University of Illinois - Top Party School for High Post-Grad Paychecks

Having attended the University of Illinois for a degree in secondary education, I have fond memories of both my social life and education.  That view has been endorsed by Payscale.com in an article which found that of the top twenty party schools on the Princeton Review, graduates of Illinois could expect the highest starting salary after graduation as well as the highest mid-career salary.  While Illinois is located in the heart of the Midwest and surrounded by a hundred miles of corn and soybean fields, it has a thriving social scene on the campus of nearly 40,000 students - and it's located in a metro are of Urbana-Champaign, twin cities of more than 100,000 residents.  Illinois' party reputation comes from its extensive greek system which is the largest fraternity-sorority system in the country.  The high pay expected by graduates results from one of the top engineering programs in the world, as well as highly ranked finance and business programs.  Illinois is definitely a great investment for the finance and the fun.

Can Liberals and Conservatives Ever Understand Each Other

"Can't we all just get along."

These words - a frantic plea really - from Rodney King after the LA riots have almost become a punch line in contemporary America.  And, of course, the recent never-ending campaign season did nothing to soothe the divide among the American people.

Writer Stephanie Pappas investigates the dubious nature of our political in-fighting, and she cites some great insight from the obscure field of "political psychology."  Basically, liberals and conservatives simply see the world differently and emphasize different values.

The most important avenue on the way to consensus and understanding is the ability to see the other point of view.  And psychologists advise asking questions and listening to answers as a way to move in that direction.  People establish their views based on six domains:

• Care versus harm
• Fairness versus cheating
• Liberty and oppression
• Loyalty and betrayal
• Authority versus subversion
• Sanctity versus degradation.

As a recovering Republican, I became a disgruntled Democrat.  Now, I'm a unencumbered independent, which is why I did not see the election of either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama as the Second Coming or the End of the World.  Perhaps, this recent election - which surprised many Democrats and shocked lots of Republicans - is a step toward trying to reach consensus.  Goodness knows if John Boehner can start talking compromise, we all can, too.

Mail-in/Drop Ballots are the Way to Go - Florida Fails Again

It didn't even take until election day for the clueless state of Florida to screw up the voting process again.  As voters attempted to navigate the early voting process, Florida was plagued by the sort of election incompetence that has become synonymous with their name since the fiasco of 2000.  A strong democratic republic deserves better than this, and the voting process should not be this hard.  While this sort of disaster has become great fodder for humorists like Dave Barry, electoral ineptness at the state government level is no joke.

The easy solution to this voting problem is a mail-in/drop off ballot like we've been using in Colorado for years.  The system is very well run, as I simply receive my ballot in the mail, vote at my convenience, and mail in or drop the ballot off at any one of numerous voting centers up till election day.  Years ago, I knew several elderly voters who would request absentee ballots because "they needed more time" and the burden of making it to the polls was prohibitive.  About that time I realized any citizen could request the ballot and take the necessary time to vote at their convenience - not the election bureau's.  Soon, it seemed Colorado election leaders listened, and we adopted a statewide system for getting ballots early and dropping them off as we could.

Get a clue, Florida.  Voting should not be difficult.  Of course, with a governor like Rick Scott, I guess we have to recall the words of PJ O'Rourke on the GOP and government - "Republicans run on a platform that government doesn't work - then they get elected and prove it."

Amazing Race Ignores Cheating and Stealing

Last night's episode of The Amazing Race was truly disappointing for what didn't happen - the two teams of the Twins and the Texans were not penalized for basically stealing the money of the Rock Star and the Lawyer.  Obviously, Race officials and videographers knew about the act because they made such a big deal out of the Twins "finding" the money and the Texans debating what to do with it.  And I fully expected a huge penalty when both teams checked in - but nothing.  Phil didn't even mention the "loss" of the money to the Rock Star/Lawyer team.

Several years ago, a team was heavily penalized for hiding some necessary Race materials from another team.  It was dishonest and interfered with the team's ability to complete their tasks.  The same is - or should have been - true for this theft.  I am still not liking the Twins at all, and this just further exemplifies what kind of team and people they are - manipulative, crass, dishonest, and classless.  Very disappointed in the producers of The Amazing Race for letting this crime slide.

