This past week in a span of seventy two hours I participated
or witnessed the following on a collegiate campus (The University of La Verne):
Employer
Interview Mentoring – Our College of Business & Public
Management offers mock interviews to any student wishing to practice their
skills to obtain internships and/or full time positions. I interviewed six
students; student athletes, international students, Arts & Science majors,
Business majors, all but one are currently working a part-time job. A perfect
example of the diverse student body this University has. Yes, some need to work
on their communication and writing skills, yes some need to understand the
competition they face in the “real world” of full-time employment. But every
student is committed to their education, their family, and to be active
citizens in their communities.
Accounting
Students Year End Banquet – The Society of Accounting
Students is a mentoring, networking, community involvement organization on
campus. Every year they hold a dinner to honor students for the academic and
community achievements. I had the pleasure of sitting with a former student who
is a third year student, and a twenty one year old student who is graduating
this month who was attending the dinner with his parents and girlfriend. The
parents were so proud of their soon to be graduating son, but also they were so
impressed by this woman third year student at our table, in her mid-thirties, working
full time achieving academic honors, and at the same time raising three
children (on her own).
Student
Play “Electricidad” – After the dinner I attended our student
production of a contemporary American urban tragedy embedded in East Los
Angeles gang culture. This play draws on Sophocles’ classic Greek play
“Electra” to explore the repetitive cycle of familial love, revenge and honor
that appears throughout history from the Greeks to modern day Southern
California. The best production in the many productions I have attended over
the years. The nine cast members represented: international students from South
America and Indonesia, a former military serviceman and an adult learner,
students from East Los Angeles, Northern California, first time actors and
actors going on to careers in the theatre.
Senior
Day Softball Game – Our women’s softball team are Conference
Champions, they celebrated their season by honoring the graduating seniors
(Five) and taking two games from Chapman University. These student athletes
work full time all year raising funds for their uniforms and out of state
trips, in addition to their academic load they all work part-time jobs
and participate supporting other student organizations on campus.
Best of
The University Music Department – An annual concert performed by
students and faculty celebrating the end of the year in music: the quality and
talent of the students and faculty performers is second to none.
Not a bad seventy two hours in higher education.
COLLEGE
CHRONICLES – SIGN OF THE TIMES
– The other day I parked on one end of campus and proceeded to walk to the
other end of campus, approximately four blocks. I passed twenty to thirty
students and every one of these students were walking and looking at their
cellular phone. ABSOLUTELY no one was looking ahead and acknowledged me with a
smile or hello or even a grunt (it was 9:30 am in the morning). Our students
have lovely foreheads, hair styles and caps.
Perhaps we should offer a class in “Monotasking”?
Monotasking, the performance by an individual of one task, and only one task,
at a point in time. Monotasking can be more productive than multitasking
because it allows an individual to put all their attention and focus on the
task at hand.
I think multitasking is overrated.
PARTIAL
PROGRESS IN ATHLETE GRAD RATES: Division I athletes graduated
at slightly higher rates in 2014-15, but more teams than last year were
penalized for low completion, the National Collegiate Athletic Association said
this week. The overall Division I Academic Progress Rate ticked up one point to
979 last year, thanks in part to gains at less-wealthy schools and historically
black colleges, as well as among football and men's and women's basketball
teams. (The APR is more generous than the Federal Graduation Rate because it
doesn't count transfer students as non-graduates.) But 23 teams - including
several HBCUs such as Alabama State and Howard University - will be barred from
postseason competition in 2016-17, up from 21 last year. And 31 are subject to
additional penalties, three more than the year prior: http://on.ncaa.com/1Nlzhd3.
FIRST
DAUGHTER TO COLLEGE - The President and Mrs. Obama announced
Friday that their daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of
2017 as a member of the Class of 2021. Malia will take a gap year before
beginning school.
COMMENCEMENT
SEASON PART UNO –
University of Redlands – April 23: Jane Goodall,
Conservationist and Ethologist
University of Michigan – April 30: Michael Bloomberg, Owner
Bloomberg Media, Inc.
High Point University – May 7: Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary
of State
POTUS WEEK
AHEAD: On Tuesday, the President will honor the 2016 National
Teacher of the Year and finalists at the White House, thanking them for their
hard work and dedication each and every day in the classroom. On Wednesday, the
President will travel to Flint, Michigan to the hear first-hand from Flint
residents about the public health crisis, receive an in-person briefing on the
federal efforts in place to help respond to the needs of the people of Flint,
and deliver remarks to community members. ... In the evening, the President
will deliver remarks at the Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional
Studies 22nd annual awards gala dinner.
