Critic of Sub-Prime Lending Takes on the For-Profit Education Community

Today I read that Steven Eisman, a New York attorney and hedge fund manager, who bet successfully on the downfall of the sub-prime mortgage market, has become a critic of for-profit career schools and colleges. He has offered to pay the $17,300 of one graduate who has not been able to find a job.

Eisman, who is profiled in Michael Lewis's recent book, The Big Short, also contacted the Career College Association, the lobbying arm for the for-profit education community, and offered to pay half of the woman's debt, if the association would pay the other half.

Eisman, who recently appeared at U.S. Senate hearings on the for-profit education sector, said that he likened for-profit education to the real-estate market before the collapse, with easy credit driving prices ever higher and large defaults looming. He also said that he would make money if the sector collapsed, but also that the American taxpayers would save money.

I tend to believe that for-profit education is like most other markets for products and services. Barriers to entry are fairly low; all you need is classroom space, a Web site, people willing to teach, a call center and students willing to pay for the education. The ability to receive third party payments, in this case government-guaranteed student loans, is also an attraction.

But each player needs to seek competitive advantage to survive. This sector, like most others, is consolidating down to a small number of players who can offer undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The competitive advantage might be military contracts (U of Phoenix is one example) or establishment of a network of medical schools (DeVry through Ross University). The competitive advantage has to be something tangible and legitimate to prospective students.

In this story, the student who will receive Mr. Eisman's money attended the Sanford-Brown Institute in Yonkers, New York to learn to become an ultrasound technician.

However, she had not bothered to find out that her degree program was not properly accredited. The story, however, gives no mention of whether the parent company, Career Education Corporation, sought to have the program accredited, at least in the State of New York. They defended the quality of the education in the program and the success of other graduates at finding employment.

While the story mentions Yonkers as the student's campus, the online company directory showed that the Sanford-Brown closest campus was in White Plains, which is in the same New York county.

This is what the page states about programmatic accreditation:

An additional form of accreditation that a school may undertake to obtain is a specific, individual accreditation of certain programs (programmatic accreditation). Institutional accreditation is not the same as or a substitution for programmatic accreditation.

Although programmatic accreditation is not required for employment in many cases, the existence of programmatic accreditation is a further indication that a program meets the standards of the profession, and may therefore indirectly enhance employment opportunities.

Also, in some cases, programmatic accreditation will allow the graduates of the accredited program to sit for some credentialing exams immediately upon graduation without any requirement of work experience.

I also found a list of program accreditation and certifications across the Sanford-Brown system. Medical Assistant was the only program listed as accredited for the White Plains campus. The Diagnostic Medical Sonography program, where a student would learn about ultrasound was stated to be accredited for the campuses in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Iselin (NJ) and Pittsburgh.

If an admissions officer or other marketing representative for the White Plains campus lied to this student and told her that her program was accredited then the school misrepresented itself. The student would be entitled to a refund, and Mr. Eisman could keep his money.

But if they didn't, the school took itself off the hook with the passages I cited above. They did not promise an accredited program. They stated the competitive advantages of attending one. A smart attorney might interpret that as meaning: if you want to be assured that your degree program is accredited, then you should shop around.

Sarah Palin Moves Reagan's Alma Mater to California

I just read that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin credited former president Ronald Reagan with a degree from Eureka College in California. Except that Eureka College is in Illinois, the former president's native state. She made her remarks in a speech at California State University--Stanislaus, a public university that allowed their foundation to invite her as their featured speaker.

To quote Palin:

"This is Reagan country, and perhaps it was destiny that the man who went to California's Eureka College would become so woven within and interlinked to the Golden State."

Palin needs to hire better researchers if she wants to be taken seriously as a future presidential candidate or long-term pundit. It would do her minions and her political base good if she didn't come off sounding like a dimwit all the time. Especially when she hits the road to help a university.

Another Look at 'Big Government': Why Does the U.S. Have an Air Force?

As we head into Independence Day weekend, a celebration of our country, I remain curious about populist and Republican calls for smaller and more limited government.

I've read of proposals by Ron Paul to eliminate the IRS and the Federal Reserve. Ronald Reagan promised to close down the Department of Education and the Department of Energy when he campaigned for the presidency. He did not succeed, but he did pry the U.S. Postal Service out of the taxpayer's hands. Other organizations such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae were formerly government agencies. Now they are publicly traded corporations.

There are obvious reasons for the growth of government. Even if the roles of government were limited to its responsibilities under the Constitution--everything from the Census to defense--as well as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, government would still grow, because of populist calls for change and advancements in technology. Technology alone has:

+ Helped keep a nation safe and secure.
+ Reduced boundaries between nations--we have more allies and trading partners. We also have more enemies.
+ Driven economic progress--it's partly measured by the numbers of people who have necessities such as phones, television, computers and automobiles.
+ Increased the mobility of our citizens and made travel safer.
+ Kept people alive longer than our founding fathers could have ever expected.
+ Allowed more people to live healthy lives from birth onward.

In short, a government that must serve more people who live longer across a larger country is going to cost more money each year. The people who deliver those services cannot be expected to work for the same salary every year, or less, if we ask them to pay for more and more of their health benefits. And some of those services cannot be spun off into private hands.

Conservatives and libertarians always bring up one agency or another, as a target for cuts. But they never suggest anything to do with defense spending, even when it appears on the surface to be unnecessary. If anything, when they advocate a stronger defense, they argue for bigger government, too.

Take our Air Force, for instance. The Air Force is the newest branch of our Armed Forces. It was established in 1947 with the passage of the National Security Act. That same act also authorized the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council. More government.

Back then, the purpose of establishing the Air Force was to place America's airborne assets under a single branch of the military. However, James Forrestal, then Secretary of Defense, convened a meeting of the services two years later to divide responsibility for defending the skies. This resulted in the Key West Agreement, a military policy paper; its merits are still debated today.

Prior to 1947, military air power was spread amongst the other branches of the service: the Army, Navy and the Marine Corps. It made sense for each branch to have their own air power during World War II. The Navy had the aircraft carriers, the Marines work on land and sea and the Army had the boots on the ground. We did without an formal air force--the Germans had one--and we won the war.

When it came to finding astronauts, the country has looked beyond the Air Force to find them. For example, of the original Mercury astronauts, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schiarra and Alan Shepard were Naval aviators, and John Glenn was a Marine pilot.

Even today, with an Air Force with nearly 600,000 military, civilian personnel and reserves, we still have Marine pilots and Naval aviators. The Army has pilots, too. The Army and Air Force have responsibilities for flying troops and cargo. All of the branches fight aggressively for resources; aggressive is a polite word to describe military culture.

The fights amongst the services have given us a very strong national defense, but can we have an equally effective and less expensive one without all of the bickering?

That's a fair question for anyone to ask. Especially people who would like to see a smaller government.

New Jersey Senate Reauthorizes Public School Choice Pilot Program--But Why?

Yesterday our State Senate re-authorized a public school choice pilot program that had involved a total of fifteen public school districts and 900 students for the past five years. The vote to reauthorize the program passed 38-0.

The program allows out-of-district students to be enrolled in participating schools for no tuition charge. Re-authorization places no limits on the number of participating districts.

I didn't know about the program until I read the article, but this vote made me curious: why is Governor Christie's administration so anxious to pass a voucher bill and force budget caps when a true public school choice program might be a viable option? This is also a question to consider in light of the governor's cuts in school aid.

So I went to the program's Web site and looked at each approved school choice school and district. Of the fifteen approved districts, seven admit out-of-district elementary and secondary school students. The rest are more limited. Also thirteen of the fifteen had previously taken students from outside the district through tuition.

If you take a moment and look at each school or district numbers you will see that there has been less room for new students. One, South Harrison Township Elementary School in Gloucester County, has taken no new students for the past three school years.

