An interesting article about the problematic relationship between cheap student loans and student performance...
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/05/cheaper_student_loansa_bad_idea_whose_time_has_come.html 

I'll actually discuss this topic and have my students read a book about it in my Fall 2012 class at the University of Missouri.
http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/05/how_academics_concocted_a_new_middle_class.html 

One of the best speeches... ever

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061137286 


At my high school graduation, Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech was the commencement speaker. What he told us was similar--"You haven't done anything yet. You're simply at the start..." Of course, that made little sense to the hundreds of students who thought that going to parties, being popular, working a job, and having a car was "something." Dr. Cech's speech validated what my Asian-American upbringing had stressed--that it's ok to start at the bottom; it's ok to try harder; it's ok to assume you don't know everything..