Save the Date and Spread the Word: Public Good U Is Coming!

Imagine an institution that meets the ideals of public higher education:  call it Public Good U.  What does this institution look like, who does it serve, how is it funded and governed, and what service does it return to the community?

SAVE THE DATE!

Public Good U: Strengthening the Case for Public Higher Education

February 7-9, 2025

Albany, New York

Join us for a groundbreaking national conference exploring the vital role of public higher education as a public good in the 21st century. This timely event will bring together educators, academic administrators, policy makers, and business leaders to address the challenges and opportunities facing public higher education institutions, students, faculty, and staff.

Conference Highlights:

- Welcome Remarks: SUNY Chancellor John B. King and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

- Keynote Conversation: Davarian Baldwin (Author, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower) and Sara Goldrick-Rab (Author, Paying the Price and Reinventing Financial Aid), facilitated by Cathy Davidson (Author, The New Education and co-author, The New College Classroom)

- Panel Discussion: state university system heads from across the nation on current issues in public higher education, facilitated by Chancellors King and Matos Rodríguez

- Closing Address: the view from the New York State capitol on the value of public higher education

Conference Tracks:

1. Democracy in America: Educating Citizens Equitably

2. The New College-Educated Workforce

3. Research for the Public Good: Creativity, Innovation, and Impact for the 21st Century

4. Reimagining Town/Gown Relations: Community Building, Civic Engagement, and Economic Development

5. Perennial Issues in Urban Public Higher Education: Lessons From the Past, Tools for the Future

6. What Should the State Provide? New Public Good U Foundations and Funding Models

Organized by:

SUNY University Faculty Senate, SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges, SUNY System Administration, and CUNY University Faculty Senate

Full conference details, including a call for papers and registration information, coming soon at http://www.suny.edu/PublicU. Mark your calendars for this essential event in shaping the future of public higher education!

LPGA LOTTE Championship Wednesday and Thursday: Best and Worst of Times in Hawaii

There's a Dickensian feel to the LPGA LOTTE Championship this year.  With the winds up Wednesday and down Thursday, most of the field were able to improve their scores in a big way.  Leader Angela Stanford exemplifies one such extreme.  She struggled her way to a 3-birdie, 3-bogey 72 in the 1st round, then exploded in the 2nd with 5 birdies in a row on the front and 3 on the back to post the low round of the week and move to -8.  But Stanford's 8-shot improvement--which put her 1-up on a resurgent Michelle Wie (70-67) and 2-up on Inbee Park (70-68), So Yeon Ryu (68-70), Cristie Kerr (72-66), and Hyo Joo Kim (68-70)--was not even close to the biggest of the week.

That belonged to Jimin Kang, who bounced back from an opening 80 that was lowlighted by a walkoff double with a 2nd-round 65 that was highlighted by a 5-hole birdie train to begin her day.  Others who made heroic efforts to make the cut, which fell at +4, included Jaye Marie Green (80-68), Amelia Lewis (77-66), Pernilla Lindberg (78-69), Seon Hwa Lee (78-70), and Ryann O'Toole (77-69).

Given the scale of the bouncebacks most in the field engineered yesterday, those who moved backwards have to feel even worse.  Ai Miyazato continued to hit the ball solidly and putt terribly (27 greens in regulation, 67 putts, 3 birdies in 36 holes), missing the cut at a tournament she won 2 years ago and finished in the top 10 in last year.  Anna Nordqvist made 4 birdies late on the front to claw her way back to +1, but then she doubled 10 and bogeyed 14 to put herself right near the cut line.  How did the 2-time winner this season respond?  By finishing birdie-double-quad to end up with a 44 on the back and a +9 total for the week.  Heck, even those who improved a great deal, like Jeong Jang (78-71), Paz Echeverria (78-71), Sei Young Kim (77-72), Belen Mozo (77-72), Jane Rah (77-72), and Perrine Delacour (77-72), came up just short of making it into the weekend.  Others who will be taking their troubles to the beach include such big names as Mika Miyazato, Hee Kyung Seo, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Lorie Kane, Pat Hurst, Karen Stupples, and Laura Diaz.