On Thursday, the President will host a Cinco de Mayo
reception at the White House. In the afternoon, the President will be joined by
the Vice President, First Lady and Dr. Biden to kick off the 5th anniversary of
Joining Forces and the 75th anniversary of the USO. The event, A Celebration of
Service, will include nearly 1,500 service members and their families. ... On
Saturday, the President will deliver the commencement address to the 2016
graduating class of Howard University in Washington, D.C. As one of the
nation's top Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Howard University is
recognized for its rigorous education and legacy of building lasting bridges of
opportunity for young people.
APPLE
DISAPPOINTS - From the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad,
Apple created more than a decade's worth of new gadgets to fuel its historic
growth. But the technology company's dazzling 13-year run of quarterly revenue
growth ended on Tuesday - a casualty of Apple's already immense size, weakness
in key global markets like China and the lack of another hot product to pry
open the wallets of customers. Apple ... said ... that revenue for its second
fiscal quarter ... declined 13 percent to $50.6 billion as sales of its
flagship product, the iPhone, fell, with little else to take its place.
Nearly half of the smartphones sold in the United States are
iPhones, and Apple may be reaching the saturation point among potential
customers in other developed countries. Rival smartphone makers using Google's
Android operating system continue to challenge the company with powerful, less
expensive devices. Over all, Apple sold 16 percent fewer iPhones in the quarter
compared with the same quarter last year.
CARL
CANS APPLE – Carl Icahn: We're out of Apple, and it's China's
fault," via CNBC: "Billionaire investor Carl Icahn told CNBC on
Thursday he has sold his Apple position as the tech giant's stock continues to
shed value after disappointing earnings. 'We no longer have a position in
Apple,' Icahn told CNBC's 'Power Lunch,' noting Apple is a 'great company' and
CEO Tim Cook is 'doing a great job. Chief executive Tim Cook is probably one of
the most competent operations executives in the industry but is clearly not a
technology visionary. Apple needs another Steve Jobs to reinvent itself
otherwise it will join the ranks of HP and Compaq.
GOOD
READ
- DAVID BROOKS, "If Not Trump, What? How to heal a crisis of
solidarity": "The leaders of the Republican Party are ... going down
meekly and hoping for a quiet convention. They seem blithely unaware that this
is a Joe McCarthy moment. People will be judged by where they stood at this
time. Those who walked with Trump will be tainted forever after for the
degradation of standards and the general election slaughter.
"The better course for all of us - Republican, Democrat
and independent - is to step back and take the long view, and to begin building
for that. This election - not only the Trump phenomenon but the rise of Bernie
Sanders, also - has reminded us how much pain there is in this country.
According to a Pew Research poll, 75 percent of Trump voters say that life has
gotten worse for people like them over the last half century.
"This declinism intertwines with other horrible social
statistics. The suicide rate has surged to a 30-year high - a sure sign of
rampant social isolation. A record number of Americans believe the American
dream is out of reach. And for millennials, social trust is at historic lows.
Trump's success grew out of that pain, but he is not the right response to it.
...
"We'll probably need a new national story. Up until
now, America's story has been some version of the rags-to-riches story ... I
don't know what the new national story will be, but maybe it will be less
individualistic and more redemptive. ... We'll probably need a new definition
of masculinity, too. ... The traditional masculine ideal isn't working anymore.
It leads to high dropout rates, high incarceration rates, low labor force
participation rates. This is an economy that rewards emotional connection and
verbal expressiveness. ...
"We'll also need to rebuild the sense that we're all in
this together. ... Maybe the task is to build a ladder of hope. ... Trump will
have his gruesome moment. The time is best spent elsewhere, meeting the
neighbors who have become strangers, and listening to what they have to
say."
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Chris Krich …famous
mentor, Cloris Leachman (90) Malibu, CA; Willie
Nelson (83) Austin, TX.
CHINESE
INVESTMENT IN U.S. SOARS - Chinese investment in the US hit a
record $15bn last year and is set to reach twice that this year despite calls
for greater scrutiny and growing political sensitivities in Washington,
according to a new report. ... The study by the National Committee on US-China
Relations and the Rhodium Group, which tracks foreign direct investment in the
US, is an attempt to promote China's growing role as an investor in the US.
The committee, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this
year, hosted the Chinese table tennis team for a visit to the US in 1972 that
formed part of the 'ping-pong diplomacy' that led to the restoration of
diplomatic and trade relations with China under President Richard Nixon. ... At
the end of 2015, more than 1,900 Chinese-affiliated companies were operating in
the US across more than 80 per cent of its congressional districts and
employing some 90,000 people, according to the report.
CHINA
GROWTH SLOWEST IN SEVEN YEARS - China's economy grew 6.7
percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, meeting expectations and at
its slowest pace in seven years, although other indicators show the slowdown in
the world's second largest economy may be bottoming out. .. Analysts had
expected gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 6.7 percent, easing slightly from
6.8 percent in the fourth quarter and marking the slowest rate of growth since
the first quarter of 2009, when growth tumbled to 6.2 percent.
