Random Tidings

• If you go to the pacific northwest, and don't eat salmon everyday, then you lost. The trees up here are absolutely gorgeous and slightly make up for the cross-country flight to get out here.
• There is a very unpleasant article out that talks about the reality of the college entrance process. The article (from this months Atlantic Monthly - The one with A.Q. Khan on the cover), is made even more unsettling becasue my beloved alma mater is name checked negatively (along with Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Tulane, USC, Boston College, and some other schools). Its part of a multi-article system that looks at our countries committment to college education and the reality of the competitive process that schools go to get wealthy kids (does hyper-capitalism ever sleep in this country, damn!). The transition from grants to loans is part of the story, but the evolution of the enrollment process is really a must read. Check it out if you can. The whole article isn't available online (unfortunately), but it describes the process of financial-aid leveraging in which universities who recognize the power that aid packages can have in the selection process, admit low-income students but make the financial aid packages so unappealing, that prospectives have no choice but to pass. From the article, "At its worst enrollment management employs a host of ugly tactics to deter low-income students and to extract as much money as possible from each entering class." The strategy is designed to save more slots for wealthy, high-scoring students by effectively offering them tuition discounts.
• As Hurricane Wilma starts to make land fall, I start to wonder. Why would you live in Florida? I hope that some of you saw this fool in the ocean two hours before landfall. Classic.