Economic Crisis Providing AmeriKa's Youth an Education
"Suddenly, economics is popular discipline" by Associated Press | November 23, 2008
NEW YORK - Stocks are down, down, down. But student interest in economics appears to be trending upward.
The financial crisis has made the subject more relevant and immediate to many high school and college students, and they are suddenly paying closer attention in class.
"Now we can actually see the examples while they happen, instead of relying on history. It's been the most engaging class ever," said New York University junior George Schwartz, who dropped macroeconomics the first time he took it, but is so fascinated this time that he has decided to major in economics. Instructors are delighted by the opportunity to use the dramatic events on Wall Street to explain concepts students might otherwise find dry, such as liquidity and Federal Reserve monetary policy.
"It is a great time to be in this business," said Jonathan Peters, a College of Staten Island professor. "It's a tremendous opportunity. It's a teachable moment. It's a chance to explain these topics in a very direct way." Instead of simply discussing the theory surrounding a recession, Peters can show students a real one, step by step. While usually he has to fight to convince them that regulation is useful, that has become very easy nowadays, he said.
Oh, that's JUST GREAT!!!
At the High School of Economics & Finance in New York's financial district, computer science teacher Aristedes Lourdas is also finding it easy to engage students. Last year, his students were so unenthusiastic about analyzing the financial markets that Lourdas assigned his class to chart NBA players' salaries and statistics.
No wonder our kids are so frikkin' stoo-pid!!!!
But this year, "I haven't had to use the NBA at all," he said. Now they are each following the performance of three stocks of their own choosing.
The LOOTING of the whole system has always turned me off to economics; that's why I became a historian instead.
Ultimately, Lourdas said, the students are more interested because they are realizing that the dealings a few blocks away on Wall Street do affect their lives. The downturn has some worried they may not be able to afford college.
But you SURE are getting an EJERKASHEN there, kids!!
"The inner-city kids were kind of indifferent," Lourdas said. But now "all of a sudden, you see it's clicking. They're getting it. Last year, it was more like feeding them the information."
At Plano West Senior High School in a prosperous Dallas suburb, Advanced Placement economics teacher Sally Meek said her students keep veering off into politics and policy, debating the presidential candidates' plans during the election and grappling with questions of how big a role government should take in trying to turn around the economy.
The Arizona Council on Economic Education is helping teachers design classes based on the current financial crisis. Senior program adviser John Morton said that in one lesson he is designing, students will create a market bubble and watch it pop.
How about designing a syatem that DOESN'T BUBBLE UP since that is the REASON for this MESS?!!!!!
In other lessons, students will try to apply lessons from the Great Depression to the current crisis. Eric Branting was months away from graduating from NYU when Wall Street's troubles hit. Immersed in his first economics course, he decided to switch gears and major in the subject, delaying his graduation by a year.
"I think it's a great time to be getting into economics," the 21-year-old said. His macroeconomics professor, Branting said, is "throwing out three or four chapters of the textbook and desperately rewriting them and rethinking how he's teaching the class. People like me who are getting this education right now are learning a whole different way of looking at things. It's exciting."
Yup, a DEPRESSION is "exciting" to the stoo-pid snot-nose here!! Maybe I should just stop posting education stories; obviously, the kids don't give a shit or appreciate us older folk working on their behalf. When you get caught up in the DRAFT, kiddo, don't wipe your nose on my shirt!!!!
But Hong Man Lam, an 18-year-old high school senior in New York who once hoped to become a stock trader, is starting to think that becoming an English teacher is looking more appealing. "This is the exact opposite of what I expected," he said a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. "I don't want to be part of this big mess."
My faith in the youth has been redeemed!
--more--"
More classes, kids:
"New fears arise in Mich., where hard times began years ago" by Susan Saulny and Monica Davey, New York Times | November 23, 2008
FENNVILLE, Mich. - .... As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.... Around the state, home foreclosures are commonplace, the trust fund that pays unemployment benefits is millions of dollars in debt, food banks are struggling, and health agencies are reporting an uptick in people with symptoms like anxiety and depression. Suicides were up in recent years, although officials caution against drawing any direct links between deaths and the economy....
