http://ignoregon.com/rss/monmouth Aggregated Blog Posts From Monmouth Thu, 17 May 2012 18:39:29 +0000 en http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/cy4Sry3zKq0/easy-fix-for-student-debt-problem-five.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/cy4Sry3zKq0/easy-fix-for-student-debt-problem-five.html Wed, 16 May 2012 16:43:00 +0000 Students continue to educate me in different ways--some healthy and positive, and others, well ... One of those positive experiences today came from a student, "J," who suggested that we watch a funny video clip on the "five minute university."  It was quite a deal--sarcasm and satire for four minutes. Goodbye, student loans :) So, the nerd in me took over: who is this dude?  A Google search reminded me that I had seen him in a Colbert show, but I thought it was Robin Williams when I watched that: The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive This wasn't Robin Williams impersonating? So, the nerd continued on ... turns out that the person behind the character is Don Novello.  I tell ya, something new every single day :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/q7MM3a6S9tw/romney-chooses-running-mate-and-goes.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/q7MM3a6S9tw/romney-chooses-running-mate-and-goes.html Wed, 16 May 2012 01:04:00 +0000 It is Paco! And, opinion polls are highly favorable. But then the report is from America's Finest News Source :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/_FrOJbizfsI/degree-you-get-in-graduate-school-md.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/_FrOJbizfsI/degree-you-get-in-graduate-school-md.html Tue, 15 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000 A Google search for this wonderful description of graduate school will bring up a post from my blog in the top-three results or even higher.  I have no idea how the Google algorithm works, but sometimes visitors to my blog land up here because they seem to be worried about graduate school. They ought to be worried about graduate school. All of us ought to be panicking about graduate school. Because, we have simultaneously inflated the credentialing requirements and watered down the quality of undergraduate programs that now graduate schooling is the new two-year BA degree!  In the process of suffering through more years of education, students do not end up amassing knowledge but more debt. As I noted in a post a long time ago, it now is a requirement to have a graduate degree to teach fifth-graders!  At this rate, we will have post-docs teaching in high school! It took a while, but even the Economist eventually came around to using the "P" word.  To add to my collections, here is a latest report linking graduate degrees and student debt: lost in the debate over the nation's student loan debt topping the $1 trillion mark is that graduate students account for a third of that sum -- and that their indebtedness is likely about to grow much worse. ... Master's degrees account for about $200 billion in outstanding student loan debt, according to FinAid.org, while other advanced degrees make up another $100 billion. This year, roughly 830,000 advanced-degree recipients are expected to graduate with debt averaging roughly $43,500, up 10% from five years ago. Since the fall of 2007, roughly 56% or 3.6 million graduate-degree recipients incurred loans But, the education-industrial complex wouldn't care and will continue to market graduate school until they have sucked every possible dollar from indebted students and families. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/QPAZl9DzgZU/photos-of-day-grace-kelly-and-sophia.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/QPAZl9DzgZU/photos-of-day-grace-kelly-and-sophia.html Tue, 15 May 2012 17:51:00 +0000 It is the time of the year that Cannes becomes news. In this collection of photographs of movie people from years past, I would typically have gone with Grace Kelly as my favorite: But, Sophia Loren is perhaps one of her best here: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/BZupDaE3Ih0/highly-indebted-students-er-generation.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/BZupDaE3Ih0/highly-indebted-students-er-generation.html Mon, 14 May 2012 12:16:00 +0000 It is nauseatingly gross when a highly seasoned higher education administrator says the following: “I readily admit it,” said E. Gordon Gee, the president of Ohio State University, who has also served as president of Vanderbilt and Brown, among others. “I didn’t think a lot about costs. I do not think we have given significant thought to the impact of college costs on families.” Yep, for years he and practically all the administrators and faculty at colleges and universities never gave any significant thought to how much the cost increases might affect students and their families.  They decided that the goose was laying golden eggs in the form of higher salaries, and went after all the possible geese and eggs.  