A Bathroom by Any Other Name
I’ll probably never be wealthy enough to buy naming rights to any public building. But the Susan Simpson Honorary Toilet Stall — that’s a real possibility.
It’s not a novel idea. Colorado venture capitalist Brad Feld recently made an offer the University of Colorado couldn’t flush away. He paid $25,000 to have his name on a second-floor men’s bathroom in a technology center on campus.
He’s named on a plaque with the quote “The best ideas often come at inconvenient times.”
Feld said it’s good advice. “Sometimes my best ideas have come to me while I’m in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet or taking a shower. It’s a good time to reflect.”
All-righty then. Maybe CU should install pens and note paper in each stall for recording such good ideas.
Maybe I could start my own donor profile by sponsoring rolls of toilet paper in college restrooms. Or would that be a wasted endeavor?
Tell me what you think? Have campus “sponsorships” gone too far?
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
RICE. a) grain. b) new. c) lesson. d) good deed.
I donated rice to the United Nations today and built my vocabulary at the same time, on a new Web site that’s close to magnanimous and far from plebeian.
In simpler words, the site www.freerice.com donates 20 grains of rice to the U.N. for every vocabulary word you click the correct definition for.
The site gives you harder words as you answer correctly, and simpler words when you get hung up. How was I to know that a tilth is cultivated land?
Still, I showed the site I wasn’t a blockhead, racking up 540 grains of rice.
The rice is paid for by advertisers, whose banners display at the bottom of the screen.
According to the U.N., about 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes.
And with just a few minutes a day, you can virtually donate food while developing a new bond with the English language and becoming your local vocabulary queen or fugleman.
Every word in italics, by the way, came up in my surprisingly fun and altruistic little vocab quiz.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Staff Writer
Bargain or Bust?
According to the Southern Regional Education Board, Oklahoma colleges have the 4th lowest tuition in the 16-state region.
Tuition and fees in the past academic year averaged $3,493; only Louisiana, Florida and Georgia were cheaper.
That amount is the average of all public colleges and universities in Oklahoma. Certainly, tuition at the University of Oklahoma is much higher. And it doesn’t take into account books, transportation and living expenses. If you factor all those things in, the cost of gaining a four-year degree in Oklahoma can add up to nearly $53,000, according to a recent report by State Regents.
Still, that’s a bargain, they tout, because having a college degree raises earning power so much that it pays for itself with a decade or two.
What do you think? Is tuition a bargain here? Is the pay-off worth the price? Are you still paying off your student loans — and maybe a child’s loans as well?
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com or call me at 405-475-3930.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Are you working over the semester break?
For many college students, the winter break is a month-long vacation from studying, but not from work.
Instead of hitting the beach – or Mom and Dad’s couch – they put in 40-hour weeks to earn money for tuition and books.
And with the cost of both of those rising each year, having a job is essential for some.
Will you or a family member be working over the break to help pay for college education? I want to know your stories.
Email me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com or call me at 405-475-3930.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
The way of school fundraisers
Last month a student at the new John Marshall School knocked on my door.
Did my husband or I want any candy? There’s a whole catalog of foods for us to choose from.
For more than a month now we’ve been waiting on our peanut butter cups and white chocolate covered pretzels.
Often it seems that’s the way of school fundraisers: it starts with a knock, a call or an e-mail; continues with a check; and ends in a wait for the product so long that by the time it arrives you’ve forgotten you ever ordered anything in the first place.
Do you appreciate the chance for home delivery of candy or wrapping paper and the opportunity to support your local school, or do you feel pestered being asked year after year to buy into the same thing?
Share your thoughts about school fundraisers on the forum at NewsOK.com.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Bag of cash
A bag with $165 in cash accompanied sheets of information for participants of a financial seminar for educators and businesses Wednesday.
Unfortunately, the cash was shredded.
“This money is useless to us,” state Representative Ann Coody said. “Unless we know how to use it, then it’s absolutely useless to us.”
And the same goes for the state’s youth, said Coody, who co-authored legislation that requires schools to begin teaching financial skills to students next year.
Coody and other speakers made the argument at the workshop, “Financial Education in Oklahoma: From Policy to Action,” for the need for students to understand money matters like credit card debt and taxes.
More students leave college because of financial problems than because of academic problems. Oklahomans have set record bankruptcy rates for nine out of 10 years. The state is in the top ten for greatest credit card debt per capita. Divorce — of which a leading cause is financial problems — is at an all-time high.
“Unless our children … realize that (a credit card) is not just a plastic ticket to success, then they are doomed to failure,” Coody said.
This year’s sixth-graders will be the first students to need to obtain a “passport to financial literacy” in order to graduate. Students must be taught 14 financial topics between the seventh and 12th grades.
But middle school is not too early to start.
“My daughter got her first credit card application when she was 9,” said Penny Kugler of the University of Central Missouri.
Missouri implemented a similar school program two years ago, Kugler said.
