Outlook: Rhetoric and Priorities
CURRENTS Article The writer, an employee of Syracuse University, argues that all higher education institutions need to go to the mat to make college more affordable and provide all students with an appropriately broad and deep liberal arts education that at the same time prepares them to take on the complex challenges of the world.

Talking Points: Finding the Way Forward
CURRENTS Article A report on the educational attainment of U.S. men of color sounds alarm about the need to address the barriers that keep some men from earning college degrees.

Gender Gap in Higher Ed Stabilizing in U.S., Canada
BriefCASE Article The gender gap in higher education has apparently stabilized for most groups in the United States, although it continues to grow among Hispanic students. That's according to a new study by the American Council on Education.

More U.S. Hispanic High School Grads Seek College
BriefCASE Article A recent Bloomberg article reports that more Hispanic high school graduates in the United States are planning to go to college.

The Pendulum Swings
CURRENTS Article For the past two decades, more women than men have been earning college degrees across the developed world. This gender gap in higher education continues to grow. What accounts for the difference in male-female achievement? And should we, as society, be worried?

Postcard from Toronto
CURRENTS Article As the city of Toronto, Ontario, deals with a new, diverse population, the University of Toronto looks to establish new advancement goals that will include this diasporic community.

Race-Conscious Admissions Policies Benefit Society, Not Just Individuals
CURRENTS Article Race-conscious admissions is a hot-button topic with strong feelings on both sides of the debate. This issue of CURRENTS includes discussions of each viewpoint. This article argues that taking race into consideration in admissions is necessary in the fight to erase racial inequality.

Favoritism in Admissions Does Not Serve a Greater Good
CURRENTS Article Race-conscious admissions is a hot-button topic with strong feelings on both sides of the debate. This issue of CURRENTS includes articles of each viewpoint. This article argues that taking race into consideration in admissions is harmful to all involved.

Advance Work: A Matter of Degrees
CURRENTS Article Women earned nearly 58 percent of all degrees in the 2002-2003 academic year, while men received slightly more than 42 percent, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

Closing Remarks: Unfinished Business
CURRENTS Article As the U.S. marks the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education, there is much heartfelt analysis of how far society has come in integrating public education institutions, yet many schools remain minimally integrated, at best. Some scholars note outright regression in the struggle to integrate public education--trends that certainly adversely affect higher education. Such resegregation perpetuates a deeply divided society that fails to develop the abilities of all citizens and places the nation at a competitive disadvantage globally. In 2004, achieving equality and inclusiveness requires all Americans to ensure that every child has equal access to a quality education regardless of color, economic status, or geo-political jurisdiction.

Talking Points: Supreme Confusion
CURRENTS Article A higher education attorney explains the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 rulings on the University of Michigan affimative action admissions programs. The much-anticipated rulings were expected to define the legality of affirmative action, but institution leaders remain uncertain about how to interpret the rulings and how they will affect race-conscious decision making in higher education admissions.

Handle with Care
CURRENTS Article Public relations officers often must take the lead in handling campus crises -- a job requiring many levels of negotiation, compromise, communication, and implementation. The article describes how five campuses are successfully managing these potentially explosive situations and keeping their institutional reputations intact. Examples include campus protests (Georgetown University), student demonstrations (Henry Ford Community College), alcohol abuse (Michigan State University), racial tension (University of Hartford), and sexual misconduct (University of Toronto). A sidebar provides seven crisis-planning tips.

Talking Points: Bakke to the Future
CURRENTS Article Some courts, and many voters, seek to end policies that support racial preferences, yet the federal government still enforces race-based remedies to make up for past discrimination. These seemingly conflicting directives have left institutions uncertain of the legal standing of their affirmative action programs. McDowell continues his discussion of affirmative action from the January 1999 issue by summarizing current court cases involving financial aid at Alabama State University, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, University of California at Berkeley, and Clemson University, as well as cases involving admissions at University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, and University of Georgia System.

What Are We Doing Wrong?
CURRENTS Article In an interview with CURRENTS staff, Chronicle of Higher Education managing editor Scott Jaschik describes how those who cover the education beat approach sensitive issues like campus crime, or tuition costs, why journalists may feel thwarted by campus administrators in trying to cover these stories, and how providing more information may be beneficial to educational institutions in presenting an accurate picture of these often difficult situations. Specific examples of the types of information the media may want on various issues are presented.