How awful! As I look back at my own writings, in September 1999, I authored an op-ed in The Bakersfield Californian,  in which I worried that we were fixated on dropout rates in high schools, all because of the preoccupation with college and, in the process, were not paying attention to career and technical education--vocational training.  Since then, I have been all the more been only drowned out by the louder and louder voices in favor of college for all, even as the mismatch between the revenues and expenditures of governments worsened, resulting in fewer dollar allocations for higher education that, in turn, resulted in higher fees for students.  And now it is a trillion dollar problem we are forced to recognize.  Meanwhile, Mr. Gee has been collecting salaries and benefits in the millions every year, and coaches even out-earn him.  "The Indentured Servant Generation" as Matt Yglesias noted a while ago! Crap; not a good way to start a Monday morning :( http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/HIbkVea1u4g/back-in-time.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/HIbkVea1u4g/back-in-time.html Mon, 14 May 2012 03:13:00 +0000 So, for a few days now, it bugged me that I couldn't place the original tune whenever I heard a recent Top-40 "Back in Time."  Finally, couldn't take it anymore.  One simple Google search and .... problem solved :) First, the original: Now, the Pitbull version: I admit--I love the new version. Even more than the older one! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/lyeE_qStnCs/photo-of-day-look-ma-what-i-have-for.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/lyeE_qStnCs/photo-of-day-look-ma-what-i-have-for.html Sun, 13 May 2012 16:58:00 +0000 Caption at the source:                      Ram Soren returns home with the night's catch in Bori village, about 120 km from Guwahati What we eat is culturally, and not biologically, determined.  In some cultures, people enjoy eating dog meat, while rat meat does it for a few others, and vegetables for even more .... Personally, no thanks to dogs or rats! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/-MgmzV1Moxw/explaining-electoral-college-votes-and.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/-MgmzV1Moxw/explaining-electoral-college-votes-and.html Sun, 13 May 2012 11:40:00 +0000 In an accent that is not American :) Maybe I should quiz my students and find out how much they know? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/cjMKr_oHPUo/what-dont-qualify-as-gifts-on-mothers.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/cjMKr_oHPUo/what-dont-qualify-as-gifts-on-mothers.html Sun, 13 May 2012 11:16:00 +0000 I woke up recalling, for whatever reasons that only a shrink can uncover, the phenomenally funny Calvin and Hobbes strip about Calvin getting his mother a card.  Breakfast, coffee, and newspaper, and everything else later, I tracked down that strip with a simple Google search: Calvin, of course, gave his mother quite some hell; I tracked down one of those too:  Ah, Calvin! As freaked out Calvin's mother was, well, contemporary mothers are getting used to the freaking reality conveyed in the cartoon below: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/V82GIzsQSDI/cartoons-in-indian-parliament.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/V82GIzsQSDI/cartoons-in-indian-parliament.html Sat, 12 May 2012 00:14:00 +0000 Thanks to Ramesh, who included the link to the cartoon and the news item, while commenting on this blog post of mine. The cartoon is from 1949, and it creates a political controversy now.  Sixty-three years later!  Because, this cartoon, which is a commentary on the slow pace of the work on a constitution for the newly independent India, was included in a high school textbook! The cartoonist, K. Shankar Pillai, was a much admired and respected commentator.  In the photo albums at my parents' home, there is a photo of my father reading Shankar's Weekly.  A neat self-portrait--he had set in the auto-mode and taken that snap .... even as a kid, I, therefore, knew about Shankar's Weekly even though I never read any myself--I was way too late for that party :( It is, therefore, very disappointing to read the news item; as the paper points out, Shankar Pillai was highly recognized and admired for his work ... no unqualified crankpot he was ... Every day, I read things like this and wonder what the world has come to, and then I begin to worry that perhaps I am getting old at a rather young age, ready to take over the vacancy that Andy Rooney created with his departure from this world! Oh well, the only good thing is this: the US is not the only country with crazies.  Misery, as they say, loves company :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/IdQY3x-twu4/kali-ma-beer-de-er-shakti-de.