Pointless Random Stuff

Share

Before driving home yesterday from Salt Lake City, I paid a visit to my paternal grandmother. She made an interesting point that has been much on my mind since then. The funeral has been stretched out longer than she might like to allow family to gather who are currently on vacation, and she finds herself working as best she can to put things behind her so she can move forward.

One of her greatest encumbrances is all the 'stuff' that has accumulated. While she spoke glowingly and with fond memories of the couch on which I sat which was purchased by her parents about 90 years ago, most of the stuff seems to be in the way. At 86, my grandmother is not physically capable of moving anything, not even small boxes, and she can't find certain things that she needs, like grandpa's checkbook. If I were the same build as grandpa, she might have offered me a coat right then and there just so as to be rid of one more thing.

She said something that stuck with me. "John has everything that's worth having with him now. I'm stuck with all this stuff". Most of what we have is really just pointless random stuff. Sure, the scrapbooks and a few pieces of scrimshaw will persist a few more generations, particularly parts in which I am personally interested, but much of the stuff isn't likely to interest most of my extended family as the decor screams 1920-1930, and since most people don't read the kind of books that interested grandpa or have better tools than he had. Stuff that meant something to him means nothing to those who remain or painful things to some.

Grandpa has with him all that really matters. He took with him the only things that any person can and left behind the only things that most people do. Grandpa wasn't a big whig or power player or a member of the Good Old Boy Network. He was just an ordinary man, but he was a man, and the best parts of him are in his descendants, people like me, who remember his example and live like he taught us. We sat for a while and reminisced about a great man and his life's message, and I was very very glad that I braved 4.5 hours in snow to drive the 450 miles to visit her.

When I arrived back at my place last night, I observed how much quisquilia I already own. I already have plenty of pointless random stuff. Some of it is there for the daily minutia, to accomplish the responsibilities and goals and activities I have, but I have plenty of jejune junk. Someone will have to deal with it when I die. If I die alone, it will probably all go straight into the trash.

Perhaps this is why, as we age, we don't really ask for or need much for our birthdays. For years, I have simply kept a list of things I intend to buy anyway and offered it. That way, I don't end up with a lot of things I don't need that others can ill afford to purchase. My grandmother was probably most grateful that I gave her the gift of my time when I came to visit, because that is something I cannot recouperate. A while back, I wrote about how important it is to pass things on to people we love while they are around to hear it. So, during my visit, I hugged my grandmother tightly and told her how much I appreciated her. Our significant others like to hear why they are significant to us.

The opportunity passed to do so for my grandfather. At least I got to speak with him on the phone Tuesday night when I called to arrange to visit them while I was in Salt Lake City. Not many people get to speak to their loved ones that close to their mortal metriculation. So, thank you Mr. Alexander Bell for the telephone and Mr. Henry Ford for the automobile, both of which made this likely, and to Mr. Brandon Mull, whose performance group gave me cause to travel to Salt Lake in the first place. It seemed like pointless random stuff, but I got to talk to my grandfather just a few days before he died, and that from an entire state away. Thank you God, for inspiring me to make this trip so that I could speak to them at least one last time. That meant something to all of us, and it's something I will take with me wherever I go.

The Birth We Call Death

Share

A very rare event occurred today in my life to which I pay attention for many reasons. It started with my phone ringing at about quarter to seven with my mother on the other end telling me my grandfather had died in his sleep last night. He is the first close relative to die in my life thus far, and as you might suspect, many thoughts ran through my mind. As I shaved, the title of this post came through my mind, the title of a book by Paul H Dunn that I first read at least a decade ago.

I was oddly calm. I wasn't peaceful for the same reasons as many other people were and will be, with the notion that 'he's in a better place'. Although that is true, he wasn't in a bad place here either. Sure, he was almost 90 years old and had his share of health problems. Even still, he was as active as he could be under the circumstances and still took care of his wife and responsibilities to his neighbors, congregation, and family as well as a man can who cannot easily leave his own house.

