Posts by Bill Lyne

The function of tuition at state universities is straightforward.  As state appropriations decline, the burden of the cost of education is shifted to students and tuition goes up. As tuition goes up, people with less money have a harder time going to college, which is antithetical to the mission of a public university.   Despite…

Poor people have always fought rich people’s wars.  And the rich folks have always said thanks in one way or another.  Yesterday our airwaves were jammed with Veterans Day ceremonies, speeches, and heartfelt thirty-second thank yous to veterans from multimillionaire quarterbacks.  Applebee’s let veterans eat free for a day. This gratitude used to take a…

Times are tough everywhere.  People are losing their jobs and losing their homes.  And now comes the news that Disney will be refunding millions of dollars to everyone who bought all those educational Baby Einstein videos because it turns out they weren’t, well, educational. And Disney is not the only mega-corporation that has fallen on…