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/IdQY3x-twu4/kali-ma-beer-de-er-shakti-de.html Fri, 11 May 2012 23:14:00 +0000 From an email, yes, an email I received: Portland (Oregon) based Burnside Brewing Company, which earlier announced to release its “Kali-Ma” beer on May 15; has apologized, postponed the release and would rename it. In an announcement published on their Facebook page today, the Company wrote: In response to pleas from the Hindu community we have decided to postpone the limited release of "Kali-ma" our imperial wheat ale flavored with Indian spices and Scotch-Bonnet peppers. It is NEVER our intention at Burnside to offend or alienate any race, creed, religion or sexual orientation. The inspiration for the beer label simply came from a favorite childhood movie in the "Indiana Jones" series and we were unaware that it could be offensive to anyone. We are currently scrambling to re-name the beer and intend to release it soon afterwards…to anyone we have offended we sincerely apologize. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest, calling identifying of the beer with Goddess Kali as “inappropriate”, has thanked and commended the Company for showing responsibility, respect and maturity by taking quick action and for having an understanding for the hurt feelings of Hindu community. It was a step in the right direction, he added in a statement in Nevada today.I am not sure if the hassle was all worth it though ... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/7RJhr2BSh0o/are-we-teaching-students-how-to-think.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/7RJhr2BSh0o/are-we-teaching-students-how-to-think.html Fri, 11 May 2012 20:21:00 +0000 How does this sound to you? Today's college students are experts at pantomiming their classmates and professors. They can cram for tests and summarize books with gusto. But they are not learning to think critically. That involves questioning assumptions or finding patterns in what they see or read outside of the classroom.  I hope this doesn't happen in my classes.  In fact, I am confident that in my classes, students cannot escape the thinking process.  There is no cramming for tests in my classes.  I don't care, I tell them, whether they have all the books with them or whether they rely on their memories.  Because, even if it is in the book and they don't know how to make use of it, well, the open-book doesn't help, does it? Perhaps that is yet another reason why students shy away from my classes? The feedback that I get from students, whenever they do offer them on their own, is encouraging.  My classes are providing them with content and the abilities to think through.  And, of course, they quickly learn to write well if they want to be successful in my classes.  After all, there is no scantron-test where they can bubble in their guesses.  And in the essays they write, well, they know there is no point awarded for bullshit :) The problem, as I see it, lies less with students than with lazy faculty practices.  Conducting classes devoid of serious questioning--the Socratic method that most faculty love to pretend to like, and having tests that are nothing but multiple-choice questions that come from test-banks supplied by the textbook publisher can certainly ease faculty workloads.  But, then don't blame students who are merely being rational in their pursuit of the path of minimum resistance!  And even when the question calls for essay responses, well, merely telling students to "write a paper on any topic of your choice" doesn't really help develop critical thinking skills either.  For one, most students are yet to learn how to pose questions that they can then answer through the essays.  And, worse, there is no meaningful feedback to students on their papers--I have seen one too many papers that students have shown me where their bullshit papers have easily earned them "A" grades! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/xOp7TqlMKgc/hotel-afghanistan.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/xOp7TqlMKgc/hotel-afghanistan.html Fri, 11 May 2012 14:43:00 +0000 Yep :( http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/VLGPpAVta8w/born-into-and-growing-out-of-religions.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/VLGPpAVta8w/born-into-and-growing-out-of-religions.html Fri, 11 May 2012 12:08:00 +0000  In the years past, I was a tad hesitant to reveal my atheistic thinking whenever I was asked about my religious beliefs.  The hesitation resulted from my own ambivalence and from a concern over how my response will be received.  There was another reason as well: "atheist" tends to be viewed as equivalent to loose morals and every possible bad habit that one can imagine.  Whereas my life is far from that, as a non-smoking teetotaler who doesn't even know the smell of marijuana, and gluttony or sloth or greed are not what I practice either.  So, it took me a while to overcome the concern that my atheism might project me as somebody that I am not. But, then quite a few years ago, I emerged from the religion closet, and ditched my "agnostic" label in favor of a more open "atheist" one.  