwide alert on Pell Grants, which we did last week, and we included Research funding. It went out to all alumni around the country and we had over 3,100 emails sent through our system to US Legislators asking them to support Pell Grant funding and Research for universities. Too bad it took them so long to decide if they wanted to push these issues, I think we could have had more people respond (some legislators were flooded with emails, especially in IL). But there is funding. If anyone has looked at President Obama's website (The White House) and his education plan, there is definitely a lot of work to be done to reach his goal. Hopefully Education will remain high on the priority list. Pell Grants - Education Spared

Community Colleges Offer Online Courses to Address Specific Needs of Remedial Students

Given the increasing attention surrounding remedial education for under-represented students, this article seeks to explore the attractive possibilities of remedial education through online self-paced learning modules. The Monterey Institute for Technology (TMIT) has embraced the online remedial education approach by offering free remedial courses (online) for under-performing students. Arguably, TMIT is helping to eradicate the inequities in education specific to access -as many students often who are concentrated in preparatory course level offerings are less-likely to attend college. TMIT's intentionality in self-paced online learning may yield interesting results and implications for community colleges and policymakers.

LINK: http://diverseeducation.com/article/15015/

Choosing a college

The NY Times article, The College Decision From the Professors' Perspective was rather insightful to read. Its interesting to hear such information from a professor point of view. For the most part, I agree with what they were saying. Universities are becoming more business, if they are not already. This article made me realize, as consumers and perspective college students we take choosing a college lightly, but in reality its a huge decision and commitment. I think if we did choose a college with a business state a mind, how different would are choices be ? The part of the article that focused on "academics" was fascinating, because how much time do we have to visit a school more than twice, visit classes, and even analyze those classes. That can be rather difficult especially if one has never experienced college courses or don't have anything to compare the experience to. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/jacobs-hyman/

Undocumented student's rights - read and comment on me!

http://will.illinois.edu/news/spotstory/undoucmented-ui-student-released-from-jail-after-georgia-protest/

My best friend, a fellow graduate student, was born and raised by a family full of ‘undocumented’ members. However, she (my friend) was born in the US. She is passionate about the rights of undocumented immigrants in the US. I am liberal, across the board, but I had a hard time backing the argument that these protesters were making. My friend and I had a serious talk about this topic, just the other day.

I would love to hear what members of our 574 class have to say about this issue. Should undocumented people be able to attend US universities? Specifically, should undocumented people have access to US resources (i.e., financial aid)?

Technology to Reinvent the University?

This article, by Jack Stripling focuses on how college administrators are turning to technology to cut excessive spending on their campuses. Mark Yudof (president of the University of California) and Carol Twigg (president and chief executive of the National Center for Academic Transformation) discuss how online courses can cut costs by as much as 37 percent. http://chronicle.come/article/Governing-Boards-Turn-to/127023/ While online classes are seen as a solution to the financial hardship of many institutions, they could ultimately become a double-edge sword. The increase of online classes could eventually result in the decrease of quality education. It could also result in hundreds, if not thousands, of professors losing their jobs.

Identities

Speaking, as we have been lately, of identities -- the skill of adapting our identies to various cultures, the use of cultural capitol, etc. -- I found this article inspiring. It was highlighted in a weekly news email sent out by the Illinois Board of Higher Education because it features an Illinois student. The Chronicle of Higher Education is running a "Say Something" series that features students from around the nation. This student, Ari Shroyer, is a leader at Roosevelt University. Ari is bicultural in many ways. He is biracial - African American and Jewish. Ari is gay and highly religious. His upbringing was Christian on his paternal side and Jewish on his maternal side. Ari speaks about the intersection his identities and about his choice of Roosevelt for their history as well as their leadership today. http://chronicle.com/blogs/saysomething/2011/03/25/77/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Do you think college should charge so much money for an education? Is Berkeley worth paying 50,000 dollars a year for out of state?

http://chronicle.com/article/A-Public-University-Joins-the/125207/

Are universities really worth what they are charging for students to attend?

A Public University Joins the Expanding 50K Club of College Prices
By Jeffrey Brainard

The ranks of the most expensive colleges have grown again: 100 institutions are charging $50,000 or more for tuition, fees, room, and board in 2010-11, according to a Chronicle analysis of data released last week by the College Board. That's well above the 58 universities and colleges that charged that much in 2009-10, and a major jump from the year before, when only five colleges were priced over $50,000.