As I said my morning prayers, I thanked God for two things. First, I thanked him that I had the clairvoyance enough to call my grandparents Tuesday night in advance of a visit I was going to pay them this weekend. Not many people get to talk to the ones they love so close to the time of their mortal metriculation, even if we know they will die soon. I suppose I should be grateful for the telephone too, without which I would have had no contact with them for the past eight months. Secondly, I thanked God that my grandfather had gone as peacefully and quickly as possible in his circumstances, because many people are not as lucky.

My grandfather's funeral will not be attended by loads of dignitaries or leaders of civic groups, religious organizations, or corporations. He was a simple man who lived an ordinary and honorable life, the kind of life to which I actually aspire. I am grateful as I think about him now for the example he left us, because I am in part who I am because of the way he was and how he lived.

Most of my peace comes from my understanding of the Atonement of Christ. We are familiar with the verse quoted at many funerals from John 11:25 used frequently to comfort those who feel pain at the loss of another. Perhaps it's because of all the CS Lewis I have read and perhaps it's just a matter of my own faith, but I feel differently. Grandpa has gone, but soon I will join him.

The Bard wrote about how all the world's a stage, and the people merely players. Each has his entrances and exits. Not every exit is terminal. Like Paul Dunn, I believe that death is a birth into another world, another plane of existence, and another adventure, because our birth into this one was just such a transition from a former one.

Sure, I will miss my grandfather. We didn't interact all that often, and we didn't always agree, but he is and was a good man. He lived the rest of the phrase from John 11 often ignored in the funeral orations. Grandpa believed in Christ and it was clear from his rhetoric as well as his actions that his faith was real. Jesus told his disciples that those who believed in him would do the acts he did, and my grandfather was that type of man. Maybe one day, I will acquire some of the strengths he had that I have yet to develop, and maybe at that day, I will be born into the next life as quickly and peacefully as he was.

Godspeed grandpa, and thanks for your example, your love, and your life.

Leadership: Tough Choices

Share

It has been said that leaders have two jobs. First, they are responsible to accomplish the mission. Second, they are to take care of the people who help them accomplish the mission. Leaders strike the balance between the two that serves to accomplish both jobs as well as possible. You take care of the people because you can't usually accomplish the mission alone.

Leadership, consequently, requires tough choices. Particularly in war, asking a man to do something for the mission comes difficult because it might cost that man his life. People are frequently asked to take one for the team, and yet each member of normal society secretly hopes he will never have to give anything at all.

In education, there are some tough choices to make. The Governor of Nevada has announced that he will do away with the furlough program because it inconveniences all the customers of the few individuals who are absent on any given day. It might work if they agreed to change the schedule of offerings, but even if they closed the campus, I would have to come in, unpaid, and do the work anyway because the schedule precludes me doing it when I am actually here any other way. Someone wanted to cut one of our campuses. The trouble was that campus sits amongst the greatest number of residential applicants to the school whereas the others are in commercial districts, and as such it would impact a high number of our customers. We have more students accessing us than ever before, and it costs less to offer additional sections at one campus than to offer lots of courses in lots of locations. They have opted to close the satellite campuses, and they could continue to run the rooms at or near capacity. We have some instructors who are 'good enough' but not ideal. We would like to hire people who are better at the same rate of pay.

No matter how much we try, nobody's got a perfect idea. What it will take is leaders who know enough about what happens in the trenches to make enlightened decisions who also have authority to see it through. I am happy to provide ideas as long as leadership will back me up on what I recommend and see any of my recommendations through that they choose. I know how we can do some things. Leadership takes tough choices.

Perhaps some missteps in leadership come because they trust the wrong people. I lack the laundry list of credentials possessed by some who look good on paper. What I do have is theatre-specific information because I am on the front, interfacing with customers and instructors, on at least a weekly basis. I serve more of a supporting role, but Douglas Adams would warn you not to ship all the janitors away to settle another planet. The price might be dire!

