As icons of bureaucracy go, 110 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, was among the most powerful in the country. The labyrinthine building housed the New York City Board of Education for so long that the address itself became synonymous with cronyism and entrenched interests. So when the state granted the mayor direct control over New York...
Monthly Archives: October 2006
No contest for Democrats in Ohio’s 6th?
A poll released today says that the seat vacated by Democrat Ted Strickland in Ohio is likely to remain in Democratic hands come November 8. Charlie Wilson holds a commanding 64 percent to 32 percent lead over Republican Chuck Blasdel, according to a poll from SurveyUSA.
Essay, Essay, Burning Bright
Last week, I mentioned some of the essay topics that college admissions officers say they are sick of reading. It was a hot topic of discussion at the annual convention of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors earlier this month.
Revolution!
The Hungarian uprising 50 years later; how it changed the Cold War
The Hungarian Revolution: North Korea Takes Its Cue
It is a strange quirk of history that the effects of the Hungarian revolt continue to be felt today not in Budapest but in North Korea. In a new paper, published by the Smithsonian’s Cold War International History Project, historian James Person reveals how the events in Budapest in 1956 helped make North Korea...
The Hungarian Revolution: Spy Games
The Hungarian revolution of 1956 was a source of intense curiosity for western intelligence services, which felt that they had failed to anticipate the outbreak of violence in Budapest. Bill Hardy was recruited into the CIA while a student at Princeton University. By the time the revolt broke out, he was working in the...
A Federal Fix for Higher Ed?
Colleges get failing grades on access, costs, and accountability in a new report