mortgage - BingNews

Mike Pence used campaign funds to pay his mortgage — and it cost him an election
Mike Pence was a young lawyer on the rise, challenging a longtime Democratic congressman in a Republican-leaning Indiana district.
And then, scandal.
Campaign finance records from the 1990 effort showed that Pence, then 31, had been using political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his personal credit card bill, groceries, golf tournament fees and car payments for his wife.
The spending had not been illegal at the time. But it stunned voters — and undermined Pence’s strategy to portray the incumbent, Rep. Philip R. Sharp, as tainted by donations from special-interest political action committees.
“It was a brazen act of hypocrisy,” said Billy Linville, who was Sharp’s campaign manager. “It was a bombshell, for sure. . . . Without question, he may well have won the election if it had not been for that.”
Pence’s early stumble proved to be a defining moment, prompting a period of public remorse that helped create the wholesome image many Republicans now say makes him an ideal running mate to counterbalance the bombastic Donald Trump.
In the months after that 1990 defeat, Pence waged a statewide apology tour and disavowed negative campaigning. He told a local reporter that using campaign funds for personal expenses had been “an exercise in naivete.”
Pence’s 1990 race also led to key changes in campaign finance policies. Experts say that subsequent rules passed by the Federal Election Commission barring the use of campaign funds for personal needs were the direct result of ethics concerns raised by Pence’s actions.
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign spokesman, said that Pence had done nothing wrong in the 26-year-old episode and that the FEC had determined that he was “100 percent compliant with the law at that time.”
Pence first challenged Sharp in 1988, losing to the then-seven-term incumbent by more than six percentage points. Pence’s line of attack was narrow, mostly focused on the support Sharp received from PAC money.
But that campaign provided early hints that Pence was willing to go for the jugular. One Pence mailer depicted images of a razor blade, white powder and rolled-up cash, and declared: “There’s something Phil Sharp isn’t telling you about his record on drugs.” The brochure left readers hanging until a subsequent page: “It’s weak,” the ad read, using letters formed in powder.
The Washington Post obtained a copy of the brochure from Sharp’s archived papers at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
Two years later, Pence tried again, promising to focus on issues Indiana voters cared about and accusing his Democratic opponent of favoring big government. Pence wanted to win so badly that, according to a local newspaper report at the time, he kept a sign in his office that read “congressman in training.”
When news of Pence’s campaign spending broke, his opponent made the most of it. Linville, Sharp’s campaign manager, held a news conference, waved Pence’s campaign finance reports in the air and declared, “If you’re giving money to Mike Pence, you’re paying his mortgage.”
According to FEC documents, Pence spent a total of $12,867 from his 1990 campaign account for personal expenses, including seven installments of his $992 monthly mortgage and his wife’s $222 a month car payment.
Pence was unapologetic at the time, telling reporters that he had taken a 30 percent pay cut to run for office and needed the money. “I’m not embarrassed that I need to make a living,” he said.
“He doesn’t come from a wealthy family. He’s not gentry,” added Pence’s campaign director at the time.
In an interview, Sharp said that argument now makes some sense to him as a way to allow people of modest means to run for office. But, he said, at the time, voters were surprised by the uncommon practice. “This was using other people’s money that was supposed to go for the campaign and not your personal enrichment,” Sharp recalled.
With his election chances in doubt, Pence hit back hard at Sharp.
Phone banks supporting his candidacy used callers who posed as members of environmental groups, telling prospective voters that they had shifted their support from Sharp to Pence because the congressman was selling his family farm in Illinois to become a nuclear waste dump, according to news reports at the time.
Pence also ran a television ad in which a man dressed in stereotypical Arab robes and sunglasses and effecting a fake thick Mideast accent thanked Sharp for ensuring U.S. reliance on foreign oil. The ad drew protests from Arab American groups and was denounced by Indiana editorial boards.
Sharp recalled this week that the ad backfired on Pence, turning off independent voters who Pence would have needed to persuade to abandon the incumbent. “I think I generally was viewed as pretty vanilla, Midwestern,” Sharp recalled. “I think that was viewed as just over the top.”
Pence lost the race by 19 points.
The fallout from the campaign misfire lingered. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had filed a complaint during the campaign with the FEC over personal spending by Pence and three other Republicans who ran for office in 1990.
“These were important cases,” recalled Lawrence Noble, who served as general counsel to the FEC at the time. “They showed that a real problem existed and caused the commission to deal directly” with regulating the use of campaign funds for personal use.
Three weeks after the election, the FEC deadlocked in a 3-to-3 vote over whether to pursue the matter. But the debate led to a larger discussion of the issue of campaign funds and personal ex­penses.
The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains why Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) was the best vice presidential pick of the candidates Donald Trump was considering. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)
The commissioners had been guided by a legal analysis written by an FEC staff attorney saying that the rules prohibited incumbents but not challengers from using excess campaign funds for personal use. The Pence-friendly opinion was written by Lois Lerner, who years later became an official at the Internal Revenue Service, where she has faced persistent criticism from Republicans over her handling of the tax status of conservative groups.
The commissioners — three Democrats and three Republicans — voted unanimously to begin a process to rewrite rules to ban the personal use of campaign funds by all candidates.
“It was a landmark issue,” recalled Trevor Potter, who joined the commission in 1991 and helped shepherd in the new rules.
Miller, the Trump campaign spokesman, pointed to the FEC’s proceedings to underscore that Pence had done nothing wrong.
“The nonpartisan Office of General Counsel at the FEC reviewed them, and the complaints were dismissed,” Miller said.
Pence, who had incorporated his deep Christian faith into his campaign, also had to deal with the repercussions of his negative efforts, which had hurt his public image.
He offered advice for how would-be candidates could avoid the financial pinch that led him to tap campaign funds for personal expenses: “Don’t quit your day job.”
As for the negative campaigning, he expressed regret. He told the Daily Journal of Franklin, Ind., that the nuclear-waste-dump phone calls had been “a manifestly dumb idea” and declared that “personal attacks are not a legitimate part of a campaign.”
Linville, Sharp’s 1990 campaign manager, recalled that Pence wrote Sharp a lengthy personal letter of apology. In 1991, Pence published an open letter to state residents called “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner” in the Indiana Policy Review that bluntly stated “negative campaigning is wrong.”
He laid out principles that he believed should guide future campaigns. The first: “A campaign ought to demonstrate the basic human decency of the candidate.”
Jose A. DelReal in Muncie, Ind., contributed to this report.
4 common mortgage errors and how to avoid them
Many people make expensive, easily avoidable mistakes when shopping for a mortgage.
“Borrowers who don’t do their homework often end up paying more than they should, and in some cases that extra cost can really hurt,” says Paul Sian, a real-estate agent and lawyer with HER Realtors in Cincinnati. A study from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) concludes that many consumers don’t shop for mortgages, and they tend to get their mortgage information from lenders and real-estate agents, who aren’t impartial.
According to Sian, borrowers tend to fixate on the home’s purchase price, followed by the interest rate. But factors like closing costs, the loan’s total price, whether the loan is fixed or variable and whether the borrower is required to get private mortgage insurance can dramatically alter what borrowers end up paying.
Here are four common mortgage errors and tips for avoiding them.
Shopping just one lender
Whether it’s a new car or the latest gadget, consumers know it pays to shop around for the best deal. But half of mortgage borrowers consider just one lender or broker in their shopping process, according to the CFPB study.
“It is a good idea to shop around for mortgages in order to get better rates,” Sian says. “Sometimes large banks and lenders don’t offer the best rates that can be had. Additionally, some lenders add in fees. While the final fees do show up at the end, many borrowers don’t understand the fees and accept them as the cost of getting the loan, even though they could’ve avoided those fees by shopping around.”
Failing to seek objective info
When questions about mortgages come up, borrowers typically turn to their lender, broker or real-estate agent. While those are good sources, the CFPB found that many borrowers could benefit from seeking out additional, objective sources of information, such as housing counselors and news sites.
“Borrowers should seek a range of information, but each source should be vetted thoroughly,” says Greg Cook, a senior loan officer with Platinum Home Mortgage in Temecula, Calif. “Borrowers should remember that the right answers to their questions are often determined by the specifics of their individual situation.”
While Cook understands that many borrowers, especially first-timers, ask friends and family for advice, he says those sources are often unreliable because what works for one person may not make sense for their friend. News outlets, on the other hand, can be good places to get a “30,000-foot view” on the topic, but, Cook says, they won’t shed much light on an individual borrower’s situation.
As for housing counselors, Cook says they can be a valuable resource, but often their expertise is limited to lending programs, meaning they can help borrowers discover what types of loans are available, but they won’t necessarily have insight into which lender is the right choice.
Not learning about the process
Talk to homeowners and they’ll likely tell you about how complex, confusing and time-consuming the mortgage process can be. Knowing that, it’s certainly a good idea to arm yourself with as much knowledge about borrowing as possible. But amazingly, the CFPB found that about half of borrowers “aren’t very familiar with the process” and 14 percent were “not at all familiar.”
“A good mortgage (specialist) will lay out the process for you in a very clear manner,” says Elan McMillin, a mortgage banker with USA Mortgage in St. Louis. “The borrower should receive some sort of outline that details step by step what is expected of them during the process and the details of what is required from application to close. If the lender can’t provide an outline like that immediately, then it may be time to shop for another lender.”
But the problem may not be with the lender, according to Cook, who says it’s surprising so many consumers don’t know more about the process, given the abundance of information out there.
Focusing on irrelevant factors
Given that so many borrowers look to a single lender when shopping for a mortgage, it’s not surprising the CFPB found that many borrowers often pick lenders based on geographic proximity, a pre-existing financial relationship, or other factors, like reputation, that may not be relevant to the loan’s total cost.
But the best deal isn’t necessarily the lowest rate, according to McMillin, who points out that different loan products may have the same rate but substantially different costs, which underscores the need to learn about the variety of loans available.
Mike Pence used $13k of campaign funds for mortgage, golf fees during 1990 congressional bid