And, liberating it has been since! It was a wonderful coincidence that soon after began the huge wave of bestselling books on religion and atheism.  There is no doubt that Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, among others, significantly elevated societal discussions on religion and god.  Though, I did worry that Hitchens' personal life could reinforce the negative stereotype of an atheist. As Harris and Steven Weinberg and many others have pointed out, life is a lot more fascinating and rich and complex and human when moral guidelines have to developed and practiced devoid of religious prescriptions.  It turns out that living a life of an atheist is way more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. Further, it turns out that people become naturally curious even if I were to mention merely in passing that I am an atheist.  They want to know more about my atheism--perhaps because of doubts they have about their own religious beliefs, or because they have never interacted, in-person, with an atheist, or ... I am more than happy then to engage in conversations with them. From a strictly scientific perspective, I suppose I would clarify that my working hypothesis is that there is no such thing as a creator or a god.  After all, I don't have conclusive evidence.  But, if I were to remove those scientific qualifiers, then it is simply that I am an atheist. If all these are too serious, then, hey, we can always lighten things up .... like so: If you are shopping for a religion, here is the simplest approach to landing on a good one: If that is way too simplistic, and you are looking for a more nuanced approach to a decision-making process regarding what religion to follow, then the following one can be of assistance: And here is Colbert explaining religion--Christianity The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Stat of the Union www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes2010 ElectionMarch to Keep Fear Alive http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/4uD7ADFqIiM/every-academic-majors-terrible.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/4uD7ADFqIiM/every-academic-majors-terrible.html Fri, 11 May 2012 02:34:00 +0000 Source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/MIzw_DG2dlk/if-india-is-energy-starved-how-about.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/MIzw_DG2dlk/if-india-is-energy-starved-how-about.html Fri, 11 May 2012 00:43:00 +0000 Today is one of those days when I happened to wonder whatever might have happened if India and Pakistan (and, therefore, Bangladesh) hadn't split and, at least, hadn't fought wars and engaged in expensive arms race.  Imagine!  The possibilities are simply limitless. Instead, the Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka and Nepal, has been a tragicomedy of wasted opportunities and unfulfilled dreams.  Increasingly, the tragicomedy is looking more and more farcical. Consider this: India and Pakistan blast nuclear devices whenever one feels the urge to demonstrate its testosterone levels when its government is getting battered internally.  Or, they shoot up missiles.  All these, as even a third grader knows well, is awfully expensive. Meanwhile, as I noted a couple of days ago, there is a lot to worry about India's economy.  How is it across the border in Pakistan?  It seems to want to outdo India in making sure its people will not have enough electricity: Demand for energy in Pakistan now outstrips its capacity to supply electricity to industry and households by several thousand megawatts. With preliminary census projections of a population of more than 192 million and the share of the urban population rising, the challenge to power Pakistan will only grow more difficult. Already, hours-long interruptions in power have dragged down productivity in key sectors like the textile industry and sparked confrontations between rural and urban political leaders and the transportation, agricultural, and manufacturing sectors for priority access to what energy is produced.   Of course, this is not entirely new; I noted here more than a year ago about Pakistan's floating power plant, which the government had leased from Turkey. But, now the situation is getting even worse because the government is broke and can't pay up: nine independent power producers -- which collectively produce 8 to 9 percent of Pakistan's energy supply -- now warn that they can no longer continue operations if government payment is not immediately forthcoming. With fresh borrowing plans, the government is likely to negotiate another settlement with these companies.  How deep is the government in debts, you ask?   approximately half of this year's federal budget expenditures were devoted to debt repayment, far eclipsing military spending, government salaries, or development investments.  The Indian economy is sputtering, and the government seems to be hell bent on making sure there are enough and more to choke the windpipes.  