Peninsula Daily News for Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Commentary
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A7
College students learning . . . anything? THE COST OF college has skyrocketed, and a four-year degree has become an ever more essential cornerstone to a middleclass standard of living. But what are America’s Bob kids actually learning in Herbert college? For an awful lot of students, the answer appears to be not much. A provocative new book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, makes a strong case that for a large portion of the nation’s seemingly successful undergraduates, the years in college barely improve their skills in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing. Intellectual effort and academic rigor, in the minds of many of the nation’s college students, is becoming increasingly less important. According to the authors, Professors Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia:
“Many students come to college not only poorly prepared by prior schooling for highly demanding academic tasks that ideally lie in front of them, but — more troubling still — they enter college with attitudes, norms, values and behaviors that are often at odds with academic commitment.” Students are hitting the books less and partying more. Easier courses and easier majors have become more and more popular. Perhaps more now than ever, the point of the college experience is to have a good time and walk away with a valuable credential after putting in the least effort possible. What many of those students are not walking away with is something that has long been recognized as invaluable — higher order thinking and reasoning skills. They can get their degrees without putting in more of an effort because in far too many instances, the colleges and universities are not demanding more of them. The authors cite empirical work showing that the average amount of time spent studying
by college students has dropped by more than 50 percent since the early 1960s. But a lack of academic focus has not had much of an effect on grade point averages or the ability of the undergraduates to obtain their degrees. Thirty-six percent of the students said they studied alone less than five hours a week. Nevertheless, their transcripts showed a collective grade point average of 3.16. “Their GPAs are between a B and a B-plus,” said Arum, “which says to me that it’s not the students, really — they share some of the blame — but the colleges and universities have set up a system so that there are ways to navigate through it without taking difficult courses and still get the credential.” The book is based on a study, led by Arum, that followed more than 2,300 students at a broad range of schools from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2009. The study (available at www. highered.ssrc.org) showed that in their first two years of college, 45 percent of the students made no significant improvement in skills related to critical thinking, complex reasoning and
Peninsula Voices Paper or plastic? Each time I am in line at the grocery store, I hear people ask: Is plastic OK? Usually, the response from customers is yes. I feel strongly that the answer should be no for the sake of us all. First off, locally our landfill in Port Angeles is filled, so our trash is compacted and sent to Oregon. This can only increase our trash bill. Buried plastic stays intact forever. That landfill will also be filled. Even more of a detriment to us is that the plastics end up in the ocean. The fish we now consume contains PCBs, DDT and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) absorbed by the plastic floating in the sea. Jellyfish eat plastic, fish eat jellyfish — and we eat fish. Two hundred and sixty seven species of animals, including us, are affected by plastics. Even the plastics that are recycled can end up in China, where they are melted and cause air pollution here that we breathe. There is a Great Pacific Garbage Patch of plastic particles thought to be twice the size of Texas. There is a North Atlantic Garbage Patch also of the plastic debris caused by the ocean currents. Please, when asked is plastic OK say, “I prefer paper.” Or, even better yet, use the reusable bags provided by our stores. The problem is immense, but we as individuals can contribute less to this problem. Kassandra Kersting, Sequim
Legalize pot There are 17,000 prisoners incarcerated in this state, and 9.5 percent are drug offenders, according to the state Department of Corrections. At $35,000 each, it is $56.6 million per year. My calculator can’t go that high when we add in the cost to catch, hold and prosecute. If our goal wasn’t to lock ’em up and throw away the
Carbon is the world’s primary absorber of energy. It stores energy like a battery to maintain energy balance of incoming power from the sun and thus serves to equalize earthly energy consumption and storage. Climate is the energy exchanger of the Earth. It balances the ratio of in and out energy and maintains it to avoid excessive and violent energy exchanges that manifest itself in the weather. The weather is the exchanger, and when there is an excess of energy that cannot be stored or is released too quickly, the wind patterns collect and distribute that carboncarrying energy.
