Thursday, May 29, 2014

If I were 22


If I were 22

#IfIWere22

If I could go back and give myself advice, I would let myself know that “you are not invincible” and to always have a plan just in case. At the same time, I would advise myself to take chances on certain things that were outside my comfort zone because life needs risk from time to time.

Am I where I want to be? I think the answer is I am where I should be, because what we want and what we need are often very different things

Advice I would give those entering the workforce today is to remember that the basics never go away, no matter what the new technology says. Learn the basics things well so you can use all this new technology the way it “should be used” versus the way it is being used. If you want to know what the basics are, just remember the lessons our parents taught us: make real friends and be a real friend, be polite, be kind, be considerate, and think for yourself.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Sharing some articles May 28 2014




I read a few good insightful articles today, so I thought I would share three of them.


“Who Are You Calling Underprivileged?”


“The first mailing I received was a brochure that featured a photograph of African-American, Asian, and Latino teens standing around in a cluster, their faces full of laughter and joy. The title of the brochure was "Help for Underprivileged Students." At first I was confused: "Underprivileged" was not a word that I associated with myself. But there was the handout, with my name printed boldly on the surface.”


“What does "underprivileged" actually mean? According to most dictionaries, the word refers to a person who does not enjoy the same standard of living or rights as a majority of people in a society. I don’t fit that definition. Even though my family does not have a lot of money, we have always had enough to get by, and I have received an excellent education.”


“What angered me most about the label was why colleges would ever use such a term. Who wants to be called underprivileged? I’m sure that even those who have had no opportunities would not want their social status rubbed in their faces so blatantly. People should be referred to as underprivileged only if they’re the ones who are calling themselves that.”




“#NotAllMen, but #YesAllWomen: Campus Tragedy Spurs Debate on Sexual Violence”


“The shooting rampage on Friday near the University of California at Santa Barbara, apparently motivated by the gunman’s anger at having been rejected by women, has sparked a broader discussion of violence against women on campuses and beyond. College students and young alumni raised their voices over the weekend on Twitter, responding to the hashtag #NotAllMen with the label #YesAllWomen.”


“"Because college campuses tell women, ‘Don’t walk home alone at night,’ when they should tell men, ‘Keep your hands to yourself,’ #YesAllWomen," one person wrote. "The fact that my college campus has a parking lot known as ‘rape lot.’ #YesAllWomen," said another.”




“Accreditor Tells Pelosi It Can’t Extend Deadline on City College of San Francisco”


“The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges on Tuesday told U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi that it could not extend a July 31 deadline to revoke the City College of San Francisco’s accreditation, drawing sharp criticism from Ms. Pelosi and two other Democrats in Congress, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.”


“On Tuesday the commission released a letter to Ms. Pelosi responding to the Education Department official’s message, as well as a public statement explaining why it believed it could not extend the deadline on the college’s accreditation. The college has a temporary reprieve from the deadline pending the outcome of a trial, which is set to begin in October.


Enjoy the articles because they are all interesting and the subjects are relevant.


Dr Flavius A B Akerele III


The ETeam

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Sharing a couple of articles May 27 2014

I thought these two articles were worth sharing, and I think they speak for themselves…
“Bible College’s President Faces Forced-Labor Charges”
“Reginald Miller, president of Cathedral Bible College, in Marion, S.C., was arrested on Thursday in connection with allegations that he forced foreign students to work for low wages and threatened to revoke their visas if they did not comply, The Sun News reported.”
“Investigators filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Miller stating that they have probable cause to charge him with forced labor, a felony that carries with it a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count. They said he had misrepresented the college to foreign applicants. The college did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.”
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/bible-colleges-president-faces-forced-labor-charges/78399?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Exploiting foreign students gives every college a bad name.
 
“A survivor speaks out”
“In October 2012, when I was a 17-year-old first-year student, I was raped at Williams College by a 21-year-old freshman hockey player. I reported the assault to the dean’s office, and an investigative panel was appointed. The panel found the perpetrator guilty of sexual assault, suspending him from Williams for three semesters. My rapist appealed the finding, and the second trial once again found him guilty of sexual assault. At the end of the three-month ordeal, my attacker was suspended for three semesters from Williams. At the time, neither my parents nor I focused on his being suspended rather than expelled; it never occurred to us that the suspension was merely administrative and that Williams would readmit a known sexual assailant. By coming forward and sharing my story, my intentions are to encourage the College to take the adequate measures to prevent another student from being put in the position that I was: victimized, threatened and overwhelmingly isolated.”
When will colleges learn what their priorities should be?

