Jean's Blogging Now

In every facet of life, there appears to be a need to qualify how we are doing. Sometimes the method of measuring one's success has to do with how much money you make. In another case, it might be how big your house is or where it is located. Somewhere in the social scheme of things, we have established this unwritten code of how to measure the value of where you are in the social strata of life. Money, power, sex appeal, material possessions, and political clout all add to your value rating. The higher your rating, the higher your ability to leaverage that into other areas as well.

And so it goes with academic systems, too. We perform for the highest rating we can achieve. The whole concept of assigning grades gets complicated however. What are the standards for determining success in a class and who sets those standards? Is there a governing board that oversees that said standards are being adhered to and when do you make concessions for the multitude of "special cases" that come up often over the course of a semester? Unfortunately, the standards for measuring what constitutes an A versus a C seem to be somewhat subjective, depending on the instructor, time of day, whine factor of the student, and numerous other variables, which also seem to be a constantly changing factor. What is sad about this whole system is that there are really good students who deserve really high grades, based on the time, energy, and commitment that they have put into a class. One example I can testify to is an instructor who refuses to give out an A in his class, because he feels that no one deserves an A. The highest grade he will give is a B+. How fair is this to the student that goes above and beyond what is "normally" expected in a class, in terms of work level, skill level, or even talent! On the other end of the spectrum is the instructor who is so lax in their grading appraisal that almost anyone with a pulse will get an A. Either way, the extent to which grades are used to determine job placement or entry into graduate school can become critical. Therefore, I think we need to review and refine the way that grading systems are established and monitored. Personally, I don't want to be given a grade if I haven't worked for it. I value a system that realistically and critically evaluates my work and allows me to grow. That doesn't mean I don't want the A. I just don't want it handed to me. For the most part, I think instructors do a fair job of assessing student's work and evaluating it based on "equal" criteria within a class. Maybe the problem lies with determining a person's worth in life based on whether they are an A person or a C person? Hmmmmmmm...

OK! I know we are in the middle of a huge budget crisis! I know that we all need to be thinking about ways to cut back and save money! I know that the price of gas was 2.19 this morning on my way to work! The University (specifically the California State University system), which is comprised of 23 campuses up and down the state, has taken a huge hit this year in budget cutbacks. Our campus has recently notified several permanent employees that they will be losing their jobs on July 1 and all temporary employees, as well, are being let go as of that date. Our students are being asked to pay higher fees this Fall. Our faculty are being asked to accommodate more students in their classes because all the lecturers and non-tenured faculty will be let go. And, classes are being cut because there is going to be no one to teach them. Facilities and grounds people are being cut, meaning our trash won't be emptied as regularly and maintenance tasks will be on a priority basis. Everywhere you see people's lives being affected--except the top! On this campus, we have 14 administrative positions (Assistant Vice Presidents or higher) while on campuses of equal populations, they have as little as 7, presumedly doing the same work. They are not being asked to cut their salaries. They are not being laid off. They might experience some inconvenience when they yell to their administrative assistant to make a phone call and find no one there?!

Just doing some simple math, let's assume that you need to cut $100,000 from your budget. You have the option of letting go 3 employees who make approximately $33,000 a year or one administrator who makes around $100,000. While this is a very simplistic way to look at the problem, it would seem to me that 3 people doing 8 hours of work a day (especially when those positions have direct contact with students and student support services) are ultimately more valuable than one administrator who manages other people. Here's a dumb question--if you remove the 3 employees from the bottom of the rung, who does the administrator manage? Also, let's say that the administrator is given the option of taking a 10% cut in salary--that amounts to $10,000. Multiply that by 14 and you have $140,000. Take each of the 3 lower salary employees and ask them to take a 10% cut in pay and they will be taking home $30,000. I'm not living at the $100,000 level at this point in my life. But I can guarantee you that living on $90,000 a year is going to be a lot easier than living on $30,000 a year (especially in the State of California).

Do I value administrators and what they do? You bet! Are there really good administrators that work hard for the University? Yes! I admire and respect their position--it is a tough job that requires dedication, a passion for education, an ability to effectively handle a diversity of people, and administrators have worked hard to attain their high ranking position. My point is--in any given crisis, it is only fair that sacrifices need to be equally distributed among the population of any organization.

