海角大神

This week has brought several examples of people reaching across barriers and reexamining long-held ways of doing things in an effort to reach more people.

鈥� In Ethiopia and Eritrea, a literal barrier came down. Leaders of both countries after 20 years of civil war 鈥� sparking comparisons with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Videos show people dancing and weeping, as families separated by the war at long last got to hug their loved ones.

鈥� St. John鈥檚 College, founded in 1696, is announcing a $17,000 price cut for 2019 鈥� from $52,000 a year to $35,000. 鈥淲e鈥檝e resisted almost every trend in higher education that we consider naughty,鈥� Mark Roosevelt, president of the Santa Fe campus, told . Thus, it is jettisoning 鈥減restige pricing.鈥� The college, which offers a classics-based curriculum, wants to be a model of financial accessibility as well as intellectual rigor.

鈥� And in South Carolina, Irmo Mayor Hardy King made headlines this summer for his anti-Muslim posts. This week, he made them again 鈥� for holding a town hall forum on Demystifying Islam. What changed? Mr. King says a Muslim resident introduced himself. 鈥淭hat probably did more to humble me, to make me think, 鈥楬uh, I could use a whole lot more of these people as friends,鈥欌�� King told the聽. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 yelling and screaming and hollering and calling me a bigot. He was just a young man with a concern.... It made me think, 鈥楳aybe I need to rethink this attitude.鈥� 鈥�

Now for our five stories of the day, looking at people reexamining everything from medieval studies to vegetarian dining.