Scholastic Snake Oil, 12/24/11:
The horrendous debts students incur in going to law, medical or most graduate schools--and almost any non-prestigious private college or university--are, along with the dismal prospects for employment, reason enough to dissuade people from going to those schools. If you're one of those people who thinks "you can't put a price" on education or gains self-esteem through titles, I'll try to explain another reason why incurring such debts--let alone encouraging someone else to incur them--is immoral.
I was just reading about PhD programs in Nursing. Now, maybe I'm late in coming to this party, but I wasn't aware of them until just recently. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given some of the other programs that have developed under the current social, legal and economic climate.
York College, my former employer (It feels good to say that!), has bachelors' degree programs in a number of areas that come under the appelation of "health professions." They include traditional programs like ones to train nurses, physicans' assistants, physical therapists and occupational therapists. While most students attend them in the hope of working in one of those areas upon graduation, the college (and others) exert--and the students feel, from various sources-- pressure to pursue higher degrees in those areas.
Part of the explanation of this is simple: Like any other college (which includes nearly all of them), York and its parent university (City University of New York), is part of what some of us are calling the Financial-Educational Complex. The FEC wants students to stay in school for as long as possible because, for most students, more time in school translates into more and bigger loans.
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
A PhD In...
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Hola, It's Io
- An essay by Susan M. Schultz
- Interviewed by Matthew Sharpe
- Interviewed by Phạm Thị Hoài (in Vietnamese)
- Audio file of an interview by Leonard Schwartz
- Audio files on Pennsound
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- Poems translated into Arabic by Tahseen al Khateeb
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- Eight Vietnamese poets translated into English
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6 comments:
As I was finishing my BA at State I was told I could receive no more financial aid until I paid back my undergrad debt. While students of color were routinely being moved along to graduate schools and in some cases right into classrooms on emergency credentials with not even AA degrees! I was told forget it despite having a pretty good GPA and letters of reference from some professors. I was told by a tenured professor, two financial aid officers and a retired educator not to go into education because my gender and white skin would curtail my advancement opportunites. Fact.
Of course that was at the height of affirmative action in the early 1990s. Perhaps things have changed now.
Hi KassandrasDuplex,
I am against all race-based policies, including affirmative action...
You know Mr. Dinh, perhaps it's the season but I cannot help but feel a crushing depression settling upon me. Shopping tonight for groceries a signature gatherer was hawking initiatives for the ballot out front. He was aging and dressed shabily, perhaps had a drinking problem. Two of his handmade signs blared "PUT PRISONERS TO WORK!" and another promised to "STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING" by dramatically increasing the penalities for such behavior. I thought, "What corporate sponsor pays this poor signature gatherer to help ensure greater penalties and subsequently a larger slave labor pool at the very same time?" A woman nearby remarked she thought it a good idea and I suggested if we had to compete with a slave labor pool then where would our children work, or would she like to find her job done by a prisoner. "Put them to work pulling weeds!" she demanded. "What then of the gardners who need jobs?" I pointed out.
I reminded her America, Land of the Free, has the largest prison population in actual numbers and as a percentage of our total population on Earth.Didn't she find that ironic?
And while I stood there, a number of passersby eagerly signed his petitions. They want to vent their anger and frustration so they kick the victims a little more. And yes, I just referred to prisoners as victims.
"shabbily"
Paid signature gathering is one of the scumeist "jobs " on earth . These guys are paid by signature. Some of the real conservative issues( like lower taxes for mega corps) will pay over 1.50$ per signature . In this era of long term unemployment this is a small fortune . Hell 6 signatures an hour is about minimum wage .
This all has the effect of making paid petitioning need to get anything on the ballot , with the exception of a few issues .
Paid fundraisers are worse , a paid fundraiser will raise money for the Heritage foundation today and then Green Peace tomorrow.. .
Hi KassandrasDuplex,
It's hard not to feel deflated, the country is mad, the media spew one outrageous lie after another, and the population numb and distracted. The coming year will be worse than last.
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