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The Surging Price of a Great Undergrad Education

NYTimes article

How much is your son's or daughter's future college education worth? Would you spend $10,000 to help improve his/her chances at attending a great school? Versus a fair school? Would you spend $50,000? $100,000?

It scares me to think about how much money I need to pay to get my son a great education. Scares me to the point that I can barely sleep at night anymore.

I really need to get a second job. And even perhaps a third paying job. I mean - really; how many hours of sleep do I really need to get everyday? 4? 5?

Need to Go Back to School

I feel that I am no longer learning and need to head back to the classroom. With the world advancing each day, each person on this planet continuously needs to strive for more knowledge. Lifelong learning is essential to happiness. I would love nothing more than to head to law school when I am in my early 50s. Perhaps, my dream may come true one day.

Logic 100

I remember my introductory logic class during my undergraduate studies. The philosophy professor made a very simple statement: if your argument is not logical, it is therefore illogical.

Yahoo News: Bush using Straw-Man Arguments in Speeches

Let's pray that the GOP can find new speechwriters for the President before the GOP get their royal butts trounced in the mid-term elections.

Language Dissected

Getting back to my linguistics training, I came across this often used phrase: "Don't worry about it." This phrase is tossed around so often among friends, colleagues and family members. So what does it actually mean? Does the situation dictate how one should 'interpret' the statement? Is the entire meaning based on the level of social interaction between the speaker and listener? Dunno. After pondering the meaning, here is what I have come up with: "Don't worry about it." = "None of your business."

What upgrades are you planning for yourself this year???

As another year ends and another one is about to begin I find myself at that familiar fork in the road: should I do more knowledge upgrades or put it off for another year? Year 2004 is the year I had hoped to begin preparing for the CFA Level I examination. AIMR offers the exam twice a year: June and December. I was thinking about writing the test in December '04 but might postpone it now. No, I am not procrastinating. My decision to postpone it has more to do with the dates when I can write Level II and Level III. You see, the next two levels can only be written in the month of June. No December examinations possible. So, if I sit the exam in December, I only have 6 months to prepare for the next level - that is if I pass the first level. What I might do is use 2004 to brush up on my financial accounting skills and portfolio management subjects. I am sure much has changed in the field of portfolio management since I completed my master's degree. The AIMR Candidate Body of Knowledge booklet sure helps out a lot. Guess I will begin with reviewing what I know, don't know, kinda know but have since forgotten.

University Essay Marked

I got back my university essay for my corporate strategy class this past week. All I can say is that the marker(s) have no place working for a higher institution of learning. The marker's comments on the essay were not only unprofessional but downright 'insulting'. Once I get my final marks, I am going to send off a letter of complaint to the university president. I have never read such trash ever from a marker. I wonder what the person's problem was and what his agenda is. I really think that people who wish to enter the world of academia should learn how to teach and write constructive comments on essays. If I want to read 'shit and garbage', I'll pick up a daily gossip magazine.

Executive Education Classes

Trying to plan out the next few years of my 'knowledge upgrades'. I plan on taking at least one executive education class each year for the next five years. I feel that I am allowing all those young rugrats to catch up to me and possibly surpass me if I don't get more 'brain food'. Next year, I might enroll in a Columbia Business School program they are offering here in Tokyo. Rather than packing a week's worth of luggage and hopping on a plane for NY, the course here saves a bunch of cash - cash is what I love saving not spending.

I've been looking at some of the week-long courses out of HBS and Stanford but worry that my bosses will not release me from my work commitments for a week or longer. Also, HBS asks that attendees be at or near the CEO level for many of their courses. Shit - oops, excuse my language, if I were near the CEO level, I wouldn't be needing their HBS courses now, would I??? Stanford sounds much cooler as I guess I fit more into the west coast way of thinking if you know what I mean. I grew up in the 70s and can't remember a single thing of my undergraduate years as a psychology major. Add to that fact I was a bartender for many years. I guess HBS might not want to accept a 'radical' like me into their school. I might upset the 'Force'. Chicago might be nice but I worry about all the guns and flying bullets in the city. Am I being 'overly paranoid' here?