Who’s crooked now?

During a failed 1990 congressional run, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s newly announced running mate, used nearly $13,000 in campaign funds for a slew of personal purposes, including paying down his mortgage and covering golf tournament fees.

The then 31-year-old lawyer didn’t break any laws at the time — but Pence’s questionable ethics outraged voters and ultimately prompted the Federal Election Commission to crack down on politicians who abuse their campaign funds, the Washington Post reported.

“If you’re giving money to Mike Pence, you’re paying his mortgage!” Billy Linville, campaign manager for Pence’s rival, incumbent Democrat Philip R. Sharp, screamed at a 1990 press conference after news of the spending spree broke.

Donald Trump trots out Mike Pence in official VP announcement

Pence eventually lost in a landslide — an outcome directly related to the shady spending, Linville said.

“Without question, he may well have won the election if it had not been for that,” he told the newspaper in a new interview. “It was a bombshell, for sure.”

According to 1990 campaign finance records, Pence used $12,867 from his campaign account for personal expenses. That’s the equivalent of about $23,700 in 2016.

The payouts included seven $992 mortgage payments and seven of his wife’s $222 car payments. More cash went to buy household groceries, pay off Pence’s credit cards and even cover the costs of participating in golf tournaments.

Trump officially picks Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as running mate

When news broke before the election, Pence stood by his spending habits. He had taken a significant pay cut when he backed away from his job as a lawyer to run for office, he claimed.

“I’m not embarrassed that I need to make a living,” he told reporters at the time.

But Sharp’s campaign harped on the issue, claiming it showed a dirty, crooked side to the young Republican — and the incumbent Democrat went on to win in a 19-point victory over the challenger.

After losing, Pence apologized for the dubious spending, calling the gaffe “an exercise in naiveté.”

Donald Trump and Mike Pence discontinue widely mocked logo

The scandal also prompted FEC commissioners to reevaluate spending rules. While the agency deadlocked on whether to investigate the shady spending of Pence and other Republicans during the 1990 election cycle, it unanimous agreed to rewrite the rules for the future.

Using campaign money for personal expenses is largely prohibited now, although some exceptions exist. Candidates are still allowed to collect salaries from their campaigns.

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Mortgage rates dip as student debt tempers buyers - Bankrate.com

Like searching for Pikachu, look high and low for the best mortgage rate - The Boston Globe

Comments Print By Michelle Singletary Washington Post  July 16, 2016

WASHINGTON -- There’s a major craze going on right now that’s rivaling the obsession over “Pokemon Go.”

But in this game, the goal isn’t to capture creatures. It’s to catch the best rate you can to refinance your mortgage.

