Thomas Friedman is well-known for his book, The World is Flat.  His 2008 work, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – And How it Can Renew America, is insightful and provocative.  If the global economy and U.S. election were not the two biggest topics in the media, I am certain that Friedman’s latest book would receive more coverage in the press.  Hot, Flat, and Crowded is about the need for a Green Revolution.  More than 400 pages in length, it is not a light read.  If you don’t have time to read a book of this length, seriously consider the CD or MP3 version.  If that’s not an option, borrow the book and read the first and last chapters.

Sometime ago, I wrote about the President’s Climate Commitment initiative.  I stated that I thought it was the right thing to do even though I wasn’t sure that carbon neutrality was achievable in the near term.  Friedman’s premise is that reducing our carbon footprint is the right thing to do for our children and that waiting twenty or thirty more years to start conservation efforts will be too late.

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Dr. Russell Kitchner is Director of Regulatory and Governmental Relations at American Public University System.  I asked him if he would provide a guest blog article on the changing environment of state regulations of distance education programs.

Whenever I contemplate the overarching purpose for investing in higher education, I recall Thomas Carlyle’s proposition to the effect that we should “Let each become all that he was created capable of being.”  I consider this to be one of the guiding principles at the core of higher education as it has evolved in America, and given that ideal, I believe that the critical issue facing American higher education and the individual states is affordable access to quality higher education. For those of us who work toward that end, our responsibility is not to provide everyone with the same context in which to fulfill that objective; it is only to extend an equal opportunity by which everyone may do so.

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This past summer, American Public University System established a chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society.  The Society was founded in 1977 with the intention of recognizing high-achieving students from around the world and across all academic disciplines for their academic excellence.  Offering membership to only the top fifteen percent of college and university sophomores, juniors, seniors, and grad students, an invitation to become a member of Golden Key is a laudable distinction.

Since its inception some three decades ago, Golden Key now has close to 400 chapters worldwide containing some 1.8 million members and more than 8,000 honorary members including former U.S. President Ronald Reagan; Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Reverend Desmond M. Tutu; and, Nobel Laureate and author, Elie Wiesel.  

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