Essay @ MindSay 
school
Good Goddess Above! My brain is fried! I bailed on exersising again this evening and my moms immeditally got after me for that. Your going to loose your momentem...blah blah blah.........your starting to loose that water weight...blah blah blah. I kept my kewl and politly informed her that my school work at this time takes priority over any walking or eliptical machine. Then my mother who hasn't been in any form of school (I don't count continuing credits to keep her RN License) for 50 some years, said it shouldn't be that hard to do your work during the day. Mind you my mother didn't go to college college. She went to a 4 year Catholic Nursing school and only took core courses for nursing!
It took me literally all day minus 20 minutes in the morning to take the kids to school and three and half hours this evening (we had a school function to go to for the kids) to complete all but my final essay for this week. I read the main chapter for this week and after looking at next weeks assignment, I don't have to read the other two chapters she went over in our notes this week till NEXT WEEK. I took all my notes, I read everyone's postings, I posted my main posting today and responded over 4 times to other people's main posting (we only have to do 2 for the maxium to recieve a grade), I hunted down two completely different News Editorials to do my assignment. One on the US's No Child Left Behind Law and one from Jeruslum on Ramadan. I wrote, typed, and then posted both articles and my take of appeals and submitted them to the prof. I read 4 different classmates essays and picked one to make suggestions on. I posted my suggestions and printed off next week's assignments and new topic for the next paper. I also wrote down about two dozen ideas to "improve" my final draft of the Self Discriptive Essay, the Prof likes my paper but says I am not descriptive enough. I am going to work in the fact I am actually a very private person til I obtain a comfort level with others:D
I finally got all this done at 10 pm tonight! During the day and all my homework, I managed to get two loads of laundry done, discuss and be interviewed for my girl Teri for one of her papers and gave her some presidential historic information on Jimmy Carter for another paper and consented in talking to my brother for 45 minutes. In the afternoon, the kids and I did our Dollar General run (that is my new wally world:P), killd some time at the Buffalo pasture reading the Historical marker and took a few pictures of the buffalo, then we went up to the school for Family Science night! The kids really enjoyed themselves and now we have to show Randy how to implode soda cans, pull plant DNA, and explode two 2 liters of soda using menthos and life savers! The program was run by one of the NE Medical Center Genetisist out of Lincoln and I think a Highschool Biology teacher out of Omaha! I was a big kid and managed to snag a lil vile of strawberry dna that the kids (all school kids present) helped to pull tonight! I gave it to a lil girl who didn't get any though. Oh and we have to show Randy how to ease a no shell hard boiled egg into a beaker flask with out breaking it and then show him how to get it out!
I don't think I could handle two or three classes this semester for my first semester back. Not with everything I do around this house for everyone including people who don't live in my house! I am doing good if I do say so myself. And tomorrow my "date" with my girl Bree is actually going off with out a hitch! My moms is taking the kids to school for me so I can meet Bree in the morning. We will do her small errands and then Casino HERE WE COME! Randy set me a 100 buck limit and Arjan set Bree a 50 buck limit not counting lunch or any stops we make. Those killjoys know that Bree and I can sit at the casino all day if allowed! As long as we are out of the casino by 2 pm to pick up our respected kids all is good! I won't even complain about having to drive to the city tomorrow night for TKD and then kill two hours before my Leadership class AFTER our actual TKD class!
mine stretched to 6 pages, total.
thank you, thank you. i worked hard on that shit. over two hours, to be exact.
you know what i got?
B+.
yeah. B fucking +.
i'm so pissed.
i can go through and tell you all the little things that my teacher wrote on it that pissed me off and were, ultimately, WRONG, but that'd take about 8 hours.
i plan on talking to her about it as soon as possible. i'm so pissed. this is complete bullshit.
this is a fucking A paper. i'm not happy with a B+.
even if it was the highest grade in all her classes. i deserve better.
this seriously brought down my whole day.
and it's SECOND hour too. good job.