Yeah, you don't want to link the SUICIDES to the economy, heavens, no!!!
And NEVER MIND the TRILLIONS we PISSED AWAY in IRAQ!! The WAR LOOTERS MADE OUT FINE!!!!!
--more--"
"In turbulent economy, boat owners abandoning thousands of crafts; Vessels long a barometer of consumer calm" by Malia Wollan, Associated Press | November 23, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - From Southern California to Maine, the foundering economy, high fuel prices and poor fishing have driven boat owners to abandon perhaps thousands of vessels on the waterfront, where they are beginning to break up and sink, leaking oil and other pollutants. Boats have long been a barometer of consumer confidence, disposable income, and the overall state of the economy. Now, marina and harbor officials are reporting a sudden increase in the past year in the number of deserted pleasure boats and working vessels....
High fuel prices and several disastrous years in the nation's fishing industry have led fishermen to desert salmon boats in Washington state, crab boats in Maryland, trawlers in Oregon, and lobster boats in Florida.... It's not just barnacle-laden junkers that are being abandoned. More powerboat and sailboat owners have been failing to pay their slip fees, according to Randy Short, chief executive of Almar Management Inc., a company with 16 luxury marinas in California and Hawaii.
Who really gives a fuck about the wealthy (or those brown-nosing shits who thought they were) and their yachts? I DON'T!!!!!!!
--more--"
"Trouble engulfs University of Iowa; Suicides, assault charges cast pall" by Dirk Johnson, New York Times | November 23, 2008
IOWA CITY - .... All the while, the university, with an enrollment of 30,000, is struggling to recover from this summer's devastating floods, which caused $230 million in damage and left some buildings in ruin. Art students, for example, are taking classes in an old Menards store. Some houses near the campus sit unoccupied, and some parks are a muddy mess.
Yup, they STILL HAVEN'T CLEANED UP IOWA, still haven't cleaned up Katrina, haven't cleaned up Ike, and yet all those places have been FORGOTTEN by the SHIT-PUSHING, AGENDA-PROMOTING, AmeriKan MSM!!! That is SOP for them, folks, and YEAH, I am TIRED OF IT!!!!!!!
--more--"
NEW YORK - Stocks are down, down, down. But student interest in economics appears to be trending upward.
The financial crisis has made the subject more relevant and immediate to many high school and college students, and they are suddenly paying closer attention in class.
"Now we can actually see the examples while they happen, instead of relying on history. It's been the most engaging class ever," said New York University junior George Schwartz, who dropped macroeconomics the first time he took it, but is so fascinated this time that he has decided to major in economics. Instructors are delighted by the opportunity to use the dramatic events on Wall Street to explain concepts students might otherwise find dry, such as liquidity and Federal Reserve monetary policy.
"It is a great time to be in this business," said Jonathan Peters, a College of Staten Island professor. "It's a tremendous opportunity. It's a teachable moment. It's a chance to explain these topics in a very direct way." Instead of simply discussing the theory surrounding a recession, Peters can show students a real one, step by step. While usually he has to fight to convince them that regulation is useful, that has become very easy nowadays, he said.
Oh, that's JUST GREAT!!!
At the High School of Economics & Finance in New York's financial district, computer science teacher Aristedes Lourdas is also finding it easy to engage students. Last year, his students were so unenthusiastic about analyzing the financial markets that Lourdas assigned his class to chart NBA players' salaries and statistics.
No wonder our kids are so frikkin' stoo-pid!!!!
But this year, "I haven't had to use the NBA at all," he said. Now they are each following the performance of three stocks of their own choosing.
The LOOTING of the whole system has always turned me off to economics; that's why I became a historian instead.
Ultimately, Lourdas said, the students are more interested because they are realizing that the dealings a few blocks away on Wall Street do affect their lives. The downturn has some worried they may not be able to afford college.
But you SURE are getting an EJERKASHEN there, kids!!
"The inner-city kids were kind of indifferent," Lourdas said. But now "all of a sudden, you see it's clicking. They're getting it. Last year, it was more like feeding them the information."
