From the ivied halls, these notes: (1) Evidently following Yale's lead, Harvard is studying its curriculum for the first time in 30 years, and likely will decide to move away from liberal arts and Western civilization. (2) Princeton's faculty has voted 2-1 to cut the number of A's it awards from 45 percent (the percentage of all grades awarded from 1997 through 2002) to 35 percent. Yale, apparently, doesn't believe it awards too many A's; Harvard, agreeing with Princeton, does. Some trace grade inflation to the Vietnam era, when many profs - in the words of a Washington Post reporter - "were reluctant to give grades that would lead to their students flunking out and becoming eligible for the draft."
While many governors are recommending tax increases to address state budget problems, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger is not. Having promised not to raise taxes to meet California's $17-billion deficit, he has just submitted a $99-billion 2004-2005 budget based on spending cuts and $2 billion in borrowing. Any tax increase, he says, would be "the final nail" in California's coffin.
Ah, the dismaying secrets of too many pols. Remember Neil Goldschmidt - former mayor of Portland, Oregon, and former Secretary of Transportation (to Jimmy Carter)? A news report puts it this way: "While mayor in the mid-1970s, Goldschmidt 'had sex on many occasions with a 14-year-old girl' - to whom he paid $250,000 in hush money."
John Kerry blames George Bush for everything, of course - including, most recently, higher petroleum prices - and never mind Kerry's own votes against energy independence and opening now-closed areas to petroleum production. So it will be instructive to note Kerry's take on a decision now faced by his ideological buddy Ted Turner.
Turner owns the 588,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico. With natural gas prices rising, El Paso Corp. wants to tap the estimated $2.5 billion of gas it owns beneath Turner's vast spread. But El Paso cannot drill without Turner's permission. Will Turner go with ego or the nation's energy needs - and how will Kerry spin it? Stay tuned.