Archive for the Education Category

Is College Worthless? (July 25, 2011)

Posted in Economics, Education, Pogo Plight, Schooling, Society on July 25, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

_          “Kinda.  In the past, a college graduate acquired more money and flashed a brighter smile.  For most kids today, it is four years of fun and play.  A sheep skin really only signals that the bearer attended a summer sleep-away camp during the fall, winter and spring seasons for a few seasons.”

_          “Employing a generous standard, perhaps ten percent of the kids actually acquire something tantamount to a “college education” in college.”

_          “The economy has upped the bar.  Ninety percent of the college graduates are not employed in college-level jobs because they are college graduates but not college-level employees.  Viewed with some perspective, everything is in balance except our unreasonable expectations.”

_          “When you think about it, wouldn’t you party all night if you had no tomorrow?”

. . .

_          “When the federal government began making college loans freely available, the cost of college schooling exploded.  A college may aspire to liberate one’s mind, but it enslaves one’s body and spirit.  The lucky graduates leave as indentured servants, the unlucky ones as debt serfs and slaves.  The only out is to enlist in the military.  Is that the plan?  Think about it.”

_          “And by statute, a student loan obligation is not a dischargeable debt when one files bankruptcy.  But doesn’t a constitutional provision trump a conflicting statute?”

_          “That’s what they say.”

_          “What about the 13th Amendment prohibition on slavery?”

. . .

_          “The greatest constitutional challenge in academia today is dealing with the cohort of male applicants who are significantly less prepared and talented than the cohort of female applicants.  Can a university elect to maintain an equal number of boys and girls and accept a marked disparity in abilities and possibilities within a class?”

_          “The most talented and most desired female applicants may elect to matriculate at a university that maintains a balanced portfolio of males and females.  To attract the elite women, a university may be compelled to admit even more less qualified males to maintain a balance in the entering class.”

_          “Remember in the old days when there were single gender schools and an opposite single gender school situated down the road.”

. .  .

_          “Why not award every citizen a Ph.D. in any field upon reaching the age of 18.  And of course award everyone a Selective Service card.”

_          “The Adult Entitlement Act of 2012 will save billions.  In the legislation, the Department of Education can be renamed the Department of Schooling or the Department of Credentialing.”

_          “We need a little something for everyone.  Academia is more interested in credentials than ideas.  Double the number of degrees currently sported by each professor by fiat.” 

. . .

_          “Society does not have the resources to indulge the current college extravaganza.  No one should be admitted to college until the age of 20.  Everyone should work at something for two years as an intern, in the civilian conservation corps, even in the military or at some other endeavor.  At that time in their lives, kids need a more productive emancipation from home and a swifter introduction to the real world at less social cost.  By the age of 20, both males and females have much more perspective and maturity.  They can use their earnings or learning chits for education or for some other endeavor.”

_          “Kids must learn how to get out of bed on time before they can learn.”

_          “And learn to cease texting while at the morning staff meeting.  Traditional college attendance would decline.  The dorms could be used to house a mix of college students and kids pursuing their Big Transition and senior citizens and others in need of housing.”

_          “And perhaps the number of qualified males will balance the number of qualified females.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Go College

Phil O. Sophistry, B.A., B.A., M.A., M.A., Ph.D, Ph.D., B.M.F., B.M.F.

Readin’, ‘Ritin’ and ‘Rithmetic . . . and Respect . . . and Success (March 14, 2011)

Posted in Education, Schooling, Water on March 14, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

P1       “He keeps rantin’ about readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic even if the kids hate learning or learn to hate learning.  He really seems eager to make learning unpleasant.”

P2       “Anyone who says that the kids first need to respect themselves and each other is branded a pantywaist.”

P1       “Have you also noticed that the proponents of the pain school of schooling usually are not very luminous.”

P2       “It’s part of the worldview.  Then there are those, particularly parents, who claim to hold up education as the highest ideal who really are more interested in collecting awards, tokens and trophies.  The little darlings are just ego extensions of their hovering parents.  They elevate schooling over education.”

P1       “There is a schism between those who endorse readin’, ‘ritin, and ‘rithmetic and those who recognize the need for respect, specifically self-respect and self esteem, before someone takes to learning.”

P2       “The grand irony is that it must be a package personality.  There has been some disconnect along the way.  We have free public education, yet forty-five percent of the population is immune to and almost inoculated against ideas.  I don’t blame public education for the problem.  The habits are kindled at home.”

