So, I've been trying to do better about writing, at least on things other than my dissertation. I'll be updating here more regularly, and you can also catch some of my ravings- er- musings at the Kent Patch and The Next Family. I'll be adding other content as it gets figured out. :)
Holy crap, it's almost April?!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Spring Cleaning
If you hadn't heard the frogs calling yet, or looked at a calendar, let me be the one to break the news to you (just a little late, but oh well)- It's SPRING!
I love this time of the year. Trees are growing buds, flowers are blooming, frogs are calling, and the weather is warming, especially this year. I'm an ecologist by training, and spring is just brilliant in my opinion, for all the wonder in the natural world that's going on. The whole wide world, simply bursting with life. It's wonderful, and I mean exactly that, full of wonder.
It's also full of work. The winter chill drives people indoors. We track in mud, snow, and other stuff of the great outdoors. Doors and windows are shut, furnaces and fireplaces and woodstoves burn fuel and create dust and soot. The air gets stale, and people get sick, passing around germs and snot and sneezes. And then there's the holiday trees, and tinsel, and wrapping, adding to the grime. And all that grime needs cleaning, once you can throw open the shades, let the breeze in, and fill the house with fresh air smells. And there's the garden that needs tending, and the yard that needs care, and there's the over-indulged, under-utilized body that needs tuned up again and gotten back into shape. Spring is hard work, mixed with beautiful beginnings.
That beauty is what makes the ugliness of some recent stories all the harder with which to deal. The Trayvon Martin case, the Hunger Games tweets, cheating schools, and the Afghan shootings. Among other things. These are serious marks on our country. Two of these have to do with some of our country's historic problems with racial equality. We aren't the only country to deal with these issues, but that doesn't make it right. Trying to be positive, talking about these inequalities and bringing them out into the open might actually, finally make some progress. Like opening the shades and throwing up the window lets in the sunlight and sweeps out the stale air. Maybe we can finally be frank, discuss difficulties like adults, and try to enter the twenty-first century like civil human beings.
Once again, the US seems to be at a crossroads. We can take one road that forges the path ahead and let's us see new ground, or we can go around the block again, hoping to see a detail that we missed before. Can we grow further than our past history? Let all the little blossoms bloom to their full potential? I promise you, the more colorful the garden, the better the display. So hopefully, in this time of growth and beauty and cleaning, we can clean out our national dialogue and start a whole beautiful garden on its way to fruition.
I love this time of the year. Trees are growing buds, flowers are blooming, frogs are calling, and the weather is warming, especially this year. I'm an ecologist by training, and spring is just brilliant in my opinion, for all the wonder in the natural world that's going on. The whole wide world, simply bursting with life. It's wonderful, and I mean exactly that, full of wonder.
It's also full of work. The winter chill drives people indoors. We track in mud, snow, and other stuff of the great outdoors. Doors and windows are shut, furnaces and fireplaces and woodstoves burn fuel and create dust and soot. The air gets stale, and people get sick, passing around germs and snot and sneezes. And then there's the holiday trees, and tinsel, and wrapping, adding to the grime. And all that grime needs cleaning, once you can throw open the shades, let the breeze in, and fill the house with fresh air smells. And there's the garden that needs tending, and the yard that needs care, and there's the over-indulged, under-utilized body that needs tuned up again and gotten back into shape. Spring is hard work, mixed with beautiful beginnings.
That beauty is what makes the ugliness of some recent stories all the harder with which to deal. The Trayvon Martin case, the Hunger Games tweets, cheating schools, and the Afghan shootings. Among other things. These are serious marks on our country. Two of these have to do with some of our country's historic problems with racial equality. We aren't the only country to deal with these issues, but that doesn't make it right. Trying to be positive, talking about these inequalities and bringing them out into the open might actually, finally make some progress. Like opening the shades and throwing up the window lets in the sunlight and sweeps out the stale air. Maybe we can finally be frank, discuss difficulties like adults, and try to enter the twenty-first century like civil human beings.
Once again, the US seems to be at a crossroads. We can take one road that forges the path ahead and let's us see new ground, or we can go around the block again, hoping to see a detail that we missed before. Can we grow further than our past history? Let all the little blossoms bloom to their full potential? I promise you, the more colorful the garden, the better the display. So hopefully, in this time of growth and beauty and cleaning, we can clean out our national dialogue and start a whole beautiful garden on its way to fruition.
The Value of an Education
There's been a lot of talk about money and education lately. Kent State raising tuition rates. The rising student loan debt. Cleveland's school reform. And that's just this week's list of topics in northeast Ohio. And there's good reason to talk about the two subjects together; teaching people is expensive, and better educated people tend to make more money over the course of their lifetime. For this reason, we obviously end up at the question, "What is an education worth?"