China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, its weakest rate
in a quarter of a century. Analysts expect the economy will lose more momentum
this year, forecasting growth will cool to 6.5 percent even if Beijing ramps up
fiscal spending and cuts interest rates again.
THE
FIFTH ESTATE - L.A. Times owner wins auction for The Orange
County Register, Press-Enterprise at $56 million: After a marathon, contentious
auction that started Wednesday morning and went deep into the evening, Tribune
said its $56 million cash bid was the winner over Digital First Media,
publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News and Long Beach-Press-Telegram, and an
investor group headed by Rich Mirman, CEO of Freedom Communications, owner of
the Register and Press-Enterprise.
STATE
OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS - What The Numbers Tell Us: The music industry
is now a digital business, deriving more than 70% of its revenues from a wide array
of digital platforms and formats. ... In 2015, digital music subscription
services reached new all-time highs, generating more than $1 billion in
revenues for the first time, and averaging nearly 11 million paid subscriptions
for the year. ... The consumption of music is skyrocketing, but revenues for
creators have not kept pace. In 2015, fans listened to hundreds of billions of
audio and video music streams through on-demand ad-supported digital services
like YouTube, but revenues from such services have been meager-far less than
other kinds of music services.
LAKE
WOBEGON, A new "Prairie Home Companion - The popular public
radio variety show ... is set for some changes as ... Garrison Keillor prepares
to retire and mandolin ace Chris Thile of the bands Punch Brothers and Nickel
Creek gets ready to step in as its new host.
THE MAP -- Clinton
allies quietly shape general-election map: By hoarding ad space in battleground
states, they hope to keep Republicans on defense, no matter who is their
nominee: The 2016 electoral map being drawn by pro-Clinton forces, according to
ad reservations and interviews with high-level strategists and pollsters on
both sides of the aisle, begins with a core group of familiar presidential
swing states at the center of the fight - Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Nevada,
Iowa, Virginia, and Colorado - with roughly a half-dozen other states on the
periphery.
Those other states - which include Wisconsin, New Mexico,
Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all perceived to be leaning toward the Democrats,
and North Carolina, where the GOP is likely to begin with an edge - are thought
to be competitive, though not yet at the point where they stand likely to flip
their 2012 presidential vote in November. ... Clinton's allies are for now
putting their money on the traditional battlegrounds - not the rust-belt states
where Trump insists he can steal Democratic votes, or traditionally red, but
diverse, states like Arizona and Georgia where Clinton's allies say she'd have
a better shot with Trump as the GOP standard-bearer.
HOW
STUDENTS MIGHT VOTE: As the 2016 candidates look for ways to woo
young people, Tufts University's National Study of Learning, Voting and
Engagement is out with a new analysis of how 7.4 million college students voted
- or didn't - in 2012. Only 45 percent of eligible student voters cast a ballot
when President Barack Obama was re-elected, and those who were eligible to
weigh in for the first time voted at an even lower rate of 40 percent. Women
and black students voted at the highest rates (48 percent and 55 percent,
respectively), and many voted absentee, early or by mail.
- "While college students are voting in higher numbers
than young people overall, these data show that there is still significant
potential to increase voting and political learning on campuses, particularly
with regard to first-time voters," says Nancy Thomas, director of Tufts'
Institute for Democracy & Higher Education. "In 2016, universities can
and must do more to build the type of campus climates that not only reduce
barriers to voting, but increase students' motivation to participate."
SPORTS
BLINK -- Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Savannah Guthrie to Host
the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics Friday, Aug. 5 on NBC: From the Parade
of Nations to the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, Matt, Meredith and Savannah
will guide viewers through the spectacle and pageantry that only occurs when
the world comes together at the Olympic Games. Rio 2016 will be Lauer's 11th
Olympics for TODAY, and his fifth in a role on the primetime Opening Ceremony
broadcast. Vieira works her third Opening Ceremony for NBC. Guthrie, in her
third Olympics for TODAY, makes her NBC Olympics debut in Rio.
THE SWAMI’S
WEEK TOP PICKS –
Major League Baseball Game of the Week: Saturday May 7, 2:10
pm ET; Fox – Washington Nationals (17-7) at Chicago Cubs (17-6), two hottest
teams in baseball at Wrigley, Cubbies win 5
– 3.
Season
to date (43 -23)
DRIVING THE WEEK
Next
week: Another try at do you have a Darth Vader at
your work? Credit line and words of the month.
Until Next Monday, Adios.
Claremont, CA
May 2, 2016
#VI-40-302
CARTOON
OF THE WEEK –Shannon
Wheeler, The New Yorker
No comments:
Post a Comment