Innovation U

I think Higher Education is going to be fun- at least for the next ten years or so. Budgets are strained, tuition is far outpacing inflation, more and more people can't afford to go to college and have trouble paying for it if they do- at some point, something's gotta give. At a certain point, higher ed is going to have to take a serious look at how it does things and make changes- otherwise, state budgetary concerns are going to do it for them.

Take Florida for instance- newly minted Republican Governor Rick Scott is on the warpath, gunning for Liberal Arts programs- which has the folks over at Mother Jones a bit peeved. But he's got a point, I'm forced to admit. How does a degree in Women's Studies get anyone a job in this economy? Or a degree in Religious Studies? Or Political Science for that matter? Seems like for a vast majority of Liberal Arts majors, teaching seem to be the only way to go- or taking a random left turn into something completely unrelated to your degree. Like Dispatching.

So what's a Liberal Arts program to do? Well, for a start, I'd say a metaphorical destruction of how they do business is in order. State budgets are going to be more and more strained in the coming years- and things like basketweaving, poetry and art are going to be called into question more and more- especially for Public Universities. Is that right? In a perfect world, no it's not. Politicians- and let's face it, although they make policy, they're crap at it- should not get to decide what gets funded and what doesn't. Personally, I think demand should drive that, plain and simple. If people want to study it and want to pay for it, there it should be.

But hand in hand with that, you've got to make a committment to innovating new, more cost-effective ways to get your 'product' to people. Online education needs to be embraced by higher ed as a whole, so they can really knuckle under and figure out how to make it work! Exhibit B, from the Golden State, surprise surprise, shows exactly what not to do in the changing times we live in.

I'm becoming less and less sympathetic to the idea that people are entitled to jobs if they haven't earned them- doubly so for pensions. While I can appreciate people wanting to hold on to their jobs, you can't escape the writing on the wall at the end of the day. A lot of public sector jobs are going to go the way of the dodo in the coming years. As a public sector employee myself, I'm keenly aware of this and my brain is constantly churning up notions and ideas about what I could possibly do next with my life- so far nothing has stuck, but I want to be on the hunt for those answers now, as a posed to 10 years down the road, when people start peeking in my little window and wondering if I'm really necessary to make the proverbial trains run on time. My answer would be 'of course I am' but then that too is part of the problem: my answer is everybody's answer.

Pensions are where I've got the real axe to grind. While the Boomer Commentariat of the Left and the Right likes to denigrate my generation as a bunch of lazy freeloaders (some of us undoubtedly are, but then, what can I say: we learned by example!) the Boomers are robbing us blind and leaving us with nothing- and why? Because they think they've got a by-God right to retire at the age of 65 with a full pension. And some people undoubtedly do and should get to retire at 65 with a full pension. They've earned it. But Our Glorious Leader in Des Moines is working fulltime yet still drawing a pension from his previous time in Office. That shit ain't right. A story from Illinois caught my eye: 2 Union Leaders have somehow managed to arrange to get 438K and 500K in pensions respectively. One worked in the Water Management Department for 44K a year the other worked for the City for 15K a year and was getting this pension despite not working at his job for 25 years now. That's beyond just plain wrong- it's psychotic.

And it's why a lot of very comfortable people are going to be hurting unless someone puts the house in order. Until higher ed and the public sector learn to do less with more, we're going to stay in trouble. Which means that innovation should be the watchword of any educational institution. We need Innovation U- and we need it now.

#OccupyTheDean'sOffice

The #Occupation continues in Iowa City and elsewhere- (down in Des Moines, they're not fooling around. State Troopers apparently don't have the patience for this kind of thing) but Republicans are starting to tee up on the protestors, which to me, is a mistake- especially for Herman Cain. Calling these protestors 'jealous' Americans who want to 'play the victim card'? Uncool. It might be nice red meat for some of the more disapproving sectors of the Republican base, but Herman Cain- Mr. Cain, you're on the verge of having a serious breakthrough. Don't compromise your chances by engaging in partisan mudslinging- especially don't demonize people who have serious grievances that need to be addressed by someone. Plus points for partisan primary Parcheesi, minus a helluva lot more for lack of leadership. Not very Presidential, Mr. Cain.

What these protestors want is a still evolving discussion, I think- but an emerging trend seems to be the Millenial Generation's realization that they've been sold a bill of goods. A college degree was, for my generation, a good investment in your future. You went to high school, went to college, got a house, got a job- the 'good life' would follow. It was our happy-go-lucky version of the American dream. In these economic times, a lot of grads are realizing they're graduating with degrees that are useless with a ton of debt and dismal job prospects. All of this is compounded by the fact that student loan debt cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. While there are payment options and consolidation options aplenty, student loan debt is rapidly becoming a trap with no escape for a lot of people.

Plus, if student loan debt and college costs are the issue for a lot of people, then Occupying Wall Street isn't the answer. Occupying the Dean's Office is. Exploding college costs can be laid solely at the feet of colleges and Universities themselves! And it's worth noting that the one protest I can remember having a palpable effect on University policy when I was in college was when Students Against Sweatshops staged a good old fashioned sit-in at the President's Office here on campus. (Look what apparel they sell now!) Really and truly, it's time for college students to start biting the hands that feed them. Old fashioned campus takeovers are called for- and more to the point, if you really want to get people's attention, don't just camp out in a park. (Which is why this endorsement is somewhat troubling to me- the AAUP is part of the problem, especially when it comes to college costs.) Start staging sit-ins! Actually occupy something important! If 5,000 Tea Partiers and 5,000 Occupiers walked into Congress and sat down and refused to leave? That would get somebody's attention...

Cupcakes

You remember that 'racist' bake sale out at Berkley awhile back? It made national news because the College Republicans out there were offering cupcakes at a discounted price for women and various minority groups. For some reason, people got PISSED. I didn't really understand that- after all, the College Republicans undoubtedly had a finite number of cupcakes and if you're a minority (or a female minority- even better!) then you could probably buy out the whole bake sale and in essence, shut it down.

Problem solved, right? Nope- Berkley being Berkley, they freaked.

The protest was against affirmative action admissions policies-- but students at Fordham decided to hold their own bake sale factoring ALL admissions criteria into how they priced their cupcakes- including family income, legacy status and athletic ability. The results were interesting and Fordham gets a win by staging a more accurate bakesale than Berkley did. Hopefully a lot of interesting discussions can result from this...