tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post3844993054126837141..comments2023-06-10T16:19:02.304-04:00Comments on Rough Fractals: College is a Scam...Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16353954192152571397noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-28591181590840444312010-02-17T21:05:24.889-05:002010-02-17T21:05:24.889-05:00College is a scam it's true. You can join the...College is a scam it's true. You can join the forums at http://www.thegreatcollegehoax.comjimhttp://www.thegreatcollegehoax.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-15861707814172917262010-02-17T21:04:40.481-05:002010-02-17T21:04:40.481-05:00College is a scam it's true. You can join the...College is a scam it's true. You can join the forums at http://www.thegreatcollegehoax.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-89895680938748106992009-08-02T19:19:22.169-04:002009-08-02T19:19:22.169-04:00I agree to a degree. College is what you make of i...I agree to a degree. College is what you make of it. If you take the time to soak up as much as you can than you will be a better person. It is about becoming an expert according to your particular field. We live in a credentials based society so a degree will only add to your options. I talk about it at great length in my blog. Visit my blog and read "The Tragedy of the College Dropout" I guess you can call it the ying to this writers yang.Chigozie O.http://www.chigozie.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-31138756105977337152009-07-23T22:22:27.325-04:002009-07-23T22:22:27.325-04:00I did not mean to be making an anti intellectual a...I did not mean to be making an anti intellectual argument. I think all your points about the importance of academia are legit. I'd like to see us tilt more towards public than private education and financially I was arguing its better to tilt than way than to give to ones alma (especailly if one's alma mata is a school like Harvard whose endowment is larger than the national treasuries of most countries. While colleges that serve less elite students may not have the intellectual horsepower of Harvard - they are (in my opinion) more closely aligned with the needs of working class students. Harvard (and schools like it) generally serve to repopulate the power base with new generations of leaders - society needs them as well as a professional class. Not necessarily a bad thing but not a priority of mine with my limited charity dollars.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16353954192152571397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-9155414810558804332009-07-22T23:05:52.718-04:002009-07-22T23:05:52.718-04:00On a slightly different note, the liberal arts edu...On a slightly different note, the liberal arts education, in a small or large institution, in fact may have a more important role, worthy of support, if not financially, at least in solidarity, than we may offhandedly assume. I know it is easy to bash the elite nature of a liberal arts education. But taking the economics aside, this country is anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-historical and is in many ways, moving in a fundamentalist direction. Universities and colleges are bastions of the scientific method, of historical analysis, of attempting to study society in a serious and honest way. Without these bastions of science, history, literary criticism, art history, political science, economics, etc. these fields would dry up. I think there is a crucial role for the academic, intellectual tradition carrying on, even if it can appear to live only in an “ivory tower”. The ideas and analyses generated in academia have real value, not just in the obvious areas of medicine, or engineering, but also in the pursuit of understanding being human, and in that understanding, working towards a more humane world. The serious study that takes place in colleges and universities may have more value than we might give it credit for.ezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06082454186126683014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-2339075971343076162009-07-22T22:31:37.077-04:002009-07-22T22:31:37.077-04:00Q, I understand your sentiment. I like the idea of...Q, I understand your sentiment. I like the idea of giving to students because as you say - they are the future. What I do not understand is why you give to the students who happen to go to your school. As a private liberal arts college its demographic is not among the most needy. Giving to the general fund of a liberal arts college means directly supporting wealthy students. Why not give instead to a community college to help with outreach to students who normally stop at the high school level. Or to a school in an inner city - there are a number of private schools in Harlem that struggle financially to provide a quality alternative exclusively to low income kids who otherwise will not make it through high school. In other words, what's so special about your alma mater other than that you went there that you choose to invest in its students rather than in a school where your contribution will not be just a drop in the alumni giving bucket why not find a school that really needs it and serves a more needy (if not more deserving) population. I think this is a serious question. I understand people feel loyalty to their schools but I question that stance.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16353954192152571397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6237514746199867099.post-40844238739716416702009-07-22T15:49:33.463-04:002009-07-22T15:49:33.463-04:00Germain, interesting letter. I give because to my ...Germain, interesting letter. I give because to my alma mater, a private liberal arts school, becase my gift is an investment in the students now attending. Through supporting their education, I may be able to help them solve the problems and inequities that exist in our world.Qhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06749381764775879654noreply@blogger.com