Notes in the Margins: Experts, overconfidence and caving in

Rent-an-Expert The business "Expert Insight" allows you to buy personal advice from a Nobel Prize-winning economist or a poker champion. The idea makes more sense, and is more democratic, than you might think. You have probably already paid outrageous sums of money to attend a college or graduate school where the putative point is access to some of these very same minds. Yet at a university, you're subject to a set curriculum, limited to the available professors, and have to share their time with all the other students. Trade groups and corporations also pay such experts enormous sums to advise and speak. Individuals cannot ordinarily do that. (Slate)

With Biddy Martin’s Exit, UW-Madison Seeks New Leader At Critical Time Despite a turbulent chapter in UW-Madison’s recent history, there will still be plenty of interest from qualified applicants seeking to replace Chancellor Biddy Martin, experts say. But any candidate may have serious questions about the state’s commitment to higher education and the stability of the political environment, said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education. (Wisconsin State Journal via University Business)

Business Schools Embrace China Western schools are capitalizing on Chinese demand for well-trained managers. And their China programs are also paying dividends at home. (Wall Street Journal)

FEELING 'ABOVE AVERAGE': More college freshmen confident, if not overconfident Among academics who track the behavior of young adults and teens, there's a touchy debate: Should the word "entitled" be used when talking about today's younger people? Are they overconfident in themselves? (Associated Press via Grand Forks Herald)

Obama Administration 'Caved In' On Rules Regulating For-Profit Colleges, Insiders Say Those familiar with the deliberations say the industry successfully convinced the Obama administration to soften the rules by sowing fears that a stricter approach would prompt Congress -- also the target of intense lobbying -- to step in and revoke the regulations altogether. (The Huffington Post)

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