As this column notes, it seems like it is three steps backward for each forward step!   Despite the government's best intentions, it is amazing that the economy grows at all, I suppose. How did the Subcontinent get so messed up?  How much worse could it have been if there had been no partition? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/4EhGLhMugAU/this-explains-why-nobody-works-with-me.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/4EhGLhMugAU/this-explains-why-nobody-works-with-me.html Thu, 10 May 2012 17:50:00 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/DYUOYys8gNo/it-is-graduation-time-which-means-more.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/DYUOYys8gNo/it-is-graduation-time-which-means-more.html Wed, 9 May 2012 12:19:00 +0000 Over at the WSJ, Bret Stephens has some sharp advice for the graduates. Sadly, all these only help re-confirm my own observations on higher education! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/aTGkkMCMaxk/how-murders-happen-in-oregon.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/aTGkkMCMaxk/how-murders-happen-in-oregon.html Wed, 9 May 2012 11:17:00 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/H4553sXHwpo/two-responses-to-my-opinions-what.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/H4553sXHwpo/two-responses-to-my-opinions-what.html Tue, 8 May 2012 12:31:00 +0000 First this, from an anonymous commenter, who was perhaps unhappy with my blog post on academic and football salaries: You are a dumb dyke BTW, that blog post has been trending upward with respect to what attracted visitors to my blog! In contrast, the following was a letter in the paper in response to my opinion column on the overselling of college for everybody: I’ve always enjoyed Western Oregon University professor Sriram Khe’s insightful articles on topics as diverse as the economy of India to his April 30 column, “College should be a journey, not a destination.” I graduated from WOU, which was then Oregon College of Education, in the early 1960s. There was zero pressure from my family to attend college, and only 30 percent of my Newport High School graduating class did so. That was in an era when tuition was less than $100 per term and college costs were easily met with part-time work on campus and summer jobs. I left college with nearly $4,000 in my savings account. Five decades later students leave college with debts ranging from $5,000 to $150,000, depending on their academic programs. As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, societal and family pressures scare kids into college; it’s the proverbial carrot on the stick, dangling higher lifetime earnings and family prestige as the primary goal for many college-bound students. Our grade schools, middle schools and high schools should promote critical thinking and creativity rather than instilling in students from kindergarten through high school that college is the endgame. Is college for everyone? I don’t think so. A better idea for high school graduates may be as simple as taking a break for a year, acquiring life skills through temporary jobs and travel, then considering attending college. Mike E. Walsh Eugene Whenever I have received negative feedback, especially those that are not constructive, it turns out that they do not want to reveal their identities. "Anonymous." Well, at least the anonymous commenter this time was not as hateful as once earlier :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/Dw9V7pjtZRM/perhaps-best-ever-description-of-india.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/Dw9V7pjtZRM/perhaps-best-ever-description-of-india.html Tue, 8 May 2012 11:34:00 +0000 India, with its dazzling light, crowds, noise, and dust, is inevitably a test for the old. Withdrawing from the lure and demand of the place is the same as withdrawing from life. Face it straight on, and you defy mortality. Awesome!   Just brilliant! Face India straight on and you defy mortality--what a beautiful way to capture the experience of India.  And, yes, if one were to withdraw from what it is, well, one might as well withdraw from life. How do these people craft such powerful sentences? Anyway, that description of India was not in any travelogue or any philosophical work, but in the New Yorker's review (sub reqd) of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  I hope the movie is as good to watch as the review was to read. Click here for more on my recent experiences in India. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/mOCedGI3i-k/more-on-deplorable-state-of.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/mOCedGI3i-k/more-on-deplorable-state-of.html Mon, 7 May 2012 15:21:00 +0000 At the BBQ to which my neighbors/friends had invited me over, I slipped into a rather serious and depressed/depressing mode while talking about education.  