German Higher Education
Berlin -- Last week The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a big article about plagiarism by holders of German doctorates and suggested that German universities no longer represent the gold standard of...
View ArticleQuotations
Berlin -- On my way through the main HU building I saw carved in stone this reminder of the past, which I first saw when the university was still under the DDR:Die Philosophen haben die Welt nur...
View ArticleEast German Academic Degrees
Berlin -- What with all the recent interest in German academic degrees, I have to recount an old story from the days of German re-unification. My family and I were traveling on Germany's Baltic Coast...
View ArticleSuperb Reporting at Bloomberg
Washington -- With this new article on a shady but widespread college financial aid practice, Janet Lorin at Bloomberg News has established herself as one of the nation's leading higher education...
View ArticleVirgil Oberg
Lincoln -- In Lincoln for the funeral of my cousin, Virgil Oberg, I should tell a couple of stories about Virgil that warrant remembering. Because our fathers were brothers who farmed near each other,...
View Article"Big Jim Exon", Part 1
Lincoln -- This is going to take more than one post.Chuck Pallesen and Sam Van Pelt have pulled off a great book, Big Jim Exon. A lot of people, Democrats and Republicans alike, have opened up about...
View ArticleGood News about Dana College
Lincoln -- Midland University in Fremont, according to newspaper reports, is about to take over the campus of defunct Dana College in Blair. If this happens, it will be a wonderful development for...
View Article"Big Jim Exon", Part II
Lincoln -- It is enlightening to read the interviews of Jim Exon's Republican adversaries in Chuck Pallesen and Sam Van Pelt's new book, Big Jim Exon. Among others, former governors Norbert Tiemann,...
View ArticleUSS Arlington
Washington -- The new USS Arlington (LPD-24) has been commissioned in Norfolk; its captain is a Nebraskan from Rushville (Old Jules country) of all places.I had an invitation to attend the...
View ArticleThree Strikes for AAU
Lincoln -- The Association of American Universities has struck out with me. The first strike came in 1999, when the AAU joined with several other higher education associations in putting their own...
View ArticleGood News for Research Integrity
Washington -- This week three prominent researchers admitted errors in their economics research papers. Andrew Gillen of Education Sector withdrew his paper on faculty work levels and college costs;...
View Article"Paul's Case"
Washington -- The world premier of "Paul's Case", an opera based on Willa Cather's short story of the same name, took place this week across the river at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, Virginia. We think...
View ArticleNebraska Hall of Fame, Part II: Edith Schwartz Clements
Lincoln -- Last year I nominated scientist Edith Schwartz Clements and her husband, Frederic Clements, for the Nebraska Hall of Fame. It was foretold that they could not be selected, because the Hall...
View Article"Undermining Pell" Indeed
Washington -- The Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation has published an accurate, unblinking look at the sorry state of the country's student financial aid efforts. In "Undermining...
View ArticleSettlement with Kentucky (KHESLC)
Washington -- As a matter of public policy, too many pre-trial settlements in cases of civil fraud are a bad idea. At least some of the cases should go to trial to let the public see what the alleged...
View ArticleArnold Heights or Weaver Heights?
Lincoln -- The City of Lincoln should change the name of Arnold Heights to Weaver Heights. The suburb has long since (almost five decades ago) lost its connection to Lincoln Air Force Base, which named...
View ArticleUSS Rainier (AE-5)
Washington -- Recently I had dinner with an old shipmate from the USS Rainier, John Lutz. We had not seen or communicated with each other in about forty-five years. But memories came flooding back...
View ArticleOn Whistleblowing
Washington -- I am frequently asked about my experience as a whistleblower; all the more often with the case of Edward Snowden in the news. Because I am still in court, on behalf of the United States,...
View ArticleNU and Wyuka Cemetery
Lincoln -- Wyuka Cemetery in the middle of Lincoln is the final resting place of several notable people associated closely with the University of Nebraska. Their gravesites are worth a visit to...
View ArticleAn "Unspeakably Strange" Investigation
Washington -- "Unspeakably strange" was the way one college president described a recent anti-trust letter from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the college's efforts to bring about student aid...
View Article