This year marks a milestone as the first public institution has joined that elite club: the University of California at Berkeley is charging out-of-state residents $50,649 for tuition, fees, room, and board. (The price for in-state residents is only $27,770.)

All of the other 99 colleges charging $50,000 or more are private. They made up 9 percent of the 1,058 private institutions reporting any amount for tuition, fees, room, and board.

Can health really cause low achievement? Does poverty and poor health impact learning?

http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/a_look_at_the_health-related_causes_of_low_student_achievement

Does poverty and poor health impact learning?

A distinguished and diverse coalition of education, health, and social service experts, in a their campaign for a Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, have issued a statement calling for the establishment of school-based clinics in schools serving disadvantaged children as one of the most important strategies for raising the achievement of disadvantaged children. The California School Health Centers Association (CSHC) is a statewide organization that advocates for, disseminates information about, and provides training and other resources for operators of, and those interested in starting, school-based health centers.

Overall, lower-class children are in poorer health.

Those with vision problems have difficulty reading. In the United States, 50 percent of poor children have vision impairment that interferes with academic work, twice the normal rate. Lower-class children may be more likely to have vision problems because of less adequate prenatal development than middle-class children whose pregnant mothers had better medical care and nutrition. Visual deficits also arise from disadvantaged children being placed in inexpensive low-quality child care settings where they watch too much television, activity that does not develop hand-eye coordination and depth perception – 42 percent of black fourth graders watch six hours or more of television a day, compared to 13 percent of whites. Middle-class children more likely have manipulative toys that develop such coordination. A longitudinal study of entering kindergarteners reveals that fine motor skill development at age 5 is a stronger predictor of later mathematics and reading performance than is kindergartners’ pre-literacy knowledge (of the alphabet, of counting numbers, of phonemes).

College admissions comittee process: criteria/chaos

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134916924/Amherst-Admissions-Process

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1112758-npr-college-admissions-story.html

The first link leads to a NPR story about the college admission committee process at Amherst, MA – uncovering the criteria as well as chaos of the process, and the emotions and struggles all parties go through.

The second link has a bullet-point summary of the NPR story. This second link is a blog about the NPR story, where people raise interesting issues regarding what was most salient to them in the story.

I post these links because they are directly connected to a couple topics we have discussed in recent weeks, particular Dr. Baber’s handout in class about Michigan’s old admission criteria.

Also, I want to thank others in the class who have been posting on the blog. Although I don’t comment on most of them, I spend a few minutes reviewing the articles/topics. Very enriching, its like we are our own little reporting group on issues on diversity in HE.

Virginia Tech fined $55,000

It's unfortunate that horrible events serve as wake up calls. In this case, the Virginia Tech shooting was a definite wake up call for a lot of Universities and in some institutions it led to providing better alerts to students. The article (link below) reports on a $55,000 fine to Virginia Tech from the Department of Education for failing to provide a quick warning to the campus during the tragedy. Virginia Tech is planning to appeal and one of their arguments is that "timely" was no well defined and that their alerts during the day of the tragedy were "well within the standards at the time." I would like to challenge that last point. Perhaps I am spoiled by our University's amazing internet connectivity on campus (as reported in news reports and such), but given the technology at the time I don't think they were within any standards.

In connection to our discussion yesterday about University's mission and unity...I think technology is ONE of the better ways to promote this and maintain some cohesiveness.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-30-vatech30_ST_N.htm

Prisons Look to Share Food Costs With Ohio State

Given the recent budget cuts and fiscal constraints -states such as Ohio are exploring opportunities to maximize their state-wide dollars. One recent idea seeks to subsidize food costs by purchasing food (along with Ohio's correctional facilities) in bulk and jointly. Although the article presents a early overview, I wonder what the implications will be for OSU as it relates to the state correctional facilities? Also, will students oppose food cost sharing because of the partnership that would be established with the Ohio correctional facilities? These questions are all critical as Ohio continues to dialogue about cost efficiency. Please see link below for full story.

Link: http://diverseeducation.com/article/14944/

Have you seen the "1 Illinois" campaign?

