Tag Archives: university

Idaho

Pocatello Arts Council is not taxpayer funded, but helps bring free public events!

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14 July 2022  (10:08-UTC-07 Tango 06) 23 Tir 1401/14 Dhu l-Hijja 1443/16 Ding-Wei 4720

Recently in the U.S. state of Idaho, apparently (supposedly) a City of Pocatello council person inquired about the funding for the Pocatello Arts Council.  It sounded very much like she was ‘fishing’ for ways to appropriate some of that funding for local government use, not unusual for a city council that has a history of non-transparent, and even non-existent, financial record keeping.  There is one major problem; the Pocatello Arts Council is not a government operation, it is a non-governmental organization (NGO) created and funded totally by donations!

For Summer 2022, the Pocatello Arts Council has teamed-up with many other organizations to bring free-to-the-public Shakespeare performances at the Idaho State University (ISU), in Pocatello.

Idaho State University’s The Quad.

On July 21st, Twelfth Night will be performed on The Quad, starting at 18:30 (6:30PM). Then King Lear makes an appearance on July 23rd, same location.  Food trucks will be staged, but they are not free, bring money or bring your own food.

On this map The Quad is the area marked as #9.

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes conduct sunrise prayer on ISU’s Quad.

For those wanting more academic information about some guy named Shakespeare, on the 20th of July there is a free lecture (with live sample performances) at the Marshall Public Library, in the Old Town part of Pocatello.

The lecture is held before the theatrical plays take place so you’ll get a better understanding of the mind-set of The Bard.

In October 1991, the Pocatello Arts Council was created by a generous grant from an individual.  The council members are not paid a dime, they are volunteering their own time and efforts.  While Pocatello Arts Council is a non-taxpayer funded NGO, they do serve as an ‘advisory council’ to the Mayor of Pocatello.

Pocatello Arts Council also offers very small grants to local people feeling creative, there are deadlines, apply here.

Scandals involving Pocatello & Chubbuck:

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, July 2019.

Bridge to Nowhere, and a list of other local taxpayer rip-offs

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? No jobs for one & a half million U.S. College Graduates!

I thought that me having a biology degree was a gold ticket for me getting into places, but every other job wants you to have previous history in the field. Everyone is always telling you, ‘Go to college’. But when you graduate, it’s kind of an empty cliff.”-Kelman Edwards Jr,  recent college graduate

A report by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, says 53.6% of college graduates with bachelor’s degree, and under the age of 25, are unemployed or grossly underemployed.

To give you a better idea of the size of the problem, 53.6% is about 1.5 million graduates!

The report was done on behalf of the Associated Press, and used official U.S. government data.

“Simply put, we’re failing kids coming out of college. We’re going to need a lot better job growth and connections to the labor market, otherwise college debt will grow.”-Andrew Sum, Center for Labor Market Studies

Here are college degrees to stay away from: Zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities.

The degrees with the best employment chances are nursing, teaching, accounting or computer science.

Some advise from a college professor: “If you’re not sure what you’re going to be doing, it probably bodes well to take some job, if you can get one, and get a sense first of what you want from college.”-Richard Freeman, Harvard economist

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

Class Warfare: Elitist Canada to increase the cost of college, again! This time by 75%! University is a “privilege”?

Provinces across Canada have been increasing the cost of college, just as their neighbors to the south (U.S.A.) are doing.

Currently the cheapest place for Canadians to go to college/university is Quebec. As of March 2012, the average yearly cost for attending college in Quebec is $2,519 CAD ($2,539.91 USD).  But provincial officials want a 75% increase over the next five years!

One student pointed out that college students in Quebec have less debt than other Canadians, and implied that forcing young Canadians into debt was the intent:  “Tuition fees are lower in Quebec than the rest of Canada, but so is the student debt, which is a good impact of low tuition fees.”-Hugo Bonin, attending Concordia

Many people are torn over whether college should be made more expensive, or free.  Many with an elitist attitude say it is a “privilege” not a “right”.  Well in actuality it’s neither!  If our business leaders, and government leaders, are constantly harping about the lack of “skilled” employees, and they are constantly pushing grade school students to “Go On” (higher education campaign slogan used by the state government of Idaho, U.S.A.) so that we can be more competitive in the global economy, then it is not a privilege or a right, it is a requirement!

Why should we pay for college (more like getting into massive debt for life) for the benefit of industry and government?  Unless our leaders are lying to us (would they?) it is obvious that higher education is now a requirement, which means if they want qualified workers then they need to pay for the education to create the qualified workers, goddam it!

So how much is the average price of a “privileged” higher education in the rest of Canada?  $5,366 CAD ($5,410.55 USD)!

Idaho, U.S.

It’s official; Idaho State University sucks! Carnegie ranks ISU second to worst in the West!

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity recently released the latest rankings of U.S. colleges and universities.

They include the 2011 rankings by Forbes/CCAP, using the Carnegie Classification (by geographic region).  Idaho State University ranked 111, out of 112!

Portland State, in Oregon, came in dead last.  Who’s number one in the West?  Stanford, in California.

By the way, Boise State didn’t do much better, coming in at 109 out of 112!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

No Economic Recovery for U.S.: China offers U.S. college students free education

“We hope the scholarships will encourage American students to delve into China studies and other subjects in China in earnest.”-Zhang Jin, education exchange program

China’s Ministry of Education is ready to offer full university scholarships to  students from the United States.  The program actually started last year, and was officially announced in April of this year.

