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David Splinter

NEWS 9/10/09 7:00pm

Even the world's poorest can afford good private education

By David Splinter

How can the world's poor educate themselves? The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey Into How The World's Poorest People Are Educating Themselves, a recent book by Newcastle University professor James Tooley, recounts how, on a trip to study elite schools in India, he stumbled upon private schools serving poor students in the slums of Hyderabad's Old City.The students' parents often paid $1-2 a month for private schooling. Bear in mind that many of the parents earn around only $25 a month.

NEWS 8/20/09 7:00pm

Minibus system can aid mass transit

By David Splinter

Standing on a street corner near the Pacific Ocean in Lima, Peru, I asked someone which bus could take me downtown. He pointed to a small 10-seater van pulling up behind us. A few of these minibuses would pass every minute and cost about a quarter.I'd seen them before, but never in such a system. And after using them to ride to and fro, I can honestly say that if there were minibuses in Houston and I had to wait less than a minute for one, I would probably sell my car.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Housing problem indicative of neglected graduate experience

By David Splinter

One of Rice's Vision for the Second Century goals is to improve graduate student programs by providing "attractive campus amenities that will contribute to a stronger sense of community among our graduate students." My recent ordeal with the new graduate apartments, in which contracts between students and the university were ignored, suggests that the university may need to put more energy into meeting this goal. For months, graduate students have been signing pre-leasing contracts for rooms in the Rice Graduate Apartments, which opened last weekend. These pre-leasing contracts state: "This agreement is between you, ____, the Resident, and Rice University . You agree to rent apartment number ____ that is assigned to you . If [you] cancel [my] reservation after June 1, 2008, [you] will forfeit [my] deposit of $350.00"

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