Free Highlights

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Legislation that affects higher education awaits action in Congress as a holiday weekend and nominating conventions turn attention elsewhere. David R. Obey (above), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and other Democrats are pressing for greater spending increases than President Bush. (Photograph by Win McNamee, Getty Images, Newscom)

Selected Articles (For Chronicle Subscribers)

NO REMEDY? Three new studies of the effects of remedial programs suggest that they have little long-term influence on students' success.

BAD NEWS: The economy in many states is weakening, and the overall state-budget outlook for the next several years is gloomy.

2 YEARS ARE BETTER: Illinoisans are more likely to have positive perceptions of their local community colleges than of four-year institutions statewide, a survey finds.

PRIVATE EYES: Adjunct faculty members at Nassau Community College recently hired private investigators to quiz two members of the New York college's Board of Trustees.

GREEN GRANTS: Eight colleges have been awarded U.S. Green Building Council grants for programs that teach about sustainable construction.

Community-College Supplement

DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS: Two competing visions of education help explain the tension between jobs and ideas that all community colleges grapple with, writes M. Garrett Bauman.

NEW MATH: Some colleges are trying new ways to move students more quickly and smoothly through remedial math.

CAMPUS TREASURE: Instructors at City College of San Francisco make the college's Diego Rivera mural an everyday part of the curriculum.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: In rural areas, arts programs at colleges provide a rich diet for culture-starved residents.

12 TEACHING TIPS: Community-college instructors offer ideas for the classroom.

GOOD CITIZENSHIP: Most community-college leaders give little thought to the role their colleges play in their communities, George B. Vaughan says.

NONTRADITIONAL LEARNERS: Colleges are not keeping up with changes in the way adults pursue their education, says Charlene R. Nunley.

SCARCE INFORMATION: Students need to know much more about how to transfer to four-year institutions, Stephen J. Handel writes.

BOILING POINT: Bob Blaisdell reflects on the day he lost it in front of his students.

A SPECIAL ROLE: Rural community colleges are meeting the needs of a changing and increasingly diverse population, Stephen G. Katsinas says.

INFLUENCE OVERSEAS: Community colleges can play an important role in fostering world peace, writes David J. Smith.

CLASSROOM OBSESSIONS: Charlotte Laws says that too many instructors emphasize grades and attendance, to the detriment of creativity and responsibility.

CHALLENGES OF POVERTY: Kathleen Sheerin DeVore says it is her job to help students complete their assignments amid the chaos of their lives.

ATTENTION BILLIONAIRES: Big donors should consider giving to community colleges if they really want to help the nation's students, writes Catherine Stukel.