If we're talking about extrinsic worth, measured in dollars, there's a huge difference across fields, with a medical degree usually leading to a much higher salary than, say, an art history degree. Why don't we consider the worth of an education in education, or teachers, since they have been the subject of so many discussions around money and education. These are individuals who both have an education, and are responsible for educating future generations; if there's a monetary value to an education, we should see that reflected in teacher salaries, because of their dual role in the educational system, right? In Ohio, teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree, and often a master's degree, depending on the school district. The average teacher's salary in Ohio is a bit shy of $57,000 annually (wage only), although the does vary across school districts, with many of the school district average salaries being between $40-50,000 annually.
Now let's think of not having a college education. Just like wages of people with an education, the wages available to those without an education varies quite a bit, although not as large a range. Minimum wage jobs pay $7.70 in Ohio, and at that pay grade, you would need to work 70 hours a week, or have two people both working full time in a single home, in order to make enough to pay fair market rent in Ohio. And Ohio is an affordable state; in other states, it can take much more. At the high end of the scale, manufacturing jobs typically pay $40-50,000 per year, and auto industry jobs pay around $54,000 per year. These higher pay jobs for those without a college education are the ones that we in Rust Belt want to return and worry over their loss.
That's awfully close to what an average teacher makes, but without any cost associated with education. That college education isn't cheap, either, and has risen 827% since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that one can go into not insignificant dept obtaining a college degree, possibly an advanced college degree, and make a similar wage to what one could have without the debt and degree. Maybe the idea of the dollar value in a college degree has been oversold a bit, and a college education has less extrinsic worth than we typically tell kids, especially high school students.
Considering all this, I still advocate heavily for the value in an education. Why? Because all of this ignores the intrinsic value of an education. If you want an education for the increased pay check, then be careful and choose your degree accordingly, or go an alternate route that has a lower cost and is more job related- apprenticeships, community colleges, and certificate programs are great forms of vocational education. If you choose to go the college route, then recognize that it may or may not pay off monetarily, and remember the intrinsic value of an education. Better yet, all of us should remember the intrinsic value of education in general. Education is different from vocational training. A liberal arts education is well rounded, and much of what is learned is how to think, how to critically analyze, and exposure to ideas and people that a student hasn't had before. For society, the value of an education is in having a populous that can critique, analyse, and argue effectively. That's something from which everyone benefits.
Can we please stop selling a college education as a job ticket, and instead support higher education and make it accessible to everyone? Can we change the discussion of the value of an education to a more accurate description of the real value of an education?
If we're talking about extrinsic worth, measured in dollars, there's a huge difference across fields, with a medical degree usually leading to a much higher salary than, say, an art history degree. Why don't we consider the worth of an education in education, or teachers, since they have been the subject of so many discussions around money and education. These are individuals who both have an education, and are responsible for educating future generations; if there's a monetary value to an education, we should see that reflected in teacher salaries, because of their dual role in the educational system, right? In Ohio, teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree, and often a master's degree, depending on the school district. The average teacher's salary in Ohio is a bit shy of $57,000 annually (wage only), although the does vary across school districts, with many of the school district average salaries being between $40-50,000 annually.
Now let's think of not having a college education. Just like wages of people with an education, the wages available to those without an education varies quite a bit, although not as large a range. Minimum wage jobs pay $7.70 in Ohio, and at that pay grade, you would need to work 70 hours a week, or have two people both working full time in a single home, in order to make enough to pay fair market rent in Ohio. And Ohio is an affordable state; in other states, it can take much more. At the high end of the scale, manufacturing jobs typically pay $40-50,000 per year, and auto industry jobs pay around $54,000 per year. These higher pay jobs for those without a college education are the ones that we in Rust Belt want to return and worry over their loss.
That's awfully close to what an average teacher makes, but without any cost associated with education. That college education isn't cheap, either, and has risen 827% since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that one can go into not insignificant dept obtaining a college degree, possibly an advanced college degree, and make a similar wage to what one could have without the debt and degree. Maybe the idea of the dollar value in a college degree has been oversold a bit, and a college education has less extrinsic worth than we typically tell kids, especially high school students.
