Bob Martens

“You’re here for a reason. We want a well-rounded class; NOT a well-rounded student.” – Rab Thornton, New College Admissions Director (1986)

This came over Twitter today from Merlin Mann, and I thought it rather strange at first. It took me a moment to wrap my head around what might be in those words, but I think I found it after a while.

We are living in an age where “well-rounded” is the ideal for every person. We want to eat a well-rounded meal, receive a well-rounded education and all-in-all just become a well-rounded individual.

Maybe we are setting the bar too low by striving to be well-rounded. Maybe being oblong or slightly ragged makes for a more interesting person. If you get a bunch of non-round people together, maybe they can complement each other and do something great.

That’s what I hope.

Bloomberg survey can be found here.

I can’t make the decision for you because the price of college varies greatly and the wage you are going to be making after college varies even more greatly and is based not just on going to college, but on your choices you made during college and are going to make after.

However, I do want to point out a few things about the article itself that struck me. I’m not journalist, but I had to laugh when I heard about it this morning, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt.

I should also say that I am not anti higher ed, but I do question whether it is the best choice for many people and I question whether higher ed has taken on a role it is not suited for (mainly, advanced high school). However, here we go.

The survey follows a call by President Barack Obama for the U.S. to achieve the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020.

I quiver at the thought of setting such a goal and what it could mean for higher ed. If No Child Left Behind has taught us anything, it is that setting goals around simplistic measures (such as graduation rates or test scores) leads to many unwanted consequences. If you lower the bar in order to graduate more people, then it is a worthless statistic (much like test scores). The goal should always be to increase the quality, not necessarily the quantity. If you can get both, awesome, but a focus on quality should be front and center.

The organization, an independent research group funded by Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts, surveyed 2,142 adults, aged 18 and older, from March 15 through March 29.

I put this quote here (even though it comes before the one above in the article) because it sets up my next quote. Mainly, they are talking to people who are between the ages of 18 and who knows how old. Having studied education, I can pretty safely say that things have changed considerably in the past 20, 30, 40 or 50+ years. We don’t really have a breakdown of who exactly is being talked to so we can accurately evaluate the next statement.

At the same time, 86 percent of college graduates said that it had been a good investment for them personally.

Can I toss a big ‘ole “duh” onto this one. A large majority of people who decided to do something said it was good. That’s not surprising. However, taking into context what I said above, we need to keep in mind that if something was true even 10 years ago, it does not make it so now. College does not cost the same today and is decidedly different today than it was. It would have been more interesting if they would have broken it down into age groups or graduation dates to see if there was a change there. To me this is a meaningly statistic.

That survey, conducted March 15 through April 24, showed concern about diminishing higher education standards and quality.

This is from a college president’s perspective and is actually being reported on from a separate survey. With the rising cost of education, you would hope that there would be rising standards and quality but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe we should be asking why that is. What is the root cause of this problem (and don’t say money)?

Some 58 percent of college presidents said public high school students arrive at college less well prepared than their counterparts a decade ago, according to the survey.

Same survey, just a different question. I think we’re finally getting close to the actual issue. High school today is a humongous joke, and it will continue to be unless the focus of high school changes from being nothing more than college prep and instead focuses on preparing a person for life outside of the education system. College should not be the goal, it should be a decision that is made based on the needs of the actual student.

College has been diluted to High School: Part 2 and while I don’t have any answers, unless we quit focusing on the symptoms and instead starting hitting at the actual problems, we are not going to get anywhere.

As a final disclaimer, this is all just my opinion and is only an accurate take on what I am thinking currently. I’ll change my mind tomorrow.

So I was able to test drive both a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and a 2007 Nissan Altima

and I’m here to post a little on my findings. Nothing scientific here, just some general observations about the two vehicles.

Chevy Cruze

Very fun car to drive. No shake and quiet cabin when up to freeway speed. I was very impressed by the little thing and there was a lot of power left over to go faster … but I was just interested in how it felt and sounded at the speed you would travel between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The interior is quite nice with some nice touches. Really no major complaints about the car.

The front is quite spacious (for me) and I could easily see myself driving the 6+ hours to Milwaukee from our home.

Major downside? Rear seat room for infant car seats. The issue arises from the fact that you need to be able to face the car seat backwards and when you have the Cruze’s seat all the way back (sitting in front), you just could not do that comfortably without having the car seat sitting against the back of the front seat in front of it.

Deal breaker.

Sad too because the car is really fun to drive. If I could choose, I would look closely at the ECO version since it is rated at 42mpg, which is great with gas near or at $4/gallon where we are.

Nissan Altima

I’ve driven Altimas before and have always like them. This one was no different. Very spacious interior, which I still marvel at because the car feels so sporty to drive for a mid-sized sedan.

I’m not sure where Nissan found the engine for the Altima, but the 4cyl engine can somehow get up to speed (and then some) and you don’t even notice it. It is so smooth that you lose track of how fast you are going and the car never feels out of control at the same time.

Push button start is a fun thing to have (not even something I would specifically look for, but fun) and it has the one thing that I am looking for: aux input on the stereo. The interior is nice, but as it is a used car it is hard to judge it based on the years of service it has already had.

The back seat is more than capable of handling an infant car seat facing the rear, which is great. I’m not sure how they do it, but you have more than enough room. I’ve traveled a number of times in my in-law’s Altima (in the back seat) and have never had problem with leg room at all, which is nice.

Great car. Love it.

Closing Thoughts

If I would be choosing a car for myself, I would go with the Cruze (or look at the new Focus … looks good). However, you are going to have to pry my 1996 Toyota Corolla out from under me before I would betray that car again. So, as far as a family vehicle goes, the Altima wins based on just the amount of space available alone.

However, don’t think the Altima is boring by any means. If you are looking for a mid-sized sedan (especially used), do yourself a favor and give one a spin. They are fun to drive along with being practical. The best of both worlds, if I may.

 

http://youtu.be/3h_pp8CHEQ0

The above link is to Mike Rowe (or Dirty Jobs fame) testifying to the US Congress on jobs and more specifically skilled labor. He speaks of his grandfather and father, of the people he has met during his time as the “guest” of Dirty Jobs and of the greater picture of skilled labor.

I agree with most everything he says, and I would toss farmers in there as well. I’m not speaking of the huge industrial farms you can find all around the country, but of the smaller, local establishments that are still run by a few people working hard day-in-and-day-out to put food on your table.

One thing that stood out to me was the little he spoke of higher education and the stigma of “alternative” education. I think there is the start of a complete re-imagining of how view school in there if we choose to grab a hold of it and remodel out education system so that it will put out people who are better educated than we have now.

If we continue to look at “fixing” the current education system as it stands right now we are not going to get too far. If we instead tear things down and ask “what do we do now?” Maybe, just maybe, we can find our way again.

I know I don’t have the answers, but maybe we need to start by asking the right question.