When all is said and done, I am glad I don't have to make the decisions. What I hope they do is first of all make decisions and then stick with them. It's much easier to follow when a firm course has been set. Speaking of courses, once they set the objectives, it will be easier for teachers and students alike to meet them. Otherwise, the leader's role is more to manage a club than to lead an organization.

Look for the Good in Them

Share

I frequently think, truth be told, about the exchange between Polyanna and the Pastor in the movie Polyanna. I think it's also kind of funny that people choose to think I am haughty, arrogant, or judgmental, especially compared to them or other people they know. Frankly, I think I'm just as opinionated as other people; I just choose to share my opinions more frequently than you do. What it tells me about them might be that they don't know me as well as they think they do.

There are times in my life when my communiques sound harsh and times when they are lauditory. Depending on when you catch me and what you hear or read of my entire oratory may color your opinion of how I view people. Actually, I don't think people are arrogant or dumb or stupid. I think that things they do are that, but the people themselves are much more and usually made of better stuff. I think we did ourselves a disservice when we allowed our children to believe that little boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails. Back in February, I said this in a chat conversation: "Other people manufacture labels to describe us quickly without having to get to know us. Each man is far too complicated in his facets to be so accurately distilled." Furthermore, in the preface of my copy of CS Lewis's 1963 edition of the Screwtape Letters, Lewis talks about how if you take away all that is good in man, you are not left with a bad man. You are left with nothing at all. I am quite confident I have written that on this blog before, because I BELIEVE IT.

Sometimes it takes more effort to see the good in folks. I will admit that it took me years to see the 'good' in the fact that I was divorced. As a consequence of that unfortunate chapter of my life, I drew closer to the Savior, and in that sense, it was a blessing disguised as a trial for which I am very grateful. Ironically as well, I have thanked the people who were my very greatest challenges in life in the forward to one of my books, because without them, I might be a different person, and I'm happy with who I am.

As the pastor tells Polyanna, "we looked for the good in them, and we found it". You have to want to find something in order to look for it. For that reason, it seems that seeing the good in mankind is nothing more than a matter of taking the time to look. We look for good things in people we want to get to know because we hope it's there. We look for rainbows after it rains because we hope the sun will come out. We look for milestones on journeys because we hope we're almost there. We look at our retirement portfolios and statements because we hope we will have enough money. We hope for good things at the end, even though we might know exactly what we deserve.

In December 2009, a woman I once knew spoke with me about what I 'deserve'. I think that's rather illuminating in light of the fact that other people are critical of me, for I am more cognizant than you all of my weaknesses. A few years back I put to memory the poem, "I will be true", and in that it reminds me "I will be humble, for I know my weakness." How we choose to spin what we say tells us much about how we are inside. Perhaps that's why Jesus was concerned about those who point out the mote in the eye of their brother and ignore the beam in their own eye. Maybe they're just attuned to see those things when other people see other things.

Nobody writes down everything he thinks, says, and feels. Rarely do people record their dreams, their secret desires, and their honest errors. Much of what is quoted is either misattributed or taken out of context. When someone tells you something, consider their motivation. Even the best compendiums of thought are produced by interested albeit disaffected individuals long after the speaker dies.

In his funeral oration, Marc Antony opines that "the evil that men do lives after them [while] the good is oft interred with their bones". What we point out and why tells us much about our true motivations. The conspirators were trying to justify their aberrant and abhorrent behavior- they had just murdered Caesar in cold blood! Marc Antony wanted justice for his friend and power for himself. Shakespeare wanted us to see the tragedy in the struggle for power.

Allow me, if you will, to close with the words of CS Lewis from "The Weight of Glory":

There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit.

Just a few days ago perhaps, I wrote that each of you, even if I don't happen to like you very much, are amazing. As Shakespeare wrote:

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals (Hamlet Act II Scene ii)

Each of you is a glorious and wonderful being. Sometimes you do dumb things. I know I have and probably still will. There is much more to you than that, and I hope you will believe that and know it as your Creator knows it about you. For that reason, He provided a Savior, so that all who will may return to His presence.

And that is a good thing indeed!

