As the economy has suffered in recent years and college
costs have risen, high school seniors have grappled with the fallout in their
own families and channeled their feelings into an increasing number of
memorable college application essays about sacrifice, social policy and
affluence or its opposite.
In the past students wrote about summer adventures,
internships, and the like. Times have changed. The college essay like
everything else in our economy is affected by the changes going on in higher
education and the economy.
Will the colleges of the future be either the rich, highly
endowed research institutions or the for-profit, online juggernauts. Time will
tell, but it is on the way.
THE WAY
TO WIN - FORTUNE cover, "2012 Businessperson of the Year:
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO ... The Ultimate Disrupter. At meetings of his 'S-team'
of senior executives, ... before any discussion begins, members of the team ...
consume six-page printed memos in total silence for as long as 30 minutes. ...
They scribble notes in the margins while the authors of the memos wait for
Bezos and his minions to finish reading. Amazon executives call these documents
'narratives' ... Bezos says the act of communal reading guarantees the group's
undivided attention. ... 'Full sentences are harder to write [than PowerPoint
bullets] ... They have verbs. The paragraphs have topic sentences. There is no
way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear
thinking.' ... 'Jeff is a manic competitor, a delightful human being, and a
trusted supplier,' says Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, ... enduring a full-frontal
assault from Amazon's instant-view movie-streaming service. ...
"'With Steve [Jobs]'s passing , Bezos is the epitome of
the venture-backed CEO,' says Bill Gurley, [venture capitalist] and longtime
Amazon watcher ... 'If you were to ask 100 startup entrepreneurs who the CEO is
they admire most, he would show up on 95 of the ballots.' ... Bezos, like
[Jobs], has a shrewd and even ruthless side. Executives with Drugstore.com, now
owned by drug retailer Walgreen, still recall that a decade ago Amazon started
a health-and-beauty category aimed squarely at the smaller company. Never mind
that Amazon owned a significant stake in Drugstore.com at the time and that
Bezos sat on its board. Years later, in 2010, Amazon launched a full-throttle
push to market baby products to moms at the precise moment it was negotiating
to purchase the parent of Diapers.com, an act that could only drive down an
acquisition price by striking terror in the hearts of other buyers."
THE TAX BITE -- AP, using Tax Policy Center data: "The
... package ... will prevent one set of tax increases from hitting the vast
majority of Americans, but it won't stop them all. A temporary Social Security
payroll tax reduction is expiring, hitting nearly every wage earner, and income
taxes on the wealthy are going up too. How the tax increases will affect
households ... Annual income: $20,000 to $30,000 -- Average tax increase: $297
... Annual income: $30,000 to $40,000 -- Average tax increase: $445 ... Annual
income: $40,000 to $50,000 -- Average tax increase: $579 ... Annual income:
$50,000 to $75,000 -- Average tax increase: $822 ... Annual income: $75,000 to
$100,000 -- Average tax increase: $1,206 ... Annual income: $100,000 to
$200,000 -- Average tax increase: $1,784 ... Annual income: $200,000 to
$500,000 -- Average tax increase: $2,711 ... Annual income: $500,000 to $1
million -- Average tax increase: $14,812 ... Annual income: More than $1
million -- Average tax increase: $170,341."
FINE
PRINT: WHAT THE CLIFF BILL DOES - "Extends decade-old tax
cuts on incomes up to $400,000 for individuals, $450,000 for couples. Earnings
above those amounts would be taxed at a rate of 39.6 percent, up from the
current 35 percent. Extends Clinton-era caps on itemized deductions and the
phase-out of the personal exemption for individuals making more than $250,000
and couples earning more than $300,000. ... Estate tax: Estates would be taxed
at a top rate of 40 percent, with the first $5 million in value exempted for
individual estates and $10 million for family estates. In 2012, such estates
were subject to a top rate of 35 percent.
"Capital gains, dividends : Taxes on capital gains and
dividend income exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for families
would increase from 15 percent to 20 percent. ... Alternative minimum tax:
Permanently addresses the alternative minimum tax and indexes it for inflation
to prevent nearly 30 million middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers from
being hit with higher tax bills averaging almost $3,000. ... Other tax changes:
Extends for five years Obama-sought expansions of the child tax credit, the
earned income tax credit, and an up-to-$2,500 tax credit for college tuition.
Also extends for one year accelerated 'bonus' depreciation of business
investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and
development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated
electricity.
"Unemployment benefits: Extends jobless benefits for
the long-term unemployed for one year. ... Cuts in Medicare reimbursements to
doctors: Blocks a 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors for one year.
