Text The Times.
The new year brings many people to pursuing higher education ranging from certificates to doctorates but there is an even greater range of institutions.
There has been a drop in traditional university enrolment as a result of the free TAFE (Technical and Further Education) courses. The free courses are less difficult. The traditional Universities are welcoming their students although so are a few more unusual ones. The rise of online education means you can get a Theology degree from a small Pacific island. There is of course the McDonald’s Hamburger University that has been around since 1961. The latest that has appeared is the ‘University Campus of Football Business’ which is in itself an odd title. Special interest studies like sport do attract many students but this one is very confusing.
It is time to reorganize and rationalize the number of these weird colleges and go back to basics.
Universities should be devoted to two major areas, serious research that will benefit everyone and teaching students material that will lead to useful employment opportunities. Of course, I could be tempted by Harvard University’s course, ‘The Real Game of Thrones: From Modern Myths to Medieval Models’ or ‘Philosophy and Star Trek’ at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Beam me to my lecture, Scotty! [Editor’s Note: I’m not going to dismiss any course of learning that provides people with an opportunity to expand their horizons. Yes, getting a degree in football or fast food might seem silly, and maybe it is. But, who cares? I could probably get a Ph.D. in professional wrestling studies, but I’d rather poke myself in the eye than sit through a series of college lectures on the history of Harry Potter, even though that’s out there. My only concern is that I hope none of these students pursuing studies in any of these odd programs is getting duped by some for-profit college and ending up buried under a mountain of student loan debt with a useless degree] *** Amazon boss and Washington Post owner, Jeff Bezos has had his phone hacked and lots of material taken using a virus.
This event is a bit more unusual when the suggestion that it was a Saudi Arabian prince is considered however the situation gains some credibility when the Washington Post’s ongoing campaign concerning Jamal Khashoggi’s murder is included in the discussion. The is the overall concern that if his phone can be hacked then what about the rest of us that don’t have access to a whole IT department to protect us. I also get a lot of emails from Princes too but mine seem to be only from Nigeria and I don’t respond to their invites or offers. To date, my phone hasn’t been hacked although that may be because I am just a normal, boring citizen and please don’t think of that as a challenge! [Editor’s Note: I’ve always joked that if some hacker were to steal my identity, they’d give it back because there’s nothing exciting or interesting about my identity that would be worth having. But in all seriousness, I have heard a few stories from people who have had their identity stolen, and it seems to be a nightmare.
I know people who absolutely refuse to have anything to do with online banking, buying things on Amazon, or even getting on Facebook because they are so sure there’s a gang of black hat hackers out there just beyond the firewall waiting to steal their credit card numbers and sell their social security information on the dark web. And that’s no way to go through life. And let’s face it, none of us are Jeff Bezos]
*
Here’s what everyone is talking about this week:
