Information is not learning. Information isn't wisdom. It isn't common sense, necessarily. It isn't kindness or trustworthiness or good judgment or imagination or a sense of humor or courage. McCullough, who won the Pulitzer in 1992 for his biography, Truman, recommended that students read Common Sense by Thomas Paine, the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a good book.
McCullough said the average American watches 28 hours a week of television, and could read huge numbers of classics by opening a book instead of turning on the television. Alspaugh, who achieved a 3.957 grade point average going into her final semester as an undergraduate, also is an Honors Scholar and a University Scholar, two of the highest academic designations a student can attain. And, as an honors student majoring in education, she completed a thesis studying how teachers can better work with students who have hearing impairments. Teaching fellows are selected each year by their peers based on teaching excellence and dedication to the teaching profession. They present workshops on teaching, serve as mentors to younger faculty, and open their classrooms to teaching assistants.