Thankfully, New Jerseyans seems to be coming to their senses and it would appear that they are preparing to kick Governor Money Bags (aka Governor Corzine) out of office come November. An article in today’s Daily Record cited how an overwhelming majority of New Jersey voters agreed that our state’s budget is in critical condition. This follows a recent poll showing that Corzine is trailing his likely Republican opponent Chris Christie. The Daily Record article states:
[Read more…]
Redesigning Graduate Education
Generally, there are very few Americans who go on to get an advanced degree after their Bachelor’s Degree. Some go on to get Masters and others put in the extra time and effort to get a Doctorate. I made it through the Masters program and I’m constantly thinking about going back to get a Doctorate Degree, but I always wind up reading articles like the one printed in the New York Times the other day that questions the purpose of graduate education in today’s environment. It’s quotes like these in the articles that generally get me thinking twice:
[Read more…]
Cutting the Cost of Your Digital Services
Do you find that you’re spending a lot of money on digital services? I think that if most people sit down and review where they are spending money, they will notice that expenses such as the telephone, cable, internet, fax, and cell phone are taking up an increasingly large portion of their monthly income. The New York Times ran an article the other talking about how people might go about cutting the costs of their digital services. A quick clip from that article: [Read more…]
Will the Economic Crisis Affect Fraternity Membership?
Back when I was the advisor for my local chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity, I signed up to be on a listserv for fraternity and sorority news. Every once in a while I get an e-mail with an article attached to it talking about something in the fraternity world (and since the media is sensationalistic these days, the articles are generally filled with bad news).
A few weeks ago, though, an article was sent out that talked about why some students are choosing to go Greek these days and why others aren’t. One paragraph, in particular, stuck with me:
The current economic crisis has changed the way students think about money, and Fouts acknowledges that perceptions about fraternity and sorority dues are no different. Chapters and student affairs offices, she said, will have to be “line-item specific” as to what these dues are for and how they will be spent to the benefit of the student. She argued that interested students should not be brought to think of their funds as “paying for friends,” as many an old cliché of fraternity life states.
Let me offer some comments. First, joining a fraternity is not paying for your friends any more than paying to go away to college is paying for a new social network or that joining any other organization that requires annual dues is paying for your friends. That’s a tired ass old argument that is so fundamentally flawed in both its view and application that it’s not even worth getting into extreme details here.
Second, I hope that students WILL begin to question where their dues are being applied – both locally and nationally. When I became the President of my local chapter many, many years ago one of the first things that I did was review where our money was flowing…and it wasn’t pretty. We were robbing one group of guys to pay for the next group of guys and creating a ridiculous cycle while accruing a massive amount of debt (it peaked at $9,000+ at one point). It was horrible. The guys who came before me either knew about the problem and didn’t fix it or didn’t know how to dig our chapter out of the hole.
To make a long story short, in the two years that I was in charge, we paid off the entire debt and reorganized our accounts in a more professional manner. Things went from very bad to very good (a little self-promotion, why not?).
When I began as a volunteer and began to dig more into where the money was going at the national level, while I understood the immediate needs and uses of the funds (which were all being used in a responsible manner), I began to worry about the future. My main concern was not with today’s financial issues, but with the financial issues of 2020 and 2050. With that in mind, I changed my main set of volunteer activities from assisting undergraduates (which is a lot of fun and the most rewarding experience in the fraternity) to focusing on how to build the financial future of our fraternity.
Can fraternities and sororities survive the current economic crisis? Yes – if they prove their worth. Fraternities and sororities need to be prepared to show the value that a new member gets for their dollars. If that “benefit” or value is the ability to attend fraternity-only parties, then the fraternity which is selling that product is likely going to find itself in dire straits. Any college student knows that there is always a party if they know where to look. Fraternity and sorority membership should provide lifelong benefits such as a built-in professional network and a built-in emotional support system.
Those fraternities that can prove their worth in the current economic climate will not only survive, but I expect them to thrive.
Taking Off A Year – Next Year, Actually – Could Be Worth It
Last April, I posted an entry talking about how taking a year off after high school would be a good way to broaden a young student’s world view. This mindset is something new for America, but it is one that I think could really help some of our younger citizens develop personally. As an adjunct professor and a guy who volunteers as an advisor to young college students around the state, one of the more concerning phenomenons that I’ve witnessed over the last few years is the increasing amount of sheltered young people that our society is producing.
While I understand that the transition from high school to college is literally life-changing, many students are entering college without any ability to live on their own. I see kids who are constantly on the phone with their parents, make daily trips back to their hometowns, and cocoon themselves from any new experiences on campus. To some small degree you have to appreciate why employers don’t want to give these people jobs once they graduate. The ability to think on your own and solve problems as they arise is critical to being successful in today’s world.
Anyway, the point of this entry is how taking a year off between high school and college might have always been a good idea for some students, but it might be a good idea for all students given some pending legislation. As the New York Times reports:
Last month, President Obama proposed what some experts called the most sweeping changes in federal college aid programs in decades. But even if Congress approves the new and expanded programs, they will not take effect until July 2010.
So here is a heretical idea for this year’s high school seniors: Take a year off and go out and do something else. Then, when it is available, see if you can take advantage of that aid money — more fixed-rate student loans and bigger grants to the poorest students.
Brilliant! This is a great idea that has many unintended (or perhaps intended) consequences. First, those who take next year off to develop themselves as human beings will be better prepared for the rigors of college life. Second, colleges will be forced to re-evaluate their expenses and whether or not they offer a valuable service given the realities of today’s market. And last but not least, you have the actual intended effect of the recommendation above – take a year off and wait until more subsidy dollars flow to your educational pursuits.
If coordinated correctly, this idea could initiate a great shift in the higher education system.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- …
- 12
- Next Page »
