Day 70

Tomorrow is the big day for the first listening tour forum on campus. I received a reminder this morning from the Chancellor, which included a more generous description of the session compared to the one in his message last week. He says that the Q&A session will be a time to "answer your questions and listen to your concerns." Before, it was just to answer our questions. I wonder if this addition to the description was intentional.

We are having another strike on campus to protest the fee increases. The Regents meet on November 18 to decide on tuition hikes, so the entire campus community is being asked to strike for three days. The Daily Californian credits the UC Berkeley Student Worker Action Team, which they describe as consisting of "students, staff, faculty, and community members" with organizing the protest. I haven't heard much talk about this strike compared to the buzz before the walkout on September 24, but I imagine the tension will build over the coming week. Faculty have been divided over whether it is right to leave the classroom empty in protest, and this will undoubtedly be another showing of divided opinions.

I read an article this morning in the Chronicle of Higher Education on whether too many students are going to college. The article consisted of opinions from a handful of professors and other authorities on economics and college access and affordability.  No one could deny that at least some college statistically increases the income for individuals, but the panelists were divided about whether our system is sustainable, whether the government should pay for higher education, and whether students leave college with the actual education to back up the degree and its increased earnings. Some argue that student learning from college is valuable to their careers, others say its a wasteful bunch of elitist bologna, while some say that the earning potential is not a fair way to judge whether a college degree is worthwhile since it could hold other value besides financial. My education has made me a far better speaker, writer, and thinker on all subjects. I am also a better employee because I know how to find information and solve problems better than I believe I would if I hadn't gone to college. However, my education cost FAR too much, and I will literally be paying the price for a very, very long time. Working in the public sector with high college debt already puts me in the category of people who may not see any financial gain from my degrees, and possibly even a loss over the long term. In retrospect, I wouldn't give back the degrees I've earned because I have gained more from them than a raise (though I got that, too) including an invaluable social and professional network, increased confidence and abilities, and increased awareness about the world around me and in my field. However, I would have managed the costs of those degrees better so that I would never have to feel like a slave to them. My education has given me upward mobility, but I was a lower-middle class kid, so I had to take out loans to pay for this mobility. I also believe that not all degrees are created equal and some students with BAs have had a better education than others. This leads me to my final thought on the issue which is that I believe that yes, too many students are going to college. The traditional model of college is not right for many, and calling all four-year degrees the same thing is ridiculous and inaccurate. Sending everyone to college will set many up for disappointment and failure, not to mention wasted time and money (yes, I know that even one year of college is better than none for future earnings). Do a better job of educating kids and teenagers in K-12 so that students and taxpayers no longer have to spend money on college tuition for people to learn "essential workplace skills" like how to read and add.