With rates approaching historical lows — again — many homeowners are racing to refinance their mortgage. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported an 11 percent jump in refinances compared with the week before. The association also reported that refinancings accounted for 64 percent of all mortgage applications, up from 61.6 percent the previous week.

As you shop for a loan, here are some tips to help you make the best decision:

Know what other borrowers are being offered. It helps to be informed. Rates change frequently. Knowing what interest rate other loan applicants are getting can help you negotiate and steer clear of a financial company that might be looking to gouge you.

Look at the weekly rate data put out by Freddie Mac and the MBA.

Each week, Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com) surveys lenders nationwide culling information on points and rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate products as well as 5/1-hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. The survey is based on conventional conforming home purchase mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent. Freddie Mac polls about 125 different types of lenders.

The MBA says its survey covers over 75 percent of all US retail residential mortgage applications. To find its weekly report, go to www.mba.org and look under “MBA News.” Click the link for the latest mortgage application release.

You might notice that the numbers from the MBA are higher than what Freddie Mac reports.

“As opposed to Freddie Mac, which tracks purchase rates only, MBA’s application survey tracks rates for purchase applications as well as refinance applications, and rates on refinances tend to be a bit higher,” said MBA’s chief economist, Mike Fratantoni.

Another factor that might lead to differences in average rates is discount points, which is a way borrowers lower their interest rate in exchange for an upfront fee. A point equals about 1 percent of the loan amount.

Here’s what Freddie Mac reported as of July 14:

A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average of 3.40 percent.

A 15-year fixed rate was 2.72 percent.

A 5/1 year ARM was 2.76 percent.

Know where to shop around. Average interest rate figures give you a general idea of what others are being offered. But what matters is what rate you can get.

Of course, check with your current lender, but don’t just stop there. One site I like to consult is bankrate.com. On the homepage, look for the box on the right that says “Compare Rates.” Click on the tab for “Refinance” and you’ll see below the national a field that says “View rates in your area.” Type in your ZIP code to find offers from lenders.

Keep in mind that what you are eventually offered will depend on your personal situation, which includes your credit profile.

Know the numbers. I hate writing this as much as you probably hate hearing what may seem obvious. But time and again, I see people refinance without truly understanding their loan deal.

Someone was bragging to me that he refinanced and didn’t have to pay “anything.”

You may not have to put up money at the closing, but your loan costs something. Don’t think a “zero-cost” or “no-closing costs” loan means you didn’t pay anything. Lenders get paid.

When you get your loan estimates, study the documents carefully. That “no-cost” loan might mean you are paying a higher interest rate. Or you’ve agreed to roll the cost of the refinance into the loan, which could also mean paying more interest over the life of the loan. However you structure your loan, know the numbers, for real.

While you’re on bankrate.com, plug loan estimation information into the site’s “Mortgage Refinance Calculator.” Try a few scenarios — zero points, points, rolling the cost into the loan — to compare your refinance costs long-term.

Refinancing is about the numbers. Sure, rates are super low right now. But if you’re not looking in the right places, you won’t win at this game.

Michelle Singletary can be reached at michelle.singletary@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter @SingletaryM. 

Mortgage rates dip as student debt tempers buyers - Bankrate.com

Mortgage rates mostly fell today. The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages dipped, the average rate on 15-year mortgages fell and the average rate on 5/1 ARMs rose.

Rates on mortgages change daily, but overall, they have fallen to near record lows. If you're in the market to purchase or refinance, it's a great time to lock in a rate. But while the large majority of households believe it’s a good time to buy, some prospective homebuyers are reluctant due to student debt.

30-year fixed mortgages

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.41%, down 11 basis points from a week ago.

At the current average rate, you'll pay about $444 per month in principal and interest for every $100,000 you borrow.

You can use this mortgage calculator to estimate your monthly payments and see the effect of adding extra payments. It will also help you calculate how much interest you'll pay over the life of the loan.

15-year fixed mortgages

The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 2.69%, down 2 basis points from a week ago.

Keep in mind that shorter-term loans like 15-years come with a trade-off: You'll pay more per month, but you'll also save thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

For example, monthly payments on a 2.69%, 15-year loan would cost around $676 for every $100,000 borrowed.

Over a 15-year term, the total interest payments would be around $21,639. That's about $38,214 less than what you'd pay in interest with a 30-year loan at today's rate.

5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages

The average 5/1 ARM is 2.91%, up 12 basis points from a week ago.

These types of loans are best for those who expect to sell or refinance before the first or second adjustment. Rates could be substantially higher when the loan first adjusts.

Monthly payments on a 5/1 ARM at 2.91% would cost about $417 per month for the initial 5 years. With rate caps of 2/2/5, monthly payments could balloon to $728 per $100,000 at the final adjustment.

Student debt and homebuying

A majority (80%) of surveyed homebuyers believe it's a good time to buy a home, according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors.

And yet, there's still a large percentage of the population that's reluctant to buy due to student debt -- half of respondents in the survey under 35 with student debt. Indeed, carrying student debt is tempering their ability and appetite to get a mortgage, notes NAR.

"It's becoming very evident from this survey and our research released last month that the financial and emotional impact of repaying student debt is contributing to a delay in purchasing a home for many would-be buyers," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a press release.

Where rates are headed

According to Bankrate's Rate Trend Index, 18% of the panelists think mortgage rates will increase over the next week or so, 9% think rates will fall and 73% think rates will remain the same.

Follow me on Twitter: @MitchStrohm

You will see these rates listed on Bankrate site averages; these calculations are run after the close of the business day. Included there are rates and/or yields we have collected on the previous day for a specific banking product.

Mike Pence used campaign funds to pay his mortgage — and it cost him an election - Washington Post

Mike Pence was a young lawyer on the rise, challenging a longtime Democratic congressman in a Republican-leaning Indiana district.

And then, scandal.

Campaign finance records from the 1990 effort showed that Pence, then 31, had been using political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his personal credit card bill, groceries, golf tournament fees and car payments for his wife.

The spending had not been illegal at the time. But it stunned voters — and undermined Pence’s strategy to portray the incumbent, Rep. Philip R. Sharp, as tainted by donations from special-interest political action committees.

“It was a brazen act of hypocrisy,” said Billy Linville, who was Sharp’s campaign manager. “It was a bombshell, for sure. . . . Without question, he may well have won the election if it had not been for that.”

