When Augustana College announced earlier this month that it was eliminating standardized tests as an application requirement for prospective students, it highlighted a trend in higher education.

"There has been an accelerating surge of selective colleges dropping their admissions-testing requirement," said Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as Fair Test. "The pace is such that some folks have suggested we're reaching a critical mass or a tipping point."

October is domestic-violence awareness month, but the Minneapolis-based organization 100 Men Take a Stand for Domestic Peace takes a larger view.

Every child in Davenport gets a big chunk of a college education paid for. The city's police and fire departments get a new stream of revenue. Paying for it all is an existing tax. While property taxes would likely rise modestly for a few years, they'd be back below current levels by 2014.

And the ultimate goal is a growing community with a larger tax base, which in the long run could mean more money for schools and city services with lower property-tax rates.

Who could possibly be against that?

When it comes to domestic issues that pit the interests of large corporations against those of ordinary Americans, few equal the exploding crisis in consumer debt. Yet with the exception of John Edwards, none of the leading presidential contenders in either party has made this a serious campaign issue. Perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise, since the same financial institutions that engage in predatory- lending practices constitute their largest contributors, as well as what is perhaps the most powerful lobby in all of Washington.