Today was another lovely day in paradise. I had planned on waking up early to go for a run with some of the other students, but I stayed up late writing so I decided to sleep in. After breakfast, Fernando--one of our TAs--gave a lecture about conservation biology and what goes on at IPE. He posed one question that I found particularly interesting: Why should we spend money to conserve species when there are millions of people around the world dying from starvation?
Well, our money isn't being spent on international aid to save impoverished peoples... it's being spent on this "war"! The total cost of the Iraq was is over $500 million so far: Imagine how many ecosystems could have been saved with those dollars that were used to destroy life rather than preserve it...
Fernando lectured for about an hour before we grabbed our backpacks (stocked with bug spray, windbreakers, and binoculars) and headed down the hill past the organic garden to two boats waiting on the shore. We hopped in and began our journey to Fazendinha, a resort further up the reservoir. The boat ride was absolutely lovely--I took some great pictures (I'll post them here as soon as I upload them from my camera). When we arrived at our destination, we were greeted by a few charming dogs--mostly lab mixes, but a couple of smaller breeds too. And none of them were neutered. I think I might study this topic for my individual project: Measure dog population sizes (and the population sizes of other domesticated animals); how neutering would change population numbers; what neutering services are currently available; how dogs and other domesticated animals affect the natural environment (ie. by spreading diseases); etc. Hopefully I'll be able to find some relevant research via Google.
We began our climb up a small mountain (a hill, really) soon after we docked and used the restrooms. The trek was definitely uphill, but it wound around the incline so it wasn't too strenuous. And it was absolutely breathtaking. We were surrounded by an incredibly lush canopy hung with thick twisted vines, interrupted by spatters of sunlight shining through breaks in the leaf cover. When we were about half way up, Juliana--another TA--asked us to find something interesting and show it to the rest of the group. I found several species of lichen on a tree: some green, some red, and some orange. I also noticed that on all of the surrounding trees, the lichen only covered one side because the hill prevented the other side from sun exposure. It was very pretty, although slightly reminiscent of ringworm. The hill's peak was gorgeous--a stunning view of the reservoir, some quaint houses along the shore, and plots of eucalyptus trees.
We had a delicious lunch (albeit a little late) at the Fazendinha, a more varied meal than what we've eaten here so far. I had a huge salad, some potatoes, some ambiguous fried vegetables, cous cous, and a little bit of pasta slathered in butter....I'm skipping dinner tonight. Oh, and I had a beer. Which was great. After stuffing our faces--we were all ravenous after our hike up the "mountain"--a few people hopped in the pool. Pas moi, non merci. Everyone was complaining about how cold it was, so I was not terribly enthusiastic about getting wet.
Of course, I got wet anyway: I rode in the smaller of the two boats on the way back to IPE and I was absolutely soaked through. Oh well. We had a good time and laughed while the spray drenched our hiking boots and backpacks, but everyone could see my ass through my wet pants when we walked back up the hill through the garden (where the produce that we eat here is grown).
I have a bit of homework tonight and I need to finish the reading from last night since I was occupied by my paper. The reading isn't too heavy, but we have a quiz tomorrow so I need to make sure that I understand all of the material. And I need to write a paragraph about my ideas for my project. I don't mind the work; at least I'm done with that paper. Thannnnnk God.
I arrived in Brazil yesterday, after a long flight with a four hour layover at JFK. My mum, being the lovely considerate woman that she is, ordered me a vegetarian meal for the plane. Unfortunately, the vegetarian meal also serves as the diet meal: not only did I miss out on the crackers and brownie, but my breakfast included a mini bagel while everyone else received one of more normal proportions. At least the flight was relatively smooth and the quintessential crying baby fell asleep soon after take-off.