Considering all this, I still advocate heavily for the value in an education. Why? Because all of this ignores the intrinsic value of an education. If you want an education for the increased pay check, then be careful and choose your degree accordingly, or go an alternate route that has a lower cost and is more job related- apprenticeships, community colleges, and certificate programs are great forms of vocational education. If you choose to go the college route, then recognize that it may or may not pay off monetarily, and remember the intrinsic value of an education. Better yet, all of us should remember the intrinsic value of education in general. Education is different from vocational training. A liberal arts education is well rounded, and much of what is learned is how to think, how to critically analyze, and exposure to ideas and people that a student hasn't had before. For society, the value of an education is in having a populous that can critique, analyse, and argue effectively. That's something from which everyone benefits.
Can we please stop selling a college education as a job ticket, and instead support higher education and make it accessible to everyone? Can we change the discussion of the value of an education to a more accurate description of the real value of an education?
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Value Being Evaluated
There's been a lot of talk about money and education lately. Kent State raising tuition rates. The rising student loan debt. Cleveland's school reform. And that's just this week's list of topics in northeast Ohio. And there's good reason to talk about the two subjects together; teaching people is expensive, and better educated people tend to make more money over the course of their lifetime. For this reason, we obviously end up at the question, "What is an education worth?"
If we're talking about extrinsic worth, measured in dollars, there's a huge difference across fields, with a medical degree usually leading to a much higher salary than, say, an art history degree. Why don't we consider the worth of an education in education, or teachers, since they have been the subject of so many discussions around money and education. These are individuals who both have an education, and are responsible for educating future generations; if there's a monetary value to an education, we should see that reflected in teacher salaries, because of their dual role in the educational system, right? In Ohio, teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree, and often a master's degree, depending on the school district. The average teacher's salary in Ohio is a bit shy of $57,000 annually (wage only), although the does vary across school districts, with many of the school district average salaries being between $40-50,000 annually.
Now let's think of not having a college education. Just like wages of people with an education, the wages available to those without an education varies quite a bit, although not as large a range. Minimum wage jobs pay $7.70 in Ohio, and at that pay grade, you would need to work 70 hours a week, or have two people both working full time in a single home, in order to make enough to pay fair market rent in Ohio. And Ohio is an affordable state; in other states, it can take much more. At the high end of the scale, manufacturing jobs typically pay $40-50,000 per year, and auto industry jobs pay around $54,000 per year. These higher pay jobs for those without a college education are the ones that we in Rust Belt want to return and worry over their loss.
That's awfully close to what an average teacher makes, but without any cost associated with education. That college education isn't cheap, either, and has risen 827% since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that one can go into not insignificant dept obtaining a college degree, possibly an advanced college degree, and make a similar wage to what one could have without the debt and degree. Maybe the idea of the dollar value in a college degree has been oversold a bit, and a college education has less extrinsic worth than we typically tell kids, especially high school students.
Considering all this, I still advocate heavily for the value in an education. Why? Because all of this ignores the intrinsic value of an education. If you want an education for the increased pay check, then be careful and choose your degree accordingly, or go an alternate route that has a lower cost and is more job related- apprenticeships, community colleges, and certificate programs are great forms of vocational education. If you choose to go the college route, then recognize that it may or may not pay off monetarily, and remember the intrinsic value of an education. Better yet, all of us should remember the intrinsic value of education in general. Education is different from vocational training. A liberal arts education is well rounded, and much of what is learned is how to think, how to critically analyze, and exposure to ideas and people that a student hasn't had before. For society, the value of an education is in having a populous that can critique, analyse, and argue effectively. That's something from which everyone benefits.
Can we please stop selling a college education as a job ticket, and instead support higher education and make it accessible to everyone? Can we change the discussion of the value of an education to a more accurate description of the real value of an education?
If we're talking about extrinsic worth, measured in dollars, there's a huge difference across fields, with a medical degree usually leading to a much higher salary than, say, an art history degree. Why don't we consider the worth of an education in education, or teachers, since they have been the subject of so many discussions around money and education. These are individuals who both have an education, and are responsible for educating future generations; if there's a monetary value to an education, we should see that reflected in teacher salaries, because of their dual role in the educational system, right? In Ohio, teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree, and often a master's degree, depending on the school district. The average teacher's salary in Ohio is a bit shy of $57,000 annually (wage only), although the does vary across school districts, with many of the school district average salaries being between $40-50,000 annually.
Now let's think of not having a college education. Just like wages of people with an education, the wages available to those without an education varies quite a bit, although not as large a range. Minimum wage jobs pay $7.70 in Ohio, and at that pay grade, you would need to work 70 hours a week, or have two people both working full time in a single home, in order to make enough to pay fair market rent in Ohio. And Ohio is an affordable state; in other states, it can take much more. At the high end of the scale, manufacturing jobs typically pay $40-50,000 per year, and auto industry jobs pay around $54,000 per year. These higher pay jobs for those without a college education are the ones that we in Rust Belt want to return and worry over their loss.
