I have worked as a daily newspaper journalist for 30 years, the last 20 at The Oregonian. I covered education most of that time, but in the last five years I also have been covering other social issues, including gay rights, health care, poverty and high-interest consumer lending. More recently, I have been covering health care and higher education. I co-authored a book on education reform called “Poisoned Apple,” published in 1996, and I served as president of the Education Writers Association from 1997 through 1999. I earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., in 1972, and a Master’s degree in English at Western Washington State University in Bellingham, Wash., in 1976. I am 60, and my wife, Karin, and I have have three grown children.