Back to school

It’s been quite a week. Between the Barr hearing, Dr. Stella, and mystery seeds from China, well, there’s never a dull moment. The much-publicized and broadcast, four-hour hearing of Attorney General Bill Barr looked more like a Stalinist kangaroo court than what should be a product of our system of government, but those are the times we live in. The one bright spot for me was a video presentation offered by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio that, borrowing from the John Stewart playbook, presented a montage of “peaceful protesters” in Portland burning, looting, defacing, and flinging projectiles. One peaceful protester, in particular, was my personal favorite. He had the forethought to bring a Sawzall to the peaceful protest to help breach the wrought iron fence at the courthouse. That’s class.

Dr. Stella was one of several white-coated MD-types who spoke up in favor of the Hydroxychloroquine cocktail in a presser this week and was quite animated in her recommendations. She reputedly has taken a few other unconventional positions along the way that have made her an easy target for detractors, but Dr. Stella cracks me up. She’s a reality show waiting to happen. The larger story is that we are so divided that even medical treatment is being politicized. That’s a shame.

The seed story is also attractive. People in several states report having received unsolicited seeds packages that appear to have originated in China. Public health officials have issued press releases advising folks not to open them, and not to send them to the landfill, out of concerns they might have been sent to introduce an invasive species. Word has it that they have been received in the UK as well, and we should indeed be careful. The conspiracy theories on where and from whom they originate are dangerously alluring, although one source reports that it may be something as innocuous as a scheme to boost search engine standings. We shall see.

What really caught my interest this week was that while McCook schools are currently poised to resume classes on Au. 18 (with considerable precautions), there are a number of school systems in more densely populated areas that have announced plans for online classes only through the end of the year. I, by no means wish that for our schools or any others. I look forward to further resumption of normal activities, and schools are a vital part of that equation.

Having said as much, there is a reinvention, perhaps even a reimagination of education taking place at the secondary and post-secondary levels that is hard to ignore. Distance learning, it seems, doesn’t work so well for the little tykes, but for young adults and life-long learners it can not only radically change accessibility to education, but it might also help ease the price of education that is on the minds of both politicians and voters during this election year. Moreover, it can also increase the accessibility of instructors and if overhead is lowered, then smaller class sizes can accommodate more specialization of subject matter. It’s a win-win scenario all around.

That’s not to say that the on-campus experience does not have a special value. It absolutely does. Socialization, extra-curricular activities, a first experience away from home and a convergence of diverse cultures and nationalities is a fantastic experience. Unfortunately, history has taken us down a road where group activities might be somewhat limited for a while.

The cost equation, it seems, is an even larger issue. With current student loan debt at approximately $1.7 trillion and a substantial number of students without sufficient employment to meet the debt, the implications are significant. It has turned many individuals against academia and sent them into the arms of vocational education. That’s fine. We need people to fill those jobs too, but college is still the right way to go for some folks and we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Even people who hate government programs recognize that the GI bill of post-World War II changed lives and helped drive the prosperity of the 1950s. It’s no wonder that politicians would seek to reproduce that success. The problem with the current government-guaranteed student loans is that it removed the banker’s watchful eye from the progress of the student. If you had to go to a banker for a student loan, they would pull out a chart that shows engineers are more able to pay back loans than art history majors. With the government?

No such guidance. Government loans also offer generous allowances for living expenses to cover room and board, but it has also purchased a few cars with fancy hubcaps.

We were reminded in the housing bubble of 2008 that when there is too much easy money in the system, stuff can go terribly wrong. The student loan issue doesn’t have an investment market driving it as 2008 did, but the inflationary pressures are significant. Where does the money go?

Well, when I lived on campus, I shared a dorm room not much bigger than a nice walk-in closet and used a bathroom that resembled a high school locker room at the end of the hall. I ate my meals in a cafeteria that was straight out of Cool-Hand Luke. My son, on the other hand, shares a four-bedroom, two-bath suite with a kitchenette and living room and takes his meals in a food court that would rival that in any suburban mall.

Online education is a classic example of a disruptive business model, but there is clearly a place for it in our future. It can be every bit as academically challenging as brick-and-mortar classes and if priced correctly, much more affordable. We will never forget the lessons of 2020. Let’s not forget the lessons of 2008 either.