ACCORDING TO THE United Nations, there are far more men than women on the planet. The gender gap is especially pronounced in Asia, where there are 100 million more guys than girls. The question left open by economists is what the consequences will be of such a large surplus of young men. History offers a disquieting answer. According to the German scholar Gunnar Heinsohn, European imperial expansion after 1500 was the result of a male “youth bulge.” Japan’s imperial expansion after 1914 was the result of a similar youth bulge, Heinsohn argues. He has also linked the recent rise of Islamist extremism in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to an Islamic youth bulge. Political scientists Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer warn that China and India could be the next countries to overdose on testosterone. Peninsula Daily News sources
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The Earth has an energycarbon carrying genie, and when it releases energy too fast as is happening today, the sudden excess of carboncarrying energy will wreak havoc in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes and torrential rain and snow storms. That excessive energy release chasing itself is like a dog chasing its tail. There is no end. For millions of years, carbon has been stored primarily in plants and tiny sea animals that die and form huge deposits of coal and oil. When more of the stored energy is used in excess of carbon energy being stored,
A glut of guys
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role in the lifetime potential of America’s young people. It can leave the United States at a disadvantage in the global marketplace. But, more important, the students are cheating themselves — and being cheated — of the richer, more satisfying lives that should be the real payoff of a four-year college experience. “You have to ask what this means for a democratic society,” said Arum. “This is the portion of the population that you would expect to demonstrate civic leadership in the future, civic engagement. “They are the ones we would expect to be struggling to understand the world, to think critically about the rhetoric out there, and to make informed, reasoned decisions. “If they’re not developing their higher order skills, it means they’re not developing the attitudes and dispositions that are needed to even understand that that’s important.” ________
key, then maybe we could balance the budget, maybe even have health care or better education for our children. Treatment, not prisons, is much more cost effective. Do the math. By legalizing some drugs, then there would be no reason to jail them, no reason to pay $35,000 per prisoner, and no reason for the bad guys to sell it. The state makes money selling alcohol and gambling, why not marijuana? Bill Ellis, Sequim
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communication. After the full four years, 36 percent still had not substantially improved those skills. The development of such skills is generally thought to be the core function of a college education. The students who don’t develop them may leave college with a degree and an expanded circle of friends, but little more. Many of these young men and women are unable to communicate effectively, solve simple intellectual tasks (such as distinguishing fact from opinion), or engage in effective problem-solving. “This is a terrible disservice, not only to those students, but also to the larger society,” said Arum. “I really think it’s important to get the word out about the lack of academic rigor and intellectual engagement that’s occurring at colleges and universities today.” While there are certainly plenty of students doing very well and learning a great deal in college, this large increase in the number of students just skating by should be of enormous concern in an era in which a college education plays such a crucial
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in living plants and sea animals, particularly as more vegetation and sea life is being destroyed than carbon can be stored, the earth’s carbon battery will fail. The genie is out of the bottle. Clint Jones, Sequim
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News Department Main office: 305 W. First St., P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362 ■ Leah Leach, managing editor/news, 360-417-3531 ■ Roy Tanaka, news editor, 360-417-3539 ■ Brad LaBrie, sports editor; 360-417-3525 ■ Diane Urbani de la Paz, features editor; 360-417-3550 ■ General information: 360-417-3527 or 800-826-7714, Ext. 527 News fax: 360-417-3521 E-mail: news@peninsuladailynews.com Sequim office: 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 2 (98382) ■ Jeff Chew, Sequim/Dungeness Valley editor, 360-681-2391; jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com Port Townsend office: 1939 E. Sims Way (98368) ■ Charlie Bermant, Jefferson County reporter, 360-385-2335; charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com
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Against SHB 1366
Here are the facts about SHB 1366 (an attack on pregnancy support centers): ■ Establishes the requirement that an organiThreat to Goodwill zation list the services it does not provide. The U.S. House-approved This would be setting a budget Feb. 19 would dradangerous precedent, allowmatically impact the people ing any organization with we serve, people who need political clout to saddle its job training and placement competitors with burdenservices the most. As unemployment rises, some requirements of listing investing in those who need what they do not do. work the most can repay ■ Requires that the listsuch funds manyfold. ing of non-provided services We understand the take place in every first conHouse vote takes an estiversation whether on the mated $3.8 billion from the phone or in person. federal Department of How can the pregnancy Labor’s job training procenter possibly defend itself grams. when an accuser says that The impact on Goodwill? they weren’t told the A loss of nearly half the required list of items? $5 million we receive. ■ Exposes nonprofit, But what budget people faith-based pregnancy cendescribe as “impact,” we Fifield is the manager of ters to lawsuits even if they know by name. the Port Angeles Goodwill do exactly the right thing For example, Becky store. every time. Kuhns of Port Angeles All it takes is an allegasigned onto our Senior Com- Know your money tion, true or false, to drag munity Service Employment any pregnancy center into I’ve always been fasciProgram for older worker court and put it out of after suffering a vicious dog nated by the human attitude toward capital markets. business. attack. She now works for Please, contact your legisWhat truly amazes me the Korean Women’s Associlators and ask them to though is how dependent ation. oppose SHB 1366. many private individuals SCSEP would be cut by Ann Marie have become on their retiremore than a third — hurtHenninger, ment programs while ing many of our greatest largely neglecting to underSequim generation, who have seen stand the mechanics behind their retirement plans the cash flow sustaining Henninger is a registered destroyed as the economy their quality of life. failed. nurse.
Dave Weikel
Computer Systems Director
More than 1,000 people across our 15-county service area would lose access to critical job training resulting in severe economic impact to the community in lost wages and payroll taxes from people who are placed in jobs. The House vote comes at a time when there is an increased demand for Goodwill, which served more than 9,500 people last year and is on pace to serve 12,000 this year. More than 40 people in Clallam and Jefferson counties participate in Goodwill programs, including youth services that also faces cutbacks. The time is now to speak against these cuts — as consideration takes place through early March on a spending agreement to fund the federal government — because jobs change lives. Dianna Fifield, Port Angeles
Perhaps you’re not interested in financial markets, or maybe you don’t understand how capital flows through the system. Unfortunately, these excuses are invalid in the real world. Despite lacking interest or neglecting to understand your finances, you have a duty to do the research and understand where your money is and how it is working to sustain your life during your retirement years. Even if you’ve delegated your retirement planning to someone wearing a suit with three or four capital letters behind his or her name, you will need to think for yourself to ensure that your retirement plan (cash flow) doesn’t suddenly stop working. Scott Finch, Sequim
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