Student Loans, Gateway Drug To Debt Slavery

Student Loans, Gateway Drug To Debt Slavery: "

One of the most important lessons students learn in college is how to get into debt and stay there. It's crucial to the success of the Republic. An indebted population is easier to control; needing to pay off crushing debt - a debt that if defaulted on has been stripped of many normal consumer protections and rights - graduates more willingly shuttle into cubicles, becoming the square pegs demanded by the square holes. After a few futile years of floundering idealism, their souls have been successfully jackbooted into powder and they're ready to keep the thumb on the next generation of would-be drones so as to protect their empire of matchsticks. But how did we get here? This chunky infographic examines the origins and (d)evolution of the student loan leviathan.

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Letter to the future...

Another term down, just two more to go!

By now you are sitting here realizing two things, that this is going to be a lot of work and you are differently getting your value for your money in this class. So what hints might a past student have for you. Well I have a few.

-Do it all, yes it seems like a lot. Readings, posts, comments, beat, and then signing up for everything. Well they all build, once you have Delicious up all these new sights you just joined are easy to find. And since you have a gmail account they all funnel right into it (might be worth getting that Google stock). If you don't comment in others, they won't in yours. Plus as Manan pointed out  this is how the course really builds and lets us finally have a little freedom with our posts. Finally you will learn about some great programs that while they take some time now, will free up heaps in the future (Google Reader).

-Help out someone (or get help), I learned heaps from being the IT guy for a user without quite the experience I had, plus I expect they should be getting me a nice holiday present.

-Don't sweat the BRAND, yes it seems big (because it is). But I would suggest going with just your name for now, and keep it broad. You can do all that is asked and then rebuild once you know what your right livelihood is.

-Double dip, no reason to write a  beat on something you are not already researching for another class. Here is a great place to process your thoughts on readings or share info with your team mates from that other class. I double dipped and it saved me hours, plus it motivated me to do my work throughout the term rather than that last hectic week.

-Speak up on what you want to learn. This has been truly the first collaborative course I have been in at BGI. Christopher gives it more than lip service, and if you are not sure what is you want extra, he will have a few ideas.

Have fun with it, use the filters in gmail and follow everyones blog, even if you don't always read them all. Makes everyone feel better when they are starting out to have that level of support and increased social graph.
Tomas

Fish Story

Here is some email I got forwarded that reminded me of the holiday cheer I should be feeling rather than the papers I am writing.

A Fishy Story........



A guy who lives at Lake Conroe

(50 miles north of Houston ) saw a ball bouncing

around kind of strange in the lake and went to

investigate.

It turned out to be a flathead catfish that had

apparently tried to swallow a basketball which

became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to

dive, but unable to, because the ball would

always bring him back up to the surface.

The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out,

but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut

the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry

catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this,

if you hadn't seen the following pictures:

 

 

Be kinder than necessary because everyone bites off more than they can chew sometime in life...

i will set the world on fire

i will set the world on fire: "

via http://homecoming.tumblr.com/page/3

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Black Friday and a BGI MBA program

This is a repost from Brian Trunk's learning journal, but since it is not open to the public I got permission to post it here for all.  Enjoy, I sure did.

What do Black Friday (BF) and our MBA program have to do with each other??? Well most students at school would say the only correlation between the two is that you should boycott the Black Friday specials and be more sustainable. I would like to challenge my fellow students on the concept of boycotting BF.

Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. The time when all everyone hits the stores looking for the best sales deals of the year. But in reality it is so much more and I think that an MBA student would see the corner stone that Black Friday has become for the economy. If BF does not succeed with the revenue projections this year then people will still believe that we are in a recession and the markets will drop on Monday. When the markets drop so does the funding of sustainable ventures.

If Black Friday was a success it builds consumer confidence that recession could be behind us. What does that mean though??? It means that people will free up money for new ventures, banks could start loaning money again, etc. The job markets will open and companies will start to hire positions like "Sustainability Managers." As consumer confidence rises and businesses grow, investors look to support new ideas like Solar and Wind energy products.

In short next time you hear the "dont shop on Black Friday" spiel, I challenge you to think from an MBA prospective on how important it is to actually buy on that day and support the economy. One last thing, supporting BF this year would have meant something even more for the our students. I would say that over 90% voted for President Obama. If Black Friday is a success and the economy is turning around then it will be attributed to the new president and we all want to see that happen.

In the future we need to start thinking of the long term impacts our decisions and actions make instead of boycotting 1 day of the year.

Road Raging Fox News Writer Arrested for Dragging a Cyclist Through Central Park

Road Raging Fox News Writer Arrested for Dragging a Cyclist Through Central Park: "
Image via Gawker

You may have heard this one before--a cyclist goes biking in New York City. Cyclist gets cut off by a driver who's irritated by having to share the road with cyclists. Cyclist rides up to driver at next stop, positions himself in front of the vehicle and tells him to please observe the speed limit. Driver rams cyclist and drags him 200 feet through Central Park. Driver is a writer for Fox News....

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Not surprisingly my learning this last week has floated around the “discussion” in CRL. I thought I would add a few more thoughts on i the questions that have been asked I to me. Specifically around why it was now that this was posted and not sooner.

There are several reasons for this and most come from BGI experiences before this course (similar to the beginnings of the thoughts shared about this course). First of these reasons is response, not a written or verbal response but one of action. It has sadly been the experience of myself that feedback at BGI does not take shape in change in time to effect my experience. I know you can imagine how frustrating this could be. Also when I have questioned experiences in the past I have been asked to "brainstorm" on them, which I have found slightly insulting on a few levels (one being a grad student should already be critically thinking through my comments, I should at least receive that benefit from my instructors). At other times I have been told that they are going to change that in the next version of the curriculum (either the coming year or in two years when the 2.0 BGI version happens). This has been very challenging since we are also at the school to learn about how promote and create change.

My motivation to posting to the class was a result of tiring of the quite criticism with no action. Which I also understand is a result of the lack of response to feedback, vicious circle. The irony is strong to me in a school that promotes change that participants will not and do not speak up. I believe this is because they do not feel empowered to do so, that the time vs change is an equal balance, and that when they weight priorities in their life that change falls low. Again,  how will we effect the outside world if we do not interact within this smaller, more supportive, one? People are faking assignments because it is easier to fake it than to "complain" or comment about how this does not connect to them.  It is much larger than just than just CRL class. Thoughts on this?