It has become one giant ponzi scheme at so many levels, I told them. Almost a day and a wonderful grilled steak and conversations later, here I am reading more during my solitary lunch break, and .... yep, more depressing stuff.  If only students would understand how much the system is sucking them dry! Exhibit A: This WSJ report that "Only 49% of graduates from the classes of 2009 to 2011 had found a full-time job within a year of finishing school, compared with 73% for students who graduated in the three years prior."  Despite a plethora of such reports, students don't seem to care, and I have often wondered why.  Could there be a great deal of truth in the report's simplistic/sarcastic comment?: Many students nonetheless express optimism, though perhaps that's simply the Lake Wobegon effect: They might believe they're all above-average after years of positive reinforcement from their parents. In the same vein, they may see themselves as exceptions to the rules of the job market. And then there is the whole aspect of athletics versus academics.  We might even cut down the number of classes we offer, and reduce the numbers of full-time instructors, but never shall we even marginally reduce our commitment to athletics.  It is similar to the maniacal Republicans adamantly holding the line on military budget.  Exhibit B: This Bloomberg report on the supremacy of athletics at public institutions: Rutgers funneled $28.5 million from the university budget and student fees into sports, the most among 54 U.S. public universities in the biggest football conferences, based on data compiled by Bloomberg for the fiscal year ended last June. It was at least the second straight year at the top of the list for the state university of New Jersey, despite cost-cutting after lawmakers and faculty protested that academics were losing out. (To see Bloomberg’s data on sports spending at Rutgers and 53 other schools, click here.) “Rutgers puts too much money into athletics at the cost of basically every other department,” said Stephen Sweeney, the Democratic president of the New Jersey Senate, in an e-mail. He applauded efforts by Athletic Director Tim Pernetti to increase revenue. At the same time, he said, “the faculty, student body and the families of students who are supporting them through school simply pay too much.”  So, ok, those are at the undergrad levels. The typical cure offered by the higher education industry is, well, more schooling. So, we then have excited people going in for PhDs in fields like history, which is Exhibit C: If it were not for the fact that it is a brilliantly sunny and warm spring day, this would be one hell of a depressing Monday! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/YrmsE2FI8PY/2012-year-of-elections-maybe-mayans.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/YrmsE2FI8PY/2012-year-of-elections-maybe-mayans.html Sun, 6 May 2012 14:27:00 +0000 China watchers often remind us that the passing the leadership baton in the Communist Party involves a great deal of politics, and this year we have had quite some intense drama already, with Bo Xilai and then Chen Guangcheng. And, of course, there are the November elections in the US, though sometimes it seems like we are always in an election and campaign mode.. The outcomes of the Chinese and American leadership struggles will have global impacts, yes.  But, these are not the only elections this year with far-reaching implications.  Consider the following list, which is by no means a comprehensive one: Russia: Putin continues to rig the system to his advantage.  Wonder how long he can keep behaving like the tsar of Russia. France: Early reports indicate that Sarkozy has been defeated by Hollande, and Europe and the rest of the world will have to watch and see how this will affect the Euro crisis, among other issues. Israel: Netanyahu calls for early elections, which many analysts see as a kind of referendum on his plans to attack Iran in September/October, ahead of the American elections, if he were to win. Egypt: One heck of a confusion in its elections, with protests growing by the day, and the prospect of an elected Islamist government worrying the US. And there is Greece, the epicenter of the Euro crisis. Hmmmmmm .... wake me up in 2013, if the world is still around then :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/OknqAkGyPug/worry-about-indias-economy-worry-lot.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/OknqAkGyPug/worry-about-indias-economy-worry-lot.html Sun, 6 May 2012 02:18:00 +0000 Less than a fortnight into the hundred days in India, the more I observed, the more I wondered whether India's economic "success" story was more hype than real.  That line of thinking morphed into to this column in which I wrote that "the economic health of India is not looking good." Every day, evidence seemed to pile on to further reinforce the impression that India could run into some serious economic troubles really soon.  I was particularly concerned that the country was not paying enough attention to the long-term requirements of resources, energy, and infrastructure.   