When Education Is A Dirty Word

Our illustrious members of Congress are in a quandary. Do they or don't they capitulate on a plan to bail out students at the nations colleges or universities? Hey, it's only $6 billion dollars we're talking about! That's a pittance compared to some of the other boondoggles that have gone down in the history of congressional crap legislation. Question? Why is it a good majority of high school graduates(and Obama) think they deserve to attend a post high school facility that costs as much as the national debt? Parent's can be suckers because it's status to them to tell their friends, "Yes, Bambi is going to Yale. We're so proud of all her accomplishments; cheerleading, Spring Formal Queen, newspaper staff reporter and drama understudy for the school play. She really excelled during those teen years". Bambi can brag that she's been accepted to some big-time school but, in reality, she's only been on a menstrual cycle for six years so that means she knows squat about life. Most kids who go on to college after h.s. attend either a university or a liberal arts school. The smart ones go to a two year community college. I checked out my daughter's two year community college in Ottumwa, Iowa and the cost per credit hour is $137. If my calculations are correct a semesters worth of study comes to slightly over 2 grand. The big deal about a university is they have post graduate degrees, big time football and basketball programs and, because they're in larger communities, more bars to hit on Friday and Saturday night. Liberal Arts colleges, on the other hand, are the prestigious schools. They cost loads of cash to attend and students can apply for and get grants to help with costs--if they have the brains, contacts and/or luck. As an example let me present Kenyon College located in the village of Gambier, Ohio. It's the oldest liberal arts school in the state. It's located an hour and a half northeast of Columbus. If you're an excellent swimmer you might apply. They've won something like 30 NCAA division III championships in a row. I've never been on campus but I bet the girls are hotsy-totsy. Eighteen year olds that come from uber rich families tend to be good looking. Guys who come from the same financial background are snobs who drive BMW's. That's my perception only. Let's look at the financial costs for the year 2011-12: Kenyon College- Gambier, Ohio Costs (2011 - 12): •Tuition and Fees: $42,630 •Books: $1,800 •Room and Board: $10,020 •Other Expenses: $1,230 •Total Cost: $55,680.
MJ Hawkeye attended a liberal arts school, Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When I attended in 1965 the tuition was $3000, a king's ransom at the time. As you read down you can see the price is slightly higher. Don't be fooled by the financial aid package. It is determined by keeping grades at a certain level, a job to pay for food; all kinds of little gimmicks. Heck! I received what was called the S.L. Moore scholarship. It was worth $300 a year to any Boone County Iowa student going to Coe and it hadn't been used for 15 years. The only criteria for receiving it was to show up and be breathing. I do have to admit I did borrow $3,000 in government funds. The program was called the National Defense Education Act. It was initiated to encourage youngsters to become teachers to keep up with the Russians and their space program. If a person taught ten years they had to pay back half of that borrowed. Lizzie and I sent $50 a month to D.C. and on a salary of $6,000 a year that was 'mucho grande' cash. Now that I think about it why would a degree in Phy. Ed. help our space program unless we wanted to develop the first hockey program on the moon.

Coe College Fees-2012:
The total cost of tuition, room, board, and fees for 2012-2013 is $41,920; the average financial aid package awarded to incoming freshmen in the fall of 2011 was over $29,000.  I started out at South Dakota State University in Brookings to play baseball but lasted one semester. God did not intend for normal people to live in ice and snow for ten months consecutively unless they own dog sleds and spear fish and walrus. I came home after one semester then went off to Coe my sophomore year. All people should not attend college. As I look back I was not a candidate for college. What I should have done was apply for a position with the University of The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. My grandfather and dad worked for them so I had an in. I was what was called a 'legacy'. Regardless, my matriculation at Coe proceeded on schedule with a few bumps along the way.(one semester I 'earned' 2 D's and an F and my GPA went up). Graduation came in 1968 and I was ready for the world----but I wasn't. You see, the only thing I was prepared for was teaching with a degree in Physical Education. And I wasn't even prepared for that because along came August and I thought to myself, "I wonder if I should get a job"? In those days teachers, in Iowa, found out about teacher openings in the want ad section of the state's newspaper, the Des Moines Register. I saw an ad for a teacher/basketball coach and applied. Mind you it was two weeks before the start of the school year. I showed up in a suit and fifteen minutes before my scheduled appointment. The superintendent met me at his door and said, "You're hired". After I inquired about an interview he told me I didn't need one. I showed up clean and dressed and was early. That was enough for him. As you well know if you read this post I went on to teach and coach for twenty years before I decided to get a real job. It amazes me that so many teachers stay in the profession because they say, "there's nothing else I could do". Do you know what that comes from? It reverts back to the four year, waster of money, Liberal Arts degree in Bull Sh**. This degree and my teaching experience allowed me to speak the King's English, it gave me the ability to get up in front of crowds, large and small, and give speeches. "People, when I was 25 years old I gave a baccalaureate speech in front of five hundred people without breaking a sweat. I had the ability to listen to an irate mother scream obscenities at me. Her son, a senior in high school, failed my class and I wouldn't change the grade. (the principal overruled me. I guess that's why Principal ends in 'pal').
The point I'm trying to make about education, going in debt, relying on the government and all the rest of the hooey we're being fed is that education evolves from life experience and maturity. A waiter in a restaurant working an 8 hour shift can learn more about people than what a professor can teach you in four years. And it doesn't cost $50,000 to repay and have the good citizenry available to bail you out.