My flight arrived in Sao Paulo at about 10am, but the SEE-U van was not scheduled to leave until 12:30, so I wandered around the airport for a while. I learned that women in Brazil (or at least in the Brazilian airport) are even more inept than American women when buying pants. Lots of muffin tops and bare ankles. Lots of whisker-wash too; I'm not sure which is more abhorrent. By 11:00 I was bored of aimlessly perusing souvenir shops and book stores full of trashy romance novels and maps in Portuguese, so I headed over to the Pizza Hut in terminal 2, the meeting place selected for our group.
There were a few girls waiting around a table; I identified them by the nearby pile of backpacks and suitcases. Oh, and the Columbia t-shirts. Everyone was very friendly and seemed interesting; we went through the standard introductions of what's your name, where are you from, what's your major, etc. Most of the participants hail from Columbia University (although I am the only Barnard student), but one attends NYU and another is from Delaware Valley College.
At 12:30 we loaded our luggage into a large van and drove for about an hour to our site. It was wonderful to step outside the airport after traveling for so long; palm trees planted on the roadside waved in a light, warm breeze, surprisingly warm since this is the Brazilian winter. The drive was beautiful, down a winding gravel road along the side of white cliff faces and through thick woods. Right after leaving GRU we passed through a residential area on the outskirts of Sao Paulo; the brightly painted concrete houses and dark-haired children sitting on the curbs reminded me of the neighborhoods of Belize City.
After driving for about an hour, we reached our destination: the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecologicas (IPE). The location is absolutely breathtaking--it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The center overlooks a deep blue reservoir; black and brown cows graze peacefully in the foreground, munching on green grass dotted with patches of wildflowers. There are some kayaks that we can rent and I would love to spend some time paddling across the water. The scenery also includes miles of tree-covered mountains stretching into the horizon. The Atlantic Forest isn't jungle-y like the Amazon, but it is amazingly lush.
We're all staying in a two-storey rectangular brick building with red shutters and external stairs; the rooms are small, containing two twin beds with only a few feet between them, but very comfortable. I was afraid we were going to be roughing it, but that's not the case. I think the mattresses may even be Tempur-pedic. (I slept very soundly last night.) There have been no hot showers as of yet, which is marginally disappointing, but it makes it easy to wake up in the morning. A brisk shower never hurt anyone and I'm sure it saves a lot of water overall.
The food has been excellent so far. For lunch yesterday we had green salad, rice, and a meat dish. I'd love to lose a few pounds while I'm here (what a great bonus). For breakfast this morning we had granola, yogurt (delicious!), crusty rolls, cheese, and lots of fruit. A great array of fruits--bananas, apples, oranges, mangoes, papayas, passion fruits, etc. All of the produce is grown in a nearby garden...I'd love to see it.
We had our first class after breakfast and went over some orientation topics: general safety and appropriate behavior, class schedules, grading criteria, etc. I'm really excited to start learning about this beautiful place; I think the educational material will be heavy but not too difficult, and I can't wait to spend time in the field. We each complete individual projects during our five week stay here, but I have no idea what topic I would like to study.
After class we went for a hike around the area, through a wide pasture, over several hills, and down a narrow path veiled by low hanging vines and thick shoots of bamboo. We saw some enormous spiders, lots of pretty flowers, and a sloth. Taking advantage of such a slow-moving organism, I took too many photos (as usual). When I upload them onto the computer I probably won't be able to decipher their subject, since the sloth was quite high up and my camera's zoom is less than ideal. He was very cute though and climbed down a bit to watch us as we watched him.
We have class again tonight until about 6:00. Afterwards, I'm hoping to finish the paper that I still have not turned in from the end of spring semester. I have about 20-pages so far and I just need to do some revision and add some more primary source references. It's by far the lowest quality writing that I've done all year, but I'm so burned out. At least it will be done soon and won't be hanging over my head. Hopefully Professor Rieder (who I hope to coerce into advising my thesis) will forgive me and won't judge my abilities too strongly based on this one assignment. He did tell me at one point during this semester that he thought I was brilliant. (I almost fainted.)
