I am fortunate to have been married to two amazing women.
My late wife created a behavioral medicine program for those with life threatening and life challenging illnesses, bringing hope to thousands. She attributed a large part of her success to her undergraduate major.
My current wife has become the leader of a well-respected organization devoted to good government in every respect with an emphasis on voting rights. She attributes a large part of her success to her undergraduate major.
And what were these majors? Remarkably, the same. Both earned degrees in philosophy.
Philosophy! Many might ask, “What can you do with a degree in philosophy?”
Well, apparently quite a bit, as proven by my wives.
Before seeing how this relates to today’s discussion, I want to turn to the antics of a powerful senator in our state legislature who is known for creating terrible bills and supporting others of equal value. He has turned his unending incompetence to education, submitting a terrible bill.
It deals with a fine program in our state called Bright Futures. This program provides as much as 100% reimbursement for tuition and fees at state universities for talented and hardworking high school graduates. Awarding of such grants is based on GPA, entrance exam scores, and a record of community service. The senator suggested modifying the program in two ways.
The first deals with college credit a student can earn while still in high school. This can be done by taking advanced placement courses and/or entering into dual enrollment with a state institution of higher learning. The bill submitted would evaluate the cost of what those credits would be if earned at a state university, and then deduct that cost from any stipends given the student when reaching college. So if a high school student is bright, works hard, and shows maturity, he or she would be penalized and discouraged from taking more advanced courses in college. How does that make any sense?
But this wasn’t enough for our energetic senator. He also wanted to ensure students enroll in “proper” fields of study. That is, he’d create a list of approved areas. His definition of approved means areas that have a significant likelihood graduates from them will find high paying jobs. Just what does he think education is? The answer, apparently, is it depends only on what are hot employment fields of the moment.
And how would this affect our Bright Future scholars? Well, if one of them dared to enter an unapproved field of study, state support would last for only two years of college instead of four, while the ones selecting appropriate areas would get a full ride.
The senator supported his stand with a personal heartwarming reminiscence. He graduated with degrees in both sociology and psychology which he found useless. Useless? It was only when he attended classes to become an undertaker did his life take on economic viability, which appears to be the only important outcome. Unfortunately, at no point in his education did he acquire wisdom.
I’d be willing to bet Philosophy, the major of both my wives, wouldn’t make his list. After all, who wants people who can think, question, reason, and have the flexibility to adapt to changes in societal needs? Especially if they don’t immediately make a lot of money.
And we haven’t even touched what would happen to our lives if study of the arts was discouraged or made financially impossible even for the brightest and most talented of kids.
I am sorry to say that this bill seemed to have the support of our Republican controlled legislature.
Big surprise.
But then a miracle happened. Students objected. Parents objected. An online petition against the bill gathered 120,000 signatures. The pressure was too much and just two days ago the senator submitted an amendment that dropped the two major parts from the bill that we’ve discussed.
Hopefully, this will end the matter and we’ve had a narrow escape from the latest attack on the true meaning of higher education. It won’t be the last.
My late wife created a behavioral medicine program for those with life threatening and life challenging illnesses, bringing hope to thousands. She attributed a large part of her success to her undergraduate major.
My current wife has become the leader of a well-respected organization devoted to good government in every respect with an emphasis on voting rights. She attributes a large part of her success to her undergraduate major.
And what were these majors? Remarkably, the same. Both earned degrees in philosophy.
Philosophy! Many might ask, “What can you do with a degree in philosophy?”
Well, apparently quite a bit, as proven by my wives.
Before seeing how this relates to today’s discussion, I want to turn to the antics of a powerful senator in our state legislature who is known for creating terrible bills and supporting others of equal value. He has turned his unending incompetence to education, submitting a terrible bill.
It deals with a fine program in our state called Bright Futures. This program provides as much as 100% reimbursement for tuition and fees at state universities for talented and hardworking high school graduates. Awarding of such grants is based on GPA, entrance exam scores, and a record of community service. The senator suggested modifying the program in two ways.
The first deals with college credit a student can earn while still in high school. This can be done by taking advanced placement courses and/or entering into dual enrollment with a state institution of higher learning. The bill submitted would evaluate the cost of what those credits would be if earned at a state university, and then deduct that cost from any stipends given the student when reaching college. So if a high school student is bright, works hard, and shows maturity, he or she would be penalized and discouraged from taking more advanced courses in college. How does that make any sense?
But this wasn’t enough for our energetic senator. He also wanted to ensure students enroll in “proper” fields of study. That is, he’d create a list of approved areas. His definition of approved means areas that have a significant likelihood graduates from them will find high paying jobs. Just what does he think education is? The answer, apparently, is it depends only on what are hot employment fields of the moment.
And how would this affect our Bright Future scholars? Well, if one of them dared to enter an unapproved field of study, state support would last for only two years of college instead of four, while the ones selecting appropriate areas would get a full ride.
The senator supported his stand with a personal heartwarming reminiscence. He graduated with degrees in both sociology and psychology which he found useless. Useless? It was only when he attended classes to become an undertaker did his life take on economic viability, which appears to be the only important outcome. Unfortunately, at no point in his education did he acquire wisdom.
I’d be willing to bet Philosophy, the major of both my wives, wouldn’t make his list. After all, who wants people who can think, question, reason, and have the flexibility to adapt to changes in societal needs? Especially if they don’t immediately make a lot of money.
And we haven’t even touched what would happen to our lives if study of the arts was discouraged or made financially impossible even for the brightest and most talented of kids.
I am sorry to say that this bill seemed to have the support of our Republican controlled legislature.
Big surprise.
But then a miracle happened. Students objected. Parents objected. An online petition against the bill gathered 120,000 signatures. The pressure was too much and just two days ago the senator submitted an amendment that dropped the two major parts from the bill that we’ve discussed.
Hopefully, this will end the matter and we’ve had a narrow escape from the latest attack on the true meaning of higher education. It won’t be the last.
RSS Feed