Fwd: Lets all Laugh at Greyhound

They give a bad name to real dogs everywhere. All canines. Caniforms, and, well, mammals, really. they should call themselves Granite Bus Lines for how aware they are of themselves.

Greyhound is so stupid, they don't realize 7-11 won't sell their tickets. The clerk in the store tells me they haven't for over a year.

Greyhound is so disorganized you cannot buy tickets online; they can't figure it out.

I have a hard time thinking that they actually want any customers. Their phone system has two options: neither one is specifically for buying tickets. One is for customer service, and just asks you to call a different number. An easy page to find on their website is media relations, like they expect news outlets to come show the world some sort of heinous thing that has happened there.

The really frustrating thing is that it shouldn't be this hard. There are a million air-ticket finding websites that do it third party, and Greyhound can't get it done internally? If there were any accountability, every executive in the company would have lost their job due to incompetence. I can't imagine their offices work any more effectively than the parody show starring Steve Carell of that name. Or the infamous comic by Scott Adams.

It really is laughable. And would be a great joke if I weren't trying to get places without having my own vehicle. I don't want one.

I call for the voluntary resignation of their top brass. But if they had any scruples, they would have done so already.

Higher Education

 Is it so hard to believe that there is a place in the world for government? Even in the most perfect of societies, small societies and large, there has been a government of some sort. Still, there are those against the basic idea.

What role government takes in the lives of people is a difficult issue to cover. Whether it is big, or small, is not really the point: that's too simple. There can be big, but good, governments (thought that might be hard to come by), and big clunky, corrupt governments. There can be small and effective governments (though that might be equally hard to come by), or small and ineffective governments. The devil is in the details. The real question is: are we being smart. If it is arranged well, great!

If it is not arranged well... then... well. We have a problem.

How does the current US government compare tho this idel? Is it even capable of making good decisions. One thing I agree with Stephan Molyneaux, if government isn't good, then it can't do right.

There are many problems with our government. As a million people will point out. One I find particularly damaging is that we have a handful of people who are not professionals in a discipline making decisions for that discipline as if they are experts. Just taking education and construction as examples:

Our government, our people, decided it was a great idea to hold teachers accountable. As such a banal statement, it is hard to argue with that. Sure. Hold teachers accountable. We don't want awful teachers continuing to be awful teachers into the future. What will that do to the thousand or two students who suffer under through class? But as soon as we start implementing this, we run into problems. Who, precisely, are we holding teachers accountable to? Government boards? The least trusted organization in our country? That sounds like a flaw; who's watching the watchmen? Who's holding government accountable? Right now, that answer is everyone. Otherwise known as no one. How do we hold teachers accountable? Well... we have a few thousand teachers, in a district. And a few thousand officials. No one knows 'em all.... We'll design a numerical metric!

It is amazing to me how much faith anyone can have in numerical metrics. I like math, but there are certain limitations to math. Perhaps simply because there are limits to the human imagination. How would anyone design a metrical system which would take into account every necessary variable? Then, who is going to have the patience to input all of that information? Who's going to have the intelligence to analyze that mound of data? Our school systems are swimming in data that no one has time to compute. Can anyone tell me the point of that?

Now, President Obama has a plan to implement a similarly failed plan on higher education. I'm just a little peon, and my hypothesis is echoed by many others more eloquent, but this seems a poor idea.

On the surface, it will prove the tea party right. At least to themselves. It will bolster the enemies of Obama and the Democrats: they are for big and intrusive government. It will lessen faith of the people in their government, and it will create more enemies. The only good thing about that I can think of is, perhaps, our government will finally go through a metamorphosis and no one will vote for a democrat or a republican in the next election.

Our higher educational system is highly flawed. It is increasingly necessary, and increasingly difficult to attend. It is hard to figure out, there are many poor colleges (and fake colleges) competing to get your money, but they are not competing to educate you. There's a problem with money for you. School today is prohibitively expensive and acts, often, as an efficient slave maker: go to school, accumulate debt, that requires you to get a job - any job - no matter how well it fits you, no matter if it is your interest or skills, no matter what it pays. Debt must be paid off. And now, we do not have freedom. Shucks. Modern slavery.

But what is the source of this problem? How can we fix it? Create a heavy and impossible to administer governmental rating system so that the colleges no have to compete in another artificial landscape? Just work to get high on the rating system, not service their students? If a college is rated highly because graduates come out and get high paying jobs, then it neglects the forward-minded people who realize the limitations of money and do not make that their goal in life. People doing real, and important, low-or-un-paid work. Any people who get jobs in poor-paying fields by choice. It will reward schools who train lawers. Financiers. Lobbyists, medical doctors, oil barons, politicians, old money students who could've gotten that job anyway, and other destructive, greedy, or problematic professions. Maybe the occasional athlete or big ticket entertainers. Not artists, scientists, teachers and veterinarians, activists, tradesmen... or farmers, the most important people in our society. Supplying the one thing we really cannot go without. Sure, we could create a loophole for them, but then that loophole can be exploited. It happens all of the time.

