Education as economic investment

June 21, 2026

College is many things to many people. It may be the next logical step after high school. It may be a career change. What we often focus on is the financial weight of it. College comes with an increasingly high price tag that can mean years, if not decades, of student loan debt. But there is something else to consider: the return on that investment. Not for the students. For the state. Pennsylvania is noted for its place on the high end of tuition costs. The Education Data Initiative puts the state at third highest in-state public tuition, tied with New Jersey, behind only Vermont ...

College grades should mean something

June 21, 2026

I have taught at George Washington University for 35 years, and I always read the anonymous reviews we get from students. This spring, one student wrote that the course I offer in feature writing ­— really storytelling — was the “hardest and the best” class they’d taken in college. I thought about that student when Harvard, my alma mater, recently adopted a major overhaul of its grading system, limiting A’s to 20% of each class. The superior students, emphasizes the new policy, the ones who embrace the challenge of high expectations and standards, should be ...

Time for merit immigration

June 21, 2026

Swiss voters went to the polls last Sunday and resoundingly rejected capping the country’s rapidly growing population at 10 million by limiting immigration. Congratulations to the Swiss for staging a national conversation over immigration -— something the United States urgently needs to do. The Swiss have seen their population soar by more than 25% since 2000. The newcomers are for the most part workers from neighboring European countries, not migrants from the Middle East or Africa. Even so, the right-leaning Swiss People’s Party pushed for immigration restrictions, arguing ...

Heat wave bakes parts of Europe

June 21, 2026

PARIS (AP) — France endured sizzling temperatures on Sunday, with trains, concerts and sports events canceled and authorities cracking down on drinking alcohol in public, as an exceptional heat wave unfurled across parts of Europe. Multiple drownings were reported as people sought relief ...

Trump says arrests made in Reflecting Pool ‘vandalism’

June 21, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that federal authorities had made “multiple arrests” of people he said were vandalizing the Reflecting Pool as he struggled to explain why the $14-million-plus rehabilitation project he launched for the nation’s 250th anniversary seemingly backfired. Trump said his predecessors had let the pool turn an algae-stained green and that he’d line it with “American flag blue” so it better reflected the Washington Monument. But after the new pool was unveiled, its blue tinge quickly became a familiar green. Workers ...

Horoscope: Friday, June 19

June 19, 2026

You handle intensity with composure. Aries (March 21-April 19) As schoolchildren released for recess know, it’s a pleasure to let off some uninhibited energy, especially when you’ve been cooped up in a highly structured environment. The cosmic school bell will ring for you today. Go claim your place on the playground. Taurus (April 20-May 20) You deal with stress better when you can spot the absurdity in a situation instead of getting stuck in irritation. Humor helps you stay loose when life gets weird. When you can laugh at the chaos a little, the inconveniences bounce off ...