How to Become a Straight A Student

School just seems to come easier to some students - and that leads many others to believe they just can't "do school."  Much of the earlier success can be pretty easily linked to family background and the sort of structure and social expectations that lead to success.  I must admit that my k-12 experience was pretty much a breeze, not due to any particular effort on my part.  That said, once I got to college, I had to learn how to learn all over again.  Graduate school brought even more challenges.  And, as a teacher, I realize that many students are not well-equipped or trained to be successful.

So what happened to study skills, huh?

Having become a stronger proponent of teaching reading, rather than just assigning it, I am giving more and more thought to how students learn.  In the course of my recent reading, I have been impressed by some study assistance from MIT professor Cal Newport, who has written several books about being a successful student.  One worth picking up - or recommending to students - is How to Become a Straight A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less.  Professor Newport - both as a student and a teacher - took the time to study and document how those "uber-students" do.  And he has crafted a really helpful - and readable - guide to academic success.

Among other things:

• Don't Read Everything - there is no way to successfully digest all that is asked of students these days, so they need skills in determining "what is important."
• Manage your time using lists and calendars - seems like common sense, but many kids need help in the field of time management.
• Choose where, when, and how long to study - those marathon sessions are beast and not helpful.
• Utilize resources

Peter Mayle Returns with French Culinary Fun

Hard to believe, but it was twenty-one years ago that British expatriate author Peter Mayle first entertained us with his whimsical tales of A Year in Provence.  At that time I was a newly transplanted young expat living and teaching English in Taiwan for Hess Language School, and I was first drawn into the wonderfully engaging world of really great travel writing.  For a short time, I imagined myself in the career and made several fated attempts at creating similarly engaging tales of living in Southeast Asia.  Needless to say, I was gloriously unsuccessful, and I decided years ago to leave the travel writing to the experts.  And Peter Mayle is one of the best.  Now, Mayle returns with new tales of the lifestyles of southern France in a The Marseille Caper, which is superbly reviewed this week in the Denver Post by travel and food writer Tucker Shaw.  Mayle (and Shaw actually) has a way of capturing French culture and viewing it through a culinary lens that makes us all want to chuck it all and escape to the French countryside - or at last go out for a great French and some excellent French wines.  Mayle's latest once again casts the French lifestyle against an expatriate - this time an American named Sam.  For a delightful adventure in southern France, consider returning with Mayle once again.

No Shortage of Jobs - Just Shortage of Workers

While the politicians and the press and the pundits and the critics continue to rail about the unemployment and how to return jobs to Americans, the data continues to show plenty of jobs with no qualified workers.  The real drought in American society is training and skilled labor.  The national unemployment rate would probably be closer to 6% if we had more machinists and welders and drillers and IT technicians - all the jobs we have steered young people away from during our mindless push toward bachelor degrees for all students.

There are as many as 3.6 million unfilled jobs across America - the highest number of vacancies in years.  To his credit, President Obama has made this more of a priority, calling for increased investment in community college and job training programs.  That is certainly more than Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have offered - as they simply believe that cuts in dividends and marginal rates will magically spur hiring.  It won't.  But at the same time, President Obama's plan has not seen the investment he touts - for his Race-to-the-Top has done nothing to promote Career and Technical Education.

Perhaps, if our leaders simply checked the news and asked employers, we might start putting people back to work.

Reasons to Vote for Mitt Romney

As I noted with the recent post on reasons to vote for President Obama, moderate voters look at the issue rationally and concede that neither candidate is going to destroy the country.  The average American is looking for candidates who can present a moderate platform and plan which ignores the extremes and the exaggerations of his party and governs for all Americans.  Certainly, there are reasons to criticize Mitt Romney - and much of it comes from comments he has made, notably the disparaging words about 47% of Americans.  However, to focus on that is to ignore the achievements of a man who is by all accounts a successful businessman and political leader.  From his stellar business career to his work with the Olympics to his term as governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney offers countless reasons why moderate, rational, genuine people would think he is the better choice for president.  For example, they know/believe:

1. His successful career as governor of Massachusetts where he balanced the budget every year by working with a legislature that was heavily weighted toward the Democrat Party.

