For the past few months the Army has been pushing a business concept called Lean Six Sigma.  If we do it right, then we’ll all be better for having gone through the front end hurt of the process.  And believe me, the training really does hurt the brain.

Now New Orleans’s Tulane University is doing something along the same lines.  They have decided to cut some of their programs as part of the Katrina recovery effort.  Getting rid of some of the less respected departments will allow the school to maintain academic standards in the better programs, with fewer students and less administration costs.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

After all, isn’t the entire purpose of college to give the student the best possible education with the fewest distractions?  On top of that they are going to require that all students participate in public service projects to graduate.  A better academic environment, raising social conciseness, and a chance to help rebuild a devastated city; what more could a student ask for from college?  Drunken frat parties can be found anywhere.  

Tulane deserves a round of applause for doing the right thing, even when it may be the hard thing.

More later.