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Issues concerning the development of the US higher education system are discussed. Demographic, economic and political factors affecting the expansion of college education from 1945-1975, when undergraduate numbers rose by nearly 500%, are explored.

T.S. Eliot was an accomplished poet and his works include the sadistic and erotic poem 'The Love Song of St. Sebastian.' His poems such as 'The Burnt Dancer' and 'Nocturne' were poems of technical and artistic excellence even if he was being experimental in his approach.

The film 'The People vs. Larry Flynt' gives an insight into the life of Hustler magazine owner Larry Flynt. Flynt has distinguished himself with his success as a porn publisher, his defense of First Amendment rights, as well as his court battles with the religious right.

James B. Conant was a significant albeit little known figure in US history. He was the chief civilian administrator of nuclear research in 1941 and influenced US nuclear policy after World War II. He was Harvard president in 1933 and high commissioner to Pres. Eisenhower in 1953.

Analysis into Al Gore, Bill Bradley and John McCain's presidential campaigns; including backgrounds, issues and major weaknesses.

Big-budgeted, action movies and comedies with big-name stars dominated the box office in the summer of 1996. The preference of the American public for such movies accounts for the lack of interest by movie producers to come up with dramas for adult audiences.

Four Jane Austen novels have been again adapted to film. 'Pride and Prejudice' is a six-hour BBC production and, had it not been for the main roles, would have been a bland version of Austen's funniest novel. Emma Thompson's film adaptation of 'Sense and Sensibility' fares better: her improvements on the novel tightened the story. 'Persuasion,' which seems to be most difficult to capture on film because the book's strength is in its language, turned out well: textured and intelligent. All these adaptations prove Austen's works' timelessness that rests on the fluidity of concepts and ideas.

Steven Spielberg's movie Saving Private Ryan is regarded as a war film that is devoid of any sentimentality or patriotic undertones. The film's story revolves around eight American war survivors who were ordered to search for a private called Ryan.

Robert Hughes's 'American Visions' is an eight-part television documentary based on Kenneth Clark's TV program 'Civilisation'. The show, which was produced by the BBC and Time, Inc, features a review of modern American art.

A critique of author Edmund Wilson's short story collection Memoirs of Hecate County is presented. Article discusses the short story The Princess with the Golden Hair, and analyzes censorship of the book when first published.

The Renouvier episode and the vision of the epileptic patient are vital to the understanding of William James' thought. These two experiences of James were incorrectly analyzed as related narratives of crisis and recovery instead of singling them out as 'eternally opposed responses to life.'

Bob Dole's loss in the presidential debates presaged his loss in the 1996 presidential election. The main issue was tax cut as a budget-balancing tool, which all the Republicans believed except he. He tried to switch to ethics, but it did not work. Media's split assessment of him did not help either.