higher education

Evans: More secrecy unwise in schools’ hiring decisions

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Iowa’s three state universities made a U-turn this summer, and they now are headed down the road toward secrecy with some hiring decisions. The about-face should trouble taxpayers of this state. It also should bother members of the Legislature, who have expressed concern in recent years that the universities are out of touch with the people of Iowa. First, some background about this change:

For many years, the universities have followed affirmative action hiring practices. These are intended to ensure a diverse array of qualified candidates is considered when jobs are filled in the administrative ranks, on the faculty, and for professional and scientific positions.

opinion

Evans: Our Founders Wanted the Press to Shine Its Spotlight

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Fifty-three years ago, I was a high school kid in southern Iowa who knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life: I wanted to be a journalist. The first step on that journey occurred when I walked into the offices of the Bloomfield Democrat and introduced myself to Gary Spurgeon. 

He was the editor. But Gary ended up being my “professor” at the Spurgeon School of Journalism. Working for him my final two years of high school and during vacations when I was in college, I learned lessons from Professor Spurgeon that I am now preaching to others a half century later. 

Gary was motivated by a higher purpose as a newspaper editor and publisher. He believed a newspaper is much more than merely a business.

Verne Marshall

Cedar Rapids Editor And His Reports From Hell

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“I am hating war and the conditions which make it possible more as each day goes by, and I hated it strongly before I even left America.” Cedar Rapids Gazette editor Verne Marshall was writing from the front lines of France in 1916.

Business & Consumer Affairs

Colleges Target Working Students Looking to Advance Careers

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Casie Sparks is one of many Mount Mercy University students working toward a college degree. However, the 35-year-old is employed full time as a client relationship development consultant at AEGON in Cedar Rapids.
She is among a wave of non-traditional students that Eastern Iowa colleges have been targeting for training recently.

Business & Consumer Affairs

Iowa Businesses Seek Slice of Same-Sex Wedding Profits

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The controversial politics surrounding same-sex marriage this election year confront Iowa businesses with a predicament international chains such as IKEA, Calvin Klein and Viacom encountered when incorporating messages for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in marketing campaigns. The dilemma – how to appeal to one type of consumer without alienating another.