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June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review April 18, 2006 / 20 Nissan 5766

Fairness and the Future

By Mort Zuckerman

Mort Zuckerman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | America's franchise on the future is endangered. We have triumphed because we are a democracy of free enterprise but also one that seeks to maintain equal opportunity. We do this out of a sense of justice and a pragmatic recognition that the realization of innate talents benefits the whole community. Higher education has been the key. We have had a love affair with it and have seen it open the door to the masses through a combination of philanthropy and state support. Today, however, sadly, that door is beginning to close.


Federal money and support, obviously, have been critical to the success of our higher-education system. The land-grant colleges were established in 1862 by an act of Congress sponsored by Justin Smith Morrill and expanded in 1890. They gave us our prowess in engineering and agriculture long before European colleges even acknowledged engineering as a profession. The GI Bill of 1944 allowed unparalleled access to college, 2 million veterans catapulting us into the great boom years of the 1950s. Add private philanthropy — exceeding $25 billion last year alone — that gave us universities like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, and Duke. Throw in state government subsidies for universities and community colleges, and you have a system of higher education that is the envy of the world, over 4,000 colleges and universities, with an investment per student that is twice the European average.


The trajectory of progress is now under threat, however. Government in the broadest sense is turning off the spigot. Many states are reducing their aid to students. And in many states fewer are enrolling. Two years ago, the National Report Card on Higher Education gave failing grades on affordability to 36 states.


Rich and poor. The gap between the cost and ability to pay grows every year. Tuition costs have been rising at double-digit rates for the past three years, for a cumulative increase of 33 percent — triple the rate of the consumer price index. Over the past two decades, college tuition has increased by almost 300 percent, 15 times as much as clothing, almost four times as much as food, and 50 percent more than medical care. Forty years ago, it took two months of typical family income to pay for a year's tuition; today, it takes roughly six months.


The cuts in government subsidies that once allowed public colleges to keep tuitions low mean that middle-income citizens must either saddle themselves with a load of debt or scale back their college aspirations. Result: College life in America is being segregated not by race but by income. Since 1988, the share of students going to a four-year college, by socioeconomic quartile, is 64 percent from the highest-income quartile compared with 14 percent from the lowest. In the top-income quartile, 46 percent of 24-year-olds earn a bachelor's degree, compared with just 8 percent of those from the bottom-income quartile. Surprised? How could it be otherwise when it takes just 11 percent of family income to pay for college for the highest-income quartile, compared with 45 percent for the lowest-income quartile? The disparity is even worse at our most selective universities, where those chosen from the lowest socioeconomic quartile represent just 3 percent of the students, compared with 74 percent from the top quartile.


A decade ago, just 14 percent of freshmen came from families that earned more than $100,000 a year; today, the number is 32 percent — and not all of that can be attributed to inflation.


The terms of financial aid have widened the gap between the elite and the less fortunate because loans, not grants, now make up almost 50 percent of tuition payments. And more and more aid is tied not to need but to merit. This means that those who get the best start in life get even more help than those who get the worst.


The squeeze is really on for middle-class kids. Harvard recently raised the qualifying floor for a free education to families that earn $60,000 a year. Will the middle class be priced out of the Ivy League? Are Ivy League schools once again to become the preserve for the rich and the subsidized poor?


Even worse, we are widening the gap further, given that education is the key to personal prosperity. A College Board survey shows that graduates with bachelor's degrees can expect to earn 70 percent more than a high school graduate over a lifetime; those with master's degrees can expect to earn twice as much; and those with professional degrees can expect to earn nearly 3 1/2 times as much.


There is no excuse for the failure of government at all levels to support public colleges so that every academically qualified student, regardless of income, can go to a college or university. If we fail to ensure that this is so, we will undermine an essential pillar of our democracy, just as we have done by allowing the decline of our inner-city schools. We must not allow our universities to become bastions of privilege, rather than instruments of social mobility.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mort Zuckerman is editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News and World Report. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

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