Pence’s early stumble proved to be a defining moment, prompting a period of public remorse that helped create the wholesome image many Republicans now say makes him an ideal running mate to counterbalance the bombastic Donald Trump.

In the months after that 1990 defeat, Pence waged a statewide apology tour and disavowed negative campaigning. He told a local reporter that using campaign funds for personal expenses had been “an exercise in naivete.”

Pence’s 1990 race also led to key changes in campaign finance policies. Experts say that subsequent rules passed by the Federal Election Commission barring the use of campaign funds for personal needs were the direct result of ethics concerns raised by Pence’s actions.

Jason Miller, a Trump campaign spokesman, said that Pence had done nothing wrong in the 26-year-old episode and that the FEC had determined that he was “100 percent compliant with the law at that time.”

Pence first challenged Sharp in 1988, losing to the then-seven-term incumbent by more than six percentage points. Pence’s line of attack was narrow, mostly focused on the support Sharp received from PAC money.

But that campaign provided early hints that Pence was willing to go for the jugular. One Pence mailer depicted images of a razor blade, white powder and rolled-up cash, and declared: “There’s something Phil Sharp isn’t telling you about his record on drugs.” The brochure left readers hanging until a subsequent page: “It’s weak,” the ad read, using letters formed in powder.

The Washington Post obtained a copy of the brochure from Sharp’s archived papers at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Two years later, Pence tried again, promising to focus on issues Indiana voters cared about and accusing his Democratic opponent of favoring big government. Pence wanted to win so badly that, according to a local newspaper report at the time, he kept a sign in his office that read “congressman in training.”

When news of Pence’s campaign spending broke, his opponent made the most of it. Linville, Sharp’s campaign manager, held a news conference, waved Pence’s campaign finance reports in the air and declared, “If you’re giving money to Mike Pence, you’re paying his mortgage.”

According to FEC documents, Pence spent a total of $12,867 from his 1990 campaign account for personal expenses, including seven installments of his $992 monthly mortgage and his wife’s $222 a month car payment.

Pence was unapologetic at the time, telling reporters that he had taken a 30 percent pay cut to run for office and needed the money. “I’m not embarrassed that I need to make a living,” he said.

“He doesn’t come from a wealthy family. He’s not gentry,” added Pence’s campaign director at the time.

In an interview, Sharp said that argument now makes some sense to him as a way to allow people of modest means to run for office. But, he said, at the time, voters were surprised by the uncommon practice. “This was using other people’s money that was supposed to go for the campaign and not your personal enrichment,” Sharp recalled.

With his election chances in doubt, Pence hit back hard at Sharp.

Phone banks supporting his candidacy used callers who posed as members of environmental groups, telling prospective voters that they had shifted their support from Sharp to Pence because the congressman was selling his family farm in Illinois to become a nuclear waste dump, according to news reports at the time.

Pence also ran a television ad in which a man dressed in stereotypical Arab robes and sunglasses and effecting a fake thick Mideast accent thanked Sharp for ensuring U.S. reliance on foreign oil. The ad drew protests from Arab American groups and was denounced by Indiana editorial boards.

Sharp recalled this week that the ad backfired on Pence, turning off independent voters who Pence would have needed to persuade to abandon the incumbent. “I think I generally was viewed as pretty vanilla, Midwestern,” Sharp recalled. “I think that was viewed as just over the top.”

Pence lost the race by 19 points.

The fallout from the campaign misfire lingered. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had filed a complaint during the campaign with the FEC over personal spending by Pence and three other Republicans who ran for office in 1990.

“These were important cases,” recalled Lawrence Noble, who served as general counsel to the FEC at the time. “They showed that a real problem existed and caused the commission to deal directly” with regulating the use of campaign funds for personal use.

Three weeks after the election, the FEC deadlocked in a 3-to-3 vote over whether to pursue the matter. But the debate led to a larger discussion of the issue of campaign funds and personal ex­penses.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains why Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) was the best vice presidential pick of the candidates Donald Trump was considering. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

The commissioners had been guided by a legal analysis written by an FEC staff attorney saying that the rules prohibited incumbents but not challengers from using excess campaign funds for personal use. The Pence-friendly opinion was written by Lois Lerner, who years later became an official at the Internal Revenue Service, where she has faced persistent criticism from Republicans over her handling of the tax status of conservative groups.

The commissioners — three Democrats and three Republicans — voted unanimously to begin a process to rewrite rules to ban the personal use of campaign funds by all candidates.

“It was a landmark issue,” recalled Trevor Potter, who joined the commission in 1991 and helped shepherd in the new rules.

Miller, the Trump campaign spokesman, pointed to the FEC’s proceedings to underscore that Pence had done nothing wrong.

“The nonpartisan Office of General Counsel at the FEC reviewed them, and the complaints were dismissed,” Miller said.

Pence, who had incorporated his deep Christian faith into his campaign, also had to deal with the repercussions of his negative efforts, which had hurt his public image.

He offered advice for how would-be candidates could avoid the financial pinch that led him to tap campaign funds for personal expenses: “Don’t quit your day job.”

As for the negative campaigning, he expressed regret. He told the Daily Journal of Franklin, Ind., that the nuclear-waste-dump phone calls had been “a manifestly dumb idea” and declared that “personal attacks are not a legitimate part of a campaign.”

Linville, Sharp’s 1990 campaign manager, recalled that Pence wrote Sharp a lengthy personal letter of apology. In 1991, Pence published an open letter to state residents called “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner” in the Indiana Policy Review that bluntly stated “negative campaigning is wrong.”

He laid out principles that he believed should guide future campaigns. The first: “A campaign ought to demonstrate the basic human decency of the candidate.”

Jose A. DelReal in Muncie, Ind., contributed to this report.

