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Did Academia Kill Jazz?
Jazz seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance among movie directors – look no further than documentaries such as “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, biopics such as “Born to Be Blue,” and recent Oscar winners like “Whiplash.” While films about jazz are everywhere, evidence… Read More
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Foreign Language Classes Becoming More Scarce
Of all the skills that a person could have in today’s globalized world, few serve individuals – and the larger society – as well as knowing how to speak another language. People who speak another language score higher on tests and think more creatively, have access to a wider variety of jobs, and can more… Read More
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Asian American Students Have the Largest Amount of Unmet Financial Need
Regardless of where they go to college, Asian American students have more unmet financial need than any other racial or ethnic group, according to a report from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Unmet need — the gap between the total cost of college and the financial aid and family assistance that students… Read More
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Why Do So Many Americans Now Support Legalizing Marijuana?
American views on marijuana have shifted incredibly rapidly. Thirty years ago, marijuana legalization seemed like a lost cause. In 1988, only 24 percent of Americans supported legalization. But steadily, the nation began to liberalize. By 2018, 66 percent of U.S. residents offered their approval, transforming marijuana legalization from a libertarian fantasy into a mainstream cause.… Read More
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Why Kia’s ‘Great Unknowns Scholarship’ Commercial Was the Best Super Bowl Commercial Ever!
Kia Motors made history tonight by using students and faculty from Troup County Comprehensive High School in Georgia — and not celebrities — for its 2019 Super Bowl Commercial. Instead of paying celebrities for endorsements, Kia is using the money to fund The Great Unknowns Scholarship. Kia’s explanation for its unconventional Super Bowl ad is this:… Read More
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Why Women Still Earn a Lot Less Than Men
A decade ago, on Jan. 29, 2009, newly inaugurated President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. It was the latest legislative effort to close the persistently stubborn gap between how much women and men earn. At the time, women made just 77 cents of every… Read More
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Universities Are Stepping Up to Fight Campus Hunger, But Where Is the Government?
Food insecurity is a huge concern among college students. And although many colleges and universities have taken strides to make sure all of their students are well-fed, the government has some work to do, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) suggests. Today, to earn a high-paying job, a college education is next… Read More
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How to Have Productive Disagreements About Politics and Religion
In the current polarized climate, it’s easy to find yourself in the midst of a political disagreement that morphs into a religious argument. People’s religious affiliation predicts their stances on abortion, immigration and other controversial topics, and disagreements about these issues can seem intractable. The seeming futility in arguing about politics and religion may arise… Read More
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3 Ways to Make Your Voice Heard Besides Protesting
More Americans are trying to make their voices heard these days. Approximately one in five Americans participated in a protest or rally between early 2016 and early 2018, according to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll. A similar proportion reported they expected to become more involved in political causes in the next year. Similarly, the… Read More
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Why Gen Z Is the Most Stressed Generation
Members of Generation Z — those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s — report having worse stress than any other generation, according to an American Psychological Association (APA) report. In part, these heightened stress levels are caused by the 24/7 news cycle, which continuously focuses on gun violence, sexual assault and other tragedies.… Read More
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Lessons From ‘Spider-Man’: How Video Games Could Change College Science Education
Like many people over the holidays, I spent some time – maybe too much – playing one of the most popular and best reviewed video games of 2018: “Spider-Man.” While I thought I’d be taking a break from chemistry research, I found myself web-swinging through virtual research missions all over New York City. I collected… Read More
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If You Thought Colleges Making the SAT Optional Would Level The Playing Field, Think Again
When colleges and universities began to make the SAT an optional part of the admissions process, the hope was that it would expand access to the nation’s most selective institutions to groups that had historically been shut out. The reality is – at least at selective liberal arts colleges – the decision by a growing… Read More
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Institutions Overlook Community College Transfer Students, Despite Their Success
Society favors the “classic” college experience, in which students graduate from high school and immediately move away to settle into four years of new classes, culture, friends and independence. But today, attaining the “classic” college experience isn’t as easy as it once was. Mostly due to skyrocketing tuition prices, many well-prepared students have to start… Read More
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Martin Luther King Jr. and His Support of Unions
If Martin Luther King Jr. still lived, he’d probably tell people to join unions. King understood racial equality was inextricably linked to economics. He asked, “What good does it do to be able to eat at a lunch counter if you can’t buy a hamburger?” Those disadvantages have persisted. Today, for instance, the wealth of… Read More
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More Colleges Than Ever Have Test-Optional Admissions Policies — And That’s a Good Thing
Back in the 1980s, Bates College and Bowdoin College were nearly the only liberal arts colleges not to require applicants to submit SAT or ACT test scores. On Jan. 10, FairTest, a Boston-based organization that has been pushing back against America’s testing regime since 1985, announced that the number of colleges that are test-optional has… Read More