We have a systematic problem. Fixing symptoms isn't going to solve the problem. Putting a bandage on a hemorrhage is a waste of time. Drinking to forget your problems doesn't help. We need to actually fix the problem.

Just like the K-12 system, there is no one who could administer this system. The only people qualified should be disqualified due to bias.

We need to go the other way. In K-12 education, we can give power back to teachers and to local authorities such as principals and superintendents who have been involved in education for a long, long time. Personally understand its ins and outs, and know how to spot a good teacher and a bad teacher. In higher ed, we can do the same thing: give control back to the people who are actually doing the work: the professors. It is hard to take money out of the hands of those who write the checks, but cut administer pay.

As PHD Comics pointed out: School Presidents' salary is closely tied with the price of Higher education: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1291

Ah hell....

They are like those "assorted" cookies that differ from one another only in shape and shade, whereby their shrewd makers ensnare the salivating consumer in a mad Pavlovian world where, at no extra cost, variations in simple visual values influence and gradually replace flavor, which thus goes the way of talent and truth.
-- Vladimir Nabokov, "Lance," The New Yorker, February 2, 1952

Re: A story. Whaddaya think? It's based on true events.

Brrrriiing The school bell announces a new day, and teachers go about their work. They are perky in a strange way. Very artificial. They love their jobs, never doubt it, but their jobs are so hard. Draining. At once tugging them down in despair - for they love all of their students in one way or another; and also lifting them up - for many of them are getting it. Little epiphanies happen every day. Trying valiantly they educate thirty children per class with as many different family challenges and backgrounds in each classroom.

But, sadly, sometimes the work is in vain. Not every student has the same brain, shockingly. People are different. Some kids have skills hard to believe possible. Some students have precious few epiphanies. Some teachers don't have to worry about such students; but not all teachers are so lucky. And no matter what situation a teacher finds themselves in--hopeless or hopeful--they need help. Some kids just need a whole lot more help than others.

Sam is a 3rd grader with little to no motor control. He can stand and walk but in a manner reminiscent of drunken sailor Jack Sparrow. It's not an imitation: it is Sam's best gait. There are a lot of labels for his 'problem' (dyspraxia is one), which is (sort of) lucky for Sam. It means he is entitled to extra help.

Locomotion is not Sam's real problem in school. His fingers cannot hold a pencil. Yet. His teachers hold out some hope that, eventually, Sam will get the requisite dexterity But it isn't there. Yet.

Sam may not be the brightest bulb in the building.... but it's hard to tell when his body is the most obvious limiting factor. Thus, Sam qualifies for a Note Taker! An adult to follow him around, learn his capacities, help with his motor skills.... really just take notes for him in class. Sam talks, the note taker interprets and writes it down. It is a simple job. And it only requires about 5-6 hours of work a week.

The job is advertised.

.....

Joe Schmo is fresh out of college with a $20 grand debt. He's a bright chap, precocious, adventurous, still eager to learn, he enjoyed his education. But he didn't spend a lot of his time working. Instead, he went to class, did some extra-curricular stuff like psychology club and Campus Trivia. Now he has spotty, focus-less experience and an American education. That's it. Let's see if he can get a job.

For his scholastic efforts, Joe has been awarded a bachelors of arts in mathematics. He likes numbers like friends, but isn't sure he wants to pursue a master's degree. Instead, he tries to get work. He applies for some data-analyst jobs, but they invariably send him the wrong email back.

Thank you for your interest in our company. Although you are very qualified, we have decided to continue with other....

On to the next application. It gets harder and harder to write job applications. Most of the positions he is qualified for, interested in, and are 'entry level' still ask for a few years worth of experience. Usually doing exactly the work advertised. Confused as to where the starting point is supposed to be, Joe continues. But daunted. He avoids jobs asking for more than 5 years of experience, which dramatically limits the jobs he can even apply for. Even substituting education for experience, he comes up short for most positions.

He looks for more "entry level" positions, perhaps he can work up to data intern, he's not that proud. ...but he is still having hard luck.

Perhaps it is his resume, but Joe is suspecting that his lack of work experience is holding him back. His friends tell him, "It's who you know, in this world..." in a blaming way. As if there were an alternative. They are probably right. Job after job, he's having trouble. Interviews seem to go well. Joe is well dressed, smart, clean... but he cannot for the life of him get a job. Finally, a friend of the family suggests he apply for our note-taker position. She is a teacher and, hoping that this is enough of an 'who you know' to help him, he does. Education's a fine field to get into: he likes teaching math as much as anything else... If it works out, maybe he'll even pursue a teaching license.

First, he's just got to get work. Being stuck with this growing loan is annoying.