Thus, it was pretty much all "doh!" for me when I read Tyler Cowen's NY Times column where he writes that "We ignore India’s troubling trends at our peril,"  the economy has decelerated from projected rates of more than 8 percent, and negative momentum may bring a further decline. The government reported year-over-year growth in the October-through-December quarter of only 6.1 percent. What is disturbing is that much of the decline in the growth rate is distributed unevenly, with the greatest burden falling on the poor. If the slower rate continues or worsens, many millions of Indians, for another generation, will fail to rise above extreme penury and want. The problems of the euro zone are a pittance by comparison. India's growth, or lack of, will affect the smaller neighboring economies, Cowen writes. India's finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who is now canvassing to become the country's next president, offers an upbeat assessment, which I find hard to believe:  India was growing at over 9 per cent before the global financial crisis of 2008 pulled down the growth rate to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09. India has projected a growth rate of 7.6 per cent in 2012-13, up from 6.9 per cent recorded in the previous fiscal.   Even if India records that rate of growth, there is inflation to worry about.  Thus, a report like this one appears to be a lot more realistic than the ministerial pontifications: Meanwhile, when I talked with my parents the other day, they said that electricity rates have gone up, and power cuts continue.  It is a continuation of the power shortage that forced my college-mate to shut down his mill in Coimbatore.  While the upward revision of the rates is a correct policy approach--one that had severely under-priced electricity--not much can be created without new sources of electricity, which is needed for rural and urban economic activities alike.  Not lookin' good :( http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/mqea2ms1dyA/we-force-students-to-go-through-college.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/mqea2ms1dyA/we-force-students-to-go-through-college.html Sat, 5 May 2012 16:59:00 +0000 Richard Hersh, whose work I first came to know about a few years ago, thanks to the AACU, explains how we are losing our minds, and how we are shortchanging students: The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive Couldn't think of a better follow-up to my rants, like this one, on the deplorable state of contemporary  higher education! BTW, I came to this Hersh piece this late, via a friend's post on Facebook, about MIT ... Strange are the ways in which we come across anything anymore--profound and inane :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/W4FUEQPxj_o/ban-football-yes-college-and-nfl.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/W4FUEQPxj_o/ban-football-yes-college-and-nfl.html Sat, 5 May 2012 12:29:00 +0000 I can't help but wonder how a student at the University of Oregon will cope when in-state tuition has recently gone up by 9% and the state legislature passed an 11% decrease in funding to the Oregon system overall for 2011 and 2012. Yet thanks to the largess of Nike founder Phil Knight, an academic center costing $41.7 million, twice as expensive in square footage as the toniest condos in Portland, has been built for the University of Oregon football team. Always important to feed those Ducks.  Quite a few interesting aspects to the above excerpt from this piece: It is from the Wall Street Journal A friend, "R," in India--yes, India--sent me the link, along with a note "you'll love to read this" The last I might have seen/met this friend in real life? About 35 years ago! Anyway, we can't seem to write enough analytical and editorial essays about why football ought to be "punted" away from colleges and universities. And then when we think about the atrocious damages it causes, especially to the brain, it becomes all the more urgent to ban the bloody sport.  It needs to fade away the same way that boxing has lost the kind of attraction it once had. All the more that I am looking forward to the upcoming Intelligence Squared debate on football.  Strictly from an academic perspective, there is nothing for me to add to what the author writes: Call me the Grinch. But I would much prefer students going to college to learn and be prepared for the rigors of the new economic order, rather than dumping fees on them to subsidize football programs that, far from enhancing the academic mission instead make a mockery of it. We ought to keep in mind that this sport-centered academic culture is an uniquely American irrationality. In no other country’s university system, after all, does sports play anything like the central role it does in American academic life. Men do not go to Oxford to play cricket; the Sorbonne does not field a nationally celebrated soccer team. Even in the most sports-mad countries, sports is sports and education is education. That’s a better system. But then, ahem, who cares for what I blog/think/write/say, right? :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/5hpFlleJ7xc/ryan-gosling-saves-woman-big-deal-i.