Only two schools, Dwight Morrow High in Englewood in Bergen County and the Folsom elementary and middle school in Atlantic County, gained a significant number of new students through this program. The rest have had insignificant gains, or actually enroll fewer students from outside their district.

During the 2004-2005 school year, the one just before the choice legislation was passed, Dwight Morrow enrolled 179 students from outside the district. In 2009-2009, they enrolled 257, a gain of approximately 44 percent. For Folsom, the number grew from 132 to 162, a gain of about 23 percent.

Across all fifteen schools and districts, there were 788 out-of-district students enrolled in 2004-2005. In 2008-2009 there were 901. Essentially all of the gain can be explained by increases in the two schools I mentioned above.

The schools that reported that they had room for new students under the choice program, collectively have 354 seats for the 2010-1011 school year;ninth graders are the largest cohort with 150 students. Of those, approximately half of the seats are in Dwight Morrow High School.

Curious, I looked up the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status for Dwight Morrow High School. AYP reports are used to determine the school's status under No Child Left Behind. Schools that fail are considered to be in Need of Improvement. Thankfully, for students and Englewood parents, Dwight Morrow High met all AYP standards for 2009-2010.

The other school that has gained students, Folsom, also meets AYP.

But I see one reason why the governor has proposed a voucher program. This school choice pilot program has benefited only two schools in the Garden State as well as the students who qualified. Maybe this pilot program should have been grounded.

Christian Legal Society Loses Law School Anti-Bias Case

I just read in Inside Higher Education that the U.S. Supreme Court has voted 5-to-4, that public colleges and universities may require religious organizations seeking recognition or funds as campus groups to comply with anti-bias policies.

I wrote a previous post about this case. The Christian Legal Society sought to remain a Registered Student Organization Organization at the Hastings College of the Law, while maintaining their right to exclude gay and lesbian students and non-believers, those who are not of Christian faith, from membership. A Registered Student Organization may receive school funds, use on-campus facilities as well the school's corporate identity in their fund raising and promotions.

While the law school did not approve the society as a registered organization, the administration did not prevent them from meeting off-campus or in the student lounge. They were allowed to pay for the use of rooms and audio-visual equipment as well, if they planned to host larger events.

A state-supported law school--Hastings is part of the University of California system--must comply with state adopted anti-bias policies. However, the legal society's attorneys have argued that the exclusion of the society is a violation of their member's freedom of religion. The anti-bias stance was upheld by a federal appellate court because the anti-bias policies had been applied evenly across all student organizations at the law school.

In the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, found that the law school's policy was "a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access"

Its no surprise that a conservative court ruled 5-4 in this decision. In addition to Justics Ginsburg, who wrote the majority opinion, Justices Stevens, Breyer and Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has been a swing vote on other decisions, were in the majority. Justices Alito, who wrote the dissent, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas, were in the minority.

I took a look at the American Bar Association Merit Brief for the case. It was interesting to note that Hastings had previously recognized a non-discriminatory Christian fellowship organization on-campus. That organization was not affiliated with the national Christian Legal Society.

The members of the fellowship, including one openly lesbian student and two non-believers applied to become affiliated with the national society. As they prepared their application, they were cautioned by the law school's Dean of Students that the school would not recognize an organization that discriminated on the basis of religion and sexual orientation, among other characteristics.

It led me to wonder, if the group was not overtly trying to discriminate before they applied to affiliate with the national organization, then why would they seek to join a larger body that would not accept some of their group as members?

Want to Run for Political Office? Become Good at the 'Ask'

I'm interested in helping a Democratic candidate with blogging and other social media during the coming election season, so this weekend I attended an all-day campaign training camp sponsored by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.

I follow politics and I've worked for candidates as recently as two years ago when my brother ran for state senate in upstate New York, but I didn't know as much about the importance of the "ask," in fundraising and getting out the vote. Until now.

The "ask" in terms of being a candidate is simply this: the ability to determine when someone has made a firm commitment to donate money or deliver their vote. The candidate cannot consider a lawn sign in the front yard to represent all of the votes under that roof.

The various speakers told us how to identify your voter base, plan your face-to-face and media strategies and manage a campaign budget. This is not the stuff you get in a college political science class, but the research and the tactics required to win an election are as strategic as you will find in any corporate marketing plan.

Elections are not cheap these days. It can cost $25,000 or more to become elected mayor in a small town and upwards of $500,000 to win a seat in a state legislature. And successful candidates are usually their own best fundraisers. They want a return on their investments; they would rather not self-fund their races, even if they are wealthy.

It takes courage to run for office; your name, your face, your family are out there, as are your views. It's easier to make mistakes than it is to deliver a positive and memorable message.

But even if you are a great communicator, you must convince your party leadership and major donors that you can raise enough money to run a credible campaign. A candidate, especially one running for the first time, who is outgoing and has a succinct message has a far better chance of winning than a candidate who is socially aloof.

An American Educator Teaches in Turkey: an interview with Angela Hamilton

My friend, Angela Hamilton, is an assistant professor of English at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. She has a bachelor's degree and a M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has been a classmate with me at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a thorough and thoughtful critic of my work.

Angela’s essays have recently appeared in The Southeast Review, Quarterly West, The MacGuffin, and The Truth About the Fact. Currently, she is working on a collection of essays on living and teaching in Turkey. I would like to thank her for answering a few questions about her experiences.

+ How and why did you become interested in teaching college students in Turkey?

My husband and I had separate and considerable travel experiences before we knew each other. When we planned our honeymoon, we headed for a city I knew well (Budapest), a city Stephen knew well (Athens), and a city neither of us had experienced (Istanbul).

On our last night in Istanbul, we talked about how incredible it would be to live in such a city. A month later, I ran into a colleague at St. Louis Community College who mentioned the planning stage of a faculty exchange to Istanbul. I made quick work of finding out how to apply. I had wanted to live abroad ever since a nine-week backpacking trip through Europe. Istanbul was the perfect city for us – lively, lots of history and a people who have a deep respect for teachers and education.

+ What school were you assigned and can you describe its mission?

I was assigned to Fatih University in Istanbul. The institution’s mission is to find “a place among the leading world universities in scholarship and scientific achievement.” Fatih University was founded with the goal of focusing on science and technology to produce graduates who will make Turkey a strong competitor in the field of scientific research.

+ What was the make-up of your students?

Most of my students were Turkish, but some came from Moldova, Turkmenistan, China and Russia. The gender was balanced. Many came from respected private high schools, but those who did not often had difficulties in classes conducted in English. Fatih University is a private institution that educates a broader segment of the Turkish population.

+ Were there major differences in the content of the course(s) you taught in Turkey versus those you teach in St. Louis?

My focus in St. Louis is primarily composition and creative writing. In Turkey, I taught American literature courses. The contemporary texts I chose in St. Louis veered toward writers who aggressively challenge students’ sensibilities, like Sam Lipsyte and Denis Johnson.

In Turkey, I taught Gish Jen, Meghan Daum and Marilynne Robinson, writers who have created flawed narrators with whom we deeply identify for their vulnerabilities. Additionally, in Turkey, I had to build in foundational information on American culture to avoid teaching in a vacuum.

+ What were the major concerns of your Turkish students in terms of completing their assignments as well as their education?

Typically, I would have a handful of male students who wanted to begin their careers right away. Some had relatives who owned businesses and jobs awaited these students. Most likely, their families wanted them to obtain college degrees before entering the workplace, but, for these students, academic pursuits were not always the highest priority. Often, the male students complete their required military service directly after graduating, but some continue on to graduate school.

I knew of a few female students who were attending university at their parents’ request and, in conversation, some revealed that they were focused more on life after university rather than the learning experiences offered on campus. That said, I had a considerable number of highly motivated female students who traveled abroad to continue their studies and are now in graduate school.