That's awfully close to what an average teacher makes, but without any cost associated with education. That college education isn't cheap, either, and has risen 827% since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that one can go into not insignificant dept obtaining a college degree, possibly an advanced college degree, and make a similar wage to what one could have without the debt and degree. Maybe the idea of the dollar value in a college degree has been oversold a bit, and a college education has less extrinsic worth than we typically tell kids, especially high school students.
Considering all this, I still advocate heavily for the value in an education. Why? Because all of this ignores the intrinsic value of an education. If you want an education for the increased pay check, then be careful and choose your degree accordingly, or go an alternate route that has a lower cost and is more job related- apprenticeships, community colleges, and certificate programs are great forms of vocational education. If you choose to go the college route, then recognize that it may or may not pay off monetarily, and remember the intrinsic value of an education. Better yet, all of us should remember the intrinsic value of education in general. Education is different from vocational training. A liberal arts education is well rounded, and much of what is learned is how to think, how to critically analyze, and exposure to ideas and people that a student hasn't had before. For society, the value of an education is in having a populous that can critique, analyse, and argue effectively. That's something from which everyone benefits.
Can we please stop selling a college education as a job ticket, and instead support higher education and make it accessible to everyone? Can we change the discussion of the value of an education to a more accurate description of the real value of an education?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Red, Pink, and White
No, not Valentine's colors. These are the colors of political insults. Communism, socialism, capitalism- we humans are *very* tied up in naming how we do business with each other. Not that naming is a bad thing; names let us all talk in a similar way about defined terms. Of course, those definitions may not be agreed upon, or may be open to interpretation, or may be misunderstood. Since we often don't actively define our terms before engaging in discourse with others, this leaves a lot of room for misunderstandings and, quite frankly, hurt feelings or harsh arguments. In the political world, this is even more true than most places.
So let's talk about a few terms that we see thrown around so often: socialized medicine, entitlements, communism, and welfare. First, the easy one, communism. The planet has yet to see real, Marxist Communism in any large scale. Please stop throwing around the term, it doesn't mean what you think it does. If you don't believe me, take some time and read the Communist Manifesto. It's short, and not a hard read. You might be surprised.
Entitlements. This is guarantee of access to benefits based on established rights or by legislation. It's not pejorative. Note also that it's a guarantee of access to benefits, not a guarantee of benefits or the level of benefits. In most cases (especially Social Security, MediCare, and MedicAid, the most often cited examples of entitlements), the benefits and their level is dependent on something- how much you paid in, working for a certain number of years, being a certain age, etc. This isn't a "handout," this is access to benefits which a person has earned- just like your paycheck.
Socialized medicine. This is a medical system run by the government and examples include Great Britain's Universal Health System, and arguably the US' MedicAid, MediCare, and TriCare. The Healthcare Affordability Act is not socialized medicine. "Obamacare" is not a governmental take-over of medicine, the insurance companies are still privately owned, for-profit (usually) entities. If you use one of the governmental systems, you still might not be using socialized medicine, as some definitions require that the health care system be run by the government. This means that the doctors, nurses, and staff are government employees, and the hospitals are owned and run by the government.
And finally, welfare. On this one, I want to talk less about the definition and more about the concept. Welfare provides a safety net for individuals and families through programs like the supplemental nutrition program (foodstamps and others), Temporary Aid for Needy Families, and heating/energy assistance programs. These benefits are called "welfare" programs because we as a nation decided that it was in the best interest of the country to provide a certain subsistence level of living, or to look after our citizens' welfare when they are in need. We do this out of the conviction- inspired by Judeo-Christian teachings- that humans, as social animals, should look out for one another and help the needy.
The US has been heavily influenced by the Protestant work ethics, but we can't forget the even older tradition of community. Can individuals come to rely too heavily on these benefits provided by the government? Of course, but not every person will, and we can't predict which ones will. The Protestant work ethic has also led to horrible things- think of the debtors' prisons, workhouses, poorhouses, social Darwinism, and forced sterilization programs. Neither extreme- individualism or community- is perfect, it's our job to find the balance between the two that best fits the needs of our society. And to try to remain civil and informed in the process.
So let's talk about a few terms that we see thrown around so often: socialized medicine, entitlements, communism, and welfare. First, the easy one, communism. The planet has yet to see real, Marxist Communism in any large scale. Please stop throwing around the term, it doesn't mean what you think it does. If you don't believe me, take some time and read the Communist Manifesto. It's short, and not a hard read. You might be surprised.
