Ragtime

On September 15th, I purchased tickets for my wife and me to go see the new Broadway production of Ragtime.  I had seen and very much liked the previous Broadway production and also a Hofstra production.  I think Ragtime’s music is excellent and the story very powerful.  In addition, the show serves as a helpful educational and historical vehicle.  The show opened in the middle of November and my tickets were for Saturday night, January 9th.  Just after New Year, I received an email that the last performance for the current production would be the 5th.  A day later, I received a follow-up email that the last performance had been extended to the 10th.  My timing turned out well and on the 9th we went into the city for dinner and the show.

Theories on Commencement

A day after our December commencement exercises and two days after a 24” snowstorm, I am on an airplane flying to Hawaii.  At this and every other commencement, I always watch the parade of graduates – from the bachelor’s level to the doctorate- march across the stage.  And as they march, I wonder whether we have done all that we can do to provide an education that will serve their needs and society’s needs.

The Undecided

The recent death of Paul Samuelson at age 94 has prompted me to reflect on my own educational journey.  Paul Samuelson as we know, was a Nobel Prize winning economist and was also the author of a long term best selling textbook that influenced me greatly at a critical time.  As a high school student and even in my first and second year in college, I was uncertain as to what field to pursue.  And there were even moments when I was unsure as to why I was pursuing higher education.  Then economics came into the picture.  I can’t even tell you why I registered for this course—I wasn’t even sure at the time exactly what economics was and I knew of no one in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances who were in the field.  As far as I was concerned, this was just another course, taken most likely to meet a requirement.

Taxing Higher Education

In a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there was an article on the very controversial higher education tuition tax proposal put forward by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.  The proposal as it stands (even though there are now efforts to scrap the proposal) is a one-percent levy on tuition, labeled by the Mayor as a Fair Share Tax and designed to raise $15 million per year.  There is no question that many cities and many states are in difficult financial shape, and unlike the federal government, deficits are not an option.  But in plugging a budget shortfall, the negative impact of any tax increase or spending cut should always be minimized to the extent possible, both in an immediate as well as in a longer term sense.  For example, instituting a tax on preventative health care would be a mistake in the moment and  the future but having that same (or a greater tax) levied on purely cosmetic surgery might be a good luxury tax revenue source.  It should be clear to everyone that creating an added barrier that will prevent some individuals from visiting their doctor is very negative and results not only in more work days lost (impacting business), more costly health care expenses in the future (for the individual, for insurance companies, and for government) and more needless deaths.  On the other hand, reshaping a part of your body or having a tuck here or there (or everywhere) may be desirable and pleasing to the eye but is in most cases purely a luxury purchase  with limited, if any, negative tax consequences.

The Golden Age of Hofstra Radio and the Importance of Internships

Ten days ago we celebrated a Hofstra milestone, the 50th anniversary of our radio station (WRHU, 88.7 FM).  The highlight of the anniversary was a dinner that included the first inductees into the Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame.  That dinner was a remarkable event. Almost 500 people attended including graduates of almost every year that our radio station has been in existence plus a significant number of undergraduate students who are looking forward to graduating.  It is always a challenge to organize a major event that spans the decades in its appeal.  Most events appeal to a relatively narrow segment of the community, few can span the decades successfully.  Our presidential conferences have had such an appeal as has our Educate’08 and Define’09 series which bracketed the October 15, 2008 presidential debate which took place on our campus.  What made this dinner so appealing and successful?  Was it the food, the venue, a national known guest speaker?  Actually, the appeal came well before the dinner; the appeal came from working at WRHU.  Working at the radio station was for many many students a life changing experience.  Life changing for some in terms of providing a career path that ultimately led to a successful career.  Life changing for others in providing a skill set and a team orientation that served them well regardless of what they ended up doing.  The proof is clear for all to see.  The 2009 inductees into our radio hall of fame include a multiple Emmy winner, and  well known media personalities and executives from impressive stations and companies such as CBS, WINS, Fox News, Sirius, just to name a few.

In 2009, it is clearer than ever that an outstanding educational experience often requires more than classroom experiences and a set number of credits.  The credits and the classroom have been, are, and will remain irreplaceable parts of the educational experience.  But also essential to providing that fully textured outstanding experience is an internship, which may or may not relate to a student’s major.  Internships are growth opportunities that increase a student’s sophistication and his or her skill set.  We provide our students with thousands of internship opportunities relating to virtually all of our majors as well as other areas of interest, and I encourage students to pursue these opportunities.  Without a doubt, if I was an undergraduate today I would sign up for multiple internship opportunities. In my opinion, the bottom line is that the more you do to prepare for a successful career and next chapter of your life, the more successful that you will be.

The Lemonade Shortage

I’m an economist and I am as passionate about economics today as I was when I took my first undergraduate course.  In that course, in fact in the first lesson, a very basic but still fundamental definition of economics was presented and discussed.  That definition focuses on the allocation of scarce resources among alternative ends.  Because of scarcity, it is impossible for our society or any society on our planet to meet everyone’s needs and wants.   And because of that scarcity, choices need to be made and hopefully these will be the best possible choices.  Scarcity and choice become even more of a challenge if you are working within the constraints of a severe economic recession, an unemployment rate that is at 10%, and at least some uncertainty as to whether a recovery is in fact underway.  More scarcity, more uncertainty, more difficult choices, more needs not met.

Homecoming Revisited

I am a longtime fan of homecoming and at Hofstra we do it especially well. This year’s theme is “myths and legends” and I am excited by the possibilities inherent in such a theme.  I also take enormous pride at the recognition of alumni achievement, I enjoy seeing all the floats at the Homecoming Parade, I always welcome watching Hofstra athletics, and I like the fact that various groups such as the “young alumni” have a set time to socialize.  But the reality is that Homecoming attracts a tiny minority of our over 100,000 alums, and even a tiny minority of local graduates.