I invite you to read two of Angela's published essays on living in Turkey, visit Postcard Prose on The Literary Bohemianand Sauce Magazine.

What Is Unschooling? A Guest Post by Kristin Oakley

My friend, Kristin Oakley, and I met at the Write-By-The-Lake Retreat at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A resident of Rockford, Illinois with a bachelors degree and a law degree from Wisconsin, Kristin has unschooled her two teenage daughters, Caitlin and Jessica, through their entire educational life. She is currently working on a novel, Carpe Diem, a story of a rural Illinois community where unschooling is common practice. Educated Quest would like to thank Kristin for this guest post.

What is unschooling?

Unschooling is child-lead/child-centered learning. The child, rather than a teacher, decides what he/she wants to learn and how he/she wants to go about learning it. Parents act as facilitators and provide opportunities and materials for their children. Much of unschooling is hands-on, natural learning rather than textbook learning, but that’s up to the child.

How is unschooling different from homeschooling?

Homeschooling is a general term which includes unschooling. There are many types of homeschooling including school-at-home where parents follow a curriculum and imitate public schools (probably what most people assume is homeschooling), eclectic schooling, unit studies, and unschooling.

About how many children are unschooled?

There are an estimated 2 million children homeschooled today. Of those, 10 to 15 percent are unschooled.

When did you decide to unschool your children and why?

When my oldest (Caitlin) was 2 ½, I thought I’d better investigate preschools so I went to the library and found a book titled, “Better than School,” by Nancy Wallace. I wondered what could possibly be better than school. Nancy unschooled her children and after reading that book I knew I wanted to give that a try. My husband agreed. We never looked back.

What teaching techniques, if any, did your need to learn to be able to teach your children?

Teaching techniques—none. What homeschooling parents need is patience (which can be learned). They also should like their children and want to share their lives with them. This may seem natural for all parents, but you’d be surprised how many parents tell me they could never homeschool because they couldn’t stand to be with their kids all day.

As far as knowing particular subjects, if a parent isn’t familiar with a subject, they can learn along side their child. If a parent doesn’t want to learn that subject, there is always someone willing to teach it (a relative, neighbor, community college, etc.)

Did your children participate in extracurricular activities in other schools or elsewhere?

Other than shadowing their friends for a day in school, my daughters never participated in public school activities. They were involved in Gym and Swim at the YMCA, Indian Princesses, Girl Scouts, community choirs, community theatre, AYSO soccer, gymnastics, piano and cello lessons, Broadway Bound (musical review group), volunteering at the Discover Center (local science museum), ushering at American Players Theatre, book club, science club, Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp, Blue Lakes International Choir (Caitlin traveled throughout Europe with them the summer before her junior year in high school), UW-Whitewater piano camp, American Players Theatre Camp.

My younger daughter (Jessica) just finished her freshman year of high school and is in Chamber Camp at the Music Academy of Rockford College this week, playing her cello and will be attending a fine arts camp at Northern Illinois University next month.

How does an unschooled student assemble an application to college (presuming an unconventional transcript with no grades?)

It depends upon what the college they’re applying to wants. Many colleges, Stanford for example, have separate requirements for homeschooled kids. It’s tricky to draft a transcript, but much (if not all) of what unschoolers do can be translated into school lingo. It’s a bit like translating what adults do into a resume. Some things are obvious, like Jessica performing Shakespeare would fit into speech and literature credits.

With other things, students have to be a bit more creative, but what’s impressive is that they tend to actually do things rather than simply reading about them. For instance, Jessica is interested in costume design so we’ll be volunteering at community theaters this fall. She’ll have real world experience which colleges will appreciate.

In addition to unschooling her daughters, Kristin started Stephenson County H.O.U.S.E. (later changed to Northwest Illinois H.O.U.S.E.), a homeschooling support group in Freeport, Illinois in 1995 and led it for many years. She was the contact person for the group (and for Rockford H.O.U.S.E.) and advised parents interested in homeschooling their children.

She is on the teen workshop committee for the 2011 InHome Conference to held in St. Charles, Illinois and plans to offer a workshop there next spring.

Additionally, Home Education Magazine has published several of her articles on unschooling. Here is one of them.

Why New Jersey Mayors Like the Hard Cap and I Do Not

This week I've read that more than 200 New Jersey mayors support Governor Chris Christie's proposal for a "hard" property tax cap of 2.5% per year. The cap is a hard cap because it would written into the state's constitution. Only debt service or a public vote by a sixty percent majority would allow a local government to exceed the cap.

I understand why these mayors, Democrats and Republicans alike, support the cap.

If they oppose the cap they are perceived as "tax and spend" mayors. That's a very difficult position to be in when you run for re-election.

And, when it comes time to make budget cuts, the fashion throughout the Garden State, they have someone to blame. No responsible mayor wants to commit an unconstitutional act. It is also unlikely that mayors and councils in most local governments would see their actions overridden by a sixty percent majority.

Every mayor who supports the hard cap also ignores an obvious fact: one day they will not be mayor. The smart politician looks out for future generations.

But here's the problem: the cap might help to hold down wages, but it does not stop suppliers and from raising their prices. Nor does it stop other governments from raising their taxes. So, it will shrink the size of local governments, but not always in a good way.

True, the cap will hold down public sector wages; that's part of the motivation behind it. While a salary increase of 2.5% or less will not force valued employees to leave in bad times, it will lead them to bolt when times get better.

Local governments need more flexibility with wages to give larger increases to their best employees. Applying a cap for all public workers essentially means that every worker is treated as an "average" employee.

Every local government purchases health insurance for their employees and contributes to their Social Security benefits. Every local government pays utility bills and fuel costs.

None of these price increases is predictable, though the likelihood of a price increase is. Under a hard cap, local governments will still be forced to accept price increases greater than 2.5%, make dramatic cuts, or pass on some of the costs of benefits to their employees. This works, up to a point.

When you combine a small wage increase with a larger "pass-through" in benefit costs you get disgruntled workers. Employees tolerate it when times are bad, especially if the pass-through is lower than what they would pay in a private sector job.

The very moment a local government asks public employees to contribute the same as private sector workers, or ask them to pay more, they lose the confidence and trust of their work force. Or they are forced to implement lay-offs, no matter what the economic conditions are at that time.

I know that its fashionable to bash the government worker and shout "off with their jobs," but experience has shown me that there are far more good government workers than bad. Like private sector workers, they look for new jobs when they're treated badly.

Experience has also shown me that you don't get better government when there are fewer public safety workers--police, fire, inspections, for example--and teachers for a growing population.

New Jersey's Publicly Funded College for Adults to Survive Another Year

Today's Trenton Times has a front page story that Thomas Edison State College, New Jersey's only school targeted to adult non-traditional students will remain independent. However, the state's contribution to the college's $51.9 million budget will be reduced from $5.3 million to $1.8 million.

Back in March, Governor Chris Christie's original plan was to reduce Thomas Edison's budget to zero and merge the school with Rutgers University. I wrote a previous post explaining why such a merger made little sense. The school's academic mission, tuition and fee structure, grading policies and student information systems are totally incompatible with those of the state university.

A budget cut is better than no budget at all, however, Thomas Edison is a greater education and economic development than some policy makers may think.

As an online university with no physical campus, Thomas Edison is the only state college with a capacity to increase the size of its student body. It is also a publicly supported service that is already used to assist the unemployed in gaining new skills to find a new job. More on this point.

Thomas Edison's competition for students is not so much the traditional public or private non-profit college, but the for-profit institutions that have flexible scheduling and degree options for adult students.

For-profit schools such as Walden University and the University of Phoenix charge more than the full-time equivalent of $20,000 in tuition per year. Thomas Edison charges approximately $4,700 for New Jersey residents and $6,700 for out-of-state students. These fees are, no doubt, more attractive to employers who reimburse their students as well as students who must borrow to finance their education.