Feel free to chime in.
Dr Flavius A B Akerele III
The ETeam


Friday, May 23, 2014

Sharing an article about teacher reviews May 23 2014


In this day an age of interne popularity contests, online reviews, and rate-my-professors, I thought I would share this article today.

“Rating or Defaming?”

“Many professors dislike instructor review websites, saying they attract disgruntled students in particular and thus offer a skewed – but very public – account of their teaching abilities. Others say students aren’t always the best judges of teaching ability, and that they tend to rate easier courses and professors more highly than meaningful but challenging ones. But most professors now see being rated on the Internet – good or bad – as an inevitable part of the job.”

“Sally Vogl-Bauer, a tenured professor of communications at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, doesn’t dispute that students retain the right to exchange opinions about professors online. But in a civil suit filed in a Wisconsin circuit court, she says that a former student’s extensive online commentary about her teaching amounts to defamation -- not protected speech. She says the student, after being dismissed from the university, “engaged in an intentional, malicious and unprivileged campaign” throughout 2013 to besmirch her reputation. She says it resulted in “substantial economic, reputational and emotional injuries,” and she’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages.”

“The case raises questions about the line between rating and defaming one’s professor, and of what, if any, ethical and legal obligations students have in publicly assessing professors’ performance.”

It does not matter whether you are K12 or Higher Ed because this affects all educators. What are your thoughts?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Thoughts on For-Profits…again


Let me start by sharing this article I read today:

“For-Profits' Fundamental Difference”

“WASHINGTON -- Let's stipulate up front that Bob Shireman is anything but an objective observer of for-profit higher education. For much of President Obama's first term, he made life a living hell for colleges in the sector through his aggressive pursuit of new regulations designed to ensure they were preparing their graduates for "gainful employment."”

“As Shireman explains it, for-profit colleges are fundamentally different from nonprofit ones because their owners -- be they shareholders for publicly traded companies or board members for privately held ones -- reap personal financial gain if the institution grows in size or increases its profits.”

“The personal profit incentive that owners of for-profit colleges have increases the chances, Shireman argues, that the institutions "compromise student and public needs in pursuit of growth and profit." While Shireman notes that "nonprofits have problems, too," -- questionable levels of student learning, rising tuitions and student debt, etc. -- he is not shy in asserting that for-profits perform worse, citing the colleges' higher debt burdens and default rates, among other things.”

“And it is for that reason, he argues, that for-profit colleges need more regulation "to better direct the profit motive toward socially optimal ends."”


Whether you agree with For-Profits or not, they are educating people and giving access to higher education like never before.

Where is this kind of scrutiny in the For-Profit prison industry?

“Private Prisons”

“Over the past four decades, imprisonment in the United States has increased explosively, spurred by criminal laws that put more people in prison for longer sentences. At the same time, the nation has seen the rise of for-profit prison companies, which benefit from keeping more people locked up.”

 

Private prison companies, however, essentially admit that their business model depends on locking up more and more people. For example, in a 2010 Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) stated: “The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by . . . leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices . . . .” As incarceration rates skyrocket, the private prison industry expands at exponential rates, holding ever more people in its prisons and jails, and generating massive profits.” 

 

“And while supporters of private prisons tout the idea that governments can save money through privatization, the evidence that private prisons save taxpayer money is mixed at best – in fact, private prisons may in some instances cost more than governmental ones. Private prisons have also been linked to numerous cases of violence and atrocious conditions.”

 

So where are the hearings, committees, and massive attempts at government oversight here?

What I am saying here is that we have our priorities wrong. Public and private universities should be working together, and perhaps if we fix these existing issues of this sector, people could actually come out of prison with some education.

Thoughts (please be civil and polite)?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Being poor can cost you money


Our justice system is far from perfect, we see this obvious stain from the amount of people we jail everyday; often on offenses that harm no one.