Back towards the top of the leaderboard, the volatility of the 1st 2 rounds means that players like Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak (68-71), global young guns Ha Na Jang (70-69) and Harukyo Nomura (73-67), and even those who made more modest improvements like Morgan Pressel (73-69), Chella Choi (74-68), Caroline Hedwall (75-68), and Gerina Piller (75-68) are by no means out of this one.  I was also pleased to see Tiffany Joh move on up to -3, disappointed that Ayako Uehara backed up her 7-birdie 69 Wednesday with a 1-birdie 74 Thursday, and glad to see my old golfing buddy Moira Dunn hang on to make the cut on the number.

Let's face it:  golf can be a cruel game to try to make your living at.  The key is to give yourself a shot at playing another day.  You never know when you're going to go low.  Can't wait to see who does it on the LPGA's Friday moving day today!

The Golf Gods, They Are Jealous Gods

I'm telling you, it seems like every time The Constructivist Family is about to take one of our patented road trips/pilgrimages to the site of a major international skating competition lately, my body betrays me.  This past spring, an awful stomach bug had me doubled over in pain and dazed for most of the World Figure Skating Championships.  And now this morning, I tweaked my back at the gym so bad that I had to shamble/shuffle/limp/grimace my way through the last day of work before the start of our fall break, which The Full Metal Archivist, onechan, imoto and I will be enjoying in scenic Detroit while we occupy Skate America.

All I can say is, thank you very much, golf gods.  It's not enough that you torment me on the course and deploy the Mostly Harmless jinx against my favorite golfers--no, now you also have to go and punish me for following Daisuke Takahashi and Mao Asada and the rest of the skaters there for a few days!  I get it:  the way the Skate America schedule works out, I'll probably be able to watch only the final round of this week's LPGA/KLPGA tournament, and probably only part of it at that--and that's only if the hotel we switch to on Sunday has Golf Channel.  So I guess I deserve this lower back pain and stiffness by some sick, twisted logic--you know, the kind you golf gods specialize in.

But hear this, o ye golf gods:  we splurged for all-access tickets and, by gum, we shall use them!  We're cutting through Canada early tomorrow morning and plan to be in the Joe Louis Arena by noon!  It's not like I've broken my back like American skater Max Aaron did a few years ago....

Japan Women's Open Saturday: Moving Backwards Day

You know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when Mika Miyazato made 4 bogeys--twice as many as she had made in the previous 2 days--and had to settle for a 73 to drop to -3 for the week.

No, wait, you know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when Mika Miyazato bogeyed 2 of her last 4 holes and went +2 over her last 7 holes on moving day and extended her lead to 5 shots.

No, no, wait, you know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when only one golfer, Erika Kikuchi, made up ground on Mika Miyazato--and she did it by firing an even-par 72 to stay at +2.

No, no, wait, wait, you know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when Shiho Oyama, who made 6 birdies yesterday, made 6 bogeys yesterday, including 3 in her last 4 holes, to fall to +4, yet didn't fall out of the top 10.

No, no, no, wait, wait, you know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when living legend Yuri Fudoh, who's won 50 times on tour and earned well north of a billion yen in her career, shot an 81 today.

No, no, no, wait, wait, wait, you know conditions were tough on the 3rd day of the Japan Women's Open when the top living Japanese female golfer on the planet, Ai Miyazato, shot a birdieless 80.

I'll stop there, but you get the picture, right?

Aaargh--I just can't do it!  Shiho Toyonaga got a hole in one and still shot a 77.  Tomoko Kusukabe got on a 6-hole bogey train on her way to 80-ville.  Yukari Baba got off one stop earlier, but still found herself in 80-ville at the end of the day.  Ayako Uehara finished bogey-bogey-bogey-double to secure her 80.  And the list goes on!

So who besides Kikuchi is in position to benefit if Mikan falls prey tomorrow to the big-time troubles that have plagued the rest of the field?  Ji-Yai Shin, Bo-Mee Lee, Soo-Yun Kang, and Asako Fujimoto are "only" 6 shots behind her, Miki Saiki joined Oyama 7 back, Sakura Yokomine, Teresa Lu, and Harukyo Nomura are 8 off the pace, and Rikako Morita, Sun-Ju Ahn, Na-Ri Lee, and Mihoko Iseri managed to stay within single digits of Miyazato.

A lot depends on which Mikan will show up tomorrow.  Will it be the Mikan who gave up a 5-shot lead in 2009 or the Mikan who went wire-to-wire in 2010?  Will it be the Mikan who jumped out to the lead in 2011 but finished 79-81 on the weekend?  Or will it be the Mikan who put together a final-round 71 last year but just couldn't chase Shanshan Feng down?