Even if Thomas Edison were to raise tuition and fees to compensate for the loss of state funds, the college would still undercut the for-profit schools dramatically. However, given the fiscal conditions of neighboring states, Thomas Edison should attempt to become a regional institution and add more out-of-state students. Their tuition structure and plans make that possible.

That leaves me to wonder if Thomas Edison deserves more funding, not less, as times get better. The Obama Administration has made it a goal for the United States to have the highest percentage of college graduates among developed nations. Investments in schools such as Thomas Edison make the president's goal more achievable.

Is Brand Important in Choosing a College Summer Session?

Today I'm reading an interesting column in Education Sector that discusses the "Harvard brand," among other subject, and how it is impacted by open-enrollment summer, online and extension programs.

I did attend summer sessions when I was in college, while pursuing the MBA and through continuing education, which I am completing this summer.

When I was in college I went to my local community college for a drawing class. It was close to home and my internship and cheaper than similar offerings at four-year schools. When I did my MBA at Rutgers, I took summer classes there. At present, I am attending New York University (NYU) for a certificate in digital media marketing. Those courses are given online and in day-long sessions; the hours are approximately equal to an eight or ten-week college class.

The only time I was concerned about "brand" was when I chose the NYU courses. I was not looking to earn a third master's degree, but I wanted to go to a reputable school. At the same time, I wanted to receive instruction from faculty who work in the digital world. My choices were NYU and the University of Virginia.

+ NYU gave me a choice: in-person or online classes. I can travel to school by train, but I despise commuting, so I appreciate the choices. I can also get to know the faculty.

+ NYU is in New York, the digital media capital of the world.

+ NYU charged approximately half U.Va's tuition.

My decision became easy. I got the same education online that I would have gotten in person. The instructors and the courses are the same. And, from what I've learned, the NYU brand has value.

Thousands of other students are like me when it comes to continuing education. We want to be associated with a good name as well as learn. We don't think about whether NYU's continuing education programs are "diluting" the quality of their undergraduate, graduate and degree programs. When we finish, we call ourselves "NYU graduates." If an employer places a premium on that name, so much the better. I not only took courses, I earned a valid credential.

If I were a college student, I would not be so concerned about the school's brand if I were taking only one or two summer classes. I would not pay the premium for Harvard if I were a Rutgers student. I would go to Rutgers.

The people at Rutgers decide what is and is not worthy of credit. No question, they will recognize the offerings at their school. There is no guarantee they will recognize courses from elsewhere, even if elsewhere is Harvard.

New Jersey: Where School Choice Is Tied to Legislator Choice?

Today I read a story in the Asbury Park Press that a proposed scholarship (or voucher) bill is being revised so that scholarships (or vouchers) are awarded only in districts where their legislator, a state senator or assemblyman, supported the bill. A second change allows school districts who lose students through the scholarship (or voucher) program to recover a portion of the state they lose.

All these revisions do is make a bad bill worse.

I wrote about this bill, introduced by two state senators, one Democrat and one Republican, from Union County, one of the more urban counties in the Garden State. I opposed the bill then. I have more reason to oppose it now.

The authors of this bill have sent a message: support this bill and students from your failing schools will have scholarships. Oppose it and they won't. That sounds like extortion in writing, no matter how good the rest of the bill is, or how many students it might actually help.

The authors have also sent a dangerous question: are you with the teacher's unions or the governor in making better schools more accessible to children in failing districts?

A legislator who might oppose this bill on principal--after all, it means a loss of state aid and the impression that state government is giving up on the poor-performing schools in his district--is being forced to vote for it. I can imagine that a teacher's union that has previously supported that legislator's re-election campaigns will target him for defeat the next time around.

I can understand the Republican votes that will be in favor of this bill. They are standing by their governor. But Democrats, who hold the majority of both houses, are being placed in a very difficult position. Yet the Democratic co-sponsor of this bill has reluctantly allowed the revisions to be included.

In a state like New Jersey, where most politics is local, this appears to make no sense. However, the revisions gives every legislator a chance to explain why they voted yes. Because, with these revisions in place, this bad bill is going to pass.

Texas Educators Got One Right-- For a Change

Today I read in the Chronicle of Higher Education that a U.S Appellate Court in Austin, Texas has upheld the decision of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to reject the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) graduate school's application to offer a master's degree in science education. The institute uses literal interpretation of the Bible as well as biological and archeological research to prove that intelligent design is a more valid theory than evolution.

I'm surprised this happened in Texas, but at the same time the ICR might have won more than they lost. Lose a trial such as this conducted by "skeptics," and you gain more publicity. And you raise more money on behalf of intelligent design.

When I started blogging, I wrote a post to suggest that intelligent design would be better taught in a history, philosophy or religion class than as science. I'm still convinced of my position when I read comments such as these from the ICR's Web site:

Evolutionary philosophy holds that ingenious biological features were invented by the unknowing, uncaring, purposeless laws of nature, but it is clear that they were instead engineered by our wise, benevolent, and powerful Creator.

I doubt that biblical scholars--those who wrote the stories in the Bible and other religious texts--knew as much about biology, paleontology, genetics and so on, as modern scientists. But they endeavored to find some way to explain these things. All they had to do it was the facts and prose of their time.

And I have no doubt that most of these phenomenon were explained through religion, because religious education came after after reading, writing and counting.

But these writings are a part of the history of science. They are not science unto itself.

Book Review--Draft Season:Four Months on the Clock by Bobby Deren

I met the author of this book, Bobby Deren, on my flight home from Tampa-St.Pete following Rutgers win in the St. Petersburg (now Beef O' Brady's) Bowl. Bobby and I happen to be seated in adjoining cubicles to use the Internet to write and contact people at home. There had been a blizzard in Philadelphia, so our flight had been delayed well into the evening.

Bobby is a writer for Rivals.com, part of the Yahoo Sports Network. He was in St. Pete to cover the Rutgers game for them as well as Scarlet Nation, a Rutgers football site.

We talked about the bowl game and the NFL prospects of Devin McCourty, who became the New England Patriots first-round pick in April. We sold the kid short. This was a couple of months before the Combine, where the top college players audition for the pros. I did not expect McCourty to run the second-fastest 40 time for his position, which vaulted him into first-round consideration. I suspect Bobby didn't either.

Bobby mentioned that he was writing a book about the draft. I forgot until I saw the book at my local Borders this week. Since he was a nice guy, and he chatted with me while he worked, I bought the book.

Draft Season: Four Months on the Clockfollows four pro football prospects from the end of their last college game through draft day. As I've mentioned in prior posts, the NFL draft is like no other entry level job search. Prospects literally need to leave school during their last semester to prepare, though some, like Devin McCourty, were "redshirts," meaning that they had sat out their freshman season and were given an extra year to complete their degree. The redshirts had already finished their education.

All of Deren's pro prospects were very good college football players, but only one, a cornerback from Michigan, expected to be drafted during the first two rounds. They trained for the college all-star games, the Combine, pro days and on-campus workouts through the same training program: TEST Academy, located in Central New Jersey.

TEST's owner, Brian Martin, becomes a central figure in each player's development. He not only works with each player on their conditioning, healing and skills; he also accompanies them to the games, the Combine, and other tryouts whenever he can.

Martin even defends a player against a wise-cracking NFL general manager who questioned the players heart and willingness to play with pain in the Senior Bowl. This is not the first book about the NFL Draft, but it is the first that makes a training academy owner a central character. Choosing the right training facility, you learn, is as important as choosing the right agent.

