Earnest sentiments in music are certainly something worth appreciating. For an artist that chooses to forgo guileful pessimism and cryptic symbology, self-reflective statements of positivity are perhaps a more audacious statement than the darkest notions about longevity or listlessness.

Admission officers at 85 of the country’s top medical schools said 44 percent of the schools are expected to increase the number of available seats, some for as early as the incoming fall 2009 class,...