Do you know about our "Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success," -- One Illinois? If not, you may find it interesting. The web site is www.1illinois.org. The agenda addresses the fact that "Illinois has become divided into two states: one educated and prosperous, the other struggling to achieve educational success and financial security." They want to lay a "pathway to one Illinois, where all residents have affordable access to high-quality educational opportunities that prepare them for the jobs of the present and the future." This would be achieved through 4 goals that are, "designed to eliminate barriers and foster opportunities for all Illinoisans to achieve their educational aspirations and to build an economically vibrant and competitive state of Illinois. Goal 1: Increase educational attainment; Goal 2: Improve college affordability; Goal 3: Strengthen workforce development; Goal 4: Link research and innovation to economic growth." There are some short videos on the site. Here are two of them: http://www.youtube.com/embed/PUuiaWDclYs?rel=0 http://www.youtube.com/embed/KV-6p2qdvcM?rel=0 They say, "It's now or never for Illinois." What do you think?

U of I Day at the Capitol - April 6

I am not sure if anyone is interested in attending the U of I Day at the Capitol on April 6th, but I thought I would pass along the information (this is an event I plan through my office at the Alumni Association). April 6 (Wednesday) www.ic.uillinois.edu/lobbyday Free to attend Free transportation (Springfield) Lunch provided during briefing, 4pm-5pm reception after legislative visits Bus leaves from Altgeld Hall around 9:30am, returns around 6:30/7:00pm Around 200 students/staff/alumni from 3 campuses attend You will be matched with your area legislators and go with other constituents to speak with them about U of I issues President Hogan will be at the event, as well as key alumni and staff As we talk about Public vs. Private, tuition costs, access, MAP Grants, Pell Grants (which I found out that we do officially support, but the office of Gov't Affairs was waiting to figure out how to approach lobbying for these grants since we didn't have a Federal Lobbyist until recently)...going to Lobby Day may help you understand the financial side somewhat, as well as how "wonderful" politics work first-hand. This year the University's messages are: -The state is only funding us at 1970's levels but we are serving 28,000+ more students -For the first time UI students and families are contributing more money to the University than the state is - and it's unsustainable -The University is streamlining business operations and will save $10 million by July 1, 2011, and an additional $60 million in the next three years -The state needs to live up to promises and pay for MAP Grants and pay invoices from the University in a timely manner, and keep support high

How to Fix our Schools?

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib286

Here is an article on how to fix schools. Do you agree with this article? I believe we need to have teachers that truely care. What do you think is the main problem on why schools are not succeeding? Here is just some of what was said in the article.

Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City public school system, and Michelle Rhee, who resigned October 13 as Washington, D.C. chancellor, published a “manifesto” in the Washington Post claiming that the difficulty of removing incompetent teachers “has left our school districts impotent and, worse, has robbed millions of children of a real future.” The solution, they say, is to end the “glacial process for removing an incompetent teacher” and give superintendents like themselves the authority to pay higher salaries to teachers whose students do well academically. Otherwise, children will remain “stuck in failing schools” across the country.{i}

Klein, Rhee, and the 14 other school superintendents who co-signed their statement base this call on a claim that, “as President Obama has emphasized, the single most important factor determining whether students succeed in school is not the color of their skin or their ZIP code or even their parents’ income — it is the quality of their teacher.”

Grant Hill's Misfire

In light of our current discussion regarding race, I stumbled upon this interesting article that takes an opposing view to Grant Hill's recent response to Jalen Rose and the Fab-5 documentary. Although I can see both sides of the isle concerning the larger perceptions of Duke, and the hostile environment of Detroit, I think it's important that members of the Black community proceed with caution when responding to racial slurs and perceptions in national media outlets -as to not make erroneous statements that do more "harm" than "good" for African American's. Check out the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-weiler/grant-hill-fires-an-airba_b_837040.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Call for HBCU student narratives

http://diverseeducation.com/blogpost/311/an-open-letter-to-hbcu-students-and-alumni.html

Dr. Marybeth Gasman suggest that students on HBCU campuses should share their college experiences in order to debunk myths about Historically Black Colleges. Gasman claims that critics have failed to recognize the pride and achievement of many students on these campuses. These stories could potentially aid positive notions about HCBU.

I agree with Dr. Gasman in that HBCUs seem to get a lot of criticisms and ignore the positive outcomes of the Black student experience. These stories should also be used as tool when recruiting high school students. I believe that having conversation about HBCU's legacies and current influences could encourage more students of color to take pride in these particular campuses.

