Just a Thought

Does it bother anyone else that our country's financial future is dictated by our ability to borrow money and that the decision of an accreditation bureau can make or break us?

The Dallas Sports Scene

Oh happy day! The Cowboys are in training camp and we can forget about all those irritating things like the drought and the debt standoff. Who needs it when we can hear pearls of wisdom from the Great Arkansas Guru (GAG for short) Jerry Jones.
It never ceases to amaze me how the sports media in Dallas fawns over the Cowboys. This is a team that has not won a Super Bowl in sixteen years. They have not had a Hall of Fame player since Emmit Smith retired. Since the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl, the Stars have been to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning one. The Mavericks have been to two NBA finals, winning one. The Rangers have been to the World Series. FC Dallas has been to the MLS Final. SMU has won a bowl game. TCU has won the Rose Bowl. All that and yet the Cowboys are still the main attraction, a carryover from the day when they were the only game in town and winning Super Bowls. Mark my words, the Dallas Cowboys will not be serious contenders until people stop going to the games and stop buying the merchandise. Until that happens GAG has no reason to win.

The NFL Lockout

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? The NFL lockout is over. Whoopee. Better yet, who peed? What does it say when the ending of a lockout of millionaires by billionaires is a bigger news item than the debt crisis? The millionaires have said all along that they just want to play. What a load of hypocrisy! It has all been about the money. Your money. Not just ticket sales. Advertising, jerseys, shoes etc. It is not a sport, it is a business. Bread and circuses.

Why Can't They Learn?

Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. (2011)

Almost everyone wants to get into college, but how much do undergraduates really learn once they're there? According to Academically Adrift, the answer for many students is not much. The extensive research of the authors draws on survey responses, transcript data, and the College Learning Assessment, a standardized test administered to students in their first semester and again at the end of their second year. Their analysis reveals that a significant proportion of students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing. Arum and Roksa argue that for many faculty and administrators they will come as no surprise- instead they are the expected result of a student body distracted by socializing or employment and an institutional culture that puts undergraduate learning close to the bottom of the priority list.

This is not a disturbing work to anyone who has spent time in a college classroom. There exist many deep problems but they are not insoluble. Colleges and universities suffer, not from a lack of vision, but from what is known as 'mission creep". 'Mission Creep" is trying to do so many things that none of them are done well. For the institutions of higher learning, there needs to be a return to First Principles: what are we here for? Are we involved in higher learning or vocational education? Are we something to fill the schedule for 18-21 year olds? Students also need to have a concrete idea of why they are going to college, something more than delaying major life choices after high school. Parents must also have an idea of what getting a college education entails. They must be more actively involved.

Borders is going away

The news that Borders is going into liquidation hit me hard. It was no surprise, the patient had been on life-support for four months and the chance of recovery was slim, but it still hurt. Why? I could go on like Greg Kinnear in You've Got Mail how the world will be a less friendly place without Borders but that would only be ironic. Will there be a sequel to You've Got Mail, where Meg Ryan leaves Tom Hanks destitute when Fox Books shuts down?
The end of Borders means the end of a phase of my life. Borders first arrived in our neighborhood when my parents were still alive. It was Heaven as we were all bibliophiles. The selection was always light years ahead of Barnes & Noble. You could find, on the shelf (pre-Amazon) obscure books from University presses. More than just the latest bestsellers, their philosophy and religion sections were unmatched. DVD selection was just a fringe benefit.
And soon it will be gone, except for the memories.

I can be whatever I want!

For the power of man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please.
-C. S. Lewis. The Abolition of Man. (72)

C. S. Lewis on Education

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.
-C. S. Lewis. The Abolition of Man. (24)