Online Colladges

Texas Universities to Launch Online Counseling

Faced with soaring demand for mental health services from students struggling with depression and anxiety, three Texas universities plan to launch an online counseling program this fall replacing face-to-face therapy with informational videos, online ... read more 

Houston Baptist University to launch theological seminary

It also will offer both on-campus and online ... Convention of Texas and also has a fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, a group that broke away from the BGCT in 1998. Two other BGCT-affiliated universities also are ... read more 

How to help families of Dallas officers

The Assist the Officer Foundation at 1412 Griffin St. East, Dallas, Texas 75215; online ... contact Crisis Counseling at 800-985-5990 or text "TalkWithUs" to 66746; or call 800-273-8255." Free counseling is also being offered at the University of North ... read more 

UT Filmmakers to Air Political Documentaries Online With PBS and The Washington Post

AUSTIN, Texas – Three filmmakers from the Moody College of Communication Department of Radio ... Later this summer, four more films will launch online, with all nine subsequently planned for broadcast on the World Channel. Each film covers a political ... read more 

Lone Star College chosen for state pathways project

... of the most advanced community colleges across the state selected through a competitive process by the Texas Success Center,” said Dr. Cynthia Ferrell, director of the Texas Success Center. “We are excited to launch this major state initiative ... read more 

San Jac College introduces cost-cutting 'open source' program

San Jacinto College is preparing to launch a general studies associate degree program ... course materials that are free and accessible online. San Jacinto College full-time students pay about $700 each semester for printed textbooks, or nearly one-third ... read more 

Official online store of Maryville College ready for Scots fans

The Maryville College administration announced the launch of the official Maryville ... allow for personalization. Advanced-Online produces, stores and ships all of the mcscotsgear.com products from Dallas, Texas. read more 

Virtual reality in the house: How one real estate startup uses VR to pitch properties

“I had to find places to live online ... to medical school, to launch Helix Media 360°, a new Houston-based startup that creates 360-degree immersive visuals of luxury homes, apartments and stores. The two former Austin College basketball players ... read more 

US to allocate 10 mln dollars to non-profits, colleges to fight extremism

The US Department of Homeland Security will announce on Wednesday 10 million dollars in grants for non-profit organizations and colleges to develop counseling programs and ... Boston and Garland, Texas, DHS officials found family and community members ... read more 

Three UT professors sue University, state over campus carry law

Carter, Glass and Moore had previously added their names to an online ... who lead Texas’s public universities will steadfastly defend the ideals of education.” Carter wrote in an email. “Every classroom, every advising office, every counseling ... read more 

Computer science classes online

Aurora University to offer new online computer science degree - Chicago Tribune

Aurora University will offer a new, online computer science degree program.
The program, which will award students a bachelor of science degree, is designed to help adult students prepare for careers in technology, university officials said in a statement. The university is accepting applications for the program, which will begin Aug. 29.
Aurora University has offered an in-person computer science program for three years. In that program, all graduates have found work in their field within six months of graduation, according to the university.
"We are excited to offer our adult degree completion program in computer science online," Donna Gardner Liljegren, dean of online enrollment and continuing education for the university's online program, said in a statement. "Students enrolling in this program can expect to develop skills as high-level problem-solvers and programmers — skills that are in demand in the digital age. Our fully online bachelor of science program is competitively priced and designed to prepare students for a range of industry roles."
More information about the online degree program is available at online.aurora.edu

How To Stay Anonymous Online? Researchers At MIT's Computer Science And Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Are ... - University Herald

Anonymity networks offer individuals living under restraining regimes protection from surveillance of their internet use. But citing the recently divulged vulnerabilities in the most popular of these networks - Tor - has urged computer scientists to bring forth more secure anonymity schemes.
An all-new anonymity scheme that offers strong security guarantees, but utilizes bandwidth more efficiently as compared to its predecessors is in the works.
Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in collaboration with the the école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne will present the new scheme during the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium in this month.
During experiments, the researchers' system required only one-tenth as much time as current systems to transfer a large file between anonymous users, according to a post on MIT official website.
Albert Kwon, the first author on the new paper and a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science said as the basic use case, the team thought of doing anonymous file-sharing where both, the receiving and the sending ends didn't each other.
This was done keeping in mind that honeypotting and other similar things - in which spies offer services via an anonymity network in a bid to entice its users - are real challenges. "But we also studied applications in microblogging," Kwon said - something like Twitter where a user can opt to anonymously broadcast his/her message to everyone.
The system designed by Kwon in collaboration with his coauthors - Bryan Ford SM '02 PhD '08, an associate professor of computer and communication sciences at the école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, David Lazar, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, Edwin Sibley Webster Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and his adviser Srini Devadas - makes use of an array of existing cryptographic techniques, but combines them in a peculiar manner.
The internet, for a lot of people can seem like a frightening and intimidating place and all they seek is help feeling safer on the internet, especially while performing an array of tasks such as making an online purchase, Anonhq reported.
Shell game
 A series of servers known as a 'mixnet,' is the core f the system. Just before passing a received message on to the next server, each server rearranges the order in which it receives messages - for instance - messages from Tom, Bob and Rob reach the first server in the order A, B, C, that server would then forward them to the second server in a completely different order, something like C, B, A. The second server would do the same before sending them to the third and so on.
Even if an attacker somehow manages to track the messages' point of origin, he/she will not be able to decipher which was which by the time they moved out of the last server. The new system is called 'Riffle' citing this reshuffling of the messages.
Public proof
In a bid to curb messages tampering, Riffle makes use of a technique dubbed a verifiable shuffle.
Thanks to the onion encryption, the messages forwarded by each server does not resemble the ones it receives, it has peeled off a layer of encryption. However, the encryption can be done in a way that allows the server to generate mathematical evidence that the messages it sends are indeed credible manipulations of the ones it receives.
In order to verify the proof, it has to be checked against copies of messages received by the server. Basically, with Riffle, users send their primary messages to all the servers in the mixnet at the same time. Servers then independently check for manipulation.
As long as one server in the mixnet continues to be uncompromised by an attacker, Riffle is cryptographically secure.