There are several interesting behind-the-scenes stories here that you may not find in other books about the NFL draft. All of these men have something going against them: a football program not known for producing NFL talent, a marijuana possession charge, a losing senior season, or injuries that have kept them from being considered as top picks. All show flashes of high-level talent on their journey: an unheard of 40 time, a MVP performance in a college all-star game, or extraordinary strength for their position.

Three of the four players are drafted in the lower rounds, while the fourth becomes a priority free agent. Two make NFL rosters for the beginning of the 2009 season, one makes the practice squad and is picked by the team of his dreams, while the fourth signs a contract to play in Canada.

If you follow the draft from college all-star games through Draft Day, this book is very worthwhile. If you are a college or high school football player, or the parent of one, this book provides a very realistic representation of what it takes to become a NFL draft pick.

My Week in Madison, Wisconsin, a Great College Town

This year and last I participated in the Write-By-The-Lake retreat at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Write-By-The-Lake takes place at nearly the perfect time to be in Madison, if you can get around all of the construction.

Madison is a city of 220,000 people on two lakes. It is also a state capital as well as the home of the flagship state university. Walk down State Street, between the campus and Capital Square and you see an interesting transition.

Closer to campus, it looks like student city. Practically every store, coffee shop and restaurant caters to student budgets. Closer to the capital, pedestrian traffic leans towards adults. This half of State has a slick-looking public library and art museum as well as the Orpheum, an old movie theater with an upscale restaurant in the grand lobby. Walk around the capital and you won't find trash or chewing gum on the pavement as you do in downtown Trenton, New Jersey.

During my stay I bought a hockey t-shirt that reads: Nightmare on State Street. I'm wondering if I should wear it to an anti-Chris Christie event, since our governor works on a similarly-named street.

When I was a high school senior, I applied to Wisconsin and I was accepted. But I never had the chance to visit the school. I decided to stay closer to home and go to Rutgers instead. I figured that I could transfer after two years, but I stayed put.

Yet if I had visited Madison at seventeen, I would have been swayed to spend my college years there. One look at Lake Mendota and the lakefront Terrace behind the student center and I would have made up my mind. New Brunswick had nothing on Madison. Wisconsin is a perfect school for someone interested in politics and journalism. And I'm sure I would have had plenty of company. New Jersey sends loads of freshmen to Madison every year.

There are other top state schools in state capitals with nice campuses as well as competitive sports. Two of the best, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Texas-Austin are not as friendly to out-of-state students as Wisconsin. Only sixteen percent of UNC students come from outside North Carolina while only four percent of UT-Austin students hail from outside the Lone Star State. These days the odds of getting into an Ivy may be better.

Sorry to Say But Christie is Right About Perth Amboy Schools

A New Jersey appellate court has, by a 3-0 margin, upheld Governor Chris Christie's decision to cut state aid to the Perth Amboy public school district.

Perth Amboy is one of 31 Abbott Districts in New Jersey, meaning that state money is used to support the district in the hope that the town's schools can provide a thorough and efficient education. Perth Amboy is also an economically disadvantaged community, which is why the school system receives the money.

In past fiscal years, the Perth Amboy public school district ran a small surplus in its operating budget. Believing that the district could use the surplus to cover operating costs in the next fiscal year, Governor Christie cut their state aid by $15 million. The district contended that it was unconstitutional under state law to force them to use surplus funds in excess of two percent of their operating budget. The appellate court ruled otherwise. I agree with the decision.

This is the major point. If 31 school districts receive state aid and one runs a surplus while another has legitimate educational costs they cannot meet without running a deficit, then the needier district should get the money.

And, if Perth Amboy has run an excess surplus while maintaining poor-performing schools-the district has three schools in Need of Improvement under No Child Left Behind--the state's commissioner of education and the voters deserve to know how state money was spent. The state does not aid school districts for the purposes of giving citizens a false sense of security.

For-Profit Colleges Going Too Far? Guest post by Josh Hubanks

Josh Hubanks is a writer for My Dog Ate My Blog and an occasional writer on accredited online colleges at Guide to Online Schools. The opinions provided are exclusively those of the author. Educated Quest would like to thank Josh and My Dog Ate My Blog for today's guest post.

We’ve all seen the ads. On TV, on billboards, in pop-ups—they’re everywhere.

Escape the classroom, they read. Get a degree that matters in the real world.

For many people, for-profit colleges like the University of Phoenix, DeVry University, and Kaplan University—so-called “career colleges”—have become popular alternatives to community colleges and traditional universities. To the under-skilled working adults to whom these schools often appeal, the promise of a quick, marketable degree in a volatile economy is more than enough to entice them.

All of this is well and fine, except for the crushing amount of student debt for-profit colleges often saddle their students with after graduation.

Whereas credits at public, non-profit community colleges are generally affordable (the nation’s lowest rate, in California, is about $26 per unit), for-profit institutions charge comparatively exorbitant fees to students who often are already financially at-risk.

The University of Phoenix, for example, charges $450 per unit. Add to this the fact that, while public community colleges continue to be devastated by state cutbacks, private, for-profit colleges are flourishing under the aid of federal dollars.

Consider that between 2000 and 2009, government aid to for-profit career colleges increased from $4.6 billion to a staggering $26.5 billion—a 476 percent increase over just nine years. In California last year, community colleges were forced to turn away half of their applicants due to a lack of funding; in the same state, for-profit enrollment grew by 20 percent.

Many, including Congress and the Obama administration, see this as an alarming trend and are pushing for tighter regulation of the for-profit industry.

According to a recent Washington Post article, expected-to-be-forthcoming proposals could include cuts to for-profit schools whose students contribute more than 8 percent of their starting income toward student loan repayment.

For-profit colleges’ ascent to prominence isn’t due solely to government money, however. Increasingly, for-profit schools have been the beneficiaries of recession-related cutbacks at community colleges, capitalizing on marginalized and non-traditional students’ desires to get ahead in an economy that’s quickly leaving them behind.

Yet, while for-profit colleges are indeed filling a gap created by recessionary problems, many are quick to point to the predatory practices of such schools.

In many instances, former students of for-profit colleges have come forth with tales of being lured by promises of accessibility and job security, only to graduate tens of thousands of dollars in debt and with a degree of questionable worth. Many people point, too, to the for-profit industry’s increased lobbying presence in Washington, D.C. as a sign of its questionable credibility.

Most recently, the Career College Association, the lobbying arm of the for-profit college industry, established “Students for Academic Choice.” For all its grassroots pretensions, the group is concerned with affecting favorable legislative outcomes for the for-profit industry. Its tactic: sending students to Washington in an effort to persuade lawmakers not to cut federal funding to for-profit schools.

Their goal, however, does not seem to be to lower tuition.

Said Dawn Conner, [for-profit] Globe University student and student representative for the Career College Association, “[Lower tuition] would be great. In the real world, that would be great if we could lower the price for everything. But that’s just not an option at this point in time. That’s not the point we’re trying to get to right now.”

This crossroads of circumstances seems indicative of a serious problem. At a time when affordable education is languishing and for-profit education exerts more political might than that of its non-profit counterparts, something needs to change.

Non-traditional students should not have to rely on for-profit institutions as the only viable means of attaining a college degree. Quite the opposite, we as a country should be focusing our financial efforts on supporting non-profit colleges and universities. In so doing, the increased quality, affordability and accessibility of a non-profit education will incentivize and make viable that form of schooling.

To read more of Josh's columns, visit My Dog Ate My Blog.

Could An Overemphasis on Test Scores Lead Principals and Teachers to Cheat?

This weekend the New York Times ran a story with examples of school systems where principals and teachers tampered with standardized tests.

One example, according to the story, comes from the Galena Park Independent School District in Houston, Texas.

There, educators had distributed a detailed study guide after stealing a look at the state science test by “tubing” it — squeezing a test booklet, without breaking its paper seal, to form an open tube so that questions inside could be seen and used in the guide. Mercy be, cheating in the state where George W. Bush set out to be the education president?

