Yesterday during a vote on the "Education Bill" Sen T.Codurn (R-OK) put forth an amendment (S. AMDT 2369) prohibiting the use of Federal funds and Tuition for the purpose of lobbying Congress.Then Sen. T. Kennedy(D-MA)amended the amendment (S. AMDT 2381) to REMOVE the word Tuition. The result is that now every time anyone in this Country writes a check to a College or University for the education of their children, a portion of that Tuition will be sent directly to Congress via lobbyist.The amendment passed 93-0.
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Yeah, that's right, it's an industry. And no other industry is allowed to summarily raise its prices 10% every year and get away with it. So your paying, what, 50 grand a year for your child to learn from profs who are so liberal that they need to turn right to see John Edwards, who openly support terrorism and fascist regimes, and who will fail your child if they s/he dares disagree with them.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you're reading it in English, thank a veteran.
This is in response to bgood26's post "The Higher Education Industry".
Your post is not very helpful. We could tune into the O'Reily Factor for this type of empty ranting. Elaborate on your ideas a bit. Present some evidence. Present yourself as a thoughtful, intelligent individual.
--Think also of the comfort and rights of others
to ~ mmacq
its good to find out some of the nuasances of current legislation........
thanks
Can we get more information or a source to corroborate the issue of the Kennedy's amendment? I have looked but found only that they plan on funding anti-piracy measures. Which lobby group do you speak of and how does the money get "directly to Congress"?
--Think also of the comfort and rights of others
The vote was # 00275, the bill S. 1642.Here is the Senate web page.It is all there.It goes to congress because a College can now use your tuition money to lobby Congress for anything they want, then raise the price of tuition to recoup the money sent to them by you to educate your kids.And use it they will.The original amendment prohibited this until Kennedy stepped in. Its too late now to stop it. Just remember the next time you hear of the cost of higher education increasing it is in part thanks to Ted and 94 other Senators who found no problem taking you tuiton money for thier gain.It also speaks to what these people are up to and how shameless they really are. Its not about what is right or wrong, its about power and money.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00275the bill
Dylan, your criticism is fair (assuming you replied to me). Here are some ideas for changing the university system:
1. Reduce profs' salaries. I would guess that most of the increase in tuition is because of increased salaries.
2. Publish less, teach more. Enough of this "publish or perish" crap. Some profs teach one lecture to 500 students, and spend the rest of the day holed up in their offices writing. I don't think that is right. Profs should be under the same scrutiny as public school teachers when it comes to teaching.
3. Balance the political spectrum. If it has extreme leftist profs like Finkelstein and Churchill, a school should have a right wing prof---or, heaven forbid, a centrist---to counter. College should be places of higher learning and exchanging ideas, not forums for profs who think the victims of the WTC attacks deserved it. They need profs to have differences of opinions, and to accept the opinions of their students.
4. Make academics more important than athletics. Okay, so this is never gonna happen, because schools make millions off their athlete-students, but you asked for ideas.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you're reading it in English, thank a veteran.
Soon I will join the thousands going to College. I live in Ohio where the tuition rate is above the national average and our Colleges are not all that great. We do have institutions such as Case Western Reserve University, Ohio State University, and Miami University, but many, especially in such an economically declining state, may not be able to afford the high costs of getting a higher education. Soon I will be attending a university and luckily since my grades are above average and my family can pay for the costs of college, I will be alright, but I do have friends who cannot afford a premier university but are smarter than I. The biggest expense for colleges is beautification projects. Colleges want to "look cool," spending big bucks on fancier this and fancier that. Because of the excess spending, tuition rises. Colleges will need to restrict spending themselves, I suppose, because the government may not be a good tool of enforcement, but I do not see much of a solution, only a problem that ONLY those who run colleges can solve. It is they who determines what is an important expense and what is not.
While working on my doctorate in Higher Education Finance, I had to take several classes relating to higher education teaching and management. In one of these classes, one student put for the premise (his opinion) that education is to important be left to the "educators". I had never given this much thought. However, a lively and factually informative discussions continued all semester in and out of this class. At the end of the class, I was convinced and remain convinced 30 years later this student was right: Higher Education, and education in general, is too important to be left to the "educators". The Higher Education industry will not reform itself. Any reform will have to be forced on it! IMHO!
I spent 20 years working in higher education. I experienced this terrible problem first hand. Finally, I got fed up and left. I am now retired. Looking back, this was a good decision for me. It helped me keep my sanity and health. The stress of working in a broken system, any broken system, is high IF you really know the "truth"!
IMHO!
OK you say - what does this have to do with this topic? It is just another example of what is broken in higher education and needs fixing. Ted Kennedy and Congress: Bah Humbug! :-)
One way to reduce the price of higher education is to tax the multi-billion dollar endowments of the colleges and universities, unless they agree to spend a certain percentage each year on financial aid for students. It's criminal that at a time when most parents should be saving for retirement, they are going into debt to pay for their children's education. The major focus of most schools is on fundraising; the students are just part of the scenery. I recently visited my alma mater and saw that the asphalt paths and concrete sidewalks in use during my time on campus had all be replaced with brick pavers. When the university called me during their annual fundraiser, I declined to contribute. I told the person on the phone that the university couldn't possibly need my money. Since they had paid to have miles of sidewalks and paths brick paved, I assumed that all students who needed tuition assistance had received it and that the university budget was running a massive surplus.