 An Age-Old Question About Drinking
Two Pope Center writers offer differing opinions about lowering the drinking age.
By Jenna Ashley Robinson, Jay Schalin
College students today might not be knowledgeable about the classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome, but many are on very familiar terms with Bacchus (or Dionysius, if you prefer), the Roman god of the grape. Higher education has a drinking problem—the Pope Center’s Jenna Ashley Robinson and Jay Schalin both agree on that. They also feel some course of action is necessary to decrease the Animal House (Schalin's term) or "speakeasy" (Robinson's term) atmosphere on campus.
But they disagree about the Amethyst Initiative, a petition circulating among college presidents calling for a discussion about lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. They offer their differing opinions on the subject: Robinson expresses a belief that a lower legal age will put an end to some underlying causes of the problems associated with student drinking, while Schalin suggests that increasing underage students' access to alcohol will only lead to more abuse.
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Opening Up the Classroom
A new report from the Pope Center proposes a way to improve the transparency and accountability of colleges and universities. “Opening Up the Classroom: Greater Transparency through Better, More Accessible Course Information,“ by Jay Schalin, recommends that faculty be required to post their course syllabi—the descriptions that go beyond the sketchy catalog summaries—on the Internet, with access open to the public.
There are four reasons for posting such documents on the Web. These are: to aid students as they register for courses, to expose a professor’s deviation from normal expectations or acceptable academic standards, to aid in pedagogical research and information sharing, and to make comparisons between classes at different universities easier for the determination of transfer credits.
Legal Education in North Carolina
A new report from the Pope Center recommends ways to increase the availability of low-cost legal education in North Carolina. It discusses the state’s law schools in detail, using available data about student outcomes such as student debt load and salaries upon graduation.
“Legal Education in North Carolina,” by Andrew P. Morriss and William D. Henderson, reveals that North Carolina has a “substantial unmet demand for legal education.” Signs of this unmet demand are the fact that its law schools are more selective than most law schools in other states and the state has fewer private-sector lawyers per capita than any other state (758/1).
UNC Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers?
This paper from the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy takes a critical look at what is being taught at University of North Carolina teacher education schools. It reveals the overemphasis on so-called “student-centered learning,” also known as “progressivism” and “constructivism.”
“UNC Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers?” by George K. Cunningham, a former professor in educational and counseling psychology at the University of Louisville, concludes that UNC's education schools have major weaknesses when it comes to teaching teachers.
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Higher Education Headlines
North Carolina
UNC Jeep Terrorist Sentenced
The former UNC-Chapel Hill student who went on a Jihad-inspired rampage with an SUV was sentenced to 26-33 years in prison. In the Raleigh News & Observer. Warning Upgrade at UNCG
UNC-Greensboro is extending its system of warning messages in case of campus emergencies. In the Greensboro News-Record. Smooth Transition
Wake Technical Community College and N.C. State Univ. have enabled students to work on their associate's and bachelor's degrees concurrently. In the Durham Herald-Sun. National
No Smarter, No Dumber
Average SAT scores remained steady for the class of 2008, with the critical reading, math and writing scores all unchanged from last year. On insidehighered.com. The First Line of Defense
Many colleges are training professors and students to fight against campus threats with "improvised weapons." In the Durham Herald-Sun. FIRE Is Hot
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education placed a full page ad about free speech offenders in U.S. News & World Report's college rankings issue.
Opinion
Ratings Are Just Opinions
A Minneapolis Star-Tribune article suggests prospective college students take all the rankings of collees with a grain of salt. Plagiarizing VP Insults Academia
An insidehighered.com article suggests that the selection of Joe Biden, who has been caught plagiarizing more than once, is an offense to academic standards. Party Now, Pay Later
The Pope Center's Jenna Ashley Robinson cautions about some unintended consequences of student loan programs in this Raleigh News & Observer op-ed. |