I scratch my head and wonder: who would not expect educators in a "failing" school district to try to cheat, to get an advance copy of the test or whisper the correct answers into their student's ears?

Imagine a failing school within a poor socioeconomic neighborhood. The school has the same teachers. The students come from households with the same economic problems; a public school district cannot turn them away. Is that school really going to perform better as a state government raises the bar for "passing?" Not really, unless educators can game the test or help their students to cheat.

Yet elected officials of both parties as well as non-partisan members of school boards and superintendents are calling for teacher evaluations to be based on student test results. That would be fine if the teachers had their choice of students, so that they could keep the bad apples out of their classrooms.

Instead, we set them up to be motivated towards test scores. They teach to a test without any ability to assess or challenge the validity of that test. In business, sales people aim to earn incentives; that's how they make more money and keep their jobs. It's natural to work mainly towards those incentives, so concerns such as ethics and customer service might go by the wayside. Why should we expect teachers to be any different?

Now I wonder, instead of investing in tests, shouldn't we invest in a 12 month school year? Students who prove capable of learning on grade level by June or earlier would go home for the summer. Those who need the remedial help to get to grade level would receive summer instruction.

Teachers whose skill sets mesh with remedial instruction would be offered the option of a 12 month contract at higher pay. Forget merit or performance based pay plans; there's never a guarantee that the school system will have the money to pay those bonuses. Public school systems, unlike businesses and local governments, cannot project revenues far into the future because they do not collect money.

The challenge to school systems, to me, is to know what each teacher does best. I must believe that principals and superintendents are capable of defining the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required to teach in a classroom at a specific grade level, as well as the KSAs needed to work with students who cannot keep up. I doubt if schools go to the effort to define what those KSAs are. I would think an act such as No Child Left Behind would have forced them to do it.

It is a waste of time and money to constantly develop tests that essentially measure nothing. Teachers are trained to monitor the progress of their students and to know when they are reading, writing or doing mathematics on grade level. They have been testing students since their first days on the job using assessments that have been around for decades. Teachers who are negligent in monitoring student progress, constantly promoting under-performing students to the next grade, can already be identified by department heads and principals.

The money spent on testing and negligent teachers go to the effective teachers instead. And the students who need more time to achieve towards their grade level should receive it.

Summer College Preparation for High School Students and Parents, guest post by Rosemary Schifano de Vries

Rosemary Schifano deVries as been actively involved in higher education as a mother of two college students, school board member and most recently as an independent college counselor who has run her own firm, College Advising for Parents & Students, for the past seven years. She has a bachelors in psychology from Rutgers University and a Masters in College Counseling and Student Development from Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Educated Quest would like to thank her for this tips to share with high school sophomores, juniors and parents.

As the end of your student's sophomore or junior year comes to a close it is time to think about the college admission process, a process which most families become diligent about at this point of their student's high school career. Many parents begin the process by taking their student on college visits.

Before you jump in the car, make sure that the college is a realistic choice for your student, for example:

+ How far away from home does your student want to go or, should I say, how close to home do you want your student to stay?

+ What size college is right for your student?

+ Does he or she want to be in a city, suburb or someplace rural?

The most important question for you is: what can you comfortably afford?

Remember that it is not necessary to put yourself or your student into tremendous debt; a lot of state universities are well ranked and affordable.

Many parents and students dread standardized testing. Unfortunately this is the only way that colleges can compare students from high schools across your state and even from across the country.

The most competitive colleges use the SAT to compare students from around the world. So as parents we need to encourage our students to take a prep course. It is beneficial for most students to take a prep course during the summer after their sophomore year or early during their junior year. The prep course should offer test-taking strategies and administer the SAT or ACT under simulated test taking conditions at least three times.

Another important part of the college resume is involvement in extra-curricular activities. Make sure that your student becomes involved. Have your student focus on a few activities and continue with them for all four years.

Students should concentrate on achieving a leadership position in one or two activities. Don't forget community service; that is a very important part of the extra-curricular package. One other thing that colleges like to see is summer employment, so encourage your student to find a job for at least part of the summer.

Your student's high school has hopefully placed your student on the most rigorous academic tract that is right for them. For the next two years this rigorous course load and full academic schedule must be maintained. Colleges are looking for students who challenge themselves throughout all four years of high school.

If your student began his high school career as an average performing student but manages to increase his grade point average (GPA) every year, do not fret; this is exactly the type of student most colleges are seeking to admit.

Above all, do not panic if your student does not seem to be invested in the college search. Most high school students live in the here and now and can only see themselves as high school students until the second semester of their senior year, so it is up to you as the parent to help lead them through the college admission process.

For more college admissions advice contact Rose at getcaps@earthlink.net

Karate Kid '84 vs. Karate Kid '10

When it first came out in twenty six years ago, The Karate Kid was a perfect summer movie for moms to take their pre-teen kids and fill an afternoon. The new version of the movie is very much the same; it is maybe better suited to that audience.

The story lines of both movies are very much the same. Mom and boy move to new home, a place where boy does not want to be. Boy meets girl; they start as friends. Bully doesn't like that. He fights boy. Boy doesn't quit, and learns to fight better. Boy also offends bully's teacher, and the teacher becomes the more dangerous enemy. The new movie, however, is all kung-fu, not karate. My bet is that the producers preferred the more recognizable name to bring in the parents.

So, in the spirit of a karate or kung fu match, here's the showdown between the movies.

Acting

Jaden Smith, the winner over Ralph Macchio, hands down.

Will Smith's son is cute, confident even when getting beat up and well-built for his age. He's a pre-teen in this story. Ralph Macchio played a high school senior. Jaden's chemistry with Jackie Chan, his teacher, is better than Maccio's was with Pat Morita. It carries the movie. You really want the kid to win at the end.

Morita was the better actor and teacher, while Chan is obviously the better martial artist. Morita seems like the nicer guy, while Chan wants little to do with people. Morita's Mr. Miyagi loves old cars. Chan's Mr. Han rebuilds a car and smashes it. Miyagi was a war hero in World War II. We know nothing of Han's past and how he learned English while living in China.

The old movie had a young Elizabeth Shue as a love interest. That's worth extra points.

Setting

The new movie wins by a landslide. It's set in China and there are many picturesque moments that make the move well worth the money. Kung fu is blended in very nicely. The old movie is set in Southern California. The most distinguished landmark is Miyagi's home.

Signature Line

The old movie: "Wax On, Wax Off."
The new movie: "Everything is Kung Fu."

Old movie wins. No contest. Chan keeps telling his pupil to pick up, put on and hang up his jacket to learn the basic moves. He finishes his car with a power wheel.

Franchise Potential

The '84 movie spun off three sequels, all starring Morita. Macchio appeared in two of them, Hilary Swank in the third. It spun off action figures, posters and cartoons as well. I'm sure that applications to martial arts skyrocketed after the movie.

The new movie is a great launch pad for Jaden Smith. His action hero potential will be realized later. Applications to martial arts studios will skyrocket,too.

The Oil Industry Should Spend More to Clean Up After Itself

I have no expertise in geology or oceanography but I have learned this much about oil spills this week: they happen more than once every year.

The spillage used to be much worse.

According to the International Tankers Pollution Federation, there were an average of 25 spills of over 7 tons of oil per year from 1970 through 1979. The number has dropped considerably from an average of 9.3 between 1980 and 1989, 7.9 between 1990 and 1999, and 3.3 between 2000 and 2009.

And this is just spillage from tankers, like the Exxon Valdez; it doesn't include the off-shore oil rigs.

So, maybe it's fair to say that the tanker operators have done a much better job at addressing spillage issues. But still, even one spill is one too many.

I had to wonder: if there are more than 3,000 offshore drilling platforms as well as the tankers, then, isn't there some form of insurance they must purchase against the risk of spillage?

