Wed AM

Sometimes I just wonder......

The incumbents for regents, governors, trustees at the major Michigan universities all seem to be running on the issue of tuition, namely that they opposed tuition increases, opposed passing off higher costs to students in the form of higher tuition.  Doesn't that seem just a bit disingenuous?  After all, if these guys are the ultimate decision-makers (and tuition seems to me to be a pretty important decision!), how do the continuous increases keep happening?

The president of U of M makes upwards of $750,000!  C'mon......  I know presidents are mostly there for fund-raising and must be good at it to get money.  Still......  Three-quarters of a million dollars?  And there was an article the other day where U of M is spending $85 million to enact some diversity program on campus, complete with hiring a "diversity officer" to the tune of $385,000.  Gee, I wonder why tuition increases?

And, speaking of U of M, I almost lol'd out loud when reading about students there who have been "misgendered."  Huh?  I guess the school is allowing students to make up pronouns to fit themselves.  Two of the pronouns are "ze" and "zir."  I think I'll make up one for me, "Grrrrrr."

The fall colors seem to be a bit late this year.  I guess that's due to the hot summer and warm fall.  But the leaves have changed.  At first, they seemed muted to me.  Now, though, the full colors are displayed.  The ride up to class is just beautiful!

Gasoline prices are way down, but didn't you just know it......  There is some pipeline problem down South and "experts" are predicting a spike in prices.  Yep.

Sometimes I wonder who reads this blog.  A short while after writing something, I read an op-ed or an editorial in a newspaper or even online that reflects what I've written earlier.  Hmmm......

I'm just about through grading mid-term exams.  As usual, I am heartened by the really good scores of some students.  They have really done well.  At the same time, I am deflated by the terrible tests written by others.  It's as if I have to ask, "Were all of you students in the same class, doing the same reading, having the same assignments?"  Talking with one of my colleagues yesterday, I noted that there seems to be a strong correlation between doing the homework essays and good test scores.  (Yes, I'm being just a bit facetious.)  He chuckled and added, "Coming to class and on time is also a pretty good indicator [of good test scores]."  I noted to Karen the other day that, in collecting essays for one of my classes, six were handed in; maybe five others were e-mailed to me.  So that's eleven (Yes, I used my calculator!) with a class size maximum of 30.  I have noted to a couple of my buddies that, back when I was at Amherst, I would never have dreamed of not turning in a paper, regardless of its quality.  Nope, I wouldn't have dared to not complete an essay.  (And we had a ton of them!)  A piece critical of US higher education a few weeks ago claimed that college graduates know almost as little when they get their degrees as when they first started classes.  Maybe that's so; I don't know.  But I guess a logical question would be, "How do they then get degrees?"