How to stay anonymous online | MIT News - The MIT Tech

Anonymity networks protect people living under repressive regimes from surveillance of their Internet use. But the recent discovery of vulnerabilities in the most popular of these networks — Tor — has prompted computer scientists to try to come up with more secure anonymity schemes.
At the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium in July, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne will present a new anonymity scheme that provides strong security guarantees but uses bandwidth much more efficiently than its predecessors. In experiments, the researchers’ system required only one-tenth as much time as similarly secure experimental systems to transfer a large file between anonymous users.
“The initial use case that we thought of was to do anonymous file-sharing, where the receiving end and sending end don’t know each other,” says Albert Kwon, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science and first author on the new paper. “The reason is that things like honeypotting” — in which spies offer services through an anonymity network in order to entrap its users — “are a real issue. But we also studied applications in microblogging, something like Twitter, where you want to anonymously broadcast your messages to everyone.”
The system devised by Kwon and his coauthors — his advisor, Srini Devadas, the Edwin Sibley Webster Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT; David Lazar, also a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science; and Bryan Ford SM ’02 PhD ’08, an associate professor of computer and communication sciences at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne — employs several existing cryptographic techniques but combines them in a novel manner.
Shell game
The heart of the system is a series of servers called a mixnet. Each server permutes the order in which it receives messages before passing them on to the next. If, for instance, messages from senders Alice, Bob, and Carol reach the first server in the order A, B, C, that server would send them to the second server in a different order — say, C, B, A. The second server would permute them before sending them to the third, and so on.
An adversary that had tracked the messages’ points of origin would have no idea which was which by the time they exited the last server. It’s this reshuffling of the messages that gives the new system its name: Riffle.
Like many anonymity systems, Riffle also uses a technique known as onion encryption; “Tor,” for instance, is an acronym for “the onion router.” With onion encryption, the sending computer wraps each message in several layers of encryption, using a public-key encryption system like those that safeguard most financial transactions online. Each server in the mixnet removes only one layer of encryption, so that only the last server knows a message’s ultimate destination.
A mixnet with onion encryption is effective against a passive adversary, which can only observe network traffic. But it’s vulnerable to active adversaries, which can infiltrate servers with their own code. This is not improbable in anonymity networks, where frequently the servers are simply volunteers’ Internet-connected computers, loaded with special software.
If, for instance, an adversary that has commandeered a mixnet router wants to determine the destination of a particular message, it could simply replace all the other messages it receives with its own, bound for a single destination. Then it would passively track the one message that doesn’t follow its own prespecified route.
Public proof
To thwart message tampering, Riffle uses a technique called a verifiable shuffle. Because of the onion encryption, the messages that each server forwards look nothing like the ones it receives; it has peeled off a layer of encryption. But the encryption can be done in such a way that the server can generate a mathematical proof that the messages it sends are valid manipulations of the ones it receives.
Verifying the proof does require checking it against copies of the messages the server received. So with Riffle, users send their initial messages to not just the first server in the mixnet but all of them, simultaneously. Servers can then independently check for tampering.
Generating and checking proofs is a computationally intensive process, however, which would significantly slow down the network if it had to be repeated with every message. So Riffle uses yet another technique called authentication encryption, which can verify the authenticity of an encrypted message.
Authentication encryption is much more efficient to execute than the verifiable shuffle, but it requires the sender and the receiver to share a private cryptographic key. So Riffle uses the verifiable shuffle only to establish secure connections that let each user and each mixnet server agree upon a key. Then it uses authentication encryption for the remainder of the communication session.
As long as one server in the mixnet remains uncompromised by an adversary, Riffle is cryptographically secure.
“The idea of mixnets has been around for a long time, but unfortunately it’s always relied on public-key cryptography and on public-key techniques, and that’s been expensive,” says Jonathan Katz, director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center and a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland. “One of the contributions of this paper is that they showed how to use more efficient symmetric-key techniques to accomplish the same thing. They do one expensive shuffle using known protocols, but then they bootstrap off of that to enable many subsequent shufflings.”
“When you use standard encryption on the Internet, you use an expensive public-key crypto system to encrypt a short key, and then you use symmetric-key techniques to encrypt your longer message,” Katz adds. “But it’s novel in the context of these mixnets. They’ve been around for 20, 25 years, and nobody has had this insight until now. In the standard context of encryption, you have the honest sender and the honest receiver, and they’re defending against an external malicious attacker. Here, you need stronger properties. The issue is that the server that’s doing the shuffling might themselves be malicious. So you need a way to ensure that even a malicious server can’t shuffle incorrectly.”



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ONLINE CLASSES

Are online classes causing summer enrollment on college campuses to shrink? - Belleville News-Democrat

The Carbondale campus of Southern Illinois University saw fewer summer students this year, while the Edwardsville campus saw a slight increase — and school officials are saying online classes had an impact on both.

On-campus summer enrollment at SIUC dropped 14.2 percent this year, or 571 fewer students than last. This is 1,334 fewer students than who were enrolled in summer 2014.

However, when online classes are factored in, the summer enrollment at SIUC is down 5.1 percent — still a drop, but not as significant. In fact, online class enrollment grew by 8.5 percent this year.

By comparison, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s summer enrollment was 6,144 — an increase of 3.5 percent, or 204 students over last summer.

SIUE continues to build its online muscle. Of the 32,000 credit hours taken this summer, approximately 50 percent were taken online, according to Scott Belobrajdic, director of enrollment management for the campus. “Last summer we were split 60-40 in favor of (traditional) on-campus (classes),” Belobrajdic said.

Last summer we were split 60-40 in favor of on-campus (compared with online classes).

Scott Belobrajdic, director of enrollment management at SIUE

Educators say online classes are convenient, allow students to work toward one’s goals at their own pace and sometimes offer flexible deadlines. But not everyone has what it takes to be successful at taking online classes. For some, the more traditional classroom setting works best. Online classes test people’s time management skills and ability to learn independently.

Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey employs a different strategy to help make students taking online classes successful.

“Our data shows the completion and success rates (for online learning) are better for students with a grade point average of 2.7 or above, so we are restricting enrollment in online courses to help improve the success of students,” said Lori Artis, vice president of administration.

Researchers who have studied retention among students who take online courses have found that anxiety due to technology failure and lack of instructor feedback are primary reasons for online student dropout. In the online environment, students tend to become frustrated when technology does not function well and lose confidence in their work when they do not receive instructor feedback, they say.

6,144 Number of students taking summer classes at SIUE

At other area colleges:

▪  McKendree University’s summer enrollment was approximately 1,106, which spokeswoman Lisa Brandon said was “about even” with the summer before. Very few courses are offered on the campus in the summer, Brandon said; almost all are online.

“(Students) may want to jump start or accelerate their academic program or career,” Brandon said. “Taking summer classes can also enable undergrads to take a lighter load in the fall or spring semesters so that they may participate more easily in co-curricular activities.”

▪  Southwestern Illinois College saw a drop in total summer enrollment despite a slight increase in online classes. Enrollment for 2016 was 4,716 students, of which 1,691 were students taking online classes. In 2015, enrollment was 5,086, of which 1,599 were online students.

▪  Lewis & Clark Community College also had summer enrollment that was down slightly from the year before — 1,908 students, compared with 2,047 in 2015. Online enrollment was 756 students, a decrease of 18 students from the year before, but still on an upward trend, with nearly 100 more students taking online classes this year than they did in 2012, according to Artis.