YouTube video, UCLA in recent news

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366132/UCLA-student-Alexandra-Wallace-posts-repugnant-racist-rant-Asians-YouTube.html

This person shares a respectable response and call for action: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/notes/layhannara-tep/in-response-to-asians-in-the-library/10150425624460084

My question is: what kind of action should UCLA follow? Here is a snippet of what "Layhannara Tep" on Facebook suggests:

Hence, as a community, we demand the following:

1) We call for a public apology from Alexandra Wallace. Her words and actions are not in line with the UCLA Student Code of Conduct, which states:

“The University strives to create an environment that fosters the values of mutual respect and tolerance and is free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, and other personal characteristics."[2]

2) We call for UCLA to take the appropriate disciplinary measures befitting of Wallace’s violation against the UCLA Student Code of Conduct and UCLA’s Principle of Community, which states:

“We do not tolerate acts of discrimination, harassment, profiling or other harm to individuals on the basis of expression of race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religious beliefs, political preference, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, or national origin among other personal characteristics. Such acts are in violation of UCLA’s Principles of Community and subject to sanctions according to campus policies governing the conduct of students, staff and faculty.” [3]

3) We call for UCLA to issue a statement addressing this incident. UCLA must demonstrate its commitment to a culture of diversity, respect, tolerance, and acceptance for all communities by standing against such acts.

4) We call for the UCLA Academic Senate to pass a requirement in the general education curriculum grounded in the UCLA Principles of Community.

Keep it 'in house', for everyones sake

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110212_us_colleges_and_chinese_students_courting_each_other.html

Tangentially related to Melissa’s post, this article also pertains to admission criteria issues. However, I also raise issues of institutional responsibility to its students well-being. Lets figure out how to provide a college education to 1) ALL US kids and 2) that is equally supportive ACROSS demographics before we accept to many international students...

US colleges are courting Chinese students and the booming Chinese economy is allowing for an increase in Chinese students applying to US colleges.

Issues of admissions criteria (i.e., US admissions rubric not applying to Chinese students, having Chinese teachers write their student’s admission essays in English, etc.) as well as ‘fit’ between student and institution are discussed.

Do US colleges just want the international tuition revenue and/or statistics to demonstrate they have a diverse student body? But, at what cost? Students from China have limited knowledge about the college lifestyle - regarding the focus of this article - in central Iowa…

What measures do institutions eager to accept Chinese students take to ensure a smooth and productive undergraduate career? Is the university responsible to provide student programming that can support the influx of international students they are attracting? Certainly, if large universities struggle to provide for their students, smaller, elite schools will be even more burdened to develop safe places, services and a sense of community for their international students.

Student Records...released?

We have been talking in class about admissions...including the criteria of acceptance; weight of other factors outside GPA and Standardized Tests.

The Chicago Tribune has been very interested in the University of Illinois since the admissions trouble a year ago which they brought forward, and they are currently fighting in court to have student records released, but there are privacy issues (especially with Financial Aid). Recently, a judge ruled that Ferpa doesn't prohibit U of I from releasing student records (you can read more about Ferpa in the article), and the Chicago Tribune has an article stating their victory in the privacy ruling.

This is a topic that has a lot of gray area I believe. While in some cases it is important for the University to have accountability, especially since they are a state institution (lack of funding by the state is another issue), and having other 'agencies' watch over admissions and other issues helps since they may be able to spot problematic trends...I feel like sometimes they can forget about the students and their privacy. If there is an issue with affirmative action, is it fair to call out the student and publish their GPA/Test Scores? Now is it different if it is a student that came to the University because of the Clout issue? How do you protect the student? In most cases, is the student innocent and this issue should be handled in private? But, how do we monitor this issue? I think it is a very hard topic to discuss since each case is different.

Recently, there has been another clout issue at the U of I (I mentioned it in class). This had to do with a student attempting to transfer into a dual-degree program. There are many problems with this situation as I see, not just the University at fault...
First, I am not sure why the parents of this student would turn to their legislator for this issue, unless they felt that there was some sort of issue with how the University made a decision (and obviously we do not have all the information). Maybe the admissions scandal was on their mind and thought this may have played a part in the denial.
Second, the Senator should have instructed the parents to speak with the admissions department. Legislators are NOT suppose to weigh in on admissions at the University.
Third, the GR office should not have been involved...BUT, in many cases your office support staff that may just be following up, not knowing the repercussions or legal restrictions. They see that a Senator is requesting information, and they follow up.