P1       “I’ve told kids that there is some great writing in the sports page of a newspaper.  I read the tautest commentary on a championship game that covered the game, the season and the history of the sport in a handful of words.  Whatever it takes to get them reading and to enjoy reading.”

P2       “Inculcate curiosity.”

. . .

P1       “The hard truth is that those who obey also succeed.”

P2       “Those who ask questions are not given an award for having regurgitated the right answer.”

. . .

P1       “Getting through high school really is a survival course.  On a good day, it is banal and insufferable.”

P2       “That squares with my observation that many persons would like to go back in life and be 18 again, but no one ever longs to be 14 again.”

P1       “And they always want to go back knowing what they know today.  That may not be part of the deal.”

P2       “High school is the most unpleasant period is one’s life, yet the grand irony is that life itself is just a string of high school experiences with graver consequences.  Everyone gets older, but few get mature or wiser.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssays” on “Schooling” and “Education.”]

[World Water Day – March 22]

[See the “Race To Nowhere” movie and website www.racetowhere.com]

Bumper stickers of the week:

What did you teach the teacher today, son?

Inculcate curiosity

Transcend

“Politics is high school with guns and more money.”  Frank Zappa

America’s Fraud Factories (October 18, 2010)

Posted in Education, Journalism, Law, Military, Press/Media, Schooling, Society on October 18, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K         “We in America closed the traditional factories but openly operate a network of profitable Fraud Factories.”

J          “Look at the flow of raw material.  The kids who get As in college go to med school, those who get Bs go to law school and those who get Cs go to biz school.  And look who makes the big bucks.”

K         “Those pursuing a journalism degree pursue truth and those pursuing a Master of Fine Arts pursue beauty.  At least in theory.  And Yeats proffered the exchange rate.”

J          “Those in the Corps embody an esprit de corps, the Semper Fi and Siempre Fi spirit.  And former Marines are among the most disciplined and honest journalists.  Think Jim Lehrer.”

K         “And Gordon Peterson.  Interning at Parris Island rather than grunting at The Paris Review provides a different worldview.”

J          “Right.  Fighter pilots reflect that same dedication, discipline and devotion to duty.  First responders, as they now call them, and most doctors share a sense of professionalism and commitment.  Those with the forest service and the fish and game service are genuinely concerned about the future well-being of the evergreens and the blue gills and the white tails.”

K         “And then there are the Fraud Factories, American business and law schools, teaching students the subtle art of fraud and deception.  The kids are taught to advance their own self-interest over anything else at almost any cost.  They are taught the nuances of gaming a business and legal system that is designed to be gamed.  Neither government regulation nor market forces restrain or direct their activities.”

J          “Biz schools are the most profitable divisions of the American corporate university system.  Biz schools are more profitable than law schools that are in turn more profitable than med schools.”

K         “And the colleges of arts and crafts may no longer be tolerated as loss leaders, albeit very expensive divisions of the corporate university system.  The motto of the American Association of Fraud Factories says it all:  ‘No Duty, No Honor, No Country.’”

J          “Some cutting edge biomedical engineers are debating how to teach robots to behave ethically.  The Fraud Factories take kids who exhibit one common trait – a ready willingness to obey and please their superiors – and engineer them to be robots.”

K         “Remember after Watergate when there was a national hand wringing about the nadir of the legal profession that occurred at the same time the journalism profession was at its zenith.  Law schools instituted professional responsibility classes.  Some astute students realized that a B+ grade reflected the right attitude to employers.  That is enough to get by and keep moving through the system but not too much enthusiasm for the topic.”

J          “The problem today is with the students admitted to the schools, the indoctrination process and the indentured servitude status that consigns the graduates to represent wealthy interests to pay off their crushing debts.”

K         “Think about it.  If Schicklgruber applied to law or business school today, the profitable schools would aggressively bid to attract him.  He is the ideal applicant – brilliant, charismatic and destined to succeed.  Everything is about success and power, and power and success, and success and power.  Yeats could have proffered the exchange rate.”

J          “If Concentration Camps of America, Inc. ever needs to staff concentration camps to warehouse and dispose of the unwanted, hire American-trained lawyers and biz school grads.  They won’t ask questions.”

K         “But don’t dare miss payroll.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

I’m not my brother’s keeper, just his banker.  I’m not even his banker, I’m my own banker.

Follow the money

I was just following orders

I was just following the money

I was just following the money orders

Duty, Honor, Country

Honor, Courage, Commitment

Smile while you’re makin’ it, Laugh while you’re takin’ it, Even though you’re fakin’ it, Nobody’s gonna know.      O Lucky Man!

