Published in the January 24, 2014 Santa Maria Times. “History,” said Henry Ford, “is more or less bunk.” Fortunately, Henry Ford was an industrialist, not an educator. But knowledge of history is the basis upon which today’s decisions are made. Our educational system, locally and nationally, needs to spend more time teaching the important lessons […]

Published in the December 27, 2013 Santa Maria Times. A comment overheard recently — made only partly in jest — asserted that an application for a part-time, or adjunct, faculty position in U.S. higher education today should be accompanied by an application for food stamps. In other words, adjunct faculty can expect to be poor. […]

We held our Fall Membership Meeting—the first one in our new office—on November 7. Everyone had a nice time, but what stands out most is how many times someone said, “You should do this more often!” An excellent suggestion. We need to have more opportunities for our members to just spend time with one another. […]

I was asked to be a panelist at a CFT sponsored event on Oct. 31 at UCSB that dealt with the issues of contingent labor in higher education. The other two panelists were Katia McClain, a lecturer in Slavic languages at UCSB, and Randy Rightmire, who teaches at both UCSB and Santa Barbara City College. […]

Read Mark Miller’s article Writing,Thinking: A critical connection in the September 27, 2013 Santa Maria Times that discusses why good writing is the reflection of a mind well-equipped for thinking, decision making and problem solving.