2. His work in the Olympics in which he was literally called in to "save" an organization that was plagued by scandal and cost over-runs and waste.  By cutting unnecessary spending and securing corporate sponsorship to fund part of the games, Mitt helped lead one of the most successful Olympics in history.

3. As a man who worked most of his career in finance, Mitt Romney proved he knows how to analyze data as a way of helping companies operate more efficiently.  Granted, that sometimes means cutting aspects of a company that are a drag on the success of the company.  However, that is necessary, and it is a skill that the federal government has clearly lacked for decades.

4. Along with Paul Ryan he is proposing bold and necessary changes to the entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid which are on unsustainable financial courses.  Despite cries from many people, these changes must be made.

5. He will lower tax rates and encourage investment which will spur economic activity and produce jobs. By closing loopholes in a tax code that is ridiculously convoluted, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's plan will repair a disaster of special interest government.

6. He will cut out unnecessary and wasteful government programs that our current government has been reluctant to challenge.  This includes subsidies to organizations such as the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.  While many decry this as an attack on Big Bird, there are many Americans who do not believe the government should be in the business of funding broadcasting - especially when news sources such as NPR have a decidedly liberal slant.

7. A majority of Americans for a variety of reasons oppose the Affordable Care Act - Obamacare - and never asked for such a monstrous piece of legislation - especially one that requires the purchase of a product like insurance.  This was a huge overreach by the Obama Administration during a time of economic crisis.

8. Free birth control?  People can pay for their own birth control.  And Planned Parenthood is an organization that can - and maybe should - be entirely privately funded.

9. Mitt Romney will appoint federal judges who will rule against Roe v. Wade - which won't outlaw abortion, but would simply return the issue to the states.

10. They just like Mitt Romney better - they trust him to fix the economy in a way that they feel President Obama hasn't

Reasons to Vote for President Obama

As the election nears its home stretch, and Hurricane Sandy opens up all sorts of new conversations regarding government and its role and bi-partisanship and the common good, it's worth taking a look at why we would vote for either candidate.  More importantly, it's worth acknowledging that both candidates have the good of the country at heart, and, as I told a woman who knocked on my door the other day, "If President Obama or Mitt Romney wins, the country is not going to fall to pieces."  We aren't going to go over the fiscal cliff, the government won't take over our lives, and America won't be on its way down.

With that in mind, I am considering the naive hope that we can simply learn to concede and acknowledge opposing view while moving toward more moments of consensus, such as we saw between New Jersey Governor Chris Cristi and President Obama this week.  Despite a move toward political division and intransigence, we are all Americans first.  This is a point we are reminded of in the new book by former moderate Republican congressman Micky Edwards.  Edwards posed some valuable ideas about partisanship in the Atlantic Monthly when he considered How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans.  His ideas about partisanship are worth considering.

So, even though there are many arguments against a second term for President Obama, here is a list of reasons why rational, educated, and genuine Americans would think President Obama is the better choice for president.  They probably know and/or believe:

1. The American economy that was about to go off a cliff in 2008 didn't, and has rebounded to a stable and growing - albeit weakly - status.

2. The stock market has been hovering near 14,000 for a while now, and corporations are posting record profits while sitting on more than $2 trillion in cash reserves.

3. The economy that was hemorrhaging jobs is now adding them, even in manufacturing areas like the auto industry.

4. The auto industry and all its related jobs is doing quite well.

5. They cannot be kicked off their insurance coverage for getting sick and they are allowed to access coverage even if they have a pre-existing condition.

6. They don't trust health insurance companies to have their best interests at heart.

7. They acknowledge the jobs saved by the stimulus program - which may have included teachers, police officers, and firefighters in their town.

7A. They understand the stimulus program was 40% tax cuts insisted upon by the Republican party.

