Who is on "our" side?

[Don Dresden]

Now I hate Diploma Mills. And I do mean mills in the sense of bogus schools which require nothing more than a credit card number to graduate. But in my line of work I have seen people put all kinds of crap on their resumes, including certifications which are not even real, membership in professional organizations I never heard of and employment at places which are not even in business. Employers need to be smart otherwise its their fault.

I hate grape soda.  But some people love grape soda.  Should the government decide what kind of beverages we can drink?  Well, in government schools they are: Soda Ban

The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Under the agreement, the companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.

But wait, milk has something for everybody, and for me it's diarrhea.  It gives lots of other people diarrhea too.  Shouldn't the government protect the rights of all us thirsty-but-diarrhea-prone beverage drinkers and ban milk also?  

Well obviously if I don't want milk all I need to do is not drink it.  If I don't like grape soda nobody is forcing me to drink it.  If you like milk and grape soda it's your problem.  Why should the government care?

And (finally, the point) if we hate diploma mills, we don't need to buy their products.  If there are professions such as engineering and medicine where the quality of the education received is crucial to public health, we can set standards, administer qualifying tests and institute licensing programs.  Oh wait, we already have standards, tests and licensing for those professions, don't we?  If having an accredited degree is necessary to receive a raise, we can contact the registrar to verify the degree and take ten seconds to look up the school's accreditation on the internet before we approve the raise.  

These are simple problems with simple solutions.  The government acting in loco parentis creates more problems than it solves.  

But the issue isn't really about protecting innocent degree buyers from crafty deceivers.  Diploma mill degree buyers know exactly what they are and aren't getting.  Nobody is being deceived.  So who is the government really protecting here?  It's the wealthy higher education cartel, and their multi-billion dollar endowments.  They aren't content to simply limit the entry of competitors into the free market, but want to incarcerate anyone who dares to circumvent their rigged system.

So I say save your "hate" for the true villians, those who would deny us free choice in education and who would shove their socialist, anti-Christian orthodoxy down our throats like so much grape soda.

[Virtual Bison]

I hate grape soda.  But some people love grape soda.  Should the government decide what kind of beverages we can drink?  Well, in government schools they are: Soda Ban

The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Under the agreement, the companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.

But wait, milk has something for everybody, and for me it's diarrhea.  It gives lots of other people diarrhea too.  Shouldn't the government protect the rights of all us thirsty-but-diarrhea-prone beverage drinkers and ban milk also?  

Well obviously if I don't want milk all I need to do is not drink it.  If I don't like grape soda nobody is forcing me to drink it.  If you like milk and grape soda it's your problem.  Why should the government care?

And (finally, the point) if we hate diploma mills, we don't need to buy their products.  If there are professions such as engineering and medicine where the quality of the education received is crucial to public health, we can set standards, administer qualifying tests and institute licensing programs.  Oh wait, we already have standards, tests and licensing for those professions, don't we?  If having an accredited degree is necessary to receive a raise, we can contact the registrar to verify the degree and take ten seconds to look up the school's accreditation on the internet before we approve the raise.  

These are simple problems with simple solutions.  The government acting in loco parentis creates more problems than it solves.  

But the issue isn't really about protecting innocent degree buyers from crafty deceivers.  Diploma mill degree buyers know exactly what they are and aren't getting.  Nobody is being deceived.  So who is the government really protecting here?  It's the wealthy higher education cartel, and their multi-billion dollar endowments.  They aren't content to simply limit the entry of competitors into the free market, but want to incarcerate anyone who dares to circumvent their rigged system.

So I say save your "hate" for the true villians, those who would deny us free choice in education and who would shove their socialist, anti-Christian orthodoxy down our throats like so much grape soda.

I have no argument with anything you say.

This is off topic but the consumption of carbonated soft drinks in industrialized countries, and in the US in particular is really quite alarming. It may very well contribute to high levels of obesity, especially in young people, as well as obesity related illnesses like Diabetes, Cardio-vascular diseases, and cancer. I myself avoid them like the plague.

Milk, and other dairy products contine bovine grown hormones, which are fed to dairy cattle. My advice to anyone who really must consume milk is to look for organic dairy products. You pay more but its a lot better for you. Incidently, it may because of toxic milk that children, particularly young girls reach sexual maturity at an earlier age.

But like you, I am not saying government should ban anything. Just that people need to be aware of what they are buying and eating.

Crappy schools exist. Some are accredited and some are not. I am considering furthering my education at DeVry but I may save some money and go to Walden U. Thats my choice. Now there are some unacredited schools. I consider it risky to deal with Unacredited schools like Breyer State University but still that should be someone's responsibility to check it out and see what employers will hire a graduate from there. Using government bureaucracy to say what school is Kosher and what is not is really not right.

[Virtual Bison]

On this very board I came across two recent posts about what I am talking about...


http://www.dltruth.com/showthread.php?ti...09#pid5109
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/14/forum
Above is a description of Lumina Foundation and the American Public University Systems speaking out against the attempt by (in my opinion) nefarious interests to over regulate and discriminate against online degree granting institutions.

http://www.dltruth.com/showthread.php?ti...10#pid5110
Now here is a consumer group blasting a bill which would obviously discriminate against non-accredited institutions.

Again this is not about obvious diploma mills (which I define as fake schools which send degrees and diplomas to people for money and no work whatsoever), but unacredited institutions.

[Jenna555]

If you support more local schools in your area and push for e-learning opportunities to be added as a degree option for students, then it starts the e-learning cycle to be emphasized even more than before.

Hope this helps!

[Geoff Vankirk]

If you support more local schools in your area and push for e-learning opportunities to be added as a degree option for students, then it starts the e-learning cycle to be emphasized even more than before.

Hope this helps!

It doesn't but thanks for the effort.

[Virtual Bison]

If you support more local schools in your area and push for e-learning opportunities to be added as a degree option for students, then it starts the e-learning cycle to be emphasized even more than before.

Hope this helps!

Actually Jenna, I think eLearning is the wave of the future. My own daughter is at a school in which every student gets a laptop and has the option of completing assignments online. She is very tech savy and can even fix most computer problems on her own.

Unfortunately schools like hers are rare.