Neighborhood and Neighbors

Share

I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood. It's fairly representative of America in terms of demographics. Members of the HOA presidency even monitor the homes that are being rented or in various stages of foreclosure and keep tabs on the residents so we know what might be coming. They even remember my name.

Last night while walking back from the mailbox, Jim, who is the treasurer, approached me. We discussed his tree, his cars, and the neighborhood, in which he has lived since the house was built over a decade ago. He mentioned previous owners and current neighbors, and as we spoke, he attracted other people who came up to him to find out what was going on. Jim pointed out that my house numeral wasn't lighting up and that he knew why because he had just repaired his the previous month. He even offered to come over and help me get it back up to snuff. It was a pleasant experience.

The America of today is rather void of this type of neighbor and neighborhood. We don't really know the people who live next door sometimes or we don't care to know more than we happen to discover. Our neighbors are complete strangers and might as well be in another nation for all the good it does to have them. Heaven forbid our neighbors ask for our help!

Real neighborhood is about real community. While politicians and pundits talk of communal living, it's real relationships that allow for communities to arise. Many people want us to do it regardless for who is there or their circumstances. How many people, however, voluntarily help strangers? We usually help people we know, and usually only people for whom we care. In order to care, you must first get to know folks, which means that we need to confess that life isn't about us. So many people, particularly in my generation, have Center of the Universe Syndrome (CotUS) and think everything revolves around them. Trouble is that when trouble rises, folks with CotUS rarely have anyone revolve around them at all.

For some reason, my mind is drawn to Frank Capra's "Its a Wonderful Life". Look at the difference between how Potter's bank and the Savings and Loan handle their customers. For Potter, he cares little for their struggles because he doesn't know them. It's only really possible to mistreat other people when you do not know them, care about them, or see them. That's usually why burglars rob random strangers. They're not hurting anyone for or about whom they care, at least not directly. The Bailey's, by contrast, are willing to grant extensions and trade in bartered goods because the people with whom they deal are real people to them.

People desire to be real. It wasn't just Pinocchio who opined to cast off his wooden self to become a real boy. We look for politicians, leaders, coworkers, and particularly mates with whom we can be our real selves and who are ok with who we really are. Community relies on reality, and reality involves real people who teach other people how to make things real for themselves.

I'm still pretty independent, and so I am probably not going to ask Jim for his help. Still, it was nice to know that he first of all remembered my name and then second of all offered something of himself to make our small corner of the world a better place. For the first time since I moved in, this place kind of feels like a home.

For What Can You Apologize?

Share

For a long time, when people have apologized to me, I have asked them to prove they are sorry. Being sorry doesn't really do anything for me. It assuages your guilt. People who should make restitution frequently get away without doing it and people who didn't do anything wrong frequently get roasted for things.

Today, the Muslim world 'responded' to a pastor who burned a Quran. While I think the burning of any book for any reason is not worth the match, the pastor proved his point- the Quran incites violence. When Muslim terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, we were told we had to view them as isolated incidents. When a single man in America burned a Quran, the entire middle east erupted. Their leaders should be out on the radio asking their people to calm down, because if a crime has been commited that offended God, let God arrest and try the man. For that matter, who are the centralized leaders of the Muslim faith?

Rightly so, the pastor took no responsibility. They want him to apologize. They want him to regret it. Should he? While what he did is a part of a chain of events that now exists, until the ultimate act of retaliation is committed, people have a choice to do anything other than lash out. That was part of Christ's message- to turn the other cheek. Unless you directly do the thing that hurts you, like smashing your thumb with a hammer, you have no need to regret what you did, and unless you smashed someone else's thumb, you also have no need to apologize.

How can you apologize for something you didn't do? How can you regret something that another person chose? I have previously although perhaps elsewhere written that sometimes you will play all the cards right and still lose. Even if someone hasn’t changed the rules without telling you, there is still a chance, however remote, that a person can throw away their entire hand and be dealt a royal flush. Find people who play by the rules, but whether you win or not, be a man of honor. What the pastor did wasn't very honorable, but it was also not honorable to behead a Christian in retaliation.