▪  Figures for Lindenwood University-Belleville were not immediately available.

Summer enrollment is typically not a significant predictor of fall enrollment due to the many factors that influence student decisions.

Rae Goldsmith, SIUC’s chief marketing and communications officer

SIUC’s chief marketing and communications officer Rae Goldsmith cautioned against viewing summer enrollment as a foreboding sign of what's to come in the fall. “Summer enrollment is typically not a significant predictor of fall enrollment due to the many factors that influence student decisions,” she told the Southern Illinoisan.

But SIUC has battled a pattern of decreasing enrollment for years, while SIUE has seen increasing enrollment almost every year for the past decade or so. Belobrajdic said while solid numbers for the freshman class are not yet available, it looks to be at least 2,000 students beginning at SIUE this fall once again. The record-high freshman class of 2015 saw 90 percent continue from fall to spring.

Last spring, SIUE reported the largest spring enrollment in the university’s history at 13,346 students, of which 10,214 were full-time students. Meanwhile, SIUC’s spring enrollment of 15,806 was down 878 students or 5.3 percent from the previous spring.

10 advantages to taking online classes

Lower costs — Although tuition for some online programs can be as expensive as traditional colleges, going the online route can significantly cut the cost of your overall college in other areas. Since you learn online and from the comfort of your own home, you won't need to buy school supplies, pay for room and board or worry about things such as meal plans. Most materials are also available for download, saving money on expensive texts and workbooks.

Less pressure — Taking a class online means that you can read and learn the material and do the work on your own time. Doing course work on your own means less pressure to keep up with other students in the class since you'll be working individually rather than in a group. Online courses usually provide deadlines for assignments, so with proper time management and organization skills, you don't need to worry about how well or efficiently other students are doing in their work.

Flexibility — You can complete online classes regardless of external conditions, personal commitments or those unexpected life incidents. Hop online at any time and check out what assignment is due next or what chapters you need to read. With the flexibility of online classes, you can prioritize your time and work on your own pace.

Skill development — Not only can online courses increase your knowledge in a particular subject area, but they can teach lessons invaluable to other areas of your life. Online classes leave you on your own, without a physical classroom to attend and a teacher constantly prodding you to get your work done and keep your grades up. Self-discipline and commitment skills go a long way in successfully completing online classes.

Individual instruction — Since you'll be working individually on your school assignments, you'll have individual access to your professor via email and other online media. Direct access means that you have the ability to ask more personalized questions that you might be intimidated to ask in a traditional classroom setting.

Networking opportunities — Individual instruction does not mean that you will be completely isolated from the students also enrolled in your online class. These courses generally include message boards, which give you the opportunity to discuss your work and make connections with other students — no matter where they are located. This can prove invaluable as it provides insight and different perspectives on the same assignment. Most importantly, you have full control over the amount of exposure you have to the other students.

Location — Courses online allow the opportunity to take a class at a college or university that you may not have realistic access to geographically. Whether you live on the East Coast and want to take a class offered on the West Coast or you travel extensively and want to continue your education, you don't need to be in a specific location to access an online course.

Comfort — Online classes don't require a dress code, so if you wake up in the morning and feel like lounging around in your PJs or favorite sweats, go for it. Doing your work while lying on the couch watching your favorite soaps beats sitting in a hard seat under artificial lighting next to the kid who didn't shower after partying all night.

Specialized degree programs — Most online degree programs do not require you to take electives. This allows you to take the minimum number of classes needed to graduate with the knowledge necessary to be successful in your chosen field of study. This saves time, cuts out classes that you're not interested in taking and allows you to focus more on the classes you want to take.

Transferring credits — If you are enrolled in a traditional college or university but are unable to schedule a certain class that you need to graduate, most online programs allow you to take a class and transfer the credit. This can prove invaluable if a class is a prerequisite for graduation and isn't offered by your more traditional school.

New institute to offer online classes in medieval theology and philosophy - Catholic World Report (blog)

The Scholasticum has a campus in Italy, but is bringing medieval scholasticism to anyone with an Internet connection.

"Saint Thomas Aquinas" by Carlo Crivelli, 1476. (Image via Wiki Commons)

A very unique institution of Catholic higher education will begin offering classes this October. Dr. Patrick Owens is president of the Scholasticum, a new institute headquartered in Italy dedicated to medieval theology and philosophy as they were taught at the University of Paris in the mid-13th century. Classes and can be taken either online anywhere in the world or at the school facility in Bagnoregio, Italy.

Fields of study at the Scholasticum include medieval philosophy, medieval biblical studies, and scholastic theology. It is a “great books” program, meaning students read and discuss original texts by the Church’s greatest thinkers, rather than reading summations and commentaries of such material by modern authors. The Scholasticum was launched due to a desire by its founders to revive traditional Catholic education and formation, much of which they believe has been lost over the past century or so. The institute’s founders expect prospective students to include priests, religious, and seminarians, as well as laity. Because classes are available online, students will be able to work full-time jobs while pursuing their studies.

Dr. Owens has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and humanities at Touro University and courses in Latin and Latin literature at the Vivarium Novum in Rome. Most recently, he taught Latin, art history, and humanities at Wyoming Catholic College. He has his Ph.D. in Classics from the Institute of Higher Latin studies at the Salesianum. He recently spoke with CWR.

CWR: Why was The Scholasticum founded?

Dr. Patrick Owens: It is our desire to address a need in Catholic higher education, namely, to counter the failure of many Catholic institutions to present the perennial philosophy and theology of the Catholic Church as articulated through the scholastic movement. 

Our efforts began with Brother Alexis Bugnolo, a hermit, who in his own education at such institutions was not impressed with the curriculum offered to him in scholastic studies. He began drafting a prospectus for what such a curriculum should ideally be.

In the following years others joined him, including Matteo Scozia of the University of Calabria, Italy, Francisco Jose Diaz Marcilla of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, and myself. We used Brother’s prospectus as a starting place to develop the curriculum of the Scholasticum, which would be comparable to the curriculum offered by the University of Paris in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. We ended up with what would be described today as a graduate program in the areas of philosophy, theology, and biblical studies and a master’s in sacred doctrine.

CWR: What are some of the shortcomings you and Brother Alexis see in Catholic institutions of higher learning?