There is a federal Oil Spillage Liability Trust Fund. Administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1990, the fund can provide up to $1 billion per spillage incident. The funding was made available through the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990--ironically, such legislation was passed while an oil man, George H.W. Bush, was president.

So, supposedly the federal government has the power to clean up oil spills. For Congressman John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the U.S Chamber of Commerce to say the taxpayers should pay is after the fact. We are going to pay. Big time.

However, the Act limits liability for permit holders and lessees of off-shore rigs to only $75 million per spill. Today, I read that $87 million has been spent so far to clean up the most recent spill along the Gulf of Mexico.

So, before we're subject to more shouts of "Drill Baby Drill," Congress need to increase the liability limits for off-shore drilling as well as mandate whatever fail-safe mechanisms are technologically possible.

If the leading oil companies are so profitable, there is no reason that they cannot make annual payments to an insurance pool. A spill at the expense of one oil company hurts the others, too. Whenever spills occur,it is only natural for people believe that every oil company is irresponsible and that more punishment is needed.

I know that people invest in oil companies and their support businesses because they pay good dividends and because the business usually balances supply effectively with demand. There is always the argument that more money spent to comply with government regulation means higher oil prices and a less attractive opportunity for shareholders.

However, if politicians are willing to be more generous with off-shore drilling permits, they should also ask the oil industry to underwrite more of the risks. As long as there are oil spills every year, the American people cannot always be expected to clean up after them.

If the Big 12 Implodes, Could Kansas Be In and Rutgers Out of the 10/11?

This week I've read that six Big 12 teams will be invited to join the PAC-10: Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech and become members of a division that also includes Arizona and Arizona State. If, as predicted, Nebraska and Missouri leave the Big 12 for the Big 10/11, then the Big 12 will be down to Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor. All will need to look for new homes.

Conference expansion scenarios are fun to figure out. The implosion of the Big 12 leaves three teams scrambling to find a place to go, but also a decision for the other major conferences: should we follow the PAC 10's lead and expand to 16 teams?

The Big 10/11 wants Notre Dame; that's probably the worst kept secret in college sports. Notre Dame has good reason not to want the 10/11; namely the freedom to set their football schedule to maximum financial advantage and the opportunity to play basketball in the major markets through their membership in the Big East.

Until this week, I felt that it was realistic that Notre Dame would be the only new member of the 10/11, if they said yes. If Nebraska comes in, that changes everything. A 14 team Big 10/11 with Nebraska on the football schedule would matter to the Irish. Both schools are draped in history, both have won multiple national championships and both have capacious stadiums to fill. Either at full-strength could keep Ohio State from dominating the conference.

If Nebraska and Notre Dame are in, then which school is the 14th?

Missouri?

Their addition, along with Notre Dame and Nebraska would leave the 10/11 as a true mid-western conference; no-one considers Penn State to be an eastern school anymore. Using the Mississippi River as a boundary, one division would include the two Illinois schools (Illinois and Northwestern), the three Indiana schools (Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame), plus Ohio State and Penn State.

The Tigers also play in a 71,000 seat stadium, larger than the facilities of the schools listed below. Illinois, with an equally capacious stadium and Missouri can develop as a natural rivalry, too.

I would say that Missouri is "in."

But what if Notre Dame says no, or if the conference decides to jump to 16 schools to match the PAC-10?

Rutgers?

The geographic balance of the conference would change. It would be silly to leave them out of the same division with Penn State; that would be their natural rival in the conference. Ohio is further east than any of the Illinois or Indiana schools. A north-south alignment would probably make the most sense. Rutgers would be in a northern division while Illinois would move into the South.

But, aside from having a smaller stadium than other expansion candidates--the current facility would be the least capacious after Indiana--Rutgers has a mediocre arena for basketball. The Knights might be forced to play the better teams in other venues. However, they are the most successful college football program in the largest media market.

Pitt?

They had the natural rivalry with Penn State and, although they don't play each other in football, the schools jointly fawn over the same Pennsylvania recruits. They share a downtown stadium with the NFL Steelers; it's not hard to get there from campus. And they've developed good basketball programs. Pitt also has a strong football tradition. The Panthers have won nine national championships, though the last one came in 1976.


Kansas? Don't rule it out now that the Big 12 might be history. Kansas, like the other 10/11 schools is a member of the Association of American Universities.

They have a geographic advantage over Rutgers and Pitt, especially if they come in with Nebraska and Missouri. While Kansas has had middling football teams the basketball team has had more success than any 10/11 school, excluding Indiana.

While the Jayhawks have won three NCAA titles to Indiana's five, they have played in thirteen Final Fours, to Indiana's eight. Over the past two decades, Kansas has won more men's college basketball games than any other school. Imagine a Kansas-Indiana home and away series every season, once Indiana returns to glory. Only Duke-North Carolina matches would even come close in the television ratings.

The rumors state that the 10/11 is more likely to go to 14 than 16 schools, but the PAC-10's growth could change all that.

If Notre Dame signs on, and the 10/11 stops at 14 schools, I would say that Nebraska and Missouri are in and Rutgers is out.

If the Irish pass, Rutgers becomes the 14th school.

If the 10/11 jumps to 16, Rutgers is also in, regardless of what Notre Dame decides. But I would not rule out Pitt or Kansas coming with them.

Web Site Allows Students to Market Themselves for Scholarships

Today I learned about a Web site called SponsorMyDegree.com, allows students to seek sponsors for their education from philanthropists, organizations and individuals.

Interesting idea. Those who have the money come to those who need it.

Relaunched this year, SponsorMyDegree.com validates each student's enrollment status and distributes money on behalf of students to the schools, who credit payment towards tuition, fees and room and board. The business model works on the concept of micro-sponsorships; persons can contribute as little as five dollars to a student's college education.

There are some hitches, not so much for students as sponsors. The site operates as an information clearinghouse. It is not a charity, so contributions are not tax deductible. In addition, the site operators cannot validate a student's college grades. However, it allows searches by ethnicity, family income, religion and politics. So, a well spoken Libertarian who does not need financial aid, but shows political promise can use this site to attract monies from fellow Libertarians.

I see the "feel good" value in this site. Students may advertise their need for free and sponsors may select the students who have told a good story.

But I cannot see this site meeting more than a very small (under $100) portion of a student's need nor do I see the site operators earning enough of an income to sustain it.

I also noticed that while the site does not share personal student information with third parties, though their privacy policy, it mentions nothing about posting non-scholarship information to students. Ten thousand students are registered now,not a sizable database, but what happens after the database grows ten-fold or more? The site's owners need to make some assurances. It would be, for instance, insulting to send students a credit card offer when they are in need of financial aid.

Besides, if I were a sponsor who was curious about a student's story, I might prefer to contact the student or their school. I would not want a Web site to repeatedly hit me up to sponsor someone else.

Support the Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010

I understand why conservatives cringe whenever they hear the words "jobs bill." It reeks of new spending, Democratic "patronage," and accusations about the "lazy public worker." These comments are nothing new; they were frequently used by opponents to the New Deal of the Thirties and every other publicly funded jobs program since then.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has introduced the Keep Our Educators Working Act of 2010. This $23 billion bill is intended to keep 300,000 public school teachers at work, counselors and librarians at work. Harkin has pointed out that over 300,000 education jobs had been saved in 2009 through President Obama's stimulus bill also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but declining state revenues have meant more layoffs.

Harkin has 13 co-sponsors, all Democrats. To anyone who opposes this bill, I ask: where would these teachers go?

California school districts, for example, have terminated more than 26,000 teachers after making $17 billion in education budget cuts over the past two years.