Today, on FACNET (yes, that poor, abused public forum) was an interesting link to a New York Times article regarding admissions statistics at colleges and universities. More and more students getting into college, it would seem, are from upper middle-class and above levels. As the article point out, this kind of serves to support "social advantage instead of serving as an engine of mobility" for many hopeful college-bound students. The whole idea of going to college and seeking higher levels of learning has traditionally been to increase your chances for success and prosperity in a lifetime. Certainly, many people from lower to lower-middle classes want their children to have a better way of life than they have had and one way to do that is to educate their children. If students do well in high school, it is my belief that no matter what their economic status, they should have equal access to higher education. The cost of education keeps going up which prevents many lower class students from applying. Colleges have to have money to keep their programs going, fueling their ability to offer research opportunities, and keep pace with the growing demand for better educated students in the competitive world market. So, you have a catch 22 in that colleges want to offer equal opportunitites for economically disadvantaged students, at the same time have the financial resources possible to grow their programs. To my way of thinking, the bottom line should be that colleges and universities turn out the best educated individuals they can, be they from lower or upper class stations in life.

The recent slate of shows airing on television that deal with reality-based ideas and extreme makeovers is making me ill! I've always considered myself to be somewhat of a perfectionist--I have precise cleaning methods, my desk is neatly organized so as to waste the least amount of time searching for things, my yard has to be mowed, edged, swept, and hosed off so that it looks neat and trim, my laundry has to be done in such a way to reduce fading and wrinkling, my morning routine of shower, makeup, and hair is calculated on the best use of my time to make me look my best, and so on, and so on. However, I've learned to accept that things are not always the way I want. I have learned to improvise at times. But, it seems that we have entered a period in our evolution that goes beyond simple to perfectionism defined extraordinaire! The current rage is to have perfectly straight, white teeth (excuse me, brilliantly white teeth); thick, silky, luxuriously healthy and shiny hair (no split ends, please); a stomach flatter than a pancake and harder than rock (for men, you have to incorporate a six-pack into your body package or you're dead); cellulite-free thighs, arms with definition, no double chins, perfect vision (in the eye color of your choice), nails that are all the same length and fashionably manicured, feet that are soft as a baby's bottom, and for women, a large set of breasts that round-out any neckline and make juicy, ripe melons pale in comparison! Sheeeeeezzzzzz.... It is no longer accepted that we grow old gracefully. Lines, wrinkles, and gray hair are a thing of the past! Shows like Extreme Makeover are promoting this perfectionistic idea with enthusiastic success. More and more people want to get onboard and have something fixed, tucked, liposucked, enhanced, reduced, straightened, flattened, or de-haired. Now I'm not opposed to looking our best, and in the case of someone with a serious defect, the incredible advances made in the plastic surgery industry are phenomenal. How perfect is perfect though? Does everything have to be exactly right? Whatever happened to the notion that looking slightly quirky was somehow exotic and alluring?

Earlier this week, my officemate and I were discussing a variety of issues (it was quiet in the office with no classes or students around). Somehow the topic of engagement rings came up and it was then I learned that he plans to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000-$7,000 on the engagement ring he plans to give to his girlfriend. My jaw dropped! "Is this a normal price range?" I gasped. I queried several other male co-workers and found that they had spent anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 on engagement rings for their now spouses. I did a quick search on the net to get an idea of what a ring this price would look like. I have been enlightened! Obviously, the quality, size, type of material (gold, platinum, silver), cut, grade, and place you buy a ring all influence the cost. I'm not sure if I'd buy a ring from an online jewelry site. It might be wiser and safer to deal with a reputable jeweler in your neighborhood.

In any case, I wonder if an engagement ring has to be so expensive and expansive to begin with. As a reference point here, let me say that I was married in 1976. Our idea, at that time, was to purchase a really pretty engagement/wedding band combination that I believe cost $200! We lived in a travel trailer and owned two bean bag chairs, a small 13" TV, a composite board table with two folding chairs, and our bed. We did own a brand new 3/4 ton Chevy pickup that had the capacity to tow our trailer from place to place. We had great dreams of owning a big house with land someday, and raising our kids on a farm. The plan was to upgrade the engagement/wedding ring to something bigger and better after we had been married ten or fifteen years. My point is, we started with little, had lots of dreams and goals, and made many of them happen over the next 25 years. We also ended in divorce.