I believe everyone needs to have accountability when it comes to these issues. Those making admissions decisions should really consider the ripple effect they are causing, and cases should be taken seriously. Legislators and those in 'power' should stay out of admissions issues unless there is a clear problem and they need to intervene.

College Basketball Player Suspended for Having Sex

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362563/Basketball-player-Brandon-Davies-suspended-sex-girlfriend-BYU-team.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Although this institution has a honor code intended to maintain the college "values," what does this say about sex? Is engaging in pre-marital sex immoral? What one may think is morally correct can differ from person to person and institution to institution. However, suspension is not a method in upholding their concerns about sex. Having a conversation with Brandon about the implication of pre-marital sex could have served as a better tool in demonstrating the "importance" of adhering to the honor code.

I believe the role of the honor of the code is a way to governs one's body and personal decision(s).  Religion obviously is a way to maintain power within the institution. Brandon Davies is an adult that chose to be human and have sex with his partner.  Sex is a major factor in people's life; it is natural so how does this conflict with "morals and values?" How can we move forward if we can’t get past sex? I sure hope no else on campus is having sex either

Along with this despicable decision, I couldn't help but to think about race relations being that Brandon is a Black male in Utah. I am sure that he was not the only male who has sex on or off campus. What are the underlying assumptions about this "incident" and how it was published? I pose all of these questions in order to create dialogue around institutions, sex, and race.

This entire “case” speaks to the state of religion and how institutions use it as a tool to govern bodies and maintain the status quo.

Bill Gates on state budgets and eduction spending

Here is the link to Bill Gates's speech on state budgets and education spending that Dr. Baber mentioned in class:

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_how_state_budgets_are_breaking_us_schools.html

I do not see many new concepts in the talk that we have not heard before, but it goes with the work that is done at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is also always good to hear support from industry leaders why education should be funded! "Balance wheel pattern" is an academic analysis of this pattern on budget allocations between different sectors of the economy. Dr. Delaney in the department has done some work in this area. Here is a second link for anyone interested in reading more: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lpo/doyle/balancetime.pdf

Did a Sexual Education course go too far?

When I was reading through the Chicago Tribune today, I stumbled upon this interesting article.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-northwestern-president-criticizes-sextoy-demonstration-20110303,0,7493639.story

Seeing an article such as this one brings up a really good question: How far is too far? After reading the title of the article, I instantly thought to myself "no doubt about it, this professor was in the wrong." Once I completely read the piece, however, I had a change of heart.

Even though I believe the actual class session (in which the demonstration took place) SHOULD have occurred OFF campus, I have no actual problem with the demonstration itself. The professor did not require students to attend that particular class, and he gave several warnings before the demonstration transpired.

Female Instructors & Women in STEM

I want to share this article I stumbled upon this morning about the importance of female instructors in STEM courses. Here is a link:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/03/study_suggests_role_of_role_models_in_encouraging_female_undergraduates_in_math_and_science

The researchers found that having a female instructor in an introductory calculus course had a positive effect on students (female more than male). The female students were aware of the negative stereotypes of their gender in STEM. From the article, I especially liked this sentence:

"But these data suggest that the meaning of choices, of what it means to choose math or science, is more complicated. Even talented people may not choose math or science not because they don't like it or are not good at it, but because they feel that they don't belong."

Connecting this back to the importance of high schools, which we talked about on Tuesday, I wonder if there is an effect in those classrooms or if this stereotype is something that becomes more recognized by students when they enter the STEM fields in college. From my personal experience, I will say that I did not truly recognize this "divide" or perhaps even choose to recognize it until my senior year of college. When do students start feeling like "they don't belong"?

Ed. Secretary Duncan Defends $2B Increase in 2012 Education Budget

The Sec. of Ed. proposes a $2b (two billion) budget. Although the secretary's proposed budget suggest that "...[t]he higher education portion of the 2012 request includes a $67 million increase for TRIO programs for a total of $920 million; $323 million for GEAR UP; $651 million in combined discretionary and mandatory funding for Aid for Institutional Development programs at institutions that enroll large numbers of minority and disadvantaged students and $249 million in aid for Hispanic-Serving Institutions programs", questions remain salient regarding the MSI (Minority Serving Institutions) that will receive this funding. Will institutions receive an equal share? What will the time-line be regarding the disbursement of funding? Again, this rhetoric of the proposal sounds great, however(if passed) how will the government follow-up on such an initiative? Please see link for article below:

http://diverseeducation.com/article/14841/ed-secretary-duncan-defends-2b-increase-in-2012-education-budget.html

Does the Undergraduate Stereotype Ignore Diversity?

