[Rhodes22-list] Free Education

[General Boats]

I think you are on to something: "easy in - hard out".  As you may have guessed
from my view of the world, I came from a poor family.  If I had not been allowed
to go to a midwestern engineering school and eastern graduate business school
100% free, your boat would have given you even more trouble than it does now. Of
course, I would have given you less trouble. In fact, I think the dumbing down
of America is intentional - it muzzles we trouble makers.  But it is killing us.
small manufacturers.  We are down to a few employees and I had to go to Bulgaria
to get the best of these. Yet there is not a day that goes by that some poor
soul, out of work for months, knocks on our door for a job - but doesn't know
how many eighths of an inch are in an inch and is forced to keep knocking on
other doors and leave us understaffed.  .

stan/gbi

PS:  Re Cuba.  If your facts are correct, intuitively I say that in the long run
it could  make them a power house; but we will stop that by hiring them under an
H1B program.  (In fact I spoke to a young Cuban on the phone and almost got him
to come here under the green card lottery he had won.  Unfortunately I lost out
to another business.)

> As our illustrious former Gov. Jesse Ventura said after cutting millions
> from the Univ. of MN spurring an immediate tuition hike, "If you're smart
> enough to get into college, you should be able to figure out how to pay for
> it."
>
> Although it was yet another example of his shoot-from-the-hip comments, I
> think there's a little wisdom there.  Maybe just a little.  But if a college
> education was a free and easy thing, wouldn't that make any advanced degree
> more common and less distinguishing?  Further, in order to make their
> programs look like they're working, there would be a big push to get
> everybody graduated--so they'd have to dumb down the programs to achieve
> this.  Instead of "No child left behind" it would be "No dorm-squatting,
> reefer-blowing coed left behind."  [grin]
>
> Show me the money!  We have enough trouble funding K-12.  But I'm in favor
> of finding ways to make college more available to more people.  Bush is now
> at loggerheads within his own cabinet on Affirmative Action.
> Quotas...whatever!  Let them in.  Let everybody in.  Even ere on the side of
> letting anybody in.  But Don't lower the bar to get out!!!!  Not even the
> first class.  Calculus 101 isn't supposed to be easy.
>
> But for the good students, we need to find more creative ways of helping
> them get through.  For you parents out there who are putting your kids
> through college, OWCH!  I feel your pain.  Tuition is outrageous.  Bring
> back the GI Bill.  What do you say we make a new tax (gasp!) on companies
> that require a college degree for employment?  That money goes to the
> colleges and universities (but not Bob Jones University) and offsets the
> tuition. We could call it the dorm-squatting, reefer-blowing tax.
>
> Last thought: Cuba has one of, if not the highest literacy rate in the
> world.  And almost everybody goes to college.  Has that helped Cubans or
> Cuba herself?  I'd like hearing from any of you who know more about higher
> ed in Cuba.
>
> Slim
>
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