Education Commons^™

Despite Changes, College’S Role Remains The Same., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In these times of continuous change and challenges

to higher education, it is not a bad idea to ponder

whether or not its fundamental mission has changed.

Most people accept that the main mission of colleges

and universities is the transmission of knowledge.

Whether that knowledge is used to learn

skills, get a better job, or simply for advancement of

intellectual growth, that is and has always been the

mission of higher education.

Declining Financial Support Drives Students Away., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Cutting taxes in order to spur economic development

is an idea still making its way around

the political landscape. It doesn’t seem to matter

how many times “trickle down” economics has

been debunked not only by economists, but also

by history, it seems to linger. Yet, this is part of

an ideology that is considered as gospel by many

politicians.

Of course the idea has one superficial appeal

and one superficial appeal only. It promises to

cut taxes, even if the ones who benefit the most

from such policies are the ones who need them

the least.

Extreme Poverty Affects Many College Students., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the most painful realities of higher education in the 21st century – and one that gets very little attention – is the fact that some college students live in extreme poverty, oftentimes sleeping in libraries, cars, or temporarily with friends. Despite the extreme conditions under which they live, or in many cases because of them, these students still seek the education and training needed to be able to get a job and move out of poverty. Some colleges and universities are taking steps to help.

Slavery, Racism Still Cast Shadow On Colleges., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Study Abroad Scholarships A Good Use Of Taxes., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

There is little doubt that an international experience

is one of the most life-changing events for a college student.

That is what one hears from students when they

return, particularly from those who have never even

been abroad in their lives. Cost is usually mentioned

as the major barrier for Americans to have such an

experience. And this barrier can be particularly high for

minority and first-generation college students.

Yet, there is a little known but very successful federal

program known as The Benjamin A. Gilman International

Scholarship Program that serves to help U.S. college students

interested in going abroad.

Scandals Are Threatening Higher Education., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Among the unfortunate curses affecting the

image of higher education are the scandals taking

place with unrelenting regularity. Whether

they have to do with athletics, sexual assaults,

murders, cheating, hazing, or corruption, the

media are echoing those scandals, sometimes

in excruciating detail. In some cases, like the

“Sandusky affair” that made headlines for

months and tarnished the reputation of Penn

State University and its renowned football coach

Joe Paterno, these scandals have a lasting effect

on public opinion.

We in academia have always been worried

about the effect of these scandals on an issue

very important to colleges and universities …

America’S Law Schools Need To Be Reformed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Increasing costs, decreasing enrollments and doubts about its practical value has placed legal education in the U.S. under a controversial light. Until the mid-19th century legal training was essentially technical in nature. During that time many lawyers – like Abraham Lincoln – could afford to study the law by themselves without even attending any law school. By passing the bar exam, they were admitted into the legal profession.

After the Civil War legal education started to change. In 1870 a lawyer named Christopher Langdell was named dean of the Harvard Law School. During his 25 years at the helm of …

Affirmative Action In Higher Ed Sustained With Caveats., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The term affirmative action was first used in an executive order by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The motivation was to favor members of a disadvantaged group that historically suffered from discrimination due to oppression of any kind. This concept has been employed in many spheres and one of those has been to promote diversity in higher education on the basis that many universities have effectively discriminated against admitting and/or promoting minorities. Two weeks ago the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision on affirmative action that originated in higher education. The 4-to-3 decision reaffirmed the University of Texas’s admission …

Review: Posner, Richard A. Divergent Paths: The Academy And The Judiciary. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Legal education in the United States has been controversial in the last few years

due to its cost, decreasing enrollments, and doubts about its practical value. Until

the mid-nineteenth century legal training was essentially technical in nature. At

that time many lawyers—like Abraham Lincoln—could afford to study the law by

themselves without even attending law school and then, by passing the bar exam,

were admitted in the legal profession.

Review: The New Celebrity Scientists. Out Of The Lab And Into The Limelight. Fahy, Declan. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last couple of decades, we have seen the widespread ascendancy of the

phenomenon of celebrity in society. Celebrities as a cultural manifestation are not

necessarily something new. We saw that notion in the twentieth century being

exploited by Hollywood through their “star system” as well as by sports teams

hungry to increase their revenues. Now that phenomenon has expanded into areas

that we would not have imagined decades ago, and one of them is in the field of

science. With the advent of social media and the relaxation of social views

regarding stereotypes, we have seen the rise …

Not All Are Created Equal: An Analysis Of The Environmental Programs/Departments In U.S. Institutions Of Higher Education From 1900 Until March 2014., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Environmental academic programs in U.S. institutions of higher education have traditionally lacked definition of their nature and unifying principles. In order to ascertain how these programs are presently constituted in U.S. institutions of higher education, we surveyed 1050 environmental programs/departments between November 2013 and March of 2014. The states with the highest number of those programs/departments were New York (100), Pennsylvania (92), California (76), Ohio (56), Massachusetts (54), while those with the lowest numbers are Oklahoma, and Utah (4), Delaware (3), Arkansas, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Wyoming (2), North Dakota (1), and Idaho (0). However, when the state population is …

Distance Education More Expensive Than Thought., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Cost is one of the big issues facing higher education.

Diminishing government funding has spiraled

the expense of attending public colleges and

universities, which, in turn, has increased the debt

burden on students to more than a trillion dollars.

Facing this issue has become a national concern

for many politicians. State legislators and governors,

as well as executives of some for-profit

education companies, have been pushing distance

education (mostly in the form of on-line courses)

as the solution.