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Dave Eggers thinks colleges should institute a community service requirement.

Second, college is largely about fulfilling requirements, isn't it? Students have to complete this much work in the sciences, that much work in the arts. Incoming freshmen accept a tacit contract, submitting to the wisdom of the college's founders and shapers, who decide which experiences are necessary to create a well-rounded scholar, one ready to make a contribution to the world. But while colleges give their students the intellectual tools for life beyond campus, they largely ignore the part about how they might contribute to the world. That is, until the commencement speech, at which time all the "go forth's" and "be helpful's" happen.

Political reporter John Tierney says Americans are not really that divided. (Elsewhere in the paper, but not online, a chart shows a 77% gap in presidential approval rating between Republicans and Democrats--the widest such gulf at this stage in a re-election campaign since before Nixon, at least.)

John Leland looks at Reagan in terms of American archetypes of optimism.

The Public Editor examines the Times's new anonymous sourcing policy, and finds its execution wanting.

The editors compare electronic voting machine regulation to Las Vegas gambling machine regulation, and find our democracy wanting.