Blog Small Slider

Why Grad Rates are Meaningless 0
- Education
- August 12, 2016
In a recent Intellectual Takeout piece, Daniel Lattier pointed out that colleges are now having to deal with incoming “book virgins”. To gain admittance to college in the 17th century, students had to be able to read and translate various Latin authors on sight. 100 years ago, students were required to have read various classical works
READ MORE
C.S. Lewis’ theory on why so many modern marriages fail 0
- Culture, Family
- August 11, 2016
The last several years have seen a rise in articles sounding alarms about the decline of marriage. A Salon article and its accompanying graph from earlier in the summer are a perfect example. According to Salon, marriage rates have dropped roughly 30 percent since 1980, to 6.9 per 1,000 people, and everything from religious decline
READ MORE
Salaries for College Presidents Are Swelling 0
- Education
- August 11, 2016
In a typical week, I get four or five inquiries from media relating to some higher education issue. Five years ago, perhaps five or ten percent of those inquiries related to university executive compensation, especially the salaries of presidents. Now, probably 40-50 percent of the queries are on that topic. The public is increasingly interested
READ MORE

The American Republic and the Long Shadow of Rome 0
- Education
- August 11, 2016
“Beware the Ides of March!” Thus the soothsayer warned Emperor Julius Caesar on the 15th of March, 44 B.C. On that day, Caesar, who had overturned the Roman republic and made himself a tyrant, was assassinated by a group of Senators, including his friend, Brutus. In the eponymous play by William Shakespeare, the Senators begin
READ MORE
Should we model ourselves on Sir Mick Jagger?2
- Culture
- August 11, 2016
For most of the time I live in a bubble of sanity, comfortably cushioned from the malaise that seems all consuming in the wider culture. Occasionally, however, I leave my comfortable bubble to travel to speaking engagements and conferences. When I do so, I’m struck by how bad things really are. This was brought home
READ MORE
Smartphone Nation: Data suggests Americans addicted to smartphones 0
- Culture
- August 11, 2016
How many times a day do you check your smartphone? According to a recent survey, the typical American checks once every six-and-a-half minutes, or approximately 150 times every day. Other research has found that number to be as high as 300 times a day. For young people, the attachment is particularly acute: 53 percent of
READ MORE