Americans are frequently told we need to be the better people. By and large, we are. By and large also, the things Americans do to each other that hurt their fellows are done not from malicious intent but rather out of ignorance or lack of attention. We are very distracted. However, if the Quran really is the word of Allah, then I think it should be put to the test of Elijah- let Allah come down and defend himself. He does not need us if he really is omnipotent, and he certainly doesn't need them.

Part of restitution requires recognition and compassion. Jesus taught his followers that he who is without sin among us should first cast a stone at the accused. I know on any introspection that I am less than I ought to be, and I wager so are all the people involved in today's tragic trauma. I feel bad for the innocents dragged into this, not because of their ideology but because of their inappropriate proximity. I urge the pastor to desist, but I appreciate the proof of his point. Let us now be the bigger people and follow the Prince of Peace, even Jesus Christ.

Education Myths

Share

So, I’ve been thinking about the fight for education a lot lately, both because I work for a college as well as the large numbers of students, current and former, who have bought into this myth. In a previous post, I gave a ballpark figure for illustrative purposes only, to show that most courses do not actually consume the costs paid by students at even the state college level, which excludes any exigent subsidies from the government or funds acquired in property taxes, extra fees imposed by institutions, etc.

Don’t listen to me. Do your own homework. Do your own research. That’s always good advice. Besides, I can usually tell when you're stealing someone else's.  One of the pieces of evidence shown me as ‘proof’ that we ‘don’t spend enough’ was from a blog post (clearly left-leaning based on links to other blogs found there) which did not link you to the source from which they took it. Here are a few things I have found covering a large bridge of time. They cover the George Bush, William Clinton, George HW Bush, and Barack Obama administrations. That evinces to me that for the last decade or more the problem has not been one of the amount of money but rather how and on what the money was spent.

1990

Spending and learning are not correlated. Teachers have great compensation and smaller classes in America.

2001

The US spends about 50% of all money globally on education and libraries.

2003

Spending and scores are not correlated.

No other nation has as rigorous standards and yet such a low return on its investment.

2007

Payment per pupil and test scores seem inversely correlated

Nobody spends more on education than we do. No other nation has teachers who have less power, authority, and respect than in this one.

2008

Sustained increases in funding have not increased performance. The issue is asset allocation.

2009

Per pupil spending is not an accurate measure of achievement.

Even though Nevada has sought to increase funding and even though teacher salaries continued to increase during the budget malaise, our schools have not increased in performance

2010

Wyoming spends at the highest and scores near the bottom

public schools pay almost twice per student as private schools with a much lower return on investment in terms of performance

some schools spend on things that have nothing to do with academics, like research or sports or student centers

2011
University in IL gets $19 million to expand holdings because the president's husband is a long-term Democrat House member. Brand new building in 2008, expanded in 2011, replete with a parking structure that will surely flood, and replacement landscaping including scultures

In short, it is not that insufficient money is spent, only that the money is spent on things at best tangentially related to actual education. They are revamping buildings that they do not need (why did UNR need a new library and student union and what are they doing with those old buildings now?). They are hiring more administrators who do not actually bear fruit. We have hall monitors in Las Vegas who do not patrol the halls because they have no authority to do anything. We have deans who do not discipline. We have counselors who promise “we’ll get you loads of scholarships” and then do nothing of their own volition to help their own valedictorians to get a dime. We are building new schools and remodeling old labs when we have old ones that are fine. We are hiring teachers who are not proficient in the subject or the language of instruction. We allow people into our schools who are not citizens or children of citizens and cannot speak English. We require teachers to ‘teach’ children who do not demonstrate that they want to be taught. We are so afraid to fail them that we do not teach them the tough lessons of life when the ramifications are small.

When the stopgap education funding came in, a hall monitor was hired for $40K, a counselor for $89K, a custodian for $57K, etc. Additionally, the same report notes that 19.5 teachers were retained at an average salary of $60K, which is a pretty good wage since I outearn only that hall monitor. It’s not even apparently that teachers are underpaid!

