Author Archives: gronkep

Reed Students Forecast the 2018 Midterm Election: GOP Will Lose 30 seats

Seventy-eight Reed College students have made a forecast of the outcome of the 2018 midterm congressional elections, and their forecast is for a Democratic takeover of the House, with an average predicted seat change of -30 for the GOP.  Reed … finish reading Reed Students Forecast the 2018 Midterm Election: GOP Will Lose 30 seats

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Selected Multimedia about LBJ

Johnson was not a natural speaker, and biographers report that he was always embarrassed by his Southern drawl, certain that he was not being taken seriously. The years as vice president were especially difficult in this regard; how could a … finish reading Selected Multimedia about LBJ

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LBJ, Austin, and the Hill Country of Texas

I am leading a Reed alumni trip, along with Michael Teskey, to the Hill Country of Texas to look at wildflowers and try to understand one of the most fascinating and complex figures of America’s 20th century, Lyndon Baines Johnson. … finish reading LBJ, Austin, and the Hill Country of Texas

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Untying the Electoral Knot: Reimagining the States with Equal Populations

Hat tip to Nathan Yau’s Flowing Data blog, the map reimagines the 50 states with equal populations.  It’s a cool geographic systems application and a nice way to reflect upon the biases in our Electoral College system.

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It’s good to be rich and pay state taxes. And it sucks to be poor.

If you want a quick summary how the American political and economic system is so skewed toward the wealthy, contrast these two reports. First, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy issued a report on the most regressive (Washington state!) … finish reading It’s good to be rich and pay state taxes. And it sucks to be poor.

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MOOCs for remedial education

The NY Times continues its blanket coverage of the MOOC phenomenon with a story in today’s business page: “California to give web courses a big trial.” The interesting subtext in the story is that use of the MOOCs by San … finish reading MOOCs for remedial education

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Legal protection to the middle finger

I am a dinosaur.  I still read the print edition of the NY Times.  Of course, it helps that the academic M-F rate for the print edition–delivered to my door daily at 3 am–is less than the monthly cost of … finish reading Legal protection to the middle finger

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Generational Effects and Reed’s Academic Leadership

  Nigel Nicholson’s appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Reed College got me to thinking: how many of Reed’s academic leaders have had school age children and a working spouse? The answer, I think, is that Nicholson is the … finish reading Generational Effects and Reed’s Academic Leadership

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How the fiscal cliff threatens higher ed research and our economic future

Two recent stories highlight how the fiscal cliff threatens the nation’s long run economic future. An article by Michael McRobbie, the president of Indiana University, in the Chronicle of Higher Ed focuses on the short and mid-term effects.  If sequestration … finish reading How the fiscal cliff threatens higher ed research and our economic future

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On Elections in Non-Democratic Regimes

My thesis student is starting her second semester, writing a thesis on why elections are so frequent in non-democratic, autocratic regimes. While the following information may make her feel like her thesis has already been written, that’s never the case! … finish reading On Elections in Non-Democratic Regimes

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