Excerpt from Miller-McCune:
Tim Kasser wants to be happy. If you live in America, odds are, so do you.
There’s a crucial difference between you and Kasser, though. After two decades of poring over and contributing to academic research on what makes people happy or unhappy, anxious or depressed, Kasser can predict what’s likely to keep him content and what isn’t. He makes life choices based on those studies; he thinks if you did the same, you might end up happier. And he thinks it’s time the government helps you get happy.
The research tells Kasser that Americans are cash-wealthy, time-poor and not as happy as they could be. So he teaches two-thirds time at Knox College, where he’s been a psychology professor since 1995, devoting the extra nonteaching hours to research, writing, personal projects and time with his wife and two sons. The studies say a sense of community is important to well-being, so he works at this tiny college bordering the small, western-Illinois town of Galesburg, where he knows people he passes on the street and where, when you have a new baby, staff and faculty deliver food to your house for the next two weeks. The literature suggests that living simply will probably increase his feelings of contentment. So he lives on a farm eight miles from the school, raising goats, growing fruit and vegetables and taking long hikes in the woods.
Excerpt from Forbes:
The biggest surprises come in our list of liberal arts colleges. Wabash doesn’t make the top 50 on U.S. News’ list but ranks tenth with CCAP because of the awards its students won and its showing in Who’s Who. Several other schools not high on the U.S. News list, including Whitman, Washington & Lee, Barnard and the U.S. Military Academy (a.k.a. West Point), are in our top 10. A number of excellent smaller liberal arts colleges do poorly on the U.S. News list but fare very well on the CCAP list, including Reed (twelfth) and Knox (sixteenth). Like other consumers, students want satisfaction and results, which is what CCAP measures.
Excerpt from the Register-Mail:
A new college ranking published by Forbes magazine to “evaluate colleges on results” places Knox College 16th in the nation among more than 200 liberal arts colleges.
The ranking is based on graduation rates, career success by graduates, and what students think of their professors. The ranking was developed by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a research organization in Washington, D.C.
“We are pleased that both Knox students and Knox alumni are successful — students in class and as they work with faculty on research and creative endeavors, and alumni as they flourish in their lives and careers after college,” said Paul Steenis, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission.
Forbes’ feature on college rankings: www.forbes.com/opinions/forbes/2008/0519/030.html
Forbes’ liberal arts college rankings: www.forbes.com/opinions/forbes/2008/0519/030_3.html
Excerpt from the Register-Mail:
At this time last year, those organizing Knox College’s 2007 Commencement had to consult one other entity when making plans: the Secret Service.
With former President Bill Clinton as the commencement speaker, security was tight surrounding his address. Secret Service agents worked with Knox security and the Galesburg Police Department.
This year, as the college readies for former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, preparations are a little more relaxed. She will speak at the June 7 ceremony.
“I don’t anticipate security to be as tight as it was last year,” said Karrie Heartlein, director of public relations at Knox. “That was an unusual year.”