In a budget crisis, Harry Reid worked to obtain land. Nevermind that we have no money to put anything on that land or maintain it.

Although I know this is from a blog, it’s from the CSN President’s blog, which is how he communicates with us. He talks about cutting the Henderson campus, the learning extension centers, and the softball program. We can absorb, at least for my department, all of the courses in buildings that are already being used with a minimum of headache and additional per campus expense, far offset by the proposed cuts. Not that I want to cut these things, since so many of the students who attend classes in Henderson live very close to the campus and even ride their bikes to class betimes, but it would solve some of our new staffing issues.

Some of the things I mention in this article I know from personal experience. Without permission to share those stories, I will mention them aside, but as for myself I am willing to fall on my sword, not to do what the students want, but to do what is best for them. Since when do young people have any idea what is best for them? We did not when I was young. What is so special about this generation that it demands computers it uses to escape the classroom and extra assignments to make grades when they don’t do the homework already assigned?

We do not need more money in education. We need more education in education. I find it somewhat ironic that people constantly complain about how teachers get burnt out because we compensate them so little and demand of them so much, and yet these same voices insist on establishment of a world where people do things ‘because they’re the right thing to do’. Although I do not work for free (at least as long as I have bills), there are people like me who are willing to do the job for the pay it offers. I actually like my job; some of the highest paid ‘educators’, which are really no more than lecturers or stop-gap appointments because they can’t find anyone better, are the most unhappy doing the job! Money no more makes men happy than it makes education work.

Years ago, I read Ivan Doig’s novel, The Whistling Season. I never had a one room schoolhouse, but there were some distinct advantages of that system over the top-down authoritarian autocracy that exists under the federal Department of Education (so gross a misnomer in that nobody who works there educates anyone). Teachers cannot discipline. Students are not held responsible. Grades cannot reflect aptitude. Now we get ‘Participation Awards’, or worse- we spend an inordinately long time on the sports awards and give individual attention and then gloss over academic achievement. We are sending a message that academics is a subsidiary function of academically-oriented institutions. No wonder the students aren’t there to learn! They are there to get drunk, get drugs, get girls, get grades, etc.- anything except to acquire knowledge or wisdom.

During the Gibbons Governorship, I wrote his office a letter. I have a plan to actually fix education, but it requires someone who is not going to allow himself to be held ransom by those who will attempt to end his political career. It requires a statesman who will do what is right because it is the right thing to do, even if he loses everything to do it let alone gets no benefits directly from the attempt. We need serious people to tackle serious problems. I will send that same sentiment to the current governor, and I am happy to make my case and defend my stance before the legislature and the media and whatever other venues may be required.

I am a teacher because that’s what I find animating to do. I could earn the same amount of money driving a forklift for a Wal-Mart distribution center, but that is neither intellectually stimulating nor satisfying enough to satiate my soul. This is what I love. At least I have a more unique idea than ‘throw more money at it’, however much courage and honesty mine requires.

Why We Prepare

Share

Much has been spoken in recent weeks about disasters. Many of my Facebook friends have taken to the citation of scriptures from Revelation and other books about how these are signs of the times. However, there are always people among us who have needs, and preparedness has another point entirely.

We prepare so that we can help other people. In a surprisingly lauditory article today, Reuters pointed out that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have once again stepped up their efforts to store for uncertain times. As I read the comments in the Yahoo link to this article, I was surprised and impressed by comments such as "I'd bet that on a per person basis, these (well prepared) people have done far more to help than the average unprepared person. In the meantime, they have not hurt anybody." and "Everyone in the US should be prepared for other reasons: quakes, hurricanes, blizzards, power outages and other natural events."   The prepared CAN help others.

Besides the calamities of disaster and the upheaval of governments, there are other things afoot. Here in Las Vegas, we have a huge contingent of homeless, unemployed, underemployed, and otherwise poor individuals. One of them told me a few weeks ago, "If I could just get a job, everything else would follow from that", but until he finds one, he is happy for the victuals and clothing provided by those who have a capability to help those in need.

