Landing a man on the moon was an astounding American success and a triumphant demonstration of American ingenuity and innovation. But the man on the moon analogy just doesn’t hold up when discussing our efforts to develop renewable, sustainable, and carbon-free sources of energy. 

For lots of reasons—including the burdensome regulatory environment that exists now but that didn’t exist in 1961—I doubt that we could accomplish the Apollo program today with the same expediency that the program enjoyed in the 1960’s. But beyond that, we must remember that the goal of the Apollo program was not to turn us all into the Jetsons by developing a safe, reliable, and affordable system of space travel for all Americans,  but instead to send one mission to the moon, at pretty much any cost, as long as we planted our flag before the Russians planted theirs. Doing something once is quite a different...

I had the stomach flu yesterday, which gave me the opportunity to watch a full day of Solicitor General Kagan’s confirmation hearings. She is a mighty impressive witness, composed at all times, with deep scholarly knowledge of the law, and a bit of wit that makes her not only very likable, but also seemingly very human.   Whether or not one likes her positions on the full range of issues, or whether you believe she will be activist or originalist in her interpretation of the Constitution, there is no doubt that she has what it takes to do the very important and difficult job for which she has been nominated. 

To be sure, the nominees put forward by the president of one party are always going to be challenged by Members of Congress in the other, and each president will nominate a person whose decisions are based on the law, but whose interpretations of the law will obviously be biased in...

Clearly there is a great deal of misinformation out there about the Federal student-loan program. It has led some to erroneously conclude that student loans are the new subprime mortgages. While such suggestions make for sensational headlines for some, and generate book sales for others, in reality, there are relatively few similarities between the two types of loans. I am not saying that the Federal student loan program is without its share of problems, but student loans and subprime mortgages differ in a number of important ways.

I’ll admit that there are two ways in which subprime mortgages are similar to student loans. The first is that both were created in order to achieve some larger public-policy goal that received almost unanimous bipartisan support over the past several decades. In the case of subprime mortgages, this practice supported the goal of increasing home ownership...

I read this morning in The New York Times that some schools, teachers, and even summer-camp counselors are working hard to disrupt best friend relationships and, instead, encourage youngsters to be part of big groups. Some schools and camps go so far that they intentionally break up best friends by, for example, assigning them to different classes, different sports teams, or even directly pairing them with another child who is seemingly lonely and without friends of his or her own. Sure, some best-friend relationships may be unhealthy and destructive, and I agree that school officials may need to intervene in those cases.  On the other hand, for the most part, I would encourage school officials to get back to the important job of teaching students how to read and write and allow the kids to work through the ups and downs of friendships, while encouraging parents to intervene if a...

As oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps instead of filling pages of newspapers and blogs with politically and geographically slanted commentary about whose fault it is, and whether or not President Obama is showing enough anger, we might be better served by expert reports that provide unbiased information to the American people about what energy alternatives exist that could reduce or eliminate our reliance on oil, what barriers lie in the way of full-scale transition to those energy sources, and what technological and economic challenges prevent us from getting there quickly. 

It is easy for advocacy groups and political candidates to promise reduced dependency on oil, as if political will or want is all it will take to make the transformation. It is not unusual for academic scientists to oversell us on the promises of the technology they seek federal funding to...

There were lots of parts of being a mother that I wasn't good at.  Some of these things were major things, and others were probably less significant in terms of guiding my children toward becoming the kind of good and compassionate people we had always hoped they would become.  Among these many failures was my inability to keep up with the baby books I so lovingly selected for each child.  I remember standing in  my favorite gift store at the Baltimore Museum of Art and selecting the perfect baby books while rubbing the belly that held one, and then the other, of these beautiful, blossoming beings. I promised myself that I would take the time to chronicle every tiny little detail of each son's life. 

It was on the eve of my oldest son's first birthday that I realized I was an utter failure as a mother for so many reasons, but in particular at that moment, for neglecting to keep my...

I read in today's Chronicle that the NCAA is now disallowing Division I bound high school athletes from  using  replacement credits earned through either the Bringham Young Independent Stdudy or American School's online programs. One would hope that it wasn't the Michael Oher story that prompted this decision. After all, I think the point of that movie was to inspire, not condemn. But since NCAA officials are being their typically tight-lipped selves about this decision,  one is  left to assume that the NCAA has decided that online instruction provides an easier way for a student to earn a better grade, and thus boost their eligibility for admission to a Division I school. Perhaps such is the case, but perhaps not. 

Perhaps online learning is a better modality for some students, since it affords them the opportunity to spend more time on topics with which they struggle, while allowing...

My father-in-law died last week.  He was a remarkable man in many ways, and as I have spent time over the last several days reflecting upon his life as an academic, I've realized that he symbolizes all that was once right about higher education—and, sadly, he reminds me of just how much is missing in higher education today.

On the surface, my father-in-law was nothing like my own father. My father was six-and-a-half feet tall, an auto mechanic, and a regular subscriber to a magazine called Varmint Hunter. My father-in-law was five-and-a-half feet tall (in shoes), a poet, and an academic. He did not read Varmint Hunter. Although our fathers never had much to say to each other, my husband and I used to smile when holidays and grandchildren forced them together, and we would find the two men sitting on the back deck, chain smoking, each talking to the dog, and through the dog, in some...

Yesterday's Chronicle reported on the action taken by Louisiana State University's dean of basic sciences, Kevin Carmen, to remove Dr. Dominique Homberger from the classroom at mid-semester when her mid-term grades showed that 60 percent of the students were failing and that no students had earned an A. Wow—this story raises all sorts of questions about the state of higher education in general, and in particular at LSU. 

As a former biology professor, I am not at all surprised by low test scores or high drop rates among students who are enrolled in what might be the first rigorous, fact-based course they have ever taken. We know that our K-12 schools do not adequately prepare students for college-level work, and especially college-level work in math and science, which means that we should not be surprised when the majority of those students struggle in an introductory biology course. ...

Any day now the high school in my home town will post on its billboard the number of "scholarship" dollars awarded to the Class of 2010.  This school has one of the highest proportions of students receiving free and reduced priced lunches in the region, which means that a high percentage of students are eligible for need-based financial aid.  I am glad that these kids will receive state, federal and institutional aid that will allow them to have a chance to go to college and realize their dreams. But we must stop the illusory practice of pretending that financial aid dollars and scholarship dollars are one and the same. Financial aid dollars are awarded based on need, which means that they are awarded based on what the student's parents have done. Scholarship dollars, on the other hand, are awarded based on merit, in other words honoring the sacrifices and accomplishments of the student. ...