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The Celtic Tiger Ireland invests heavily in higher education, and benefits mightily
		(Photo by Rod Searcey for CrossTalk) Adrianna Mendoza, a graduate student at Eastern Oregon University, says budget cuts and staff reductions have hurt educational quality at her campus. ( more) News The Celtic Tiger Ireland invests heavily in higher education, and benefits mightily Western Classic Nevada's James Rogers is a non-traditional chancellor with a shoot-from-the-hip style Is it a Shell Game? Colorado's controversial new way of handing out its higher education money "Shared Responsibility" Oregon's governor supports a new model for financing public higher education Editorial Patrick M. Callan Other Voices Diversity Hypocrisy The myriad, and often perverse, implications of admissions policies Who Needs It? Identifying the proportion of students who require postsecondary remedial education is virtually impossible The New Accountability The potential of performance compacts in higher education Web-only Articles Learning about Teaching If the students don’t get it, what’s the point? Accounting for College Is financial aid really going to the truly needy?
By Jon Marcus Dublin It's Open Day at Trinity College, the day when the Irish equivalent of high school seniors come to look the place over. The historic quadrangle is swarming with 17- and 18-year-olds, some in their school uniforms–rumpled ties, tousled skirts—others in the logo-laden gear that is the uniform of teenagers worldwide. But these students are different from their international counterparts in one important respect: They don't appear nervous or uptight, worried about whether they will be admitted, can afford to pay tuition, or will have a job awaiting them on graduation. They have the calm, self-confident and optimistic look of young people who believe the world is at their feet. And they're right. It is.   John Hegarty, provost of Trinity College, in Dublin, believes colleges and universities have helped to fuel the Irish economic boom. (Photo by Peter Matthews, Black Star, for CrossTalk)   Ireland's extraordinary economic success means these students live in a society with one of the lowest jobless rates and highest growth rates in the world. Since the early 1990s, Ireland has gone from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the richest. Its gross domestic product grew by a dramatic 9.5 percent a year between 1995 and 2000—nearly 60 percent in real terms during that period, compared to less than 16 percent for the European Union as a whole. The transformation is evident everywhere, from the Aer Lingus flight to Shannon crowded with Irish families returning from shopping sprees in New York and Boston to the hours-long traffic jams in once-sleepy Dublin. (continue)
Western Classic Nevada's James Rogers is a non-traditional chancellor with a shoot-from-the-hip style
By Kathy Witkowsky Las Vegas Every weekday morning before he goes to breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel, Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor James E. Rogers stops by his private auto museum, where he keeps his collection of 275 classic and antique cars. Rogers doesn't actually drive any of the vehicles, which are worth an estimated $15 million. An unpretentious man who prefers suspenders to ties, and short sleeves to suitcoats, his regular vehicle of choice is a 2005 Chevy pickup truck. But he likes to admire the cars' graceful lines and to talk shop with the museum supervisor who oversees the purchases and the 13 employees who restore the vehicles. "It's good to have hobbies," said the 68-year-old Rogers, who prefers to be called Jim. Rogers, who made his fortune as owner, chairman and CEO of Sunbelt Communications Company, which owns 16 television stations in five western states, has plenty of hobbies: In addition to his collection of antique cars, he has amassed substantial collections of western art, saddles, and original movie posters. Rogers is such a huge film fan-he's especially fond of westerns-that he founded a film museum in Lone Pine, California.   Jim Rogers, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, takes pride in his collection of 275 classic and antique automobiles. (Photo by Axel Koester for CrossTalk)   Rogers' interest in those things, though, pales in comparison to his passion for higher education. Trained as an accountant and a lawyer (he earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Arizona and a master of laws from the University of Southern California), he is a vigorous supporter of higher education. (continue)
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