Owens: Much of their focus is on secondary literature which offers a modern interpretation of the thinking of the greatest scholars in the history of the Catholic Church. So, rather than directly engaging with a doctor of the Church such as a Thomas Aquinas or an Augustine, their focus is on a modern hermeneutic. 

Our goal is to bring students into a direct connection with original texts. We’re a great books program, like what you’d find at Thomas Aquinas College in California. We’ll have our students directly engage with a great author, rather than bringing in opinions from secondary literature. We don’t spurn secondary literature, but ours is a master’s-level program that directly uses original texts.

One prerequisite which our students will need, however, is a high level of competence in the Latin language so that they may read Thomas, Augustine, and their contemporaries without having to resort to translations. For those who do not yet have the Latin skills, we will offer courses to help students acquire them.

This is something that makes the Scholasticum unique. You don’t see this anywhere else. Yet Latin plays a significant role in the history of the Catholic Church. It is the only Catholic language. Canon 249, for example, states that a priest should master the Latin language. He should be able to read, write, and speak it. 

However, few priests know Latin today. At one time, priests had to work very hard to learn Latin, but its study has since been removed for a variety of mediocre reasons. 

I have had this debate with seminary rectors. They argue that priests of past centuries grew up speaking Latin. But that is not true. With blood, sweat, and tears they had to learn Latin. To dismiss their efforts is not to do them justice. 

It was of great value to them, as the Church’s great thinkers chose to compose their writings in Latin. This helped to make the meaning of these texts clear. In fact, if you look back in history, of all the great heresies which have confronted the Church, none were ever born in Latin-speaking communities.

So, while we don’t want to place too great a burden on our students at the Scholasticum, we would not condescend to do serious philosophy and theology without asking them to know Latin.

CWR: One of the great complaints many faithful Catholics have today is the widespread lack of clarity in Church teachings. Are you hoping to address this?

Owens: Yes. Our problems started 70 years or more ago when seminarians began learning scholastic philosophy from manuals. Theologians created compendiums of the great books, and boiled down the work of Thomas, Augustine, and others into coursework that could be taken in one or two semesters at the seminary.  

It may have been a laudable goal considering the limited time available to seminarians, but it failed to deliver the richness and fullness of the teachings of the great books. It gave two generations of seminarians a misrepresentation of what scholasticism is all about; it is not mere catechesis, or a parroting of truths.

The popes in their magisterial documents were aware of this problem. In 1879, for example, Pope Leo XIII in Aeterni Patris called for a reinvigorated study of Thomistic philosophy, but the encyclical was never implemented in the complete way which Leo wished. In 1993, Pope St. John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor made it clear that if we are going to be genuine in our Catholic theology, we need to place objective truth front and center. 

This is the way in which we must confront Modernism, the heresy which continues to plague our Church. Today, we see ubiquitous ambiguity in Catholic teaching. Doctrine is presented frequently in a way that is ambiguous. This reflects a failure to think clearly through things and articulate them properly. I think there’s been a desire for clarity for more than a century now; Pope St. Pius X identified it in his condemnation of Modernism. 

Doubt is at the source of the many ambiguities in the Church. This doubt is the fruit of the devil. He continually attempts to sew it in the Church, and our response must be to answer with clear articulations of the unchanging truths of the Catholic faith. This is at the heart of our mission at the Scholasticum: we will educate our students to think clearly and articulate the truths of our faith plainly.

CWR: Who is a good candidate to be a Scholasticum student?

Owens: We’re looking for students who have a liberal arts education and are able to think critically. We founded the institution to serve both laity and clergy; we hope to make the curriculum available for religious communities for the benefit of their members’ spiritual lives and careers as educators. We have a physical location in Bagnoregio, Italy, so we are interested in having Italians participate in person. Also, as monastic life often does not allow for a member to be a full-time student and live in community, we will be able to house religious.

And, as we wanted the education to be available to those who ordinarily couldn’t afford to go to university, our tuition rates are practically donations. Those on our faculty are volunteers; I, myself, as president, do not take a salary.

CWR: Will students watch lectures in real time?

Owens: There will be lectures which students can watch in real time or they can opt to view a recording after-the-fact. This allows for lectures to be re-watched as needed. There are seminars, however, in which students will be expected to participate in real time. As we are aware of where our students are throughout the world, we will try to time these so they don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to participate.

Our lectures will be in Italian and English, and papers will be accepted in any major European language.

CWR: Who is on your faculty?

Owens: We have profiles on our website. Our faculty members are spread over the globe, with most of us holding full-time positions at academic institutions. I left a full-time position at Wyoming Catholic College to be president of the Scholasticum.   

CWR: What needs do you have at the Scholasticum?

Owens: We are a non-profit organization, so we need donations. Anyone can visit our website and make a tax-deductible donation. All faithful Catholics, as well as non-Catholic lovers of philosophy, are encouraged to help us with this undertaking. As I said, we’re not making money on this endeavor; we’re doing this as an act of love and for the greater good of the Church and in service to Our Lord.

We hope one day to offer an undergraduate education program, too. But first we need to raise the money so that we have the stability to make and fulfill promises to our students.

Second, we want to attract students. We welcome any assistance people can provide in helping us get the word out that we exist and will soon begin classes. We’ve been included already in some Catholic blogs and magazines, and we’d welcome inclusion in more.

One message we want to get out to prospective students is that we’re flexible in accommodating them. If you’re working a full-time job, you can study with us. If you have a debilitating illness or handicap that prevents you from getting out, you can study with us. If you’re not Catholic, but have a desire to better understand the writings of the scholastic thinkers, you can study with us.

CWR: What reaction have you had so far?

Owens: It has been overwhelmingly positive. We have sent out invitations to rectors of 55 seminaries. I thought many religious communities would be “standoffish” because we’re not yet fully accredited. Yet it turns out that many of these communities want their members to be educated in scholastic thinking and are willing to wait on full accreditation. 

We’re all very excited to be opening our doors to students. We welcome the support of friends and benefactors to help us be a success in our mission. We look forward to being part of the renewal of the Catholic Church.

Boost Social Media Skills With Online Courses - U.S. News & World Report

No result found, try new keyword! U.S. News & World ReportBoost Social Media Skills With Online CoursesU.S. News & World ReportDifferent types of online classes, however, provide different outcomes, and the one an online student ultimately chooses will depend largely on his or her class format preferences and desired outcomes. Here are a few categories of online courses in ...and more »