If this bill did not pass, some of these teachers might find teaching jobs in private schools or in other states. Some might become teacher's aides or return to school. Because of tenure, termination decisions have a more negative impact on the less experienced teachers. Those are the teachers who have the most mobility. But mobility does not mean that a teacher will move into a new position with a comparable salary and benefits.

Besides, it is doubtful that all of those 26,000 positions would be absorbed by the education sector in California or elsewhere. In the short term, they are more likely to be absorbed by unemployment and under-employment. Over the course of a one-year absence, or longer, the former teachers are less likely to return to teaching.

Given a choice between supporting an appropriations bill to keep young teachers working or an increase in unemployment funds, I'd support the appropriations bill. I would prefer that the teachers teach, gain work experience and pay taxes. This bill sends a message: America values education.

Another Look At John Wooden

It's already widely known that John Wooden, the dean of college basketball coaches, passed away Friday night. His qualities as a coach, a leader and a man have already been well reported. I used Coach Wooden's books to research a novel. If you need to a primer on how to coach, why not go to the best coach for advice?

There are several other great basketball coaches: Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Pete Carell immediately come to my mind, but John Wooden won more and he had the tougher climb to the top. He coached in an era where only conference champions played on into the NCAA tournament; fewer teams had a title shot. His championship teams never lost more than two games in a season.

Coach Wooden also coached in the Los Angeles sports market, which had to be exceptionally tough. The competition for fans and ink had to be tremendous.While the Fifties was the era of baseball in New York, Los Angeles was America's Sports Capital through the next fifteen years.

During Wooden's championship run at UCLA, the neighboring University of Southern California had the best team in college football. They won four national championships. The Los Angeles Dodgers won five National League pennants and three World Series championships. The Lakers played for the NBA championship nine times and won once. As the Rams started to win during the late Sixties, they became the first NFL team to draw a million fans in a season.

Within a city of admirable sports personalities, Wooden, an apparently modest man, was the best-liked and most-respected coach. That says as much about him as any basketball championship he won.

Fiction Writing Is Like Fashion: One Day You're In, The Next Day You're Out

I joined a writer's coffeehouse that meets in Bucks County, PA the last Sunday of every month. Discussions in the coffeehouse are free form; everyone shares their concerns about their work and everyone comes home with plausible solutions. It's a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Our meetings are led by Jonathan Maberry, an extremely successful author of horror stories--his most recent work is called The Dragon Factory--as well as graphic novels in partnership with Marvel Comics. His first young adult book comes out later this year. Jonathan also does many speaking engagements and he teaches several writing courses.

Jonathan and other members of the coffeehouse attended Book Expo America in New York City last week. Jonathan as a signing author, others as attendees. As a result, during our last meeting, we had an interesting discussion over "what's in" and "what's out" in the worlds of adult and young adult fiction.

I'm working on my third novel and I have also started research for the next one, but I never planned my writing around trends in the publishing world. But from the brief discussion I learned, for example, that:

+ Werewolves are in while vampires are becoming out.
+ Time travel stories are becoming more popular, as are westerns.
+ The boy's middle-age (13 through 16) young adult category is becoming hot, especially in the horror genre.
+ Non-fiction Holocaust stories are becoming more popular as denial groups spring up and the numbers of true witnesses diminish.

But, more important, the purpose of our coffeehouse is to encourage writers to follow their own paths, in addition to understanding trends. Jonathan, for example, has written Patient Zero, a zombie novel. People told him zombie novels would not sell. However, Patient Zero has become a classic in a growing category.

So, the lesson here for writers is: keep tabs on what is in, but do not jump into that mix unless your story is clearly different. Today's in-thing may be out tomorrow.

Field Days Weren’t For the Faint of Heart, Guest Post by Ashley Olson Rosen

My friend, Ashley Olson Rosen, finds humor in many things, including life at school. This post, reprinted with Ashley's permission, is about end of school year Field Day, a time when fun and school do not always come together for everyone. Read Ashley's pasts at Funnier With Wine.

I passed my kids’ old elementary school earlier this week and it was field day. There was a huge inflatable slide and the fire engines were dousing the squirming, giggling, designer-clad kids. A number of them had blue and red ribbons pinned to their shirts: Nowadays, everyone’s a winner. Well, it certainly was NOT like that back in the day.

At the end of fourth grade at St. Matthews Elementary, there was fun aplenty, at least for those who had completed the timed multiplication table test. I think we had like all year to pass this test. You remember the one, where you had to answer all 100 problems in under a minute or something?

Well, I’m pretty sure that by the end of the year it was just me and Otie (I remember her name because we spent a lot of recess time together taking these damn tests). Anyway, my last stab at it was on field day and either I passed it or Miss Heiskel just felt too sorry for me. Bottom line – I got to go to field day, but I was already a bit jittery and out of sorts.

Jittery and out of sorts and weighing in at around 55 pounds. This was soon after I got my now infamous photo-gray glasses, thick as a porterhouse, that turned pitch black at the first ray of sun. (The conversion back was not nearly as fast, leading to quite a few ugly incidents with unforgiving cinderblock school walls.)

So if you’re playing Red Rover, one of the fave games of the 70s, who’s gonna be your first victim? Duh. It went like this: “Red Rover, Red Rover, we dare the skinny little idiot who can’t pass the math test over!” Me, stunned that anyone besides Otie knew I existed, puffed up with pride. So popular. Must be the new bad-ass glasses.

Anyway, I backed up about five steps, got into some semblence of “starter position” I’d seen at my cousin’s track meet, and dashed, arms pumping, scrawny legs scrambling, toward the perfect junction of a girl and a sissy-looking boy … closer … closer … now I can see their grips tighten, their teeth clench … CLOTHESLINED! I fall backward, legs still kicking in the air, my Adams apple surely crushed and my glasses flung back toward my exasperated teammates. Damn that Miss Heiskel for letting me come to field day.

Then the field day police — the Hitler-like “woman” PE teacher, who was even more remniscent of Hitler in the facial hair department than in the nasty attitude department — sent us on to our next challenge.

Oh, no, there were no inflatable slides here. These were the 70s. We were lucky to have one of those pink bouncy balls that left your hands smelling like new rubber for the rest of the day. They were great for four square, a wonderful game of skill and cunning, but more often the sadists with the whistles sent us out to play the worst game imaginable for a wimpy paranoid kid. That’s right. DODGEBALL. I can’t imagine that nowadays they play this — lining everyone up and sticking one poor child in the middle, with the only goal to knock the crap out of them. The boys didn’t just try to hit you, they tried to maim you.

I remember ducking and dodging, artfully using my ballet skills to evade the ball … for about 60 seconds, then WHOOSH! A solid blow to the midsection lifted me off my feet and flung me backwards about eight feet, leaving me splayed out on the concrete, spread eagled with the wind knocked out of me.

I think the timed multiplication tests were more fun. I only urinated on myself a LITTLE during those.

The good news was, in the water balloon toss, the boys only tried to hit the girls who were getting boobs.

When it was over, we all enjoyed some warm Tang with the crystals forming an undissolved sediment layer in the bottom of the Dixie cups.

My friend Amy had a camera that day. (Back then, for you youngsters, that was unusual.) About a year ago, she unearthed one of the pictures. With a little thought, I recognized the people in the back row — laughed at how they’d changed — all cheerful reminiscing, until I spotted a waif in the front row.

“Who’s that mongrel?” I asked, pointing to the ragamuffin with dirty blonde hair that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week (in all likelihood it hadn’t). The kid was squinting like Mr. Magoo, like she’d never seen a camera. Yeah, you guessed it. My Stevie Wonder glasses clutched in my grubby little paw confirmed it. And the imprint of the nerdy boy’s watch, white against my bright red Adam’s apple.

Yep, back then, field day, like life, was tough on the little guys. But I think we all learned lessons from the competitive spirit. It made us tougher somehow. Yeah, that’s what Mrs. Hitler told me.