As we close our third year, here are some thoughts on various events and issues that are floating about the public square: A TV debate between two journalism professors on the role of the media in the recent D. C. area sniper case produced this: “We have reached a consensus in this democracy that more […]
Archives for 2002
War Follow Up
Some observations on the current status of our response to the Iraqi threat and other aspects of the War on Terrorism: I hope President Bush hasn’t allowed France to compromise our sovereignty in negotiating a UN Security Council resolution on Iraq. Can someone please tell me how France, not to mention the UN itself, has […]
The College Of Education Disconnect
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to the fall teacher education conference of the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education (CSOTTE). It was quite an experience primarily because, probably needless to say, much of my evaluation of colleges of education is at extreme variance with the audience of approximately 400 deans, associate […]
Thoughts On Business Ethics
In the wake of the rash of corporate misdeeds for which Enron is the metaphor, it is not surprising that there has been a proliferation of op/eds, seminars, and beefed-up business school courses on business ethics. The best article I have seen so far is “Oxymoron 101”, by Dan Seligman in Forbes magazine (it also […]
Quote
“A country cannot have open borders and a welfare state. Even less can a country welcome multicultural immigrants whose loyalties reside elsewhere. Open borders for terrorists means a police state for citizens.” —Milton Friedman
The Democrat Melt Down
I’m not sure I’ve seen a more egregious example of the tyranny of the majority (the greatest fear of our founders) than the gross violation of the rule of law now unfolding in the U. S. Senate election in New Jersey. As I write, the U. S. Supreme Court has not responded to the Republican […]
Lessons From California
The latest word from California education officials is that they are discussing whether to postpone the enforcement of the state’s new high school graduation exam because so many students (evidently up to 50%) are failing the test. The president of the state education board has stated that a low pass rate could leave the exam […]
My Favorite Founder
Recently I read David McCullough’s John Adams in order to attend as a guest a meeting of my wife’s book discussion group, and it reminded me of the qualities of this most under-appreciated of our founders. McCullough’s treatment has been criticized as overly admiring of Adams, overly contemptuous of Thomas Jefferson, and, as popularly written […]
Is E Pluribus Unum Out Of Style?
When I asked last May for reader thoughts on the defining themes of the 21st century, my friend Van Ballard responded with the challenge to “merge the ever growing number of minority groups in this country with our existing political, economic, educational, and religious culture without losing our democratic system of government and simultaneously avoid […]
The Teacher Preparation Challenge
As we begin the new school year and, in Texas, look toward the next level of school performance accountability, I believe it is important that we look beyond the test-driven accountability system, as useful as it has been, for more instructive leading indicators of progress toward excellence in public education. As Texas Education Commissioner Felipe […]
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