What We're Reading

Classes Are Presidents' Privilege
Philadelphia Inquirer
""I never want to leave it," Steve Emerson, president of Haverford College, said of the classroom. "The reason one comes to run a college or a university is because one believes in the mission of the place and the best way to do that is to stay in touch with it." Emerson, who has a medical degree and a doctorate in cell biology and immunology, teaches a class in stem-cell biology and opened one of the nation's first undergraduate stem-cell biology labs at Haverford last year. He holds class in his living room, which has a movie projector and a screen that rolls down from the ceiling. John Strassburger, president of Ursinus College, has made a conscious decision not to teach - out of deep respect for the profession. "When I did try teaching, I found myself too often in the awkward situation of telling a student who wanted to stay and talk after class that I really had to run to an appointment instead," Strassburger said."

Swarthmore President To Join Abu Dhabi Campus
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Alfred H. Bloom, the president of Swarthmore College, will become vice chancellor of New York University's new campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, college officials announced yesterday. Bloom, who announced in May that he was leaving Swarthmore after 17 years at the helm, will serve as a consultant on the project while he finishes out his term as Swarthmore's president and begin his new duties no later than August 2009."

Former Mustang Starts on Dickinson Offensive Line
Hanover Evening Sun
"Corwyn Gordon wasn't expecting to be part of one of the Centennial Conference's most potent football offenses. At least not right away. "Honestly, I felt like I was going to have to learn the system because I had no idea what was going on the first couple of weeks," he said. But there was Gordon on Saturday standing on the field at Scott S. Bair Stadium in Westminster, Md., after starting at left guard for Dickinson College."

Brothers With Prostate Cancer
WPVI-TV 6, Philadelphia
"Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in the U.S., second to skin cancer. The chances of surviving are good though, if you catch it early. That's why two local brothers are sharing their story. Ray and Terry McGowan, of Phoenixville, have very different jobs. Ray keeps supplies moving at Paoli hospital. Terry coaches the nationally-ranked Ursinus College women's softball team. But this June, they both heard the same thing after a routine doctor's visit."