On African women, "...who somehow manage to carry that entire continent on their backs."
Waiting for Their Moment in the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
By HELENE COOPER
Published: November 16, 2005, NYTimes

In other news, while Malaysia groans about quality and meritocracy, the U.S. asks about content. Reform School, Contd.
How to reinvent higher education.
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005, at 6:53 AM ET, Slate.com

A young Afghan from California writes about Yale and community college. He also has a book published - "Come back to Afghanistan".

And finally, something about U.S. presidential libraries:
All the Presidents' Papers
How do presidential libraries decide which records to release?By Daniel Engber
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, at 6:51 PM ET