Tag: University of Virginia
-
The Dangerous Online Education Craze
By Peter Galuszka Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell sure seems to love lobbyists. When it came time select someone to be co-chairman of a “summit” on education in August, he chose James W. Dyke Jr., a former state secretary of education who is now a registered lobbyist for the big-time online, for-profit companies as The…
-
The Desperate Need for Financial Regulation
By Peter Galuszka Regulation is the perpetual bug-a-boo among Baconauts, Boomergeddons and Blowhards of many ilk. Drop back to 2008 when our economy nearly crashed and the banking system all but collapsed. These folk will blame Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for giving out home mortgages to unqualified “under class” types. They conveniently forget that…
-
Richmond’s Buses To Nowhere
By Peter Galuszka Inner city issues seem to be a trend this week on the blog so here are a few more points about the so-called “under-class” as some define lower income, under privileged people. The locus is Richmond, the state capital that despite its pretensions is actually a working class town with plenty of…
-
Virginia’s Slipping “Best To Do Business” Rating
—
by
in Business and Economy, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Old Dominion politicians and economic boosters love to tout the state’s typically high ranking in various surveys of the “best states to do business.” But the latest such ranking, by CNBC, shows Virginia dropping from first place to third. One reason is roads. “Infrastructure – specifically the state’s perpetually clogged highways –…
-
In Praise of Tar Heels
By Peter Galuszka Virginia is my state of choice although I am hardly a Virginian and have long had a hate-love affair with the Old Dominion. It is a beautiful state and well located, but there can be a certain problem with some of the people, especially in the capital area, who may think a…
-
Hotter Than. . .
By Peter Galuszka …The Fourth of July. Sorry that I have to spell it out, but there are a number of climate change deniers at this blog, including the Big Blogger himself, so it may be necessary to make things simple. In case, you haven’t noticed, this Independence Day marks a period of some extreme…
-
Health Care’s Big Victory
Posted on behalf of Peter Galuszka, who is out of town today. — JAB The U.S. Supreme Court’s surprising and wise decision backing the vast majority of the Affordable Care Act is a major victory for ordinary Virginians, tens of thousands of whom up to now don’t have or can’t afford health insurance. The victory…
-
Remake Boards of Visitors Now
By Peter Galuszka An early summer calm has settled on the “The Lawn” at the University of Virginia following 16 days of pointless controversy that damaged the school’s reputation and raised serious questions about how Mr. Jefferson’s school should be run. The most important issues wafting up from the now-quiet battleground are not really whether…
-
“Helen Dragas Gets It”
This just in from Charlottesville: Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, was reinstated after a unanimous vote of the Board of Visitors, including that of Rector Helen Dragas. The Daily Progress reported that the board also voted unanimously to support Dragas. This is a happy ending to an unusual and unnecessary chapter in…
-
BOV Day Reality Check
By Peter Galuszka In today’s run up to the decision on the future of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, two printed items are of merit. Reading them sets the stage for the moment when we know if Rector Helen Dragas “gets it” or not, in the words of another blogger. One is an Associated…
-
Finally, Good News on Immigration
By Peter Galuszka Long-simmering immigration issues are starting to bubble over now that the U.S. Supreme Court has given a partial victory in opposing Arizona’s racist law. The ruling follows a bold action by President Barack Obama to allow law-abiding young people who happen to be undocumented aliens to stay in this country. The court…
-
U.Va.’s Strange Greenwich Connection
By Peter Galuszka Although momentum grows to reinstate Teresa Sullivan, the embattled president of the University of Virginia, there are still some strange threads left hanging. One of the most curious involves the role of two Wahoo grads that are big deal hedge fund managers and live in tony Greenwich, Ct., the Gatsby town for…
-
Reinstate Sullivan Now
By Peter Galuszka The best way the University of Virginia can get out of its surrealistic nightmare is to ask Rector Helen Dragas to resign and reinstate President Teresa Sullivan. It is possible to do so, provided Dragas is gone and the board votes again on Sullivan’s future by June 27. From the start, the…
-
Online Degrees: The Rodney Monroe Case
By Peter Galuszka The tragedy of Teresa Sullivan at the University of Virginia has brought forward a number of arguments critical to the future of higher education. Some have merit; others do not. One of the squishier topics being pushed is that somehow Internet classwork is the future of colleges. It is being touted as…
-
A Tale of Two Speeches
By Peter Galuszka Call it a Tale of Two Speeches. One was a clear and resounding defense of one of America’s most prized possessions: its university system. The other was Corporate-Speak – a kind of muddle of platitudes and lofty thoughts with little point that is so common among chief executive officers and company presidents…