On Merit and the Meritocracy (January 11, 2010)

Posted in Education, Perjury/Dishonesty, Schooling, Society on January 11, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

D          “She was the premier applicant.  Primus inter pares.  But she did not say what they wanted her to say.”

U          “She could tutor the teachers.”

D          “I know.  Her talent is a threat.  That is another challenge but not the biggest one.  She informed us what she intended to say in the interview.  She was forthright, honest and candid.  That was the problem.  She was probably too blunt.  The other kids were tutored and grilled by their parents to say precisely what they wanted the kids to say.”

U          “Life sometimes seems to be a script of lies.”

D          “I know she is beyond devastated.  And I feel worse.  We deliberated giving her a lecture on life and encouraging her to play along.  We could have told her that she is acting out a character in one of the plays she sits down and writes without any prompting.  Mouth the lines and the lies and act your role.  Say what needs to be said.  Do what needs to be done.  It is just a game.  Play the game.  There is no truth.  I will always feel that I failed her as a parent.”

. . .

______________

. . .

A          “They rejected him.  Not even on the wait list.  He was precisely what they claimed they seek in the brochure, yet they took only kids who are well-connected and one underprivileged youngster.  He told them that the program was sound but could be improved and noted some virtues of other programs.  He told them that success and power are not the most important things in life even though he could accept wearing the blazer emblazoned with ”Success and Power” on the crest.  He was probably too blunt and honest about everything, but that is who he is.  That was his undoing.”

F          “He is a delight to talk to, sort of an adolescent Oxford don donning a tee shirt.  What struck me is his insouciant recognition and acceptance of his genius as something of a faithful friend.  Mathematics is effortless for him and its cousin, music, is effortless.”

A          “My concern is that he will quit practicing.  He intuits without effort what others have to be told three times.  He may not work at anything.”

F          “Words are musical notes for him; he can make the language sing.  He is left brained and right brained and front brained and back brained in one big brain.  He combines five rare traits I rarely find in pairs:  courage, intellect, integrity, humanity, and curiosity.  I know what they want.  My recommendation would not have meant squat.  I could have finessed a letter for him, but I don’t have any stroke.”

A          “He knows what he’s got and now he gets it.  Now he has rejected any involvement because he says that ‘participation is ratification’ of a corrupt system or something like that.  He’ll stencil it on a tee shirt.  He is threatening to get a tattoo.”

F          “The school seeks to maximize long-run profits.  Each admission decision is a business decision.  Character is set by this age.  He is likely to challenge the system not coddle it.  That is not good for business or for the business of a profit-maximizing school.”

A          “The grand irony is that the program needs someone, if only one person, who can think independently and challenge orthodoxy.  Everyone else is moving in lock step.”

F          “When do the experts suggest informing a kid that the rewards in America go to those who lie and deceive.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated Feb. 20, 2006 titled “Perjury, The American Way” and other “e-ssays.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“When the truth is found to be lies    And all the joy within you dies.”

“Don’t You Want Somebody To Love” Darby Slick/Jefferson Airplane (1966)


“I would vote for you, but you know sometime you are going to be in a situation where you will say something that you think you have to say that will set someone off and then you will lose your job or something.  Larry is going to be a doctor.  He will succeed.”

Domestic Economic Terrorism and National Security (Nov. 23, 2009)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Economics, Economics Nobel, Education on November 23, 2009 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Their secret badge gives them away.  They sport the tell-tale ‘White Bling-Bling’ – the porcelain American flag on their blue serge suits.”

“And are themselves among the most vocal boosters of the ‘war on terror.’”

“They really are the economic terrorists.  And irony is not their strong suit.  I never fail to be amazed that the economic terrorists are roaming freely within our borders.  Their economic shenanigans produce absolutely no real economic, financial and/or fiscal benefit of any kind for anyone but themselves.”

“Look at it from their perspective.  They acquire a thriving company created and developed by others over years or decades, loot any funds for themselves, vest it with unbearable debt, fire the employees and ramble on to the next victim.  You have to admit that they are doing something.”

“There is no justification, no explanation, no rationale, and no excuse for their activities.  They steal from the public and ultimately loot the public fisc.  Can you name three individuals who have legitimately made a fortune in the last decade?”

“By name?”