Just a few hours ago, Bishop H David Burton pointed out that service to the poor helps us retain a remission of sins. Service to those who have not by those who can help is a fundamental Christian precept. Yet, I am certain dozens of Christians hurry by the poor and homeless or those stranded on the roadside because they fear. Sure, I'm a bit more cavalier than most because I am single and male, but we can all do something. If you're not in a position to help directly, you can support those people and organizations that do (like this one).

When Elijah came to the widow, he asked her to first bake him a cake of her meager stores. As consequence of her faith, her cruise of oil and container of meal lasted until the famine came to an end. God cannot multiply your oil and meal unless you have some to start with. Because of this miracle, this woman could have consequently become a storehouse on which the other needy might draw to find satisfaction and sustenance.

We prepare so that we do not fear. We prepare so that others may not fear. We prepare so that others may know to what source they may look for their physical needs to be met. Bishop Burton also stated that it is the responsibility of God's servants on earth to care for the physical needs not only of other Christians in their flocks but of all those who live within their circle of influence. Stewardship is a great burden and opportunity.

Perhaps you, as I, have no specifically defined stewardship. Ours then remains that of that good Samaritan- our stewardship is to help all those we encounter by the way. There will always be needy, destitute, hungry, poor, homeless, unemployed, etc. among us. That is to help us and test us and focus us with gratitude for our blessings and position us to be the miracle in the lives of other people around us. God notices us and he watches over us, but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs (Spencer W Kimball). Be the miracle.   

Times will always be uncertain. Money and treasures have value that is largely illusionary; even if you have food stored you do not prefer, at least you will have something to eat, because gold bars don't make very good meals, bandages, or clothing. Some of them just need a kind word, a brief but honest smile, or something simple. Prepare to give what you can and look for ways to give more of what they really need, physically, spiritually, and vocationally. If we all do a little, we can do a lot, just like the Japanese have for their own.

More Money For Education? No

Share

There are great numbers of people protesting the cuts to educational spending in Nevada. Some of these people say that the governor is in support of Big Corporations or anti-education. It is simply a practical matter. We cannot afford to pay for every whim of man that he wills government should provide him. We should never have been paying for some things in the first place.

More money spent on education does not directly correlate with better educated students. When my students don't show up with pen and paper and their books, I assume they are not really ready to learn. As I work in education, let me give you a brief rundown albeit not completely accurate to show you how little money is actually spent on education.

Bio 196 and Lab

Lab Fee                    $50

Enrollment                 34 from department chair decision

Cost per credit         $100.00

Credit hours                 4

'Income' per section $20,400.00

Lab instructor           -$3,600.00 based on adjunct pay

Lecture instructor     -$3,600.00 based on adjunct pay

Room costs             -$375.00 fixed as part of university building expenditures amortized over building life span

Lab costs                -$4,500.00 cost of materials for lab annually plus fixed equipment amortized over the life of equipment

Lab prep per section -$1,052.63 wage of lab prep

Utility costs              -$2,250.00 average utility cost per week multiplied by weeks of instruction

Income per class   $5,022.37

Fraction of costs that go to education 75.38%

Philosophy course

Enrollment                    50

Cost per credit           $100.00

Credit hours                   3

"Income' per section $15,000.00

Lab instructor

Lecture instructor       -$3,600.00

Room costs                -$125.00

Lab costs

Lab prep per section

Utility costs                   -$750.00

Income per class      $11,275.00

Fraction of costs that go to education 24.83%

All that, and the government still subsidizes education. For what then is the rest of the money spent? Not on the education of your kids.

These examples show the direct expenses associated with the education of your children. Some extra money is recuperated for the biology course in the form of laboratory fees. However, on average, only half the money you pay in tuition is going to pay for the actual educational process of the students, and that in addition to the amount you already pay in property taxes or in that same tax embedded as a hidden portion of your rent.

