AKA Review– October 21, 2022

From The New York Times:
The Award is About So Much More than Money and Secrecy
By Tressie McMillan Cottom
Interest in the MacArthur fellowship generally focuses on the money ($800,000 over five years) and the secret selection process for fellows. A former MacArthur fellow herself, Dr. McMillan-Cottom emphasizes that more than money, the award confers institutional recognition, and "money and legitimacy are rare gifts to those who not born into them." She observes that the Foundation looks widely for people who think about the world in divergent ways, and "when you select for that kind of meaningful diversity, you don’t choose geniuses. You grow them." Read this article

From Wall Street Journal:
Higher Education Can Rediscover Its Purpose
By Allen C. Guelzo and Scott L. Wyatt
The authors argue that colleges and universities are becoming more reliant on selling their brand rather than investing in and focusing on providing an education. To counter this, they suggest that accreditors should evaluate individual programs rather than institutions as a whole, schools should provide education year-round to enable students to graduate early, and the process of transferring between institutions should be simplified to allow students to maintain credits earned. Read this article

From Brookings:
The Causes and Consequences of Graduate School Debt
By Katherine Meyer
Graduate students face different challenges repaying educational loans than do their undergraduate counterparts: increased living expenses, having children or other dependents to support, and fewer institutional subsidies available. While students with graduate degrees to tend to earn more after graduation, they are still sidled with more debt, making them less likely to pursue public service careers and to delay homeownership. Read this article

From NPR:
'Water Batteries' Could Store Solar and Wind Power for When It's Needed
By Dan Charles
Increased interest in renewable energy has highlighted the problem of storage—how to save solar or wind power and use it later after sunset or when there is a dead calm. "Water batteries," which use solar power to pump water from a large lake to a much higher reservoir, are one solution. After sundown, falling water returning to the San Vicente reservoir in San Diego County, CA drives turbines, generating electricity capable of providing power to 130,000 typical homes for eight hours. Read this article

From Times Higher Education:
World University Rankings 2023: Results Announced
By Rosa Ellis
The 2023 World University Rankings reveal the United States’ slowly eroding position and China’s quick climb. While the U.S. and the U.K. still dominate the top ten, China’s consistent investment in higher education and research and development over the past 20 years is increasingly apparent in the ranking results: the U.S. has 34 institutions in the top 100, down from 38 last year and 41 five years ago, while China has grown to seven this year from six last year and three five years ago. Read this article