Jon Huntsman Jr. is an American diplomat, politician, and former governor of Utah. He is currently receiving attention for being a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He has also served as the CEO of the Huntsman Corporation, which is a family-owned company. EDUinReview will now take a look at Huntsman’s education background.

Huntsman was born on March 26, 1960 in Palo Alto, California. His parents are Karen and Jon Huntsman, Sr. The couple have eight other children. Huntsman is also a third cousin of another presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney. When Huntsman was fifteen-years old, he earned the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, the Eagle Scout. Huntsman dropped out of high school in order to pursue a musical career with the band, Wizard. He later earned a G.E.D. and enrolled at the University of Utah, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. Huntsman took two years off from his education to serve as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. After serving in Taiwan, he returned to the USA and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in international politics.

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All across the country teachers and administrators are taking innovation into their classrooms and revolutionizing how they present materials to their students. Expanding far beyond text book lectures and standard testing, they are bringing technology to numerous aspects of their lesson plans. All of this evolving from the old school idea of technology being contained in school computer labs.

One of the most important subjects to embrace technology is the science classes. With curriculum in laboratories and teachers recognizing the value of interactive virtual programs to engage students, innovative programs are proving indisputably invaluable. The evolution has forever changed how teachers assign curriculum based projects, demonstrate core concepts and assess scholastic understanding and progress. And while no education program is completely perfect, many are on track with industry innovation, especially those who understand that studies have shown that students learn more effectively, easily and efficiently by learning through student experimentation and exploration.

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The biggest shakeup in the BCS standings this week didn’t even occur in the Top 5. Sure, TCU embarrassed Utah (more on that later), but the major event was #6 Alabama losing to #10 LSU.

As I wrote last week, Alabama was the prime one-loss candidate to jump the best non-automatic qualifier TCU in the BCS Standings, but the Tide’s second loss eliminated them from the discussion, and the closest one-loss team to the Horned Frogs is LSU. The difference between the Tigers and TCU is so vast (.9259 to .8170) and LSU is unlikely to get into the SEC Title Game. With a mediocre remaining schedule, it would be next to impossible for them to vault an unbeaten TCU. Read the rest of this entry »

For one week at least, the roles in college football are switched. Instead of the non-BCS teams having an easy game while the teams from power conferences navigate a tough opponent, the traditional powers have a relaxing week while the party-crashers may struggle. Highlighting week 10:

#3 TCU at #5 Utah— If TCU wins this game, it may be in the driver’s seat for the top BCS buster. They already rank ahead of Boise in the computers, and that edge will only increase this week. A solid win might push them past the Broncos in the human polls as well- but Utah’s been down this road before. It was just two years ago the Utes knocked off TCU at home while running the table and beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. A win by Utah probably won’t get them pass Boise, but it would help. Read the rest of this entry »

Boise State, Utah and TCU should be cursing Missouri and Michigan State right about now. The Spartans and Tigers both lost, putting Alabama directly behind the three BCS busters in the most recent BCS standings, and that could kill the trio’s hopes of a Championship Game appearance.

More on that in a second. For now, let’s start at the top, where Auburn and Oregon have a massive lead in the top two spots. There’s no point in debating Oregon’s mostly awful schedule; if they and Auburn run the table, there will be no BCS-busting this season. Read the rest of this entry »

Image Via: Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Sports

There’s no denying that sports instill college students with school pride and spirit. Sports programs are valuable, but when schools are investing more money on the football field than in the classroom, it may be time for some colleges to re-think their spending.

In early June, The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics called for several financial and academic reforms. One in particular wants NCAA schools to set aside at least 20 percent of their income from the football Bowl Championships Series for the classroom.

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According to ESPN, the Pac-10 will soon have twelve teams, as the Utah Utes are expected to leave the Mountain West (MWC) and join Colorado as the newest members of the Pac-10.

This is a huge pickup for the Pac-10, which adds another strong program to their conference, especially during a time when conference powerhouse USC could struggle following NCAA sanctions. The Utes went undefeated in 2004 and 2008, winning the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl respectively. They went 10-3 last season.

The big loser in this move? The MVC and, by extension, Boise State. The Mountain West gains a marquee program, and then loses one a week later. While the Broncos are probably slightly better from a football standpoint, the Boise market is only the 112th biggest in the U.S., whereas the Salt Lake City market is 31st. At the end of the day, this makes the expansion game, at best, a wash for the conference. Read the rest of this entry »