Monthly Archives: August 2012

Meanings: “Libel” and “Liable”

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Doug Bennett

August 20, 2012 “Much of the staff of the University of Georgia’s student newspaper, including the top editors, resigned Wednesday, claiming interference, even censorship, by the nonstudent managers hired to oversee it.” That’s the opening paragraph of a New York … Continue reading →

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What is “Quality” in Higher Education?

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Doug Bennett

August 16, 2012 What is “quality” in higher education? Isn’t that the same question as “what makes one institution better than another?” For most institutions of higher education, “better” would largely or exclusively mean “more likely to engender learning in … Continue reading →

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More standardization: higher quality, lower costs?

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Doug Bennett

August 13, 2012 In this week’s New Yorker, Atul Gawande plays out one scenario for the future of medicine in the United States.  He projects the rise of large health care chains that manage health care outcomes in a much … Continue reading →

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Meanings: “Actually”

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Doug Bennett

August 8, 2012 The Atlantic’s Jen Doll nominates “actually” as the worst word on the planet. I assume she means in English.  There’s no Olympics for this event. It’s the essential passive aggressive quality of the word that makes it … Continue reading →

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Our Far-Flung Alumni: NASA’s Ken Edgett

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Doug Bennett

August 8, 2012 The successful landing of the Mars Rover Curiosity this week prompts me to celebrate Ken Edgett, an EC graduate who is a primary investigator on this NASA mission. You can read his NASA bio here. About Earlham … Continue reading →

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