Lamar Alexander on Future of Higher Education

by Merrill Ewert on November 3, 2009

If you haven’t seen it, you should take a look at a recent article by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in Newsweek magazine because it is getting considerable traction in some circles. Mr. Alexander has a lot of credibility because of his prior service as the President of the University of Tennessee (1988-1991) and his role as U.S. [...]

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Small University? Big Difference! (Why Mentors Matter)

by Merrill Ewert on September 14, 2009

A conversation last week reminded me that many students are unknowingly making college choices that limit their future prospects. A community college administrator told me that an AA should be considered a three year degree, though many are taking longer to finish. Increasingly, students are spending six (or more) years on a bachelor’s—because [...]

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The Widening Gap

September 4, 2009

Last week, the College Board released test results for the graduating high school class of 2009 which showed a slight dip in the average scores of those taking the SAT college entrance exam, a test designed to assess students’ readiness for higher education. Although average scores generally rose (or were stable) between 1994 and 2004, [...]

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Transition and Change

August 29, 2009

Classes have begun at Fresno Pacific! As much as I enjoy the peace and quiet of summer, I never tire of seeing the campus come alive again in the fall. It reminds me of something I loved about living in the Congo; the first rain at the end of the dry season would turn the [...]

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Fresno Pacific Serves the Valley

August 23, 2009

I went away to college; now colleges are going to the students. The world has changed and so have we. You can see the changing face of higher education at Fresno Pacific’s commencement celebrations. Our graduates are older, more culturally diverse, and more experienced than ever before. Many hold jobs, have families, and carry other responsibilities [...]

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Books I read on vacation….

July 26, 2009

As one who loves to read, I regularly acquire more books than I can ever manage to finish, but travel and vacations provide the best opportunity for me to catch up. Since mysteries are my favorite genre, I picked up several books by the authors I enjoy most—David Baldacci and John Grisham, among others—and engaged [...]

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When the Rules Don’t Seem to Matter

July 15, 2009

Over the weekend, I noticed that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, Manny Ramirez, hit his 536th home run which tied Yankee great, Mickey Mantle, for 15th on the all-time, career list. “It feels good, but it’s just like another home run,” he said. “It makes me proud, but like I said it’s just another home run that I [...]

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The California Budget and the Politics of Polarization

July 9, 2009

Observing as California’s elected leaders develop a budget for this next fiscal year is like seeing a train wreck in slow motion; you can’t bear to watch but you also can’t force yourself to turn away. It’s no wonder that some people call this state “ungovernable.” Our leaders seem to have staked out positions at [...]

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We are the World: Remembering Michael Jackson

June 30, 2009

I’ve been surprised at how the death of Michael Jackson has displaced everything else—war, the election in Iran, famine, the global economic crisis, etc.—from the top of the news. Though I had obviously heard his music for years, I had never fully understood his iconic status in American culture until he performed in Manila [...]

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Asking the Right Question

June 27, 2009

I’ve often said, “Getting into college is easy; the hard part is getting out!”  I’m concerned that too many high school students are asking the wrong question: How do I get into college? Instead, they should be asking: What kind of college education do I want–and where can I get it?  And  what can I do to make it [...]

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