World Travel

They're here!! Our international students are arriving. Alexandre is from Brazil and Ka Ho Cheung ("call me Kenneth") is from Hong Kong. Nine months is now beginning to seem like a long time. There will definitely be no vacation and food costs get doubled. There will be a lack of privacy and I'll have to be more sociable than I'm normally used to. The payoff is that we'll be learning about two new places, picking up some foreign language, my children will have begun building their international network at a very early age, and we can have at least a couple of people out in the world with an even more positive impression of Americans and America.

Counter Terrorism

James Fallows makes the argument that the United States should declare victory in the"War on Terror." He says that this wouldn't change the new reality facing us but that it would allow us to change our focus away from paranoia and knee jerk spending on security. Without a strong liberal arts education and an emphasis on leadership, our "victory" will be short-lived. Our schools need to prepare young people to direct their own personal growth throughout their lives; they need to prepare them to be active participants in a democracy; they need to prepare them for the world of work. Even if all students do not go to college, it needs to make them college-ready. There need to be a focus on leadership - few entities outside the military do a good job of training for this. There needs to be an affirmation and desire for physical and mental toughness.

"The best education for the best is the best education for all."