The lazy apathetic student who wants to be entertained has become one of the worst stereotypes in contemporary discussions about higher education. We’ve all heard about the legions of social media obsessed undergraduates who stumble around in a drunken Facebook stupor, all tweaked up by Twitter, intoxicated on texting and high on television. In conversations, it would seem as if students are too busy suffering technology withdrawal to learn during a 50-minute lecture. These students, with their out of touch helicopter parents and obese inflated grades, as well as egos, from high school are crumbling the state of college learning. The problem with this portrait of undergraduate students is that it ignores the immense diversity among them. Benton exhibits symptoms of this troubling habit in his Chronicle of Higher Education article about the apparent grim reality of undergraduate learning. The blame is placed on uninspired students and “transient faculty”. He states, “More than anything, change in four-year colleges depends on choices made by millions of parents and students.” Evidently, all it takes for instructors to get a raving review from students on course evaluations is to, “Expect little, smile a lot, gesture freely, show movies, praise them constantly, give high marks and bring cookies.” Not only do generalizations demean undergraduate students, they also tend to conjure up a specific image of privilege and license, which excludes many underrepresented students. It becomes assumed that students have support, that students are simply spoiled and that students are being catered to. How is it possible to truly embrace diversity and improve learning if all undergraduates are lumped into a narrow stereotype?

"A Perfect Storm in Undergraduate Education": http://chronicle.com/article/A-Perfect-Storm-in/126451/#

"Ashlea and Gillian"

Intellectually, I would say this piece from Snacks', Tearing down the gates: Confronting the class divide in American education (2007) did an excellent job of drawing a stark contrast between the lives of Ashlea and Gillian to illustrate the concepts of "cultural, social and economic capital." I was intrigued by the Bourdieu theory he mentioned, of "habitus" and want to learn more about that.
Emotionally, I will share that the reading tapped into a time when I was confronted by that stark contrast every day, in a way that was difficult for me to process. I had two jobs. My full-time job was as an Employment Specialist at a vocational school in the Portland area, helping graduates of the program gain employment in office and computer occupations. In addition to being an Employment Specialist for the company, I was licensed vocational instructor, teaching job search skills and professional development. The overwhelming majority of our students were of very low SES, many of whom had criminal histories, were recovering drug addicts, and/or suffered from mental health challenges. The depictions of Ashlea's family so closely mirrored some of the students I worked with, that it caught me off-guard. My part-time job was in a wealthier area of Portland where I was also employed as a vocational instructor, except that I taught personal development and modeling skills for a national modeling agency and school. The overwhelming majority of those students there were from high SES backgrounds, many of whom had every advantage economically, socially and academically. Though we had students like Gillian, she would have been among those less well-off in the class.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

I'll let you decide what is good, what is bad, and what is ugly about the higher education portion of the budget proposal...


http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/15/obama_budget_would_sustain_5_550_pell_cut_subsidy_for_graduate_students

Why do Women Still Earn Less than Men?

I remember in class we were talking about women earning less than men two weeks ago. Here is an article from Time discussing it. For some strange reason the link I posts won't work. Go to time.com Then type in "Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?" by Laura Fitzpatrick. The date is April 20, 2010.

HBCU President Brings Sex and Health Education to the Campus

The disproportionate amount of young, African American students who are effected by the disturbing trends in sexual activity raise alarming concerns among Higher Education administrators. However, there seems to be a lack of publicity around sexual awareness for minority students. Philander Smith University's President, Dr. Walter Kimbrough, has created an initiative to inform students of the implications of "risky behavior" and titled it "Sex Week". This program (taken from a model used at Yale University) provides young adults on college campuses with a comprehensive series of programs that help reinforce safe behavior, and healthy attitudes. Given the alarming rhetoric that suggests that nearly half of all new cases of HIV are attributed to African Americans, and that 72% of African American children are born out of wedlock, how can administrators on all campuses (Community Colleges, Predominantly White Institutions, HBCU's, HSI's...etc) create intervention tools and co-curricular programming models that help to solve this widespread issue?