8. They know jobs were lost because of corporate misdoings, not government interference.

9. They don't believe that education budgets need to be cut.

10. They don't blame poor people and food stamps and foreign aid for the rising debt and deficit.

11. The Iraq war is over and soldiers are coming home.

12. The war in Afghanistan is winding down and Al-Qeada has been massively weakened and disrupted across the world.

13. No terrorist attacks in the US.

14. Osama bin Laden is dead.

15. The believe a woman's reproductive system is her private medical issue.

16. They simply like him better.  They feel he understands their problems more.  They think he shares their values and is committed to their well-being.

The High Cost of Higher Education

As both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney continue to battle over who will better serve students and workers in preparing for their future, TIME Magazine has an excellent feature on the rising costs and changing face of higher education in this country.  Of interest to me is the role that government plays in subsidizing education and research - much to the ignorance of the average American.  I went to the University of Illinois, and most people I know went to public universities.  Additionally, many people I know who attended private universities did so with the help of government subsidized student loans.  In the years 2012, the average tuition and fees for a private school is $28,000 per year, while the average tuition and fees for a public university is roughly $8,500 per year.  So, the question you have to ask yourself is this: if you went to a public university or if you have kids who are attending college or plan to attend college, why would you ever support political candidates who seek to cut government funding for education by up to 20%?

Why?

A Longer or Just Different School Year

My school generally starts school during the week of August 20, has a one-week fall break in October, a two-week winter break in December, a one-week spring break in March, and lets out for summer by June 7.  It's quite a nice schedule - especially the addition of the fall break.  When I first moved to Colorado and discovered "fall break," I thought it was the greatest invention in the history of school schedules.  After nine or ten weeks to kick off the year, a week around Halloween was the perfect time to recharge.  I can't imagine ever going back to a "shorter" school year that starts around Labor Day and gets out by the end of May, but has shorter breaks during the year.  Summer is long enough as it is, and the quarterly breaks are great.

Now, as more school districts consider changes to the traditional schedule, decisions about breaks are beginning to drive the discussion.  That said, I am no fan of year-round school, and I am opposed to blanket statements that we simply need a longer school year.  However, a shorter summer break with extended fall, winter, and spring breaks makes all the sense in the world.  Summer vacation is a time-honored tradition in American culture, and it is one that should remain.  Summer is a time for extended camps and summer employment, leisure time and more athletic opportunities.  While we currently have one-week breaks in the spring and fall, I would gladly lop three weeks off the summer on either side, and take two weeks in fall, two weeks in spring, and three in the winter.  That would still leave eight or more solid weeks in the summer.

Nothing wrong with that.

The College and Education Bubble

It's no mystery that too many people are going to college.  With 29% of the country currently holding bachelor degrees or better, and unemployment a significant problem for them, especially if they just graduated, the conventional wisdom is that we need to re-think this obsession with college degrees.  Certainly, at a time that millions are out of work while millions of jobs in skilled labor go unfilled, the economy's long reliance on the college degree as credibility is passing.

With that in mind, Virginia Heffernan of Yahoo News offers her insights on How to Burst the College Bubble.  Heffernan's point is similar to many earlier criticisms of the college-degree-as-screening device made by people such as Charles Murray who wrote Real Education, and developed further with the work of Anya Kamenetz who published Generation Debt and DIY-U (Do It Yourself University).  In essence, the obsessive focus on college degrees has actually diminished the focus and value of education.  Heffernan looks forward - albeit quite quixotically - to a time when "you'd study not to get a credential .. but to improve your mind or acquire a skills, [much like] the reason you go to karate ... or yoga class."

The college degree as screening device has its merits - but employers could "devise their own tests to find valuable hires."  And the idea that a credential qualified someone, as opposed to a real demonstration of skill, would be lessened.  Or perhaps, as new platforms like Coursera propose, employers would emphasize the seat time on campus less than the acquisition of skills and knowledge.  Granted, there is still a legitimate argument for a classical education as the foundation of culture.  And the more well rounded people are, the more they generally contribute to society.  That said, we may be long overdue for a bursting of the College Bubble.