Here, the state Education Department is working on curriculum and assessment tools for educators. But it also is counting on existing programs by banks and other economic institutions to provide help, said Kerri White, director of math curriculum for the state.
Robyn Hilger with the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation also suggested schools and businesses contact local education foundations, which may already have such connections.
To take matters into your own hands, visit www.dallasfed.org/ca/wealth/index.cfm. The site has a beginner’s guide to becoming financially savvy. The “Building Wealth” program is available in English and Spanish, and in print and interactive formats.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Lives in Motion
I spent the last week at Columbia University in New York learning about the missions and challenges of community colleges across the nation.
The Hechinger Institute fellowship was an amazing opportunity to hear from college leaders, policy analysts and researchers about two-year colleges, which educate nearly one-half of our nation’s college students.
But one of the most inspirational moments took place not in the historic halls of Columbia’s Teachers College, but on the airplane ride home.
On the short flight from Dallas to Will Rogers, I met a young man named Luis. The high school senior from Boulder, Colo., was enroute to his sister’s home in Oklahoma City and then to apply for enrollment at Oklahoma City Community College.
Luis, who lives in a Colorado housing project, wants to study music and business. American Idol aside, this first-generation American has a passion for singing but knows he needs a college degree to succeed in any field.
He can’t afford the University of Colorado, but was told by a high school counselor to check into community colleges. While out-of-state tuition at OCCC is less than he’ll pay if he stays in Colorado, he hopes to qualify for financial aid as an emancipated minor.
Today, I planned to go through my notes from my week in New York and prepare a schedule of stories about community colleges. Instead I’ve been thinking about Luis and the journey he’s taking. It seems so much more momentous than anything I’ll do.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Dell-ightful donation
My last computer was a Dell. It got me through college.
This morning, 60 Dells were unveiled in a refurbished lab at the KIPP Reach College Preparatory School in Oklahoma City. Hopefully those computers will help the students get to college.
The KIPP School serves 280 fifth- through eighth-grade students in a building on NE 13.
“This computer lab truly was a community effort,” said Mautra Staley Jones, director of development and marketing for KIPP, in a press release. “From Flintco’s ceiling tiles, StapleGun’s graphics and Dell’s employees who painted the room, polished the floor and installed computers, this lab will bring a world of opportunity to the fingertips of KIPP students for years.”
In the same way the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust works to get technology into more schools, the new Dell Community Computer Lab is another example of how community establishments in the state pool their time and resources to give students more.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Staff Writer
Tax-free spree?
By all accounts, Oklahoma’s first back-to-school sales tax was a big success — for shoppers at least. (The state lost $6.4 million.)
For one weekend last month, no tax was charged on most clothing for children and adults. The event aimed to give a break to families preparing for the start of school.
Now one state lawmaker, Sen. Don Barrington, wants to expand the sales tax holiday to include school supplies. Items would include paper, notebooks, crayons and calculators. Barrington says he’ll introduce legislation to this effect next session.
While the proposal is likely to be met with enthusiasm, it also could lead to lots of questions. Would computers be included since they are pretty much essential to education today? What about text books? The average college student pays $900 a year on assigned texts, according to the General Accounting Office.
What do you think? I don’t think saving 8-cents on a box of pencils is that great a deal, but getting hundreds off the price of a laptop would get my attention. E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Can You See Clearly Now?
When I left home this morning, I told my preschooler that Mommy was getting her eyes fixed today and wouldn’t have to wear glasses anymore.
I was going to get Lasik surgery today, and was giddy with anticipation.
So giddy that I forgot to verify the appointment day and time.
It’s not until next week, I found out when I arrived at the doctor’s office.
Darn, another week of spectacles. I’ve worn contacts since middle school but to prepare for surgery, I’ve been wearing my glasses for about a month now.
Still, all good things come to those who wait, right?
Will my daughter need eyeglasses one day? She has no signs of poor vision.
But she’s got my genetics — which pretty much destines her to bad eyes and crooked teeth — both completely fixable by modern medicine.
Besides, wearing glasses isn’t a bad thing … some well-sighted celebrities wear them just to make a fashion statement.
I clearly remember the day I got my first pair. I was in second grade, I think.
On the drive home, I was astounded by a clarity of vision I’d never before known. Edges were sharper, colors were brighter, the shapes whizzing by were recognizable — at last!
But not all children are as lucky as I was to have access and money for vision care, especially those in developing countries.
The World Health Organization estimates that 153 million people have uncorrected refractive errors (near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism). Refractive errors can be easily corrected with eyeglasses, yet millions in undeveloped nations lack access to basic eye care.
That’s why Lions Club International has long served as collector of used prescription eyeglasses, which are cleaned and distributed to needy people around the world.
Go to www.lionsclubs.org to see if a chapter in your area has a drop-off site.
Also, a coworker tells me that LensCrafters stores also collect used eyeglasses to give to the less fortunate.
When I do make my donation, I’ll probably take my daughter with me, so that she sees how helping yourself can also mean helping others.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
