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Defend (For-Profit?) Education

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 13:38
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Over the past 15 months students—from California to New York—have organized large scale demonstrations protesting budget cuts and tuition hikes at public universities.  This loose network of students, unions and community activists unites under the banner: Defend Public Education. 

Public education is a great tradition in this country. Unfortunately the recent economic downturn has resulted in cuts to public institutions and threatened the American principle that a good public education should be available and affordable for all who are determined to take advantage of it.  The response of students across the country has been powerful and far-reaching.  The call echoed from coast to coast:  Hands off Higher Education!

In related news, last week the Republican Party—the majority in the House for the first time since 2006—announced the appointment of Representative Virginia Foxx to the Higher Education subcommittee.  Based on The Huffington Post’s analysis of Foxx’s record, students’ call to defend public education might not resonate in this particular committee. 

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Friday is Hawaiian Shirt Day!: Is Your University a “Great Place to Work"?

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 08/24/2010 - 15:43
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Forgoing the temptation to run a more conventional ‘Best 100’ list, The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released a list of 97 “Great Colleges to Work For.” The results are based on surveys responses from over 43,000 people at 275 institutions. 
 
Judging from the comments section of the list and other reaction across the internet, the list has generated a fair amount of controversy. On such a heated topic, it’s hard to find the same opinion twice. One person’s “special place to work” is another person’s place where “my point of view is heard and widely ignored.”   
 
Adding an important angle to the debate is Monica Kortsha, a reporter for The Horn, an independent University of Texas newspaper, who questions the accuracy of the survey results:
 
It should be noted that the Chronicle's results are hardly representative of the diverse community of UT employees because the survey was only sent to a number of administrators, faculty and professional staff--completely bypassing graduate students, part-time employees and service staff, like custodians and food service workers [emphasis added]. What might those members of the UT community have to say?
 
Indeed.
 
Are the opinions of service workers any less relevant than the “administration, faculty, and exempt professional staff” who were surveyed? 
 
Not to mention the fact that service work at universities is becoming increasingly privatized. Meaning more workers on campus are, in fact, not employed by the university. Are those people any less a part than the campus community for the mere fact that they are employed by a private company?
 
The idea of creating a list of the best universities to work for is a good one. It’s important to track how institutions of higher education treat their staff. But until the list incorporates the opinions of the people who, generally, make the least amount of money, it is hard to take such a list seriously. 
 
Photo by howzey via Flickr.

Flexitarian??

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 13:12
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A few months ago, I was sitting in my office with coworkers joking about the term “flexitarian,” which apparently is a term for people who are vegetarian… part-time. In other words, it is for people who eat meat, just not at every single meal. As the resident vegan in the office, it seemed especially hard to take the concept seriously. I figured if any term was necessary, standards like “omnivore” or “healthy” might suffice.

 
But I guess the term caught on. Compass Group this week announced a new “Be a Flexitarian” initiative. The plan is to provide more meat-free options in its cafeterias (on campuses and elsewhere). Whatever you think of the term flexitarian, Compass’s program is not such a bad idea.
 
Compass worked with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) on the program. The HSUS president said in a press release, “It doesn’t take an all-or-nothing approach to make a major impact, and giving customers more meat-free meal choices will improve health, reduce the impact of global warming and help animals.” 
 
It makes sense. Though I choose to take the step of removing all animal products from my diet, I know not everyone will do the same. If the program truly reduces the meat consumption in the cafeterias of one of the world’s largest food service providers, I’m all for it.
 
Of course, we have to see what it means on the ground.  If all it means are posters about “flexitarianism” plastered around dining halls, I suspect we won’t see a big drop in hamburger consumption on campus.  And as someone who has struggled to eat vegan meals in far too many college cafeterias across the country, even ones that claim to be friendly to restricted diets, I know that “expanded options” may not translate into satisfactory meals.  Compass has the right intentions, but they have their work cut out for them.
 
 

 

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