What exactly does it mean to be a boy? Sure, there are the, eh, hem, physical attributes, but does the fact a boy likes sports or fixing things make him more masculine than one who prefers reading quietly in his room or partaking in a tea party with his sister? Well, reading and writing about boys has become the newest craze as research suggests boys are falling behind girls academically early in their grade school years and staying that way. A new report by “The Chronicle of Higher Education” examines this phenom: Books, journals and other academic research devoted to what it means to be a boy and how boys learn – and whether our schools and colleges should be changed as a result. But the Association of University Women doesn’t believe it: “The research only reinforces stereotypes and arrives at simplistic conclusions … ignoring the very real problems faced by girls.”

Think your local newspaper going out of business or your state newspaper’s shrinking newshole doesn’t have an impact on your education? Think again. According to a new report by “The Chronicle of Higher Education,” the news media’s plummet – down profits and closing up shop – has everything to do with how educated we are as a society. As the media industry struggles and more people turn to the Internet for information, we’ll see fewer perspectives and, on the whole, be less enlightened, Harry Lewis, a Harvard professor, told “The Chronicle.” He explained how “The New York Times” recently ran a story about 15^th-Century war and Afghan counterinsurgency. On the Internet, we tend to seek only more of what we already know, or people who see things the way we see them. Newspapers put it all in: The stuff we don’t know and don’t agree with. And we are the better because of it.

If you can’t wait to play the latest computer or video games, and you think you have an idea or two in mind, why not consider pursuing an Online Game Programming Degree? The field is lucrative and booming even despite the recession. How lucrative? It’s actually a billion-dollar industry. Getting your hand in the field can earn you a cool $70,000+ a year. Online game programming couldn’t be hotter right now and a number of colleges are offering the program online. Most game programmers and designers have degrees and that can help you get an “in” in the popular field. While studying for your gaming degree online, you’ll learn how to write the code that makes the games you’ve dreamed up, a reality. Stepping into the virtual world is a cinch, and some of the courses you can expect to take include gaming scripting languages, storyboarding and game design workshops.