First off, I want to thank those who gave me ideas... It took me awhile to finally write something, and honestly... I'm not sure if it is really that great of an argumentative essay... But it works... Here is my 5 page BLAH... Haha... Enjoy!
Textbook Tragedy
Growing up, many children dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, astronauts, teachers, and so on. As they come to the end of their high school experience though, they are rudely awakened by the possibility of never realizing their dream due to the prohibitive prices of higher education. College prices are skyrocketing out of reach for the average middle class high school graduate. Tuition fees can increase about 32% during the course of a four year degree, at a boost of approximately 8% annually. But, assuming one could conquer the extreme tuition expenses through scholarships, loans, grants and savings; let us look at another often overlooked factor of this imposing problem.
One aspect of college expenses that seems to be increasing at an exponential rate is the cost of textbooks. College textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation within the last twenty years, and have followed closely behind tuition increases. This has become quite an issue for the average college-age American because, price of textbooks aside, they already struggle with being financially cleared for classes. What can be done? There are several approaches that could be taken and some are in the process at high state levels. Yet, there still remains a need for a realistic solution.
In the United States, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004. American students pay significantly more for the same book than students of other countries. Sometimes the cost difference can be half again, or even up to two thirds more in price. What is the reason for this radical difference? Could it really be that printing costs are that much more in America, or is it simply that American publishers are greedier, and their priority is profit?
At an average of every three years, publishers are putting out “new edition” textbooks and selling them for a higher price. Often times, the only updates in these versions are simple sentence changes to keep up with the culture. Unfortunately, they then stop printing the old versions, and thus the old versions become obsolete and cannot be used unless there are enough in a campus bookstore stock to prevent purchasing for a period of time.
If the purpose of the writers and publishers is to help students develop a well balanced and exceptional course of study, wouldn’t they want it to be for as many as possible to benefit our society today? If publishers reduced their production costs, so that more students could afford to purchase their products, then their profit margin would remain the same while allowing more to participate in the education benefits which they purpose to pursue. Writers and publishers need to make a living too, but why not make their products affordable to the students so that college can be within the reach of more young people?
Approximately, 70 percent of high school students attend college within two years after graduation. For the other 30 percent, cost is often their main deterring factor. The percentage of students attending college is growing because of the educational requirement for most employment positions. Only the most determined middle and lower class students push forward and struggle with the cost. Many of these are often left with daunting loan repayments for years after graduation. Although the college prices may play a big factor in this fairly large number of those who never attend, perhaps appealing to the publishers is where this battle of bills should begin.
Part of the publishers reasoning has been thought to correspond with the rising secondary markets. Internet sites are booming with buying used textbooks and reselling them to students at a lower cost. To avoid the problem of a decrease in sales, publishers print Fourth, Fifth, and even Sixth editions, so that students have to purchase the newer versions. By this, they are making the value market for used books nearly zero.
Perhaps part of a publisher’s problem is in no longer being able to sell new textbooks because of the used book sales among students and the flourishing market of used bookstore companies. Their strategy then, is if they can keep putting out new editions, they will continue to make their profit. But, with the printed copies publishers sell now, they often sell their large quantity of textbooks, and that is all the profit they make until their new edition is printed and sold.
Thus, the argument for publishers could come into account that if their books are simply being cycled around, they will never make a profit and slowly go out of business. Where would our textbook industry go? Would new text books ever be published to inform us of new information?
In August, 2005, the Government Accountability Office said students could spend up to as much as $900 a year on new textbooks and supplies. This is definitely not uncommon. It is reasonable for some textbooks to be of a fairly high cost, because there is a price to pay for the graphics and even some of the information used in the material. Also, textbooks are often printed on high quality paper, whereas a common novel is printed with a lot less cost and can be printed in mass for much less.
