Higher education

The debate over the Amazon tax seemed to put e-commerce giants on one side of a bright line, and brick and mortar businesses on the other. But the fact is that the distinctions between real and virtual businesses aren't so clearly defined.

Manufacturing might seem to you and me to be the ultimate brick and mortar business. It's an industry where you make things you can drop on your toe in a building you can walk into. Not so, says David Drake.

"All the commerce I do is done electronically."

Middletown Police are investigating an attempted sexual assault at a fraternity on the Wesleyan University campus. A lawsuit is pending over a 2010 rape at the same fraternity.

About a week ago, Middletown Police responded to a call at the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Beta Theta Pi at Wesleyan. Police say an individual was allegedly assaulted, but was able to fend off the attacker and flee during an attempted sexual assault. The name and sex of the victim have not been released and its not clear if it was a Wesleyan student. 

Middletown Police are investigating an attempted sexual assault at a fraternity on the Wesleyan University campus. A lawsuit is pending over a 2010 rape at the same fraternity.

About a week ago, Middletown Police responded to a call at the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Beta Theta Pi at Wesleyan. Police say an individual was allegedly assaulted, but was able to fend off the attacker and flee during an attempted sexual assault. The name and sex of the victim have not been released and its not clear if it was a Wesleyan student. 

Don't get me wrong. I like watching college sports, but I wonder what it is we're watching. 

Don't get me wrong. I like watching college sports, but I wonder what it is we're watching. 

Conventional career wisdom dictates that kids choose a solid profession where jobs are plentiful and paychecks are large. But certainty doesn't appeal to everyone. WNPR’s Sujata Srinivasan meets some young people who instead, are following their dreams.

“Dance has the ability to take you places that being, you know an accountant or working a retail job just couldn’t take you.”

Tonight the Frozen Four gets underway in Pittsburgh. The Frozen Four is the college hockey equivalent of the Final Four. This year, two of the teams in the men's Frozen Four are from Connecticut: Yale University, whose last appearance in the Frozen Four goes all the way back to 1952, and the number one ranked team going into the Frozen Four, Quinnipiac University.

Last week, we talked about what can be done to get students ready to work - and then get into a job. But here’s something holding them back:

About two-thirds of students entering community colleges and 20 percent of those entering state universities are placed in remedial and developmental math and English courses.

While President Obama pushed for stronger gun control Monday at the University of Hartford, students and guests who heard him speak at the Chase Family Arena had mixed views about his chances for success.

We talk a lot about cities and urban planning on Where We Live - the way cities work, fit together, breathe and function.

But when it gets right down to it, I’m viewing the city structure from my “liberal arts” background - not using math to “crunch the numbers” about what makes a city.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama issued a challenge:

"To grow our middle class, our citizens must have access to the education and training that today’s jobs require. But we also have to make sure that America remains a place where everyone who’s willing to work hard has the chance to get ahead."

Goodwin College in East Hartford has become the first in the Northeast to offer a new manufacturing certification course. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Goodwin College has more than 3,000 students, and according to its president, Mark Scheinberg, a simple mission.

“We differentiate ourselves insofar as we want to make sure that everything that students are getting will lead to some career when they finish.”

Goodwin College in East Hartford has become the first in the Northeast to offer a new manufacturing certification course. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Goodwin College has more than 3,000 students, and according to its president, Mark Scheinberg, a simple mission.

“We differentiate ourselves insofar as we want to make sure that everything that students are getting will lead to some career when they finish.”

It's an unusual time to be the president of a state university in Connecticut.

The Malloy administration has been trying to overhaul the system of state colleges and universities, the legislature is trying to reign in spending by the Board of Regents which oversees that system. A tuition increase is going into effect, which has drawn protests from students and even some faculty, who feel that the University of Connecticut is getting preferential treatment to the State Universities and Community colleges.

Every year, I say March Madness cannot get any more elaborate, and every year, I am wrong. This year, for example, the sports site Deadspin provides a meta-bracket, which allows you to click on games and see the outcome predicted by Nate Silver, Barack Obama, and five actual basketball experts - And yes, I listed Nate Silver first intentionally.

“I'm unapologetic for our success because I know at the root of our success is a deep love for children. We come to win at everything we do. you can get on our team or you can be on the other team, I prefer winning, I'll stay with us.” These words, were spoken by educator Dr. Steve Perry in this exclusive CPBN Media Lab (I)NTERVIEW.

New Britain, CT - President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney met on October 3rd for the first of their three debates. The CPBN Media Lab Interns went out to Central Connecticut State University the next day to speak with students about the debate.

It’s high drama this past week at the state Board of Regents for Higher Education. President Robert Kennedy is being pressured to step down after he mistakenly authorized twenty-one executive pay raises without board approval, and he also took a leave this summer for “professional development” -- that he spent at his home in Minnesota. We’ll get to the bottom of it all with Connecticut Mirror reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and state Senator Beth Bye. 

** UPDATE: Robert Kennedy resigned Friday morning.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was in Connecticut Friday, bringing a two-fold message to the state’s community colleges. She promoted the $12 million the administration has invested in new programs here, but as a prominent Latina, she also spoke about the importance of training the Latino workforce. 

President Obama has made it part of his regular education speech that the best path to the middle-class is through a college education.

And the numbers bear it out. Getting a college degree brings higher earnings over a lifetime. Today, those with a bachelor’s degree earned 84% more money over a lifetime than those with a high school diploma.

Congressman Joe Courtney has sponsored a bill that could help veterans who are in school or planning to enroll using the Post 9-11 GI bill. The legislation would change how education funding is classified from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.