More than a third of incoming college students in Michigan take high school-level classes on campus — essentially repeating material they should have learned before they got their diplomas. Those remedial classes may cost students, schools and taxpayers more than $100 million a year, and often don’t lead to a degree; many of the 23,000 […]
University of Michigan
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest” — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 19th century German philosopher. * Fascinating essay that weaves through the motivations of a young Henry Ford to […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Hey Grandpa, how about a little help?
A 5-year-old child born to a mother who has exceeded 48 months on cash assistance was being reared in destitution before the state yanked $5,000 in annual welfare benefits. A 75-year-old residing in a nursing home, meanwhile, receives $80,000 in Medicaid-funded care. Not that future fiscal choices should favor the young at the expense of the old, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Ethics expert: Michigan gets lapped by New Jersey
Michigan’s public sector is not congenial to ethics, according to a recent grading by the Center for Public Integrity. Michigan earned an “F” and a numerical ranking of 43rd (with No. 1 being least corrupt) in the nationwide CPI study. “The analysis of 330 indicators of state accountability measures shows that this state of almost […]
Posted inTalent & Education
The day I almost killed Mike Wallace
One of the last times I saw Mike Wallace, he was in my rearview mirror, back bent, pushing my car down Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor. He had a huge smile on his face. I had a look of terror on mine. It was Spring, 2003, and I was in the midst of an eight-month […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Legislators want to run, not pay for, Mich. universities
Spring budget treks to the State Capitol by the presidents of Michigan’s public universities weren’t always this pointless. When lawmakers appropriated half the money or more that universities spent for operations, it paid for presidents to express gratitude to the veteran legislators whose long careers were built on protecting the interests of their favored (hometown) […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“I have approximate answers and possible beliefs in different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything, and of many things I don’t know anything about, but I don’t have to know an answer” — Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning American physicist. * Michigan’s local governments were collaborating and sharing services […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Legislature yaps at critical part of state's recovery
For years, physicists and science-fiction writers have speculated about whether parallel universes might exist alongside our own. I’m certainly not qualified to get into the domain of theoretical physics, but I can testify that when it comes to higher education, there are parallel universes existing right here in Michigan: Universe One has to do with the […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything, the young know everything” — Oscar Wilde. * It’s March Madness, so everyone’s trying to figure out how to use the temporary obsession with brackets to convey interesting or amusing information. WARNING: At this point, Michigan State University alumni and fans should stop reading. At the […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Get in line, kid. It's a long one.
The University of Michigan released data on the application process for next year’s freshman class, and it is eye-popping: Provost Philip Hanlon told a group of faculty Monday that the school has received 41,600 freshman applications to date, compared to 38,700 at this time last year. U-M received 39,570 applications total for entry to the […]