Written with Mary Hanneman
University departments – disciplinary ones in particular – have lately become targets of criticism, with some scholars claiming that “academic departments create more barriers than benefit.” Departments are said to divide people, curb innovative thinking and research, lead to over-specialization, and encourage rote coursework. Disciplines, some argue, “tend to focus only on a set of trees within a great forest,” and fail to integrate the range of skills students need for tackling real world problems. One IHE op-ed called departments “disciplinary trenches [that] hold us back.” Meanwhile, a movement for the creation of interdisciplinary departments grows.
As long-standing faculty members of a very large and non-departmentalized interdisciplinary school, a model many might be tempted to emulate, we question the functionality and benefit of large and wide-ranging academic units. In practice, these Continue reading
On January 26, the Washington State Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether to uphold the state’s new 7% tax on stock profits larger than $250,000. Foremost, the Court should let the tax stand because it is constitutional. But the tax will also allow Washington’s small towns, especially those that are struggling, to see outsized benefits as it will help fund the new child care services that so many of our state’s rural communities desperately need.
Washington state’s upside-down tax system, the most regressive in the nation, is back in the news. Last year the legislature took an important step toward balancing Washington’s tax code by passing a capital gains tax on the extraordinary profits extremely wealthy people make by trading stocks, bonds, and other lucrative assets. Forty-one states, including the other West Coast states, have a capital gains tax. And while capital gains taxes in general only impact high-income people who buy and sell assets, the tax in Washington is especially narrow and will be paid by only the wealthiest individuals in our state.
We all know the massive toll that COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout have taken on us all. But at long last, we are starting to see hopeful signs of better days ahead – increased vaccinations, restrictions lifted, and plans for kids to return to school. So now – right now – is when Washington state needs to invest in proven strategies that will ensure our state’s long-term health and economic recovery.
The coronavirus is not just a health disaster, but an economic one as well. There are, of course, the steep declines in income and consumption we are experiencing. But in addition, the economic tumble has translated into reduced state revenue and a gaping budget deficit.
Since Covid-19’s arrival, prejudice and fear may be spreading more rapidly than the virus itself. As healthcare workers around the world bravely toil against Covid-19, we must pitch in to combat this disturbing side effect.
This fall the U.S. Census Bureau brought good news when it informed us that the nation’s poverty rate had fallen from 13.2 to 12.7 percent.
recently argued