At Plano West Senior High School in a prosperous Dallas suburb, Advanced Placement economics teacher Sally Meek said her students keep veering off into politics and policy, debating the presidential candidates' plans during the election and grappling with questions of how big a role government should take in trying to turn around the economy.
The Arizona Council on Economic Education is helping teachers design classes based on the current financial crisis. Senior program adviser John Morton said that in one lesson he is designing, students will create a market bubble and watch it pop.
How about designing a syatem that DOESN'T BUBBLE UP since that is the REASON for this MESS?!!!!!
In other lessons, students will try to apply lessons from the Great Depression to the current crisis. Eric Branting was months away from graduating from NYU when Wall Street's troubles hit. Immersed in his first economics course, he decided to switch gears and major in the subject, delaying his graduation by a year.
"I think it's a great time to be getting into economics," the 21-year-old said. His macroeconomics professor, Branting said, is "throwing out three or four chapters of the textbook and desperately rewriting them and rethinking how he's teaching the class. People like me who are getting this education right now are learning a whole different way of looking at things. It's exciting."
Yup, a DEPRESSION is "exciting" to the stoo-pid snot-nose here!! Maybe I should just stop posting education stories; obviously, the kids don't give a shit or appreciate us older folk working on their behalf. When you get caught up in the DRAFT, kiddo, don't wipe your nose on my shirt!!!!
But Hong Man Lam, an 18-year-old high school senior in New York who once hoped to become a stock trader, is starting to think that becoming an English teacher is looking more appealing. "This is the exact opposite of what I expected," he said a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. "I don't want to be part of this big mess."
My faith in the youth has been redeemed!
--more--"
More classes, kids:
"New fears arise in Mich., where hard times began years ago" by Susan Saulny and Monica Davey, New York Times | November 23, 2008
FENNVILLE, Mich. - .... As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.... Around the state, home foreclosures are commonplace, the trust fund that pays unemployment benefits is millions of dollars in debt, food banks are struggling, and health agencies are reporting an uptick in people with symptoms like anxiety and depression. Suicides were up in recent years, although officials caution against drawing any direct links between deaths and the economy....
Yeah, you don't want to link the SUICIDES to the economy, heavens, no!!!
And NEVER MIND the TRILLIONS we PISSED AWAY in IRAQ!! The WAR LOOTERS MADE OUT FINE!!!!!
--more--"
"In turbulent economy, boat owners abandoning thousands of crafts; Vessels long a barometer of consumer calm" by Malia Wollan, Associated Press | November 23, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - From Southern California to Maine, the foundering economy, high fuel prices and poor fishing have driven boat owners to abandon perhaps thousands of vessels on the waterfront, where they are beginning to break up and sink, leaking oil and other pollutants. Boats have long been a barometer of consumer confidence, disposable income, and the overall state of the economy. Now, marina and harbor officials are reporting a sudden increase in the past year in the number of deserted pleasure boats and working vessels....
High fuel prices and several disastrous years in the nation's fishing industry have led fishermen to desert salmon boats in Washington state, crab boats in Maryland, trawlers in Oregon, and lobster boats in Florida.... It's not just barnacle-laden junkers that are being abandoned. More powerboat and sailboat owners have been failing to pay their slip fees, according to Randy Short, chief executive of Almar Management Inc., a company with 16 luxury marinas in California and Hawaii.
Who really gives a fuck about the wealthy (or those brown-nosing shits who thought they were) and their yachts? I DON'T!!!!!!!
--more--"
"Trouble engulfs University of Iowa; Suicides, assault charges cast pall" by Dirk Johnson, New York Times | November 23, 2008
IOWA CITY - .... All the while, the university, with an enrollment of 30,000, is struggling to recover from this summer's devastating floods, which caused $230 million in damage and left some buildings in ruin. Art students, for example, are taking classes in an old Menards store. Some houses near the campus sit unoccupied, and some parks are a muddy mess.
Yup, they STILL HAVEN'T CLEANED UP IOWA, still haven't cleaned up Katrina, haven't cleaned up Ike, and yet all those places have been FORGOTTEN by the SHIT-PUSHING, AGENDA-PROMOTING, AmeriKan MSM!!! That is SOP for them, folks, and YEAH, I am TIRED OF IT!!!!!!!
--more--"