Government-ruined, theft-funded schools (non-education) (3 stories)
The Case for a Three Year College Degree
(The American)  Reducing the time it takes for a student to complete college could add trillions of dollars in wealth to the U.S. economy…

Nathan: I take this with a BIG grain of salt: but then, I have a college degree in a technical field (engineering) in which there is still such things as TRUTH and FACTS and where truth is NOT in the eye of the beholder.  It took me six years to get 159 semester hours, of which only 12 were “humanities” (English and Literature and Technical Writing) and only 8 were “physical education” (which included marching band, by the way).  But the six years included working full-time the last three years to support myself and pay for my education: my parents did not pay for my college.  But seeing the waste of educational time, the “pastimes” of the students of many schools, and the high quality <sic> of the courses, is even three years too long?  Think about it:  supposedly a BS degree requires 80-100 semester hours.  15 hours/semester is not (in my opinion) unreasonable for a heavy tech-schedule (math, science, and engineering courses):  45-60 hours per week class and study time.  Summer sessions should be at least 2/3 that, or 10 hours.  So in three years (with two summers) that is 110 semester hours.  For a good many people, testing out of 10-15 semester hours of basic classes (algebra belongs in high school, English reading and writing proficiency is only reasonable as a QUALIFIER to get into college) is reasonable, which eliminates one semester.  And frankly, the idea of stretching a course over an 18-week period with 3 hours of class and 9 hours of study per week is inefficient if not stupid.  By spending 54 class hours and 108-120 hours study over 3 weeks, you can get 18-20 semester hours per semester:  That makes 2 years for a BS (much less a BA) possible.  And when you get right down to it, you don’t need four years for “high school,” either.    But there are MORE reasons to reform college, as the next stories explain:

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs
(Wall Street Journal) Demand for college-level occupations — primarily managers, professionals and technical workers — peaked as a share of the workforce in about 2000…

Nathan: And frankly, most managers – especially those in government “management” positions – don’t really need a college degree except to get hired.  And many technical workers need (even by current standards) two years or less:  as I argue above, a LOT less than 2 years if done right.  I can train a surveyor in about eight weeks: 64 hours or so, including class time and field time.  that amounts to about 3.5 semester hours.  That is not enough to get licensed, but enough to get a decent-paying job ($20-$25/hour) IF there are any jobs to be had.  Even at today’s VASTLY INFLATED tuition rates, that is better than 4 years and a debt of $40-$50K.  But why is college so expensive?  Look at the next article:

Higher Education Needs Reform
(Reason Magazine) The number of college instructors who teach four hours or less per week has doubled since 2000…

Nathan: Once upon a time, college instructors TAUGHT classes – they averaged 20-25 hours a week IN CLASSROOMS and spent the rest of the time preparing for their classes and grading papers and tests and sometimes were advising students.  There was a word in those days for instructors who only taught four or six hours – actually two words:  “part-time” (adjunct was the fancy name) and “Retired.”  Now they write pretty papers and do “research” (like in the next story) and play politics.  Why support more parasites?  Get a real education.

Theft by government
Feds Spending $880,000 to Study Benefits of Snail Sex
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Imagine, 30 or so people could have a decent living doing something useful, like repairing roads or tearing down unused government buildings, or spray-painting graffiti off walls, and we’d never have to have bad dreams about snail-sex.

Mama’s Note: Oh, my stars. I just had to read the article… Nope, not an April fool joke, unfortunately.

Home Front – Stupid people tricks
CDC: 110,197,000 Venereal Infections in U.S.; Nation Creating New STIs Faster Than New Jobs or College Grads
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Perhaps THIS is why the study on snail sex is so important:  maybe the diseases can’t be transmitted from snail to human or human to snail?  Once more, of course, we see how seriously damaged higher education is by government actions, direct and indirect.

Mama’s Note: Well, let’s see… if we could get the politicians and bureaucrats to mate only with the snails… No, wait… probably should include anyone who wants to control the lives of others. Hmmm, might not be enough snails available. But it would be a self limiting problem pretty quickly, I think. The species are not biologically compatible. Zero offspring!