China has a plan to attract 500,000 foreign students to its universities by 2020.  The plan also supports U.S. President Obama’s desire to send 100,000 U.S. students to China (so much for Obama’s support of U.S. higher education).

If you want to check out the full scholarship go to www.studyinchina.edu.cn , click on “english” to get the English version of the site.

 

 

Idaho, U.S.

Idaho State University hit with sanctions, major donor says ISU President “inflexible”

“There’s something very sick at that school, and Art Vailas I think is at the core of it. I was shocked when I heard about the potential for a vote of no confidence. I talked to Art several times about it. Art is not a very good listener. He’s very stubborn. He’s inflexible. It is his way or no way because he thinks he’s right. I told him never to call me anymore.”-Jim Rodgers, major Idaho State University donor, and former chancellor of higher education in Nevada

Jim Rodgers is a major donor to ISU, and he’s not happy with what’s been happening there.  The Idaho State Board of Education ended the faculty’s bargaining ability by suspended the Faculty Senate, at the request of President Arthur Vailas.
Vailas, and his administrators, have been busy trashing ISU ever since they arrived a few years ago.  It’s looks like it’s part of a plan by the state to reduce ISU’s ability to provide higher education.
For one thing student tuition and fees have skyrocketed, and classes have been cut.  The reason given is always lack of money, but just a few weeks ago ISU announced they were buying an old factory building that was used to make medical products (aka Ballard Medical building).
The suspension of the Faculty Senate prompted a vote by the American Association of University Professors.  They voted to sanction ISU, the largest university ever to be sanctioned by the AAUP.  The vote was unanimous.
Former ISU Faculty Senate Chair, Phil Cole, says AAUP sanctions should be taken seriously, because they act as a warning to potential employers, and graduate schools, that the education program at ISU is ‘suspect’, and that “there is a fundamental flaw in a university and it could collapse.”

This might be part of the State Board of Education’s plans to end ISU as a four year university (which many of the state employees at ISU believe is the intention).

Business/Economics, Idaho

Idaho Higher Education a Must by 2018. Political Candidates Fail to Help Idaho Students

According to a Georgetown University study, Idaho will see an 61% increase in jobs requiring some level of higher education, by 2018.  Last night, during the Idaho gubernatorial debates, all three candidates, Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter, Keith Allred and Jana Kemp, failed to explain how they would help Idahoans with college.

The candidates seemed to miss the fact that the number one issue with potential college students is cost.

As a non-traditional college graduate (I went to college late in life because it seemed like the only way to progress in the workplace was to get a degree) I can tell you the piddly grants are not enough, you must get student loans.  I also worked part time because the loans did not cover my family’s living expenses.  But who wants to get a loan that will be with you until you die?  I was never told how student loans are exempt from bankruptcy, or about the cases where graduates lost their apartments, and their jobs, because they couldn’t make the full student loan payment.  Why couldn’t they make their payments?  Because the jobs they got with their degrees didn’t pay them enough.  I also learned that it’s only the Federal loans that can be deferred.  I have two private loans and they could care less that I can not make their full monthly payments.  One of them actually sent me fake court documents with a letter that said if I didn’t start paying in full, that the next court documents would be real.

My oldest daughter is currently working full time in Boise, and she attends Boise State University thanks to student loans (even working full time she can’t afford the college expense).  My other two adult kids have decided that if the cost of going to college means getting into lifelong debt, then it’s not worth it.  They are right!  Crap, I could have bought a house with the money I owe for college, and it would have been a better investment!

So what did Otter, Allred and Kemp have to say about the issue of higher education?  Basically they all agreed that it was an issue of concern, because Idaho was going to need more college graduates for its workforce.  Otter and Allred said students should look into going to a community college, if they are worried about cost.

Eastern Idaho Technical College says its part time credit fee is $82.00, full time fee of $884.00.  Idaho State University (my Alma mater) says its current part time fee is $273.00 per credit (much more than what I paid), full time $2,708.00.  That’s a big difference between an eastern Idaho vo-tech and an eastern Idaho university.  Don’t forget those are just the credit fees. There are other fees and book costs, all of which have been going up.  Also, the per credit cost of the vo-tech seems low, but, that is only $60.00 less than what I paid when I started attending ISU.

When it comes to money, potential college students are not dumb.  Why get into debt when the job you get with your degree most likely will not pay you enough to meet living expenses and your student loan payments?  Vo-tech seems the most practical choice, and they usually help you find a job with your degree.  But if your sights are set on a higher degree forget it.

Jana Kemp talked about, basically, an add campaign to raise awareness of the importance of higher education. That is already happening, but it doesn’t address the concerns of students, and their families, about affording college.

Keith Allred mentioned a program where high school students can get college credits by enrolling in courses run by colleges.  That’s true, but, you still have to pay a per credit hour fee, and for some families it’s still unaffordable.

Butch Otter mentioned the expansion of financial aid, but the majority of so called financial aid still comes in the form of loans.

So, once again, the problem is cost. Is it affordable, and can the student avoid a huge debt burden?

Essentially, not one of the candidates said anything about bringing down the actual cost of higher education, or making it easier for students to pay for college without incurring a heavy debt burden, or making sure the jobs that want college graduates will pay enough to cover all expenses.  Even though all three candidates are college and university graduates, it appears they are out of touch with the current reality of getting a higher education.