UMM welcome picnic reinforces our love of the U!

(image from "cappex")

Had the pleasure of attending the UMM welcome picnic Monday night. The location got shifted from East Side Park to the RFC. Thus it had the feel of a wholly UMM event rather than community-centered. But that's OK. I sat alone and then a group of typically bright-appearing students sat next to me. Nothing could make me happier! And to think I once looked like them.
The food was excellent with emphasis on hamburgers and hot dogs. Lettuce and tomatoes available to complement.
The University of Minnesota is under the leadership of a new president, Joan Gabel. A headline in the Willmar paper referred to Gabel as the "first woman president" of the U. Aren't we past the time when a woman is seen as a novelty in any position? My old friend Lee Temte might say: "What is the difference between a woman doctor and a regular doctor?" Temte with his gimlet eye was responding to wording in the Morris paper.
This is unpleasant to recall, but I'm old enough to remember when there was joking derision of "women drivers."
The males have one bastion left on college campuses: the sport of football. Perhaps we can look forward to the day when UMM phases out the harmful, testosterone-infused sport and we can let soccer take over. Andrew Luck is bringing more attention to the growing awareness of football's serious hazards. Societal change takes time. I'm betting we'll see typical interest in Morris high school football this fall. The usual festive air may reign. That's unfortunate.
As always I'll be selfish and say I'm thankful my body and brain didn't get beat up in football.
 
On the "U" side of the fence
Morris has always celebrated its association with the University of Minnesota. We fought to make sure a four-year institution would stay here rather than have a community college. Willmar has the community college model, part of the "Minnesota State" system. The separate U of M and State University systems promotes some unnecessary conflict. Higher education ought to be a cohesive and efficiently-run venture. The U is renowned for its research of course. It goes well beyond undergraduate education.
We hear about UMM having a "retention" problem. Hopefully there is progress toward remedying this. We of course appreciate all the students.
The U with its solid and diversified missions appears to have a more assured future than Minnesota State. We don't want to deride our higher education cousins with Minnesota State. However, it appears our cousins are facing some stress fractures, not entirely of their own causing. There are just fewer kids out there! It's quite the contrast with my boomer generation that gave college an embarrassment of riches. And, "embarrassment" is what we caused much of the time, with irreverent behavior through the early 1970s. I was there so I know. I'm not inclined to be amused by such reflections.
 
A tough transition, yes
Today there's a pretty firm belief that the sprawling Minnesota State system is overbuilt. It was built with the needs of my generation in mind. The campuses were political plums for their regions of the state. This is a big problem with any proposed retrenchment: stepping on political toes. I concluded long ago that something akin to a "military base closing commission" would be needed. This spares the elected people the duress of having to accept an institution closing on their turf - heavens! Delegate it to a neutral body. Our overall state leaders would still have to apply their imprimatur.
The politics cannot be escaped, but the force of fiduciary responsibility will have to overcome that. The Minnesota State system is bloated, yes. The people running the system are working overtime with their brains, simply in survival mode. They'll connive in all sorts of ways to sell the status quo, to keep the sprawling system.
How might this be accomplished? Well, glad you asked, because there is a prime example. Minnesota State has decided it can address, get involved in, our Minnesota high schools to prop them up, fill gaps in performance. Which prompts the obvious question: aren't Minnesotans paying generously for our high school system as it is? As financial commentator Peter Schiff would say: isn't a high school diploma supposed to mean something? Can't we have a stand-alone high school system that gets the vast majority of kids prepared for a nice future, even if they aren't destined to be rocket scientists?
 
Put aside delusions
An underlying problem is how we talk about education in such idyllic terms. We talk about the "potential" of kids as if any one of them might become a rocket scientist. Rose-colored glasses are pleasant. How can one argue with trying to see maximum potential in all our youth? Proponents of higher education, i.e. for spending a ton of money on it, encourage the idyllic framework.
The reality? Let's trot out the old non-idealistic saying about "the majority of people live lives of quiet desperation."
Let's not misinterpret that quote to suggest we truly live our lives in glum circumstances. That is not the case, but we need frankness to confront the rosy talk of the education establishment. Oh, the gossamer wings.
A spokesman for a public school in the Twin Cities said "all graduates should be college-ready." Oh, that's patently ridiculous. A small minority of our youth are truly destined for greatness in their lives. These kids will most likely find the resources they need to reach their potential. The rest of us will end up in occupations that we'd describe as "common." There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. "Common" suggests something discouraging. It should not.
The idealistic language becomes a lever by which education bureaucrats and their brethren in the teacher unions seek more money. I remember a Morris school board member, as he weighed a particular proposal, saying to a friend in a private moment: "If you give us the money, we'll just spend it."
Minnesota State floats with gossamer wings as it seeks to insert itself in the high school scheme of things. It wants to help in "remediation." To which I'd ask: why (in hell) is such remediation needed, to such a great extent? We pay generously for our high schools and their teacher unions.
Despite the shortcomings that Minnesota State is alluding to, you won't hear high school teachers admit to any shortcomings in their work. They'll want more money. Education systems have it in their DNA to demand more money.
The Minnesota State chancellor is Devinder Malhotra. I have to slow down to type that name. Regarding the remediation need, the chancellor said we "shouldn't point fingers." Well now, that's because his system is at the ready to roll up its sleeves and get involved. How convenient. It will cost money of course.
The Star Tribune in a July 3 editorial said Malhotra and his administration - oh, that "administration" - are "smartly working with K-12 schools to meet students where they are and help them become ready for college." The jargon rolls on. It's rationale to get funds.
In the final analysis, we must tell all education systems to just make do with what they have.
Minnesota State talks about "concurrent enrollment," a buzzword that folds right in. There is an alphabet soup thing, "PSEO," that serves the same function. I could elaborate but you ought to get the drift: it's a lot of pretentious mumbo-jumbo designed to sell the status quo systems, so colleges do not have to literally be shut down.
 
High schools needing their hands held?
Our public high schools ought to be able to cut the mustard on their own, period. If not, there should be hell to pay for them. One after another we hear about outstate public schools pleading for money to address what sounds like disastrous infrastructure issues. It's very tiring. Money, money, money. A new gym here, a new gym there.
Don the gossamer wings and float into our lives, intrusively.
We are fortunate in Morris not having to deal with Minnesota State's issues. We need to totally celebrate the University of Minnesota and its new leader Gabel, no gender reference needed.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

(image from "best colleges online")