HIGHER EDUCATION'S NEW HAVEN INCLUSION CASE?

The parallels between the crack-up of higher education and what went wrong with Big Steel during the 1980s and the railroads in the 1960s continue to accumulate.  In the wake of Evergreen State College having a failed presidential search, get this.  "Evergreen State should show "openness to perhaps even a merger with another institution of higher education," David Nicandri said at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees Monday. The trustee is also concerned about its accreditation, which was reaffirmed two years ago."  One of the conditions the Interstate Commerce Commission imposed on the Penn Central merger was that the failing New Haven Railroad be included.  "How you combine two large weak railroads and hope to have a railroad strong enough to salvage an even weaker small railroad ... well, there's a research topic that will still intrigue ferroequinologists fifty years hence."