Column

by The City Wire staff -

The protest thing

President Barack Obama garnered nearly 60% of the vote in last month’s Democratic primary — enough to place first place, of course, but enough to embarrass too. A Tennessee lawyer…

by The City Wire staff -

The mission thing

A month or so ago, I mentioned to a friend and colleague that we needed to plan the direction of our firm over the next couple of years. He responded…

by The City Wire staff -

NASA must think bigger

On Thursday, a space capsule known as the Dragon touched down in the Pacific Ocean. After launching into orbit May 22, the capsule had performed a series of complicated maneuvers,…

by The City Wire staff -

This can’t be BS

Many metro areas around the country have what was once referred to as a “good suits” club — a collection of well-resourced business decision makers able to build or sustain…

by The City Wire staff -

Realtors and severance taxes

If proponents of a higher severance tax gather enough signatures, that measure may be presented to Arkansas voters on the November background. The severance tax proposal, if approved, will raise…

by The City Wire staff -

College crackup and the online future

In the coming decade, emerging technologies will thoroughly transform higher education. Although distance learning and computer-assisted education have been around since the 1960s, financial pressures are forcing institutions to develop…

by The City Wire staff -

The college cave

Excessive specialization has created a culture of expertise that has distorted higher education and had a negative impact on faculty members, students and the broader society. While global transportation, communications…

by The City Wire staff -

Competition is killing higher education

Competition, we are constantly told, encourages individuals, institutions and companies to take the risks necessary for innovation and efficiency. But in higher education, competition often discourages risk taking, leads to…

by The City Wire staff -

Early disqualification

In light of bullying allegations against presumptive GOP Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney when he was a high school student, I feel it necessary to come clean before being outed by…

by The City Wire staff -

Maybe Coburn?

Beyond the colorful pageantry implicit in even the most ambitious of presidential campaigns, reality says the presumptive party nominee who challenges a sitting commander-in-chief holds little control over the outcome,…

by The City Wire staff -

Job polarization solutions

The worsening crisis in Europe and the slow recovery in the U.S. are distracting attention from a longer-term problem. Across the developed world, well-paid jobs in the middle of the…

by The City Wire staff -

Work values

Work is a worthwhile endeavor. Hard work is what made the United States of America the world’s greatest economic power. By hard work, I don’t mean just brute force. It’s…

by The City Wire staff -

Governor’s race shift

It was already going to be a crowded field. The 2014 Democratic primary for Governor — which offers much more political intrigue than many match-ups in the 2012 cycle —…

by The City Wire staff -

Documents don’t justify transit tax

The people who want to increase the Washington County sales tax for an excessive expansion of public transit view the Northwest Arkansas Transit Development Plan (TDP) as their justification. I…

by Michael Tilley -

A fortunate son

A lot has changed in Mom’s world. The world in 1949, the year of her birth, was a crazy place. Europe was rebuilding its continental economy, the Soviets were rattling…

by The City Wire staff -

It’s Time to Fix Fannie and Freddie

Followers of the American housing catastrophe were greeted with encouraging news this week. Fannie Mae, the government-owned mortgage-finance company, reported a $2.7 billion first-quarter profit. For the first time since…

by The City Wire staff -

The issue of gay marriage

“I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the…

by The City Wire staff -

Regional solutions

Be thankful. It’s a thought that was on my mind as I rode public transportation all the way from Fayetteville to Bentonville and back one recent afternoon. I was aboard…

by The City Wire staff -

Community courage

Six months ago, I first became aware of how prevalent child sexual abuse was throughout the United States and in our community.  Learning that 1 in 5 children are sexually…

by The City Wire staff -

Obama’s miss on Afghanistan

Perhaps the biggest surprise of President Barack Obama’s appearance in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday (May 1) wasn’t the trip itself, but his use of the occasion to make a head-scratching…