Entitlements. This is guarantee of access to benefits based on established rights or by legislation. It's not pejorative. Note also that it's a guarantee of access to benefits, not a guarantee of benefits or the level of benefits. In most cases (especially Social Security, MediCare, and MedicAid, the most often cited examples of entitlements), the benefits and their level is dependent on something- how much you paid in, working for a certain number of years, being a certain age, etc. This isn't a "handout," this is access to benefits which a person has earned- just like your paycheck.
Socialized medicine. This is a medical system run by the government and examples include Great Britain's Universal Health System, and arguably the US' MedicAid, MediCare, and TriCare. The Healthcare Affordability Act is not socialized medicine. "Obamacare" is not a governmental take-over of medicine, the insurance companies are still privately owned, for-profit (usually) entities. If you use one of the governmental systems, you still might not be using socialized medicine, as some definitions require that the health care system be run by the government. This means that the doctors, nurses, and staff are government employees, and the hospitals are owned and run by the government.
And finally, welfare. On this one, I want to talk less about the definition and more about the concept. Welfare provides a safety net for individuals and families through programs like the supplemental nutrition program (foodstamps and others), Temporary Aid for Needy Families, and heating/energy assistance programs. These benefits are called "welfare" programs because we as a nation decided that it was in the best interest of the country to provide a certain subsistence level of living, or to look after our citizens' welfare when they are in need. We do this out of the conviction- inspired by Judeo-Christian teachings- that humans, as social animals, should look out for one another and help the needy.
The US has been heavily influenced by the Protestant work ethics, but we can't forget the even older tradition of community. Can individuals come to rely too heavily on these benefits provided by the government? Of course, but not every person will, and we can't predict which ones will. The Protestant work ethic has also led to horrible things- think of the debtors' prisons, workhouses, poorhouses, social Darwinism, and forced sterilization programs. Neither extreme- individualism or community- is perfect, it's our job to find the balance between the two that best fits the needs of our society. And to try to remain civil and informed in the process.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Changes in Latitude
No, not in the geographic sense, for the foreseeable future, we're staying right where we've been. Changes in latitude as in "freedom from narrow restrictions." As in new-found latitude. And lots of it. It's amazing.
OK, so it's not the typical forms of latitude. The latitude I've been giving myself lately is that of imagining. Dreaming. Thinking up new courses. New assignments. Field trips. Lesson plans. Exam question banks. Quizzes. Yes, I'm a complete and utter dork. I'm fine with that.
See, for some reason, I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin. I feel like I can do this. Like I can teach. Be a professor. Join academia. And deserve it- because I have something to contribute. What caused this change? I don't know. Really, I have no idea. Maybe it was officially entering my thirties. Maybe it was buying my academic robes. Maybe it was the student offering to write a letter of recommendation for me, if it would help me get the job. If one of my students is willing to advocate for me, shouldn't I be willing to advocate for myself? I figured I probably should be.
And oddly, I feel ready. I've spent so much of my time being an advocate for others, I should be great at it, right? That's the plan, anyway. I'm not religious. I'm not spiritual. I don't believe in predestination. But I do believe in making the most of what you've been given. The things that seemed like burdensome responsibilities I can now more fully appreciate as the training that they were. What had been favors for friends, I can see as the horizon-broadening experiences they were. There's nothing that lead me down the path that I chose; on the other hand, the path I took has made me an excellent candidate.
Now to show that to the world, and myself.
OK, so it's not the typical forms of latitude. The latitude I've been giving myself lately is that of imagining. Dreaming. Thinking up new courses. New assignments. Field trips. Lesson plans. Exam question banks. Quizzes. Yes, I'm a complete and utter dork. I'm fine with that.
See, for some reason, I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin. I feel like I can do this. Like I can teach. Be a professor. Join academia. And deserve it- because I have something to contribute. What caused this change? I don't know. Really, I have no idea. Maybe it was officially entering my thirties. Maybe it was buying my academic robes. Maybe it was the student offering to write a letter of recommendation for me, if it would help me get the job. If one of my students is willing to advocate for me, shouldn't I be willing to advocate for myself? I figured I probably should be.
And oddly, I feel ready. I've spent so much of my time being an advocate for others, I should be great at it, right? That's the plan, anyway. I'm not religious. I'm not spiritual. I don't believe in predestination. But I do believe in making the most of what you've been given. The things that seemed like burdensome responsibilities I can now more fully appreciate as the training that they were. What had been favors for friends, I can see as the horizon-broadening experiences they were. There's nothing that lead me down the path that I chose; on the other hand, the path I took has made me an excellent candidate.
Now to show that to the world, and myself.
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