I have much more to say on this, but I have an appointment to meet, and so I'll forbear for now. Topics include: who goes to school and why, responsibility of students, responsibility of parents, choosing the right teachers, empowering the right teachers, 'does spending correlate with performance?' and 'just teach them already, dagnabit'.

Out, Out Brief Candle

Share

The rumors were confirmed today that a terminally ill coworker is fast approaching the point where she will shuffle off her mortal coil. While she had been absent, unbeknownst to me, for several weeks, she is not expected to return or recover. I did not know this because she, like me, is also a supervisory scientist, and as such she reports to my boss not to me. As I considered her loss, even though I did not know her well, I feel like I have lost something. I really liked her, and she has a wealth of knowledge that will soon simply vanish.

Quite frankly, I am surprised that she worked up until she literally could not any more. Were I in her position, I think I would have used some of the time to enjoy my family. She leaves behind a husband, some children, and some grandchildren. Her disease is taking her earlier than the normal person normally leaves mortality, and the reports from my boss were that she wishes she had more time with her loved ones to actually do things.

While I understand you might want to work and keep busy, this has precipitated discussion with other of the staff. Our department tends towards the older side of the age spectrum. The next youngest is about four years my senior and then the next beyond that is almost ten years older than I. In five years, the entire face of the department could change completely and leave me as one of the old timers, my young age notwithstanding. One of the other supervisors was approached by her husband who requested she think about separation to spend time with her children and grandchild. She has been particularly stressed by events of late and has been considering quitting for several years.

As I consider the transitory nature of our mortal sojourn, of course I think of Shakespeare. Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. Are our tales like his told by idiots, or do we do things with our time that matter? What matters to us? I venture that my coworker discovered as I, in my young and ignorant state, supposed that what really matters are the people who are close to us.

Last Sunday, I told my brother that I'd like to take him and his new wife out to dinner. I don't really know her very well, and we've kind of disconnected. Ok, so maybe it won't change the world or cure cancer or feed Ethiopians, but it might help them to feel like I am interested and care. A cousin of mine sent me an email Wednesday night very late (tsk tsk, you shouldn't be up that late!) with a line of great praise. I told him that while it didn't change what was true about me being a good person that he said it, sometimes it was nice to hear it.

It's nice to know, however briefly, that someone else cares about you. It's even more desirable to have someone who cares for you. If you are lucky enough to have someone in your life who loves and cares for you, tell them. Don't wait to tell someone you love how you feel until they are at death's door. Tell them you love them and respect them when you feel those things about them. Our significant others like to know that they are significant to us and why.

If, like I, you have nobody close per se, look for opportunities to serve other random folks. I am convinced that a large majority of aberrant and abhorrent behavior results because people crave attention and love. They will accept pyrite if they must, and so if you can do nice things for them without an ulterior motive, they will feel the energy and look for better and truer forms of attention.

Almost 12 years ago, I visited a town in Europe where stands a statue of Jesus Christ without hands. I know some of my readers have heard this story from someone else, but my sister can testify that she heard it from me before Dieter Uchtdorf told it. During World War II, the town was repeatedly bombed by allied planes trying to hit the steel factory located nearby. After the war ended, the villagers rebuilt the statue along with the rest of their town. Some parts were mangled, and the hands so much so that they held a meeting to see what should be done about it. They finally decided not to replace the hands but to set a plaque at the base of the statue that reads, "Jesus has no hands but our own." We are His hands. God hears us and He watches over us, but it is often through another person that He meets our needs.

We need not be nor allow others to feel they are poor players in this life. CS Lewis wrote that if you take away all that is good in man you are not left with a bad man. If you take away all that is good in him, you are left with nothing at all. Each of you are glorious, and wonderful, and amazing. You defy statistics and science and psychology that you live and breathe and have your being. You are miracles, and you can be the miracle in the lives of others around you. I challenge you to treat the people you meet as if they will be dead by midnight. I promise you that as you strive to do so, it will elevate their lives and bring back blessings on your own. I promise that you will be happier, more peaceful, and more productive, and the life you save might be your own.