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/5hpFlleJ7xc/ryan-gosling-saves-woman-big-deal-i.html Fri, 4 May 2012 17:11:00 +0000 So, there I was driving and thinking about the midterms and essays that I have to grade, when I spotted two geese slowly waddling across the lane with five goslings in tow. I switched the hazard lights on, and came to a complete stop.  The geese apparently thought it would be a great idea to pause for a second and take it all in.  The gosling bringing up the rear almost ran into the one that was ahead of it. We were about six cars in my lane, and perhaps three in the opposing direction, all patiently waiting for the goosy family to move.  This being Eugene, nobody "honked" nor edged their cars--we are only way too appreciative of how much the geese allow us into their habitat and their lives. I was so fascinated with this scene that by the time it occurred to me that I could take a gazillion photos, well, the geese started hurrying up, and so did the goslings.  While no digital image exists, it is a scene that is well etched into my memory, for which I have nothing but thanks to the goslings. Can you beat that, Mr. Gosling? :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/ZlaZYneBVGE/mcjobs-in-america-what-exactly-does.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/ZlaZYneBVGE/mcjobs-in-america-what-exactly-does.html Thu, 3 May 2012 12:50:00 +0000 First this video (ht): A couple of weeks ago, Matt Yglesias worried that Obama's push industrial-policy push for manufacturing could be more than election gimmicks and could guide his second term: It is sensible for public policy to pay attention to the creation of great firms, to strength in specific sectors, and to the quality of the jobs generated by different economic models. But it should be obvious that the path forward for America is to focus on our strengths in information technology and media, and not compete with the Chinese for manufacturing supremacy. Because ... the big money is not in the manufacturing of the widgets themselves; The Economist's chart on the breakdown of costs and profits serves as a classic illustration: So, do we really want to bring back manufacturing, or ... And, BTW, remember what Steve Jobs said? “Those jobs aren’t coming back” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/Q9bK-7FiFEY/scream-laugh-and-then-scream.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/Q9bK-7FiFEY/scream-laugh-and-then-scream.html Wed, 2 May 2012 18:32:00 +0000 The Scream goes on sale, and the New Yorker's cartoon editor serves up quite some laughs, like this one: and this one: Muahaha :) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/V6Xrf_HqX_o/good-questions-on-future-of-higher.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SriramKhe/~3/V6Xrf_HqX_o/good-questions-on-future-of-higher.html Wed, 2 May 2012 12:52:00 +0000 I read the following sentences in an email from the university's provost about an upcoming "campus conversation" The Conversation will provide a chance to respond to multiple questions: ·         We’re in the midst of a radical change in how knowledge is acquired and shared.  What do we see as opportunities or challenges in responding to that change? ·         What are the instructional challenges that have come about in the recent past that are beyond some faculty or staff members’ skill set and require support or assistance? ·         How can we guide the institution’s use of limited resources to help faculty and staff meet students’ needs to succeed? Of course, other questions will come up.  At the end of the meeting, the ideas will be gathered and serve as the basis for another Campus Conversation in the fall when we can share what we learned and begin to identify possible answers. Now, these are the kinds of questions that I would love to discuss with fellow professionals, and the laity too. However, past experience has been that my fellow professionals do not want to hear about how I think about these kinds of questions.  I don't blame them; after all, it would not be comfortable to think about: how higher education is another speculative bubble that needs to be popped, or how the way the "business" is conducted it resembles a ponzi scheme; or how the system is only about serving itself, instead of being focused on the welfare and success of students; or how the wasteful spending on athletics is too sacred a topic to be discussed; or how teaching is failing big time; orhow ...   Well, I could list them forever ... no point attending such meetings, which almost always are exercises in self-congratulations, and scheming about how to raise more money from taxpayers, students, and donors.  I love (higher) education way too much :(