What options do we, as college students, have? What can the teachers do about it? Students spend a majority of their time online, so why not offer electronic textbooks online or by CD? Professor Terry Lovell, at Yavapai College said, "Textbooks are 15th century technology; we need to step into the 21st century." Lovell also commented, "If we use (online textbooks) we can save up to 50 percent, and they can update as new information comes, instead of needing to replace them."
Publishers would still make a profit by charging students to gain access to internet based materials, and the cost would go down considerably for college students, because there would be the elimination of printing costs. The problem that could be foreseen, as far as profit goes, would be students sharing the access. However, realistically, students already share textbooks in an effort to save resources. Worse yet, sometimes they don’t even purchase them because of the prohibitive prices, thus losing the educational opportunity that would be provided with access to these resources. Some schools, in an effort to accommodate lower income students, purchase a library copy of certain textbooks so that students may have access. Obviously, while this is helpful, it severely limits students’ ability to study outside of the library’s hours of operation.
Bundled textbooks are the books that come in plastic wrap and have extra material included, such as CD’s and other supplemental materials. With these simple, cheap additional items, they feel they have the right to charge a large sum more. All publishers should make unbundled books an option to students and teachers, because the bonus material is often left unused.
Publishers want to make more profit and offer other materials, but if these materials are so important, they would be used more often. Teachers should have the option to purchase them separately if they decide that the materials are important to their student’s education. But, most professors admit that the bonus material is never used in their courses.
There have been many attempts to make a difference. Students have set up petitions, taken bills to be passed to state officials, sent letters to some of the publishers, but perhaps there aren’t enough students requesting that they do their best to make textbooks as inexpensive as possible without sacrificing the educational value. Also, we need to urge them to make new editions only when it is educationally necessary. Certainly it is understandable that certain new developments in science would warrant significant changes in textbooks, but is it truly necessary to reprint an entire edition of a poetry book? Does the content change so significantly?
Some teachers request new teacher’s materials, as well as updated and attention grabbing charts. By this simple request, they are causing publishers to put out new editions which in most cases are sold with a fifty percent increase from the previous edition. They edit minor things in the textbook itself and also tend to bundle some additional materials rather than coming up with the requested information that can be sold separately.
If the current trend continues, by the time babies today enter college, they will be paying three times the current rate for college tuition. Correspondingly, college textbooks will also rise to an extremely high cost. College degrees will become more important to attain for a supportive job and high school graduates will have an even higher need to complete college. If a family waits until their child reaches their freshmen year of high school to start saving for college, they will need to make and set aside $56.12 weekly to make the same amount they would if they set aside $10 a week at birth at 4% interest to accumulate $12,663.44. This, of course, will not cover the entire cost of college, but will set a good foundation for at least their first year.
In summary, it is important to find ways to make college education less expensive. There needs to be an emphasis for college textbook prices to decrease rather than increase. Education should be valued above money, and many institutions are barely breaking even to manage this standard. Publishers can make a difference, but perhaps they need a good push. Write letters, sign petitions, or even better, become a publisher or textbook author and put an end to the madness of the outrageous expenses of education.
Bibliography:
FinAid Page, LLC; Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher. (2008). Tuition Inflation; Savings Goals. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation.phtml
Kinney, D. (2007 , May 28). Parents: It’s never too early to start saving for college. Retrieved April 2008, from http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=6123
Kirst, M. W., & Venezia, A. (2003). Undermining Student Aspirations. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0203/voices0203-undermining.shtml
Longley, R. (2005, August). GAO Probes College Textbook Price Increases. Retrieved April 2008, from About.com: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/consumerawareness/a/gaobookcosts.htm
Meurer, D. (2008, March 11). Yavapai College board approves tuition increase. Retrieved April 2008, from http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=53274
The Editorial Board. (2008, April 10). Retrieved April 15, 2008, from New York Times: http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/that-textbook-costs-how-much-200/
The State PIRGs. (2005, February). Retrieved April 2008, from Make Textbooks Affordable: http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/newsroom.asp?id2=15618
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