Hot Cities Galore
Utah did extremely well in Inc. magazine's latest listings of the hottest cities for entrepreneurs. The overall rankings of 393 cities were previously reported in the Morning News. But Inc. also ranked the hottest small cities, the hottest midsize cities, and the hottest large cities, and Utah landed spots in the top 20 in all three categories.
St. George was ranked No. 2 and Logan No. 16 among the 20 hottest small cities. In the mid-sized city category, Provo-Orem ranked No. 9 and Ogden-Clearfield ranked No. 18. Among the 20 hottest large cities, Salt Lake City ranked No. 15. Not a bad showing for a state that doesn't have all that many cities. With five cities on the top 20 lists, Utah had more "hot cities" than any surrounding state. Arizona was next with four.
BYU Among Top B-Schools
According to BusinessWeek magazine, Brigham Young University's undergraduate business school ranks high among the country's top higher education institutions, and its extremely low cost may make it the best business school bargain in the country.
The magazine ranked the BYU B-school eighth in the country, ahead of some of the nation's elite universities, and the annual cost listed, only $3,620, was lower than every other school except one in the top 50. Twenty-six of the top 50 schools listed costs of more than $25,000 a year, making BYU's eighth ranking and $3,620 cost look like an absolute steal. The magazine used several criteria to rank the schools, including a survey of business recruiters, who ranked BYU No. 1. BYU also got an A grade for teaching quality and an A+ for facilities and service. Here’s the chart comparing all 50 schools.
Interesting side note: The No. 1 undergraduate business school was Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, and a photo spread shows two coeds sitting outside a brick building with the lettering "Jon M. Huntsman Hall" on it. The main story also refers to "Huntsman Hall." Utah’s Huntsman has been a major beneficiary of the Wharton Business School.
S.L. Chamber on Immigration Reform
The Salt Lake Chamber urges swift action on comprehensive immigration reform: "As Utah’s largest business association, we believe our national leaders face an economic imperative to act [on immigration reform]. We applaud Gov. Jon Huntsman’s leadership through the Western Governors’ Association to help solve this complex problem, and we respectfully ask the Utah congressional delegation to make substantive progress during the next 30 days." For more info, click here.
Rocky On Darfur, Iraq
The Salt Lake City Mayor's Office has posted PDF files of the speeches Rocky Anderson delivered at the recent crisis in Darfur and Iraq War rallies.
ULCT Guides
The Utah League of Cities and Towns has posted a PDF file guide to recent changes to the RDA law and a PDF file chart/summary of "how federal transportation dollars make it back to Utah." League Legislative Policy Analyst Lincoln Shurtz said the new RDA law has been a big issue and many local officials are still trying to figure out how to use the new tool.
Ogden Honored by ComputerWorld
Ogden City is recognized as a 2006 ComputerWorld Honors Program "Laureate" for its Good Landlord Incentive Program. For more info, click here.
Utahn Nominated to IRS Post
Utahn Paul Cherecwich, Jr. has been nominated by the White House to be a member of the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board (see press release).
Blog Watch
At the Senate Site blog, Sen. Michael Waddoups continues his campaign on healthcare reform: "As chair of the Privately Owned Health Care Organization Task Force, I have spent two years scrutinizing the state of our healthcare system in Utah and in the United States. The process is like watching a train wreck about to occur"... Check out the comments after Waddoups’ post, most of which strongly disagree with him, and also the 37 comments from a previous post ... Reach Upward says: "I’m afraid that Utah will perpetually be the whipping boy for the crowd that believes that education is only good if you pay more for it"... Woods Cross Citizen says: "I'm a little miffed that the May 1, 2006 boycott is being called 'A day without an immigrant.' I think a better name would be 'A day without a Latino.' It seems to me the only immigrants that are calling for a boycott are Latinos" (see also here, here, here, and here)... Rural Blogging says: "Rural leaders tell me they want their children to find family sustaining jobs in the community. At the same time, the education needed to take jobs that are available right now isn't occurring. The only thing I can figure out is that local leaders are saying the politically correct thing, but don't mean it"... Jeremy's Jeremiad endorses Senate candidate Pete Ashdown: "[A]ll Utahns should work together to boot [Sen. Orrin Hatch] out of the Senate in favor of an actual Utahn who is equipped to represent Utah instead of Hatch’s special interest donors" (see also here, here and here).
-- Compiled by Golden Webb
National Politics
Keep the 100 Bucks
People quoted in this New York Times story are right. The U.S. Senate Republicans’ bright idea to send everyone $100 to make up for high gas prices is really silly. Build refineries, open more lands for drilling, focus on alternative fuels, fund more mass transit. But don’t pander.
Good Advice for Writers
A New York Times story commenting on recent accusations of plagiarism: “…one might hope the episode would be the final object lesson for would-be plagiarists who still think that their indiscretions can escape scrutiny. In the age of the Internet, literary exegesis (whether driven by scandal or not) is no longer undertaken solely by pale critics or plodding lawyers speaking only to each other, but by a global hive, humming everywhere at once, and linked to the wiki. And if you are big enough to matter (as any writer would hope to be), one misstep, one mistake, can incite a horde of analysts, each with a global publishing medium in the living room and, it sometimes seems, limitless amounts of time.
Frontier justice? Mob rule? Perhaps.”
Notable Headlines
(From James Taranto, Best of the Web Today in OpinionJournal.com)
At Least Tipper’s Happy.
"Up to Her Eyes in Gore, and Loving It"-- New York Times, April 30
Uh, Aren't They a Little Young for You?
"Republican Party Looks to Embrace College Women"-- Hatchet (George Washington University), May 1
In That Case, We'll Have a Quarter Pounder
"Macs Are Virus Targets, Some Experts Warn"-- Associated Press, April 30
Next Time, He'll Use the Outhouse by the Tree
"Man Attacked Leaving Outhouse by Black Bear"-- KMGH-TV Web site (Denver), April 29
Only One?
"Body Found in St. Paul Cemetery"-- Star Tribune (Minneapolis), April 30
World Series of Poker
"Taiwan Confident of Maintaining Chip Lead"--headline, Associated Press, April 30 |