If young people today have to start off with $5,000 engagement rings, weddings in excess of $10-20,000, new houses to move into right after they come home from their two-week Hawaiian vacations, drive to their respective jobs in brand new SUVs, and spend weekends shopping for new furniture and appliances, where do they go from there? What are the dreams and goals if you have pretty much everything when you begin the journey? I'm not opposed to anyone having material possessions and living a comfortable life--I want that for my own children. But I wonder--have we moved so far in our evolution that learning to patiently work toward things is an obsolete idea? With so many marriages ending in divorce, and the court system so taxed trying to sort out everyone's possessions, wouldn't it be simpler to start small, give your relationship a chance to grow and develop, learn to play and laugh and plan together, then upgrade your lifestyle as a matter of time and maturity? Maybe I'm showing my age. Certainly, there are many things I'd like to have--I'm just as materialistic as the next person. I just believe we need to be paying attention to things like our suffering environment, our children's violent world and how to correct that pattern, where we are going to be growing food in the future when all the rich farm lands are covered with tract homes, and the ultimate price we'll pay when we discover that all this "stuff" doesn't make us as happy as we thought we'd be.

I guess we are lucky there's always prozac (see my blog on psychiatric drugs) and a wide open legal system to handle the many facets of human suffering (see my blog on pet custody).

While listening to the TV last night, I heard a story that grabbed my attention and frankly, made me wonder if this world isn't going completely nuts! We all know that divorce is at a record high with 1 in 2 marriages ending in splitsville. The pain, hurt, and humiliation of a failed relationship is further complicated by money issues--how to divide up property, deciding what the child custody arrangements will be, and now, as critical as anything else, pet custody issues!?! At first I was just going to comment on this while rolling my eyes and with a negative click of my tongue figure the whole thing was too ridiculous to pursue in any great detail. But to my surprise, there is an amazing amount of information available on this subject!

A quick search of the net turned up 6,130 sites dealing with this issue...HOLY COW! (My apologies to any cow parents out there!) Glancing at one of the pet custody articles that were listed, I was educated on the new niche-market being created for pet owners and their custody battles. On websites such as this you can even download forms for visitation and pre-nuptial agreements!! Come on! I'm sorry, but can't we find more important things to argue and fight about! Do we really need to tie up the court system and spend this kind of money on Fido and Fifi??!! I'd love to hear your comments on this one...

Ellen is a 40ish woman with two teenage children. She works hard as a bookkeeper for a small company and maintains a second job to make ends meet. She is constantly tired, lonely, and frustrated by money issues. Her husband of 23 years left her two years ago with his secretary and they now live in Hawaii, surfing every chance they get.

Scenario #2

Elizabeth is a young co-ed in her early twenties at a prestigious ivy league school in the East. She maintains a 3.8 GPA studying to be a doctor, works part-time at a retail outlet, has a steady boyfriend who is gorgeous and ready to begin law school in the fall, and is actively involved in several community service organizations. She has a difficult relationship with her mother, who is overbearing and never satisfied with Elizabeth's accomplishments.

Scenario #3

Tom is a recovering alcoholic who works in construction. He puts in 12-14 hour days, working in very physical conditions, leaving him drained at the end of the day. He enjoys going home, reading the paper, and falling asleep in front of the TV at night. His divorce was final 6 weeks ago and his ex-wife has custody of their young 2 year old son, Brandon. He would like to spend more time with his son, but until he can provide proof of his sobriety for 1 year, he must be content with supervised visits every other weekend.

Each one of these individuals has been recommended by their physician to take Prozac. The emergence of psychiatric drugs is at an all time high in the United States. Doctors prescribe brain altering drugs more frequently now than ever before. Many times, they do so without even taking a patient history--its just easier to treat a symptom than to work with the entire body of knowledge that makes up a person's medical background. However, I think we are getting too complacent with taking drugs for any problem. Even antibiotics, which were once the miracle child of the pharmaceutical world, have been overdone to the point of being ineffective (the bacteria have learned to adapt and are unaffected by the drug). There are serious side effects to some of these "perfect" drugs! (While I admit that the links I have referred to in this blog are on opposite sides of the spectrum, it is worth noting that for every drug that is vigorously marketed by a profit-margin-hungry pharmaceutical company, there is an equal force of negative information available on these drugs that we are seldom given access to in the same way!)

Unfortunately, many people are looking for something that gives them relief from life's pains. We are no longer willing to take time to get over broken hearts, busted relationships, money disasters, or addictions. We want crutches, easy fixes, fast remedies, and pain free cures. When it comes to the head and heart, life is not a simple process of taking a pill and suddenly rainbows appear. It takes time. You have to find support systems--family, friends, support groups (like AA), or even internet groups to talk to. You have to take time to listen to your own heart (which can be the most difficult process). You need to get busy--exercise, eat right, drink water, keep a journal. You need to heal. Healing takes time. It hurts. It is not a fast process. I'm not saying that taking an antidepressant isn't a worthy option, and certainly for some cases, maybe it is the best option, but I seriously think we need to take a look at how we deal with life's stresses.