What is worse is we have an obvious two-tiered justice system, where massive numbers of people who end up in jail are there because they could not pay a fine. So they end up with more fines, in jail, costing the taxpayers unnecessary money.

History lesson

“A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. These prisons have been used since ancient times. Through the mid 19th century, debtors' prisons were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe. Though increasing access and lenience throughout the history of bankruptcy law have rendered debtors' prisons irrelevant over most of the world, as of May 2013, they persist in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Greece, and the United States.”

“Supreme Court Ruling Not Enough To Prevent Debtors' Prisons”

“That decision came in a 1983 case called Bearden v. Georgia, which held that a judge must first consider whether the defendant has the ability to pay, but "willfully" refuses.”

“However, the Supreme Court didn't tell courts how to determine what it means to "willfully" not pay. So it's left to judges to make the sometimes difficult calculations.”

An NPR news investigation has found there are wide discrepancies in how judges make those decisions. And everyday, people go to jail because they failed to pay their court debts.”

“"It's not that it's wrong to charge people money as a way to punish them," says Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. "But there have to be alternatives for people who can't pay. And that alternative cannot be: incarceration if you're poor, payment if you're rich."”

“She faults judges for not doing enough to find alternatives to fees for impoverished defendants, such as assigning more community service or even waiving some fines and fees.”

NPR surveyed laws in 50 states and the District of Columbia and found that defendants get charged for a long list of government services that were once free — including ones that are constitutionally required.”

“When people struggle to pay those fees, they have violated probation and can go to jail. The practice is called "pay or stay" — pay the fine or stay in jail.


“Papa was a homeless veteran of the Iraq War, who was living on friends' couches.”

“When he appeared in court the month after his arrest, the judge expected him to pay an installment on the $2,600 he owed in restitution, fines and court fees. The judge wanted $50, but Papa had only brought $25 to court that day.”

Have you ever had a credit card that you were late on paying, and then the credit card company adds more fees than you actually owed on the card? Imagine the credit card debt equates to jail time, and when you get out of jail you get a bill for your time in jail; and by the way you are also unemployed.

My bringing this up is not going solve this problem, but I do hope it brings awareness to the fact that being more in this country can be a crime, both socially and criminally, and that is not justice.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Big player in the industry article May 20 2014


Always good to pay attention to large players in this industry:

“Laureate Looks Forward”

“In the 15 years since its creation, Laureate Education has become one of the biggest global players in higher education. While the privately held for-profit has faced a few regulatory setbacks in recent months, Laureate’s leaders plan to keep growing its international footprint.”

“Douglas Becker, Laureate’s chairman and CEO, conducted a rare, exclusive interview with Inside Higher Ed to reflect on the company’s expansion and what comes next. He also discussed where Laureate fits in debates over accreditation and for-profit education.”


Happy Tuesday

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Monday, May 19, 2014

Labels and their misuse


Conservative:

  • Believing in the value of established and traditional practices in politics and society : relating to or supporting political conservatism
  • marked by moderation or caution <a conservative estimate

Liberal:

  • Believing that government should be active in supporting social and political change : relating to or supporting political liberalism
  • broad-minded; especially :  not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms


“Traditional practice in politics and society” could mean that more than half this country, would not legally be allowed to vote.

“Marked by moderation or caution” ok? What is the big deal, since it is  logical to be cautious sometimes.

“Believing that government should be active in supporting social and political change” think of civil rights, past present, and future. Not always perfect, but sometimes necessary

broad-minded; especially :  not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms” sounds a lot like people wanting freedom to make their own decisions…

I do not see religion or lack of religion in these explanations, I see nothing about views on guns or against guns, I see nothing about culture (we are all human race) in these explanations either.

The way people label themselves and each other to make a point is simply spurring hate, and for the most part the labels are wrong. Calling someone a liberal because they vote a particular party is insane, because we are more complex than that. Proudly declaring yourself a conservative while holding yet you want government to interfere with whom someone marries makes no sense either.

Liberal conservative, conservative liberal, please stop the madness! How about we all remember we are just citizens, and in order to make a better society we need to work together, accept our differences, faults, and find common ground.
FYI, I am not going to debate anyone on this, I am entitled to own opinion as well.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam