Note from the Editor

Phil Brocato
Ed.D. student, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California

Whether your Spring Break was spent lounging on the beach in Acapulco or catching up on unfinished business, the time has come to refocus your thoughts on academics. As you settle back into the routine of going to class, we hope that you will find this month’s issue interesting and insightful. Special thanks to Arthur Kingsland for his technical expertise; without him, our April issue would not be possible. As always, I would like to thank everyone involved with Extra. We need essays for our May issue! Please take the time to pass along our "call for papers" to your classmates and colleagues.

This month, our publications include different aspects of education, literary criticism and an explanation of "praxis." First, Dr. Linda Serra Hagedorn argues that a united posture between community colleges and community businesses makes logical, financial and altruistic sense. Literally to the right of Dr. Hagedorn’s paper, Rick Sheridan’s column is about aptitude testing, one of the ways for anyone to learn about their natural talents and abilities. Next, Karen Kim writes about race sensitive admissions policies, which are often debated in newspaper headlines and public forums as educational reform. In light of reform, Rachel Madsen claims that the corruption by coaches and administrators and academic ineligibility of many athletes have led people to wonder whether the amateur status of Division I athletes is still appropriate. From a more theoretical perspective, Kigan Chang says that in a state such as mainland China legitimates its own sovereignty by projecting a utopian fiction onto reality. Additionally, Ruth Blandon uses Jane Tompkin’s criticism of the scholarly tradition to explore a male-dominated literary paradigm. Alex Minichino, in a reflective essay, explains what it is like to change majors three times as an undergraduate. Joelle K. Jay brings education full circle by illustrating the experience of a middle-and high-school English teacher. Finally, Michael Pickett answers the question: Praxis?

Extra authors have produced, in this and last month’s issue, superb work! If quality issues as such are to become a constant, we must continue to promote and solicit submissions from our classmates and colleagues. See you all next month!

Cheers!
Phil

Academic Exchange Extra invites reader responses to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.

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