Archive for February 29th, 2008

29
Feb

News & Politics QotD: The Price of a College Education

   Posted by: Caprica    in family

Stanford University announced that it will eliminate its $36,000 tuition for students with annual family incomes less than $100,000. Do you think other universities will follow suit? Why or why not?

First, I ‘d like to applaud Stanford University for addressing an issue that’s only gotten worse in the past 15-20 years. I’d also like to thank them for their timing as my youngest son will graduate from high school in the class of 2010 (cool-sounding year, no?).

My son is a bright kid and if he keep his grades up and lays off the video games a bit more he’ll have this type of school knocking on our door. This isn’t wishful thinking– he’s already pre-tested as being easily in the scoring range for the Ivy League schools. Now we don’t necessarily want him to go to Stanford or Brown (who just announced tuition waivers for families making $60,000 and under) because he needs to consider several things when choosing a school including what he’ll be majoring in. At age 15 he’s thinking Aerospace Engineering. That will mean a very specific type of school like the University of Michigan or Purdue University, for example. Also, depending on the size of the academic package offered–will he stay in-state–go out of state? How far does he want to be from home? What size campus?, etc. So, lots to think about.

To answer the question, do I think other universities will follow suit? Why or why not? I’ll answer yes and no–and this is unresearched–just what I’ve picked up in follow-ups to the Stanford announcement and a little bit of information prior to it.

I think some universities will follow suit. They want to remain competitive and they can’t afford to keep shutting the middle class students out with their crazy-high tuitions. Also, students are very reluctant to go into serious debt for 10 or more years following college– during the time when they should be trying to make headway financially.

The universities that don’t follow suit may have myriad reasons for doing so. Perhaps they are smaller and cannot afford to give “free rides” to students. Perhaps they are doing great with more applicants than they can possibly take on and they are turning away droves so why would they encourage even more to apply?

I haven’t really considered this side of the equation because it’s a bit difficult to get out of the mind-set of being a parent with a child on the cusp of going to college.

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29
Feb

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer and Opinion

   Posted by: Caprica    in Entertainment, film, youtube

The teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered Thursday.

The clip opens with a map of the famed Paramount mountain underneath the Lucasfilm Ltd. logo before flashing back to the three previous installments. In Raiders, “he protected the power,” in Temple of Doom “he saved the cradle of civilization,” and in Last Crusade, “he triumphed over the armies of evil.”

“On May 22…the adventure continues” interspliced with quick shots of what appears to be the U.S. government’s enigmatic Area 51 military base in Nevada, with our hero taken captive by a group of soldiers.

Cue John Williams’ classic theme as we see the shadow of Indy picking up his beloved fedora. Cut to Indy and his new sidekick, played by Ray Winstone, surrounded by guys with guns.

The trailer then launches into various action sequences, including one set in a warehouse that bears a striking resemblance to the facility where the Lost Ark was stored at the end of Raiders, with a creaky Indy not quite capable of his usual daring-do.
The clip ends with Shia LaBeouf—rumored to be playing Indy’s son—asking the globe-trotting archaeologist: “You’re a teacher?” And Indy replies, “Part-time.” Source

I watched the teaser trailer and eh, it reminds me of the Disneyland ride, especially all that riding around in the old jeeps. That’s what you ride in on the ride as well (yes, I know they are derived from the earlier Indy movies).

I like the Disneyland Indiana Jone’s Adventure ride but it breaks down too often. The Indy music just keeps playing, though. <eyeroll> We had to walk pretty far mid-ride to get to an exit after we broke down before the ride finished. Usually though, you can’t even get on the ride. Not kidding. It’s down more than it’s up. :/

The ride was a real disappointment last time ‘cos though I’d tried to go on a couple times, it was down for maintenance each time and the last time I tried no luck, either and then we had to leave–as in catch a plane home. It was a bummer.

I hope the film isn’t a bummer and I know it may sound petty to refer to Harrison Ford’s age but hell, the guy wasn’t young even back in Star Wars. He’s a fossil now. I’m sure they had to be careful that he didn’t put himself in a situation where he could break a body part.

And it sort of cheeses me off that “Marion” (Karen Allen) from the first flick is back but it appears her only purpose is as a bridge to introduce Indy’s son (Shia Labeouf, probably).

I hope she gets some decent screen time. Have you seen her in Starman with Jeff Bridges? She’s great.

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