MICKEY KAUS: “Doesn’t Mitt Romney get points for blowing off Rupert Murdoch, in person, when the latter joined Univision’s CEO in trying to pressure the Republican candidate to change his position on immigration enforcement (in the direction of promising amnesty)?”

THOUGHTS ON conflicts of interest and university trustees.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: “No Loans” Policies Falling By The Wayside.

“No loans” policies were the hit of 2007 and 2008, as many of the nation’s most elite (and wealthy) colleges and universities announced that borrowing would be eliminated from the aid packages of students with family incomes below certain levels.

But this particular movement in higher education took off just before the economic downturn hit in the fall of 2008, sharply reducing these institutions’ endowments and forcing many of them into budget-cutting mode. Now, a few years later, institutions are taking steps that reflect very different financial outlooks than those before the downturn. In May, Wesleyan University ended its policy of need-blind admissions, a policy seen by many as (when combined with meeting admitted applicants’ full need) the gold standard of private college admissions. This policy is supposed to mean that applicants can rest assured of their ability to attend if admitted — and that lack of resources shouldn’t stand in the way.

This week, Cornell University announced modifications of its “no loans” program for those eligible for aid. Instead of assuring a “no loans” package to everyone with family income of up to $75,000, Cornell will make that pledge only to those with family incomes of up to $60,000. (The changes will take effect with those enrolling in the fall of 2013, and will have no impact on those already enrolled or who will enroll this fall.) Those in the $60,000-$74,999 family income category will be assured of aid packages that don’t have more than $2,500 a year in loans. For those in the family income category of $75,000 to $119,000, Cornell is increasing the loan share of aid packages from $3,000 to $5,000 a year, while those with family incomes of $120,000 and higher will still be assured of loan maximums of $7,500 a year (unchanged from the policy to date).

The issue of pulling back from some of the pledges made in previous years — generally with much fanfare — is a sensitive one for universities, especially those like Cornell and Wesleyan that would be the envy financially of 99 percent of research universities and liberal arts colleges, respectively, but that happen to compete with the 1 percent with greater resources.

If it’s a loan, it’s not “financial aid.” It’s more like exploitation.

Plus, from the comments: “Colleges can’t afford their own tuition anymore.”

EUGENE VOLOKH: The Second Amendment and Convictions for Misdemeanor “Harassment” Offenses That Possibly Didn’t Involve Violence.

THE SUPREME COURT, JOHN ROBERTS, AND the psychodynamics of judging.

Professor Bainbridge: Posner never was a conservative, so how can he become less of one?

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CHART OF THE DAY: The scope of the US oil shale resource. “Alberta oil sands are changing the petroleum industry . . . but that resource is dwarfed by the potential of oil shale. The US has more energy available in its oil shale alone than the entire global reserves of conventional oil. This is on top of the trillion cubic feet of natural gas and the world’s largest reserves of coal.”

CHANGE: White House declares Afghanistan a ‘major non-NATO ally.’ “President Barack Obama officially designated Afghanistan a ‘major non-NATO ally’ on Friday, putting the country on par with some of the United States’ closest international partners.”

HOW NICE: Environmental Group Thanks Lamar Alexander.

WARFARE IN THE ERA OF HOPE AND CHANGE: “Wait, you guys practice tracking enemies by using civilian cars?”

OUR RULING CLASS: Flummoxed by Twitter.

BUT OF COURSE: After Right to Work Takes Effect in Indiana, Unions Seek a Judicial Bailout.

ED DRISCOLL: The Leitmotif of the Obama Era: ‘Less Than Expected.’ “In 2004, the unemployment rate averaged out at 5.5 percent. In June of that election year, Obama, running for the US Senate that year (where he would would later stop in for a cup of coffee on the way to his now fateful presidential bid) attacked President Bush over his job record. As Drew at Ace of Spades’ blog writes, let’s compare how the two presidents stand up at identical points during their tenures in office.”

Related: Flashback: In 2004, Obama dismissed creation of 310,000 jobs under Bush.

THE MANOLO: Gotcher Post-Apocalyptic Disaster Footwear Right Here.

WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED? Ray LaHood envies the Chinese government.

TAVIS SMILEY IS OBVIOUSLY A RACIST: PBS Host Questions Obama‘s ‘Genuine Love for Black People.’

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Tough Choices Ahead For Some High-Ranked Law Schools.

WHERE THE FIRES COME FROM: “The Ponderosa forests have been mismanaged.”

HUGH HEWITT: Randy Barnett and Mark Levin Debate the meaning of Roberts’ decision.

RACISM: Angry white dude with beer in hand yells profanities at black politician.

WHEN TRUST IN THE SYSTEM breaks down.

FROM MARK STEYN, A HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: “So America is now the first nation in history in which people take on six figures of debt for the privilege of entrusting their education to persons with no pronouns. That seems likely to work.”

SCIENCE: “Study shows Palin treated differently by media as vice presidential candidate than Biden.”

HEH: “They nearly had their shirts torn off, but they managed to escape with their dignity intact.”

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