Link to article: http://diverseeducation.com/article/14752/hbcu-president-brings-sex-and-health-education-to-the-campus.html">href="http://>

Losing a Grip on the Foreign-Student Market

According to the author of this article, Australia (which is known for having one of the largest international student populations in the world) is currently experiencing some events which could ultimately 1.) decrease the amount of international students who attend its' universities and 2.) cause the country's economy to buckle. The issues at hand could have a similar effect on other nations, such as own, if we are not careful.

Link:
http://chronicle.com/article/Losing-a-Grip-on-the/126079/


Chris

National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Here is a an article on the National Technical Institute for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. While reading this article, I thought about opportunity for these students and also increased diversity in the workforce. This article reminded me of the NSF report on "Broadening Participation in America's STEM Workforce." Where the authors point out that more effort should be targeted "on two particularly under-attended-to groups in STEM: persons with disabilities and Native Americans."
I thought the later part of the article, where the author talks about the StepWise method for solving mathematical story like problems, was really interesting. It's exciting to see that these methods not only improved the students' learning at NTID, but that they could also be suitable for hearing students.

http://www.prism-magazine.org/jan11/tt_01.cfm

Brown vs. Board

I ran across this article and thought it was interesting to see the institutions involved in the Brown vs. Board case (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service). It was interesting reading the Anderson piece and how he evaluated the decision and went into more of the history and reactions...and then see how others view the decision and how there are "monuments" symbolizing this time in history.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/121brown/index.htm

Harvard Report Questions Value of 'College for All'

This is a new report released yesterday from Harvard on a project entitled “Pathways to Prosperity” (link to the actual report embedded within the article). The authors suggest establishing career tracks for students as early as middle school. They argue that the tracks would be 'flexible' enough to allow students to switch down the line. I respect the authors of the report (as well as Dr. Anthony Carnevale who is mentioned in the article). But we know that tracking at such an early age (common in Europe) is connected to social inequalities. When a person says "college is not for everyone," they are usually talking about other people's children, not their own.



Harvard Report Questions Value of 'College for All'

Chick-fil-A on campus...

I found this article interesting and definitely relates to U of I since there is a Chick-fil-A on campus and there have been several reports of businesses with similar ties (Target) in the US and it brings up questions of who should we support.
The LGBT group on this IU campus petitioned to have this restaurant removed as a vendor due to their ties with organizations that support anti-gay causes. This definitely brings up an issue of a college's responsibility to create a diverse and safe learning environment on campus that does not promote discrimination. There are many questions I have...like how far should this go (should other campuses follow-suit, other vendors be examined)? Should students have imput on vendors or is this a personal decision (they should just not support the place by visiting)? How close do ties to these organizations have to be (what if the part of these programs they are supporting is making a positive impact and that is why Chick-fil-A is donating to them, does it make a difference)?
It definitely makes corporations more responsible for viewpoints they may take and careful in selecting the organizations they support. One campus can definitely send a strong message, it will be interesting to see if others follow suit. I think that it is great that students are looking beyond the students and making the vendors responsible to the environment they would like portrayed on campus!

Chick-fil-A Booted from Indiana University South Bend's Campus Over Anti-Gay Work

Education attainment rates

The Chronicle carried an article yesterday about the complexities of educational attainment gaps. I thought this will be a good read to go with Bowen's Chapter 1.

On average, the racial gaps have increased. But, it also matters where (at county level) people live and what sub-groups they belong in for racial minorities.

http://chronicle.com/article/Census-Data-Reveal-Rise-in/126026/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

State of the Union and Education: We do big things?

http://chronicle.com/article/Obamas-Spending-Freeze/126054/

Once again, education was a key part of President Obama's State of the Union Address. Public investment in education is not a new idea, but a tough sell in these economic conditions. What can we learn from the first chapter of Crossing the Finish Line? Is 'human capital' development the only persuasive argument for the importance of education?

Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 Speech at Western Michigan University

 http://www.wmich.edu/library/archives/mlk/transcription.html

In December 1963, as part of their "Conscience of America" lecture series, Western Michigan University invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak. This event followed an appearance on campus a few months earlier by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, a pro-segregationist. At that time, as now, college campuses represented an arena for larger socio-political debate.

Earlier this week, we honored Dr. King by observing his birthday as a national holiday. Yesterday, we started our journey together exploring issues related to diversity in higher education. Juxtaposing these two moments, let us consider the themes of this particular campus speech from Dr. King and how it relates to our understanding of the persistent issues of diversity, community, inequality and education.