Lord of the Ring?

Many university professors would quite willing forgo Tolkein's magical ring for a successful finale to their quest for the equally elusive one of tenure. In his two-part series in Inside Higher Ed, Jacob Vigdor, a professor of public policy and economics at Duke University, offers some advice on "How To Earn Tenure." Hopefully, it may help your mission to be Lord of the Ring. Part 1  Part 2

Angelica's Journal/Angelica's Journey

"On top of it all, I'm stressing out over what school is going to believe enough in me to accept me. I'm afraid that if I don't get into a great school, the word will never hear Angelica Herrara," the aspiring writer wrote in her journal ― a practice she'd begun at age 10. Thanks to it, in part, I don't believe that will be the case. "I pray somebody hears the honesty I am proclaiming in my words," she added. To which I say, amen. "If nobody listens, nobody hears the voices of the might be greats," our world will be impoverished far more than this working-class girl with a dream. From Journals to Journalism: Tracing the Trajectory of Literate Development

The New English Empire

Till about 40, Lenovo's CEO Yang Yuanqing spoke hardly any English, but when he bought IBM's personal computer division in 2005, he immersed himself in the language. This week, he was in São Paulo for a board meeting. Like all the proceedings, save a press conference for Chinese media, it was conducted in English. Lenovo is not alone in the switch to the emerging language gold standard in business, as The Economist reports.