But there has to be a good chance, right? Who, with experience, would apply for a 28 hour / week * 11 $ / hr = $308/week (prorated = *3/4 per month = $231 /week * 4.35 weeks / month = ~$1004.42 / month) job? It was about half of a truly living wage ($500, rent + $100, utilities + $275, student loans + $150, groceries (underestimate) = $1,025, over budget by $21! Uh oh...) That's pretty frugal living. If anyone had even a few expenses, and any chance of getting anything better, they wouldn't apply. At least he would be competing with other kids of little-to-no-experience.

Right?

.....

Meet Jhon Valjean.

He's retired. But what with the rising costs of living -- and relatively static pension -- he would like (needs) a little cushion.

But just a little. Maybe $200 a month right now, though that need could grow to as much as $400 a month in a few years. Never can tell. It would also be nice to be doing something. Get out. Talk to people. Work his mind and body a little bit. He worked for 35 years as a licensed teacher and coach, he's not at all used to having time of his own. It is harder to figure out what to do with it than he initially thought.

An impressive portion of his work was with disadvantaged folks. He knows a lot of different problems people may have, not from a book or a lecture, but from first hand experience. He's knows truckloads of tricks to help out a thousand different personalities succeed in school. Or near succeed, at least. He may not be ready to learn! but he already knows a lot.

He casually applies for the Note Taker position.

...

Who would you hire?

Jhon Valjohn is the obvious choice. Joe Schmo might have better luck applying for a $30k a year gig than going up against Jhon. Joe hopes to move onward and upward; Jhon is happy to putter here for 10 years or so, if his health holds out and it all likelihood it will. He's only 58. Joe is going to try and keep his wage as high as he can, and might not be able to handle eventual and inevitable pay-cuts; Jhon will complain only to be social with his coworkers. Joe requires training; Jhon doesn't. Joe is untested; Jhon is seasoned. Joe knows one person obliquely; Jhon knows most of the staff already, somehow.

The problem is a problem of tense. Eventually, Joe will need a job. He is the up-and-coming workforce. If he doesn't get training now, when will he? Someday in the future, Joe will retire in earnest. He's healthy enough that he might just put in 20 more years. A whole new path. At which time, Joe might be reduced to an angry and bitter old man, still 35 years away from any kind of retirement, pretend or not, and with no work history. Being rejected by the work force when he was happiest and most trainable.

These future consequences could be dire. Especially considering that Joe Schmo is not alone. When we are in a society which utilizes a concept such as retirement, but then doesn't actually afford our seniors their retirement, we are left with an ageing and immovable workforce; and a sea of disgruntled young adults with nothing to do. And underpaying dead-end busywork for those who accept it. Designed to funnel wealth and resources into the hands of as few people as possible.

And a society adept at making bad decisions.

...

Jhon is hired, of course, and he happily works two year in the district, showing off his array of applicable and non-applicable talents. They are all entertaining and for a school that's a good thing. He makes friends, becomes a friend and role-model for his student, Sam. He is relied on. Taken for granted. A part of the family. He easily and happily takes on responsibilities not really part of the job, but easy for him to just do. Jhon really is the best choice for this role. Especially considering it is an unlivable wage for anyone making it their only wage.

Then, early in his second year here, a new school board is elected. That happens. It's a 'public' entity. A half a million people who have no idea how a school works take it upon themselves to make the decisions for the schools. They happen to elect a board who also doesn't really know what's going on inside their schools. How could that be a problem? This new board, among other things, is concerned about their image. They worry about the precedent they are setting, with a slew of retirees on their pay roll. They, to some degree, understand our tense problem. The problem of stonewalling our young-and-coming work force (even if their concern ends at the outcome of the elections, it's something). They decree that the district must have fewer retirees on their payroll. Give those entry-level jobs to the kids who need entry-level jobs!

With this new perspective, Jhon is pushed out. Regardless that Sam has only one more year until continuing on to middle school, in which case Sam's positions is dissolved anyone (who cares about middle school kids? They should have figured this out by now!). Regardless that Sam is still here and willing to do the job. Regardless that he knows the boarders of his position and knows a few hundred other students. None of it matters. He is ineligible to apply.

The whole school is upset. What will they do without Jhon? What will Sam do without Jhon? Hopefully he doesn't feel abandoned; all the explanations in the world may not dislodge that seed of sadness and distrust. Especially when he returns to find an array of his teachers gone. Some he's already used to. Support staff come in and out of the room all day and half of them change out every year. The librarian is changing again, no principal ever seems to stay for more than a month. But Jhon was his friend. Like an older brother, or another grandpa. Always there and reliable. Now torn away for his last year in elementary school.

Maybe Joe can apply again. He's been working the last year at a cafe, and part-timing at the grocery store. And while these jobs aren't very respectable. And he is not happy. They do pay a lot more than he could get from the school district. Being a Note-Taker might even be more dead-end than the either of them