Outside the Beltway

More accurately, some thoughts on commentary about higher ed.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79.

Massive boycotts and protests likely spell the end of Tim Wolfe’s tenure as president.

Instead of eliminating the Department of Education, Ben Carson wants to give it a new, bizarre, and dangerous mission.

When may I shoot a student?

International relations prof mostly assign readings by male scholars. Female profs are slightly less likely to do so.

Gravity announced a minimum annual salary of $70,000. Almost everyone is unhappy.

One more on this topic.

I have been reading, mostly in passing, a number of pieces about an alleged new climate on college campuses in which students are raising significant complaints due to difficult or emotionally sensitive material. The latest example did not impress me.

Freedom of speech means freedom for all speech, even when it is racially offensive.

A big change in an important nation in the most volatile part of the world.

Should a professor who says she “hates Republicans” keep her job?

An Oberlin College student makes it clear just why she needs an education.

Scott Walker argues that Governors tend to make the best Presidents. He’s largely correct, but he’s not the only Republican who fits that bill.

Lawmakers and journalists don’t understand the civil service.

While it’s been much derided in recent years, there’s a definite economic benefit to obtaining a college degree,

The Supreme Court, subject to revision.

The right decision, or the triumph of mob rule?

Being a public intellectual doesn’t pay.

The advice “Do what you love. Love what you do” is not without pitfalls.

Nobel physicist Peter Higgs says he could not make it in academia today.

Hillary Clinton is getting offers from universities to add her name and presence.

Your humble host is making a career move.

Michael Kinsley contends “Being against marriage equality doesn’t make you a monster.”

The Washington Examiner, which for a while became the conservative alternative to the Washington Post, is ceasing daily publication to become a conservative alternative to The Hill.

I’ve been out of the classroom for just over a decade now and, apparently, things have changed radically.

Conor Friedersdorf contends “The U.S. Already Had a Conversation About Guns—and the Pro Side Won.”

Want to teach political science for a living? Go to one of a handful of top schools or don’t bother.

The best single means of becoming such an economic winner is to gain admission to a top university

Hillary Clinton doesn’t have much sympathy for her former aide’s inability to “have it all.”

Within minutes after today’s Jobs Report was released, the conspiracy theorists began to come forward.

Harvard has announced the discovery of what one official calls an “unprecedented” cheating scandal.