“The robber barons of old actually produced something.  They produced a railroad or a newspaper or a steel plant and then endowed a university and a foundation.  Today’s economic terrorists are above the law because they own those who make the laws and those who interpret and enforce the laws.  The profitable universities exist to vet and supply obedient new recruits.  The Nobel Committee awards their mathematical sophistry.  The federal government rewards and bribes and bails out the players at every turn.  Everything is working against us.”

“And there is nothing you can do about it.  Nothing.”

“There are at least six major cavils with their exploits.  These economic terrorists threaten the efforts of generations of Americans who worked and sacrificed to:

form a more perfect Union,

establish Justice,

insure domestic Tranquility,

provide for the common defense,

promote the general Welfare, and

secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

“And thwart the pursuit of happiness.”

“That too.  Willfully destroying the American economy is also willfully destroying America.  That is a threat to American security.  That is treason.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated Nov. 27, 2006 entitled “Higher Education Tomorrow” discussing the pipeline of privileged kids pouring into I (investment) banking, the “e-ssay” dated Feb. 23, 2009 entitled “Close the Harvard Business School,” the “e-ssay” dated Oct. 6, 2009 entitled “Skip the Nobel in Economics?,” and the “e-ssay” dated Feb. 9, 2009 entitled “1000 AUSAs” suggesting that a return to the rule of law or a turn to the rule of law is warranted.  That will require the courts to issue many warrants.  The other “e-ssays” collected under the “Categories” for “Economics” and “Federal Reserve” among others provide additional pieces of the puzzle.]

Take it easy Thursday.

Bumper stickers of the week:

Support the “War on Terror”: Indict an Economic Terrorist

Better to know the judge and to own the lawmakers than to know the law and adhere to it.

Close the Harvard Business School (February 23, 2009)

Posted in Crime/Punishment, Education, Law, PATRIOT Act, Schooling, USA PATRIOT Act on February 23, 2009 by e-commentary.org

The government is closing the prison at Guantanimo.  Problematic yet necessary.  Any change should be purposeful and careful.

The government should close the Harvard Business School, America’s madrossa for economic terrorists.  The USA PATRIOT Act provides one legal vehicle.  Convert the structure into a youth hostel for the young and old.  Many if not most of today’s political and social problems originate or are exacerbated in the schools.  If we do not close a school, it may be time to revisit the curriculum.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Crime should be punished

Higher Education Tomorrow (November 27, 2006)

Posted in Education on November 27, 2006 by e-commentary.org

The high school students who work in Somali soup kitchens during the summer get into Ivy League universities and go into I (investment) banking.  The high school students who work in local soup kitchens get into public universities and go into IT (information technology).  The high school students who work during their school years in the kitchen of a local fast food establishment get into a community college and go back into the restaurant business.  Kitchens, Colleges and Careers.  Generalizations?  Sure.  Insights?  Some.

The average cost of tuition at a private university hit $30,000.00 at the same time that the population of the United States hit 300,000,000.00.  How will the country afford to educate the populace in the future?

Eighteen-year olds may be old enough to go to war, but they are not old enough to go to college.  Particularly boys.  The country should establish a two-year period of national service that can be served in a myriad of ways.  An internship in life.  The government could provide a subsistence stipend during the internship and then provide college tuition, room, board, pizza and beer money for two years.  The kids would go to college much more mature and disciplined and more involved with the adult world.  A core college curriculum could be presented in a more focused two-year program.  Students then could take an additional two years of specialized work if they show an aptitude and interest in an area.

There are too many colleges in America subsidized directly by governments and indirectly via favorable tax policy.  Buchanan & Harding College, renown for its government department and lacrosse team, should merge with Wordsworth & Longfellow, renown for its health sciences departments.  The schools could be consolidated in one town and supported by a lease of the other school’s facilities.  One institution could be converted into a ready-made community that is likely already part of another community.  Town and gown would become town and town.  The merged institution, Buchanan + Wordsworth (home of the Feckless Poets), could lease the excess dorm rooms as condominiums and provide ready-made libraries, cafeterias, and other community infrastructure for the tenants.

More of the courses should be offered on-line.  As the economy moves from bricks and mortar to the Internet, colleges must move from bricks and mortar and ivy to the Internet.  The intimacy of the 500-person lecture hall must give way to a more personal approach delivered directly to the student via computer. 

[See the article entitled “The Organization Kid” by David Brooks in the April, 2001 issue of “The Atlantic Monthly”].

Bumper stickers of the week:

Never let schooling get in the way of your education.

My honor student beat up your bully.