The cut is the product of an obsolete 1997 budget formula. ... Social Security
payroll tax cut: Allows a 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax first
enacted two years ago to lapse, which restores the payroll tax to 6.2 percent.
... Across-the-board cuts [sequester]: Delays for two months $109 billion worth
of across-the-board spending cuts set to start striking the Pentagon and
domestic agencies this week. Cost of $24 billion is divided between spending
cuts and new revenues from rule changes on converting traditional individual
retirement accounts into Roth IRAs."
WHAT'S
NEXT: FISCAL TRIPLE PLAY - Last week's vote did nothing to hike the
$16.4 trillion debt ceiling, which the nation hit on Dec. 31. Treasury has
begun employing its "extraordinary measures" to delay a default that
should buy about two months. This will coincide very closely with the end of
the sequester delay. Add to that the expiration of the continuing resolution
funding the government in March and you have a fiscal triple-header coming up
that could make the cliff fight look like a feeble undercard bout. The White
House says it won't negotiate over the debt ceiling. Republicans in the 113th
Congress will presumably demand big spending cuts since they did not get any this
time. Something will have to give. And markets are not likely to be as patient
this time.
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Pat
Benatar (60), Katie Couric (56), Bob Eubanks (75), Kenny Loggins (65), Charles
Osgood (80), J.K. Simmons (58).
113th
CONGRESS - "Congress ushering in new members, with old divide. The
113th Congress will convened last week at the constitutionally required time of
noon Thursday January 3... There are 12 newly elected senators - eight
Democrats, three Republicans and one independent, former Maine Gov. Angus King,
who will caucus with the Democrats. They will be joined by Rep. Tim Scott, the
first black Republican in decades, who was tapped by South Carolina Gov. Nikki
Haley to fill the remaining term of Sen. Jim DeMint. ...
"The Senate will have three Hispanics -- Democratic
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and one
of the new members, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas. There will be 20 women in the
100-member chamber, the highest number yet. ... Eighty-two freshmen join the
House -- 47 Democrats and 35 Republicans. Women will total 81 in the 435-member
body -- 62 Democrats and 19 Republicans."
SPORTS
BLINK - NFL's Black Monday - "Reid among 7 NFL coaches
sacked in firing frenzy" - AP: "Andy Reid is the winningest coach in
the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. Lovie Smith led the Chicago Bears to
the 2007 Super Bowl. Now they're looking for work. Seven coaches and five
general managers were fired Monday in a flurry of pink slips that were
delivered the day after the regular-season ended. Ken Whisenhunt is out after
helping Arizona reach the Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Also gone: Norv
Turner in San Diego, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland, Romeo Crennel in Kansas City and
Chan Gailey in Buffalo.
"Three teams made it a clean sweep, saying goodbye to
the GM along with the coach - San Diego, Cleveland, Arizona. General managers
also were fired in Jacksonville and New York, where Rex Ryan held onto his
coaching job with the Jets despite a losing record.
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL BOWL PICK OF THE WEEK – Monday January 7; 8:00 PM ET,
ESPN: BCS National Championship Game. #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(12-0) vs. #2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1). Lou Saban too much for the Irish,
the luck runs out tonight – Bama 32 Notre Dame 17. Season
to date (12-7)
COLLEGE
HOCKEY PICK OF THE WEEK – Friday January 11, 7:00 PM ET, NESN: #4
ranked New Hamsphire Wildcats (13-3-2) visit #2 ranked Boston College Eagles
(12-3-2). Jerry York has another contender, UNH will give them a test in
Chestnut Hill – BC 4 UNH 3. (Season to date (2-0)
NFL
FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday January 12, 8:00 PM
ET, Fox: Green Bay Packers (12-5) visit San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1). Another
NFC shoot out, sorry Beth E. 49ers 38 The Pack 35. Season
to date (11-7)
THE
SWAMI’S TOP PICKS – Bama 32 Irish 17, BC 4 UNH 3, S.F. 38 GB 35, Kim
Caldwell 3 Euro boyfriends on her trip. Season
to date (47-24)
DRIVING THE WEEK - Posturing over the debt
ceiling/sequester/government funding fiscal fiasco will continue, but drama
over former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel's reportedly imminent nomination to
become Defense secretary will suck up much of the D.C. political oxygen ...
NFIB small business survey at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday expected to dip slightly to
87.2 from 87.5 ... Initial jobless claims on Thursday expected to dip to
360,000 from 362,000 ... Fourth-quarter earnings season kicks into gear with
Alcoa reporting on Tuesday and Wells Fargo on Friday, among others ... Consumer
Electronics Show begins Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Next week; back to the grind.
Until Next Monday, Adios!
Claremont, CA
January 7, 2013
#III-38, 143
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