Today, a panel of the University of California Regents—the ten-university system's governing body—approved a proposal to increase undergraduate "fees" (UC's word for tuition) by 32 percent over the coming year. Should the full board of Regents consent to the increase tomorrow, students will see a fee increase of more than $2,500 by fall 2010.

Let's face it. Advice is a dime a dozen. If you ask two people their opinion you'll get at least three or four different answers. Every corner you turn in your office, in your business stands someone who wants to tell you what they think you should do. So, how do you know who you should listen to?

At the same time that leading journalists and scholars are calling on college journalism programs to help fill the void left by the decline of newspapers, a court case in Illinois is raising questions about the legal status of student journalists that could have a chilling effect on the risks that journalism professors will ask their students to take.

One of the first things I did moving to California was to make a pilgrimage to Santa Monica Beach. I wanted to see the place where the fictional Dr. Marcus Welby would talk to his patients about not giving up, fighting for the next chance or saying yes to that one in a thousand treatment that could save their lives. Dr. Welby would not rest until he found the reason for the condition, no matter that his solution was far out of his general practitioner area of expertise. He was all knowing, all caring and had the good sense to select Dr. Steven Kiley as a bit of eye candy.

Is it possible to find a cultural truth? Will a day come when we accept the good and bad things about our cultural influences? Can we accept our various ancestors without hurt and rancor? Judging from the past year or so probably not. Perhaps learning about our past is much like the Telephone game many of us experienced in a school classroom.

A study published in late October suggests that a shortage of career scientists in the U.S. is the fault of companies, and not educational institutions. "Steady as She Goes?  Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline" was funded by the Alfred P.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is investigating whether selective colleges have been discriminating against women applicants by admitting less-qualified men in an attempt to maintain a gender balance on campus.  According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, The investigation is being undertaken at the request of commissioner and law professor Gail Heriot, an opponent of affirmative action.

A long time ago I volunteered at a conference for Deaf/Blind participants held at Gallaudet University. It was a lot of fun. There were daily challenges to keep up with the participants who wanted to go everywhere and do everything. I was joyfully run ragged. I have one specific memory, a lesson that sticks with me to this day on expanding thinking beyond myself.

For the past four years, the World Economic Forum has studied the gender gap - that is, the amount of resources dedicated to boys and girls and women's opportunities to fully participate in society - in over 100 countries, then ranked them. (In 2009, the Index included data from 134 nations. At least 12 of 14 indicators used for the Index must be available in order for a country to be included.) The goal, according to the 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, is:

Last night, 16-year-old Melody Ross, an honors student and track and field athlete, was shot to death at the football game between rival Wilson High School and Long Beach Poly High School in Long Beach, California.  The shooting took place at Wilson High School, which you may be slightly familiar with if you saw the Freedom Writers movie or read Erin Gruwell's The Freedom Writers Diary.  The school serves some of Long Beach's most upscale neighborhoods, but is no stra

Pastor Grizzard of Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina plans to burn versions of the bible, music and other objects that are not in alignment with his church’s belief system. One of the definitions of hubris is pride of presumption. Here are the exact words copied from a cached version of the website:

As I type this, my four-year-old son is explaining that because it's getting dark outside, it's time to fire up the DVR and watch WordWorld, his favorite PBS show. Indeed, on many nights, if I'm grading papers, prepping for class, or just trying to steal a few minutes to focus on my own stuff, he does get to watch WordWorld.