Interesing article. I actually found it wrll written and reasonably balanced. This was a news feed article, but considerably bettrer than some I see in SLT or DN.
That website is made up entirely of reporters who either were laid off by the two, or who freelance there.
As for the bill, it’s typical Utah. We know what’s best for you, trust us.
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As an Economics graduate, I’ll assume Greg agrees we need far, far fewer Econ graduates.
Need to make that degree a lot more exclusive, make understanding the economy and related human institutions like politics a far more exclusive club… for investment and social control reasons, ostensibly to “help” students find majors with more immediate prospects, like AI prompt engineering (which won’t be a thing in a few years).
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It will be that in the long run, but in the long run we will all be dead.
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The problem is far less about University Majors than about how utterly unprepared most K-12 students have become to pursue any academic degree.
We’ve effectively lobotomized our kids with social media and no child left behind testing while reducing K-12 teachers to overwhelmed, just teach the test babysitters. All while sucking funds from public education to private businesses.
Universities have their issues but it’s a response to the failure all around it. Do we need plumbers? Certainly. But we are falling behind on every area except social influencing and that’s not on the Universities.
What happens to a country that stops nurturing thinkers, writers, artists, and historians?
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Not really a response just me howling in frustration. Utah legislators do that to me.
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POTD!
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Yup…some of the worst human-being are in charge.
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:gestures around vaguely at everything:
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And this needs to stop. But of course the Utah legislature is looking at putting even more public money into private schools.
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It’s tragic that so many people who are probably smart, sort of, in a way, cannot see the lifelong value of a liberal arts education.
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Back when I was at the U, I was close to a professor named R. J. Snow, who was also vice president for university relations. He taught a small honors program seminar where one day, we discussed educational choices. I’ll never forget what he told me: When you’re picking a major and a course of study, certainly you need to think about what you want to do with your life, but it’s more important to think about who you want to be.
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The legislature has answered for you. Be a plumber.
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Maybe this isn’t the location for my question, but maybe it is. Isn’t your question more a question of culture than anything? I say that in part, growing up in Utah, knowledge was valued, across the board. At least it seemed that way to me. It wasn’t so much “education” as opposed to knowledge. Where we live now in NC, neither education nor knowledge are valued.
You, earlier in this thread, mentioned how unprepared students are for post-HS education. We experience that daily here in this part of NC. Folks cannot even to simple math to give change without relying on the register or a calculator to tell them. While, Mrs CCU and I are not direct consumers of K-12 education, we are end consumers of it (via those who work in stores, and businesses that we frequent), and we find basics lacking.
So, where does family and or culture come in and create value for knowledge and education. Obviously they’re not always the same thing. We all know educated morons, and brilliant folks with not much formal education at or beyond HS.
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It’s funny how most “local” newspapers and news outlets simply regurgitate AP articles or rewrite stuff from online or television news feeds. The Sinclair group has been particularly effective in placing conservative value highlights or special features throughout many states but they appears to be local cuz it’s read by “local” reporters.
My old town had real cub reporters who learned by start, writing obits etc… Eventually, over time and through merit based advancement, became established reporters who became senor editors or moved on to larger papers.
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Well, when one major newspaper is a non profit that tends to try and report from one side, and the other is owned by a church and is actively trying to become less news and more church news……
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RJ was an excellent professor. He challenged me intellectually and made me think.
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Lol. Funny you should mention that, I’ve had lots of dealings with plumbers over the last couple of years and many of them are among the smartest, most cultured people I’ve ever met. These guys have a lucrative trade, and they spend their spare time reading books, writing articles, painting, and managing all the money they’re making. It’s been eye-opening.
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I’m not sure if my comment is being taken as a criticism of plumbers? My father was an electrician.
But I don’t think the idiots and demagogues in the legislature should be deciding what people should and should not study or pursue as a career.
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Nope. I was thinking about society’s view of plumbers, welders, house framers, and farmers. I’m surrounded by such people where I live now and I feel lucky.
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