Infographic Time

The Consumerist has this interesting infographic about how we will all be enslaved by government backed student loans. Remember that you can rarely ever discharge those things, no matter how much the University of Phoenix rep laid it on you.

Update: Time to double the infographic goodness with this comparison of the CPI, housing prices, and tuition prices.

Michigan, MSU Study Reveals (Drum Roll Please) Vending Machines in Schools Bad for Students' Health

In a study reported today in the LA Times, vending machines in schools contribute to poor diets by students. While this is no big surprise, it is interesting to note that having vending machines in schools adds over 250 calories in junk food to the diets of people who buy them, which are empty calories.

University of Michigan Welcomes New Students

New Student Convocation was held yesterday in Crisler Arena. Many Michigan students remember attending this when they were entering Freshman. There are always University officials on hand to tell new students that they are officially the greatest class ever to enter the school. However, the article in annarbor.com gets one thing wrong: there were not six thousand students accepted, that was actually the size of the total entering class. There were actually more like sixteen thousand students accepted to fill about six thousand spots.

University of Michigan International Institute Receives Major Grants

The University of Michigan International Institute has received $16 million to fund international programs, as well as foreign language study and international business. This funding will also fund graduate and undergraduate study abroad.

The money was given to seven centers at the university, which were: he East Asia National Resource Center; the Center for International Business Education; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies; Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Center for South Asian Studies; and Center for Southeast Asian Studies. This is part of UM's ongoing effort to improve its international programs.

Michigan Researcher Claims 74 MPG by 2035 is Highly Possible

According to an article in hybridcars.com today, John DeCicco of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan claims that an average fleet fuel economy of 74 MPG is highly possible by 2035, and would not involve plug-in hybrids. Instead, he claims that significant improvements can be made to combustion engines as well as the introduction of non-plug-in hybrids. While trendy and receiving support from lawmakers, plug-in hybrids are not nearly as cost-effective as existing technologies, and have limitations that make them less desirable to American consumers, whereas in DeCicco's scenario, "creature comforts" would be maintained. The article also links to the study.

Big Ten Divisions to be Announced Tonight at Seven

According to an article today on ESPN, Big Ten football divisions will be announced tonight at 7 PM on the Big Ten Network. The projected divisions are as follows:

1. Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota

2. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois

Michigan and Ohio State will be in separate divisions, but will play every year in a protected crossover. It is also looking like they will continue playing the last game of the season.

Michigan President States Support for Entrepeneurship

An article today in annarbor.com, is about an article by Mary Sue Coleman of the University of Michigan in Forbes Magazine.

Besides the irony of writing an article about an article about an article, there are some interesting things to note. Basically, Coleman says that much of the current innovation in this day and age comes from college students, but not just students at the business school. Instead, she says, innovation comes from many places, and talks about the things University of Michigan is doing to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Coleman is also the co-chair of National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Is Four Years of College Worth the Trouble?

If you paid attention to your high school counselors, you are now thinking that your current college education track is the only thing standing between you and a career in retail. Realistically we all know that college is not for everyone and that most of the people who start college will drop out at some point. So why are we pushing so many people into a liberal arts track education system and why aren't we promoting certification in the various trades?

There are numerous community colleges around the country -- each offering certification and associate's degrees in over 100 different fields of training. If you paid any attention to my article a few weeks ago on graduation rates, you have to wonder whether some of these dropouts could have better been served by academic counseling pushing them toward programs like culinary arts, welding, or paralegal training. The short training time and less stringent requirements of these programs are often suited to students who are not academically inclined and working full time.

High schools are not often helping the situation either. The new mantra of everyone obtaining a college education is hurting those that could benefit from education in a skilled trade. Instead these students and being shuffled off to universities where they will likely spend a few mediocre semesters before finally dropping out. Jaded over what they see as a pointless endeavor, these former students will now spend years working menial jobs in an attempt to pay off thousands in student loan debt.

Paying for Internships

In an interesting article in the Washington Post, they discuss the rapidly growing practice of not only not being paid to work, but in fact paying to work. This practice has apparently been growing in recent years as more and more students are looking for a static number of internships. These placement firms often provide housing and some services, as well as promising connections and coveted jobs. However, all this comes for a fee, and there are many downsides to it. There have been accusations that many firms do not do the proper research on employers or accommodations, and are really just there to take students' money.

However, many students do participate in these programs voluntarily. The article interviews a University of Michigan student who participated in one of these programs, and even though she is not receiving college credit for her internship, and had to pay for it, she feels it was worth it for the experience. But is this right? Many interns do provide tangible benefits for firms that they work for, and often do the work that more experienced people will not do. They are already usually not paid for this work, but is it right that they should also pay for this experience?

An Argument for and Against Centralization

In an opinion article in the Flint Journal today, the editorial board lays out the case for centralization of Michigan's universities and community colleges. While they do make some interesting points, especially about the need in the state for college graduates, their reasoning is not without flaws.

For example, different colleges in Michigan need different things, and centralization could diminish the ability of colleges to make the best decisions for themselves. The University of Michigan has a large out-of-state student population, which it needs to pay the bills. Michigan State is also doing all it can to attract out-of-state as well as international students. These goals could be in conflict with the broader goal the state has of trying to educate as many Michiganders as possible. They point to Ohio as a good example of a state that is centralizing its education, but the thing to remember is that most Ohio public colleges already educate mostly Ohioans.

Centralization could also lead to the worst of all possible worlds, in the sense that U of M and MSU could start having to accept more in-state students to appease lawmakers, but not receive more money from the state, which would lead to less operating money for those schools, and could mean decreased education quality. It would effectively hamstring those schools, and many Michigan residents would be better served by going to more local schools, such as Western, Eastern, Central, etc.

Perhaps a better solution to the education problem would be to add to the number of public colleges in Michigan, since it has been a long time since that has happened, or maybe streamline all other universities but MSU and UM, and let them operate independently, because they are in a unique situations in the state.