August 13

 Really early here--not yet 5a.m. Spent the weekend watching the last of the Olympics, reading and doing needlework. Made good progress on two embroidery pieces including the quilted cross-stitch piece I complained about last time and a pillowcase. I had to switch off a bit because the cross-stitch puts a lot of strain on my fingers getting the needle through between the layers so the stitches won't show on the back. I also started a new crochet piece and had to restart it because the pattern wasn't working out the way it should.

I am not ignoring the news so much as limiting how much I view. Reading various media sites is far more interesting and informative. For instance this piece on CBS concerning a new round of cost-cutting measures at colleges and universities (large and small) which includes not only majors but entire departments. What the article lacks an historical perspective. The cost cutting and closing of smaller/weaker institutions didn't suddenly start this year. I remember forty years ago when the college I attended then cut an award winning and globally respected major in scientific illustration to find money to start a program in molecular biology which would have to compete with a neighboring university's program which included a professor who just won a Nobel Prize. New computer aided design technology was making the scientific illustration program obsolete but sinking money into a new endeavor which tried to duplicate a highly respected program at a nearby institution. I have seen several rounds of program cuts over the years. This one may be more severe but it isn't exactly new.

I also noticed that CBS gave a lot of interesting details but not a lot of analysis of what is driving the woes of higher education. It barely mentions the declining numbers of the traditional audience for the services of colleges/universities. The article mentions the skepticism of the gen-Alpha cohort concerning the utility of higher education given the costs and that many companies aren't looking at a BA as the entry token any more. Though the author then gives the stock argument about how much better college graduates do in the job market which I have always thought were cherry picked to produce a result that would convince young people to go to college. An illustration of the debate over education concerns my grand-nephews--my brother's grand sons. The older boy is beginning his junior at a regional in-state college pursuing a major that fits with his longer range career goals while doing summer internships in his chosen field. He will graduate without debt and probably a job. The young boy is beginning his junior year in high school enrolled in a machinist's apprentice program in addition to regular courses. He never like school much and enjoyed working with his hands. The program fits his interests perfectly. When he graduates he already has an industry run apprenticeship lined up. Not everyone needs college.

For more than a year Germany has been plagued by a gang that blows up ATMs and then scoops up the cash before fleeing. They are trying to combat the problem by pushing people to abandon cash and removing ATMs. The authorities in neighboring Belgium did just that and made the operation unprofitable to the gangs. I wonder if that will lead to an escalation of "jugging" which has spiked in the U.S. according to some news stories like this one.