Comments on 2-Year Colleges Head for Hollywood

• Go Betty!!
• Posted by Sandra Cochran , Human Resource Coordinator at Buffalo State College Research Foundation on August 24, 2005 at 9:12am EDT

• I am thrilled to see Betty on her Harley! I too ride a Harley and am a professional in an institution of higher education. I have been riding for over 20 years and Betty is just more proof that you can do anything in life that you want to accomplish! I totally agree with her mission. Although Buffalo State College isn't a community college, I have heard the negative comments regarding college students in general. The students that come through our office to work on various sponsored programs are wonderful, articulate and dedicated to their education.
  Good for you, Betty!!! Educate Jay Leno!!

  Sandra Cochran, PHR

• Community College Value
• Posted by Michael on August 24, 2005 at 9:13am EDT

• Ride on, Betty!

  Leno interview or not, enjoy the trek and continue the message that, as you mentioned, community colleges are economic engines that help drive our economy.

  By the way, that's a great HD you have there....

• The Lessons for Leno
• Posted by michael M. Brown , Director of Public Relations at Northwest State on August 24, 2005 at 9:13am EDT

• Inside Higher Ed,

  Thanks for the story on Dr. Betty Young's Lessons for Leno Tour. She invites riders on Harleys or four-wheels to join her, and to help rally the good cause of the community college as the economic engine of the new economy.

  The "Lessons" at each city stop will focus on workforce training, the legacy of the community college, access and cost, changing lives, and other vital missions.

  Leno for years has said disparaging remarks about community colleges and he has the media power to truly change the mindset about American education. He and others are still mired in an old-world view that only the wealthy, elite segments of society need college training. That view is economically risky if not potentially disastrous. Unfortunately, many of our powerful political and media leaders think the same way.

  There is irony in an old newspaper clip we received from a supportive reader a couple of weeks ago. Leno was an unknown comic trying to make his way up the ladder in the 1970s when he appeared at Mohawk Valley Community College in upstate New York and other similar locations.

  Dr. Betty Young at Northwest State Community College in rural Ohio believes that with diverse and widespread outreach from around the nation, the NBC icon will eventually be eager to ride Harleys with her and "talk shop" about the reality and value of the two-year campus movement ... In the meantime, by far the greatest value will be 10 a.m. local time media briefings with other community college leaders at seven major media city locations. By next week, we will start posting many more details before and during this exciting Lessons for Leno Tour on our web site at www.northweststate.edu

  Michael M. Brown
  Northwest State Community College

• Two year Colleges Head for Hollywood
• Posted by Dr. nancy Hensel , Executive Officer at Council on Undergraduate Research on August 24, 2005 at 10:28am EDT

• I congratulate Betty Young for her efforts to educate Jay Leno and the public about the importance of community colleges. As a former president at a four-year college and now executive officer of the Council on Undergraduate Research, I have had an opportunity to work with community college faculty, administrators, and students. I have found that the faculty are highly committed to student success, whether to transfer and obtain a baccalaureate degree or to enter the workforce. Faculty in the liberal arts programs at two-year colleges have comparable degrees to those working in four-year colleges and, increasingly, faculty are working with undergraduate students on research projects. I have also found that transfer students were well prepared to continue their education and were competitive with their classmates who began at the four-year institution. Community colleges are an important part of our higher education system. State governments are recognizing that fact and it is time that the public does as well.

• Are the critical academics, being overly-touchy?
• Posted by Bart S. on August 24, 2005 at 11:41am EDT

• People -- Jay Leno's a comedian, known as a motor-garage 'gear-head,' who graduated from Emerson College in speech therapy. He isn't the Duke philosophy professor who asserted one of the two major political party lacked intelligence.

  His chief rival, David Letterman, graduated in communications from Ball State; his scholarship program allows those with average grades ("C"/2.0) to apply to honor his own outstanding academic performance.

  Folks -- it is just television. Really -- lighten up.

  BTW: may I assume that private funds are being used, in this crusade? I trust motorcycle rides are not some new government entitlement program -- if so, I want to ride, too.

• 2-Year Colleges Head for Hollywood
• Posted by Linda Kvamme , 2-Year Colleges Head for Hollywood at LCCC on August 24, 2005 at 1:52pm EDT

• BART!

  Lighten up? I think that's Jay Leno's job!

  We American community college members are too busy helping people make better educated decisions...like educating people not to sit at home at night and listen to some millionaire crack jokes about our jobs, our lives and our responsibilities to the community. Maybe hMr. Leno should put some of the money he earns--at our expense--where it might count...into a local community college fund. I know we could use some money..and it wouldn't be spent on a motorcycle collection (bus fare maybe)!

  Linda Kvamme
  Allentown, PA

• Leno Challenge
• Posted by Michael M. Brown , Director of Public Relations at Northwest State Community College on August 24, 2005 at 3:04pm EDT

• Audience,

  Many thanks for the many messages, emails and calls on the Lessons for Leno Tour. Let's please clarify a few things:
  -- This Challenge is not for the good of Northwest State Community College alone ... it is a national campaign that just might be the tool that establishes the economic engine theme of community colleges ...
  -- We are accepting financial help and want to make a statement that multiple and diverse individuals, corporations, colleges and economic leaders are buying into the reality that our nation -- much like Leno -- do not yet fully understand the direct and urgent correlation between a better educated workforce and financial vitality for individuals, small towns, big cities, and huge regions of the nation.
  -- Want your organization, college or name on the list of sponsors? The business office at Northwest State Community College in Archbold, OH is accepting small or large donations via The Lessons for Leno Fund, 22600 State Route 34, Archbold, OH, 43502-9542. Questions can be addressed to my attention or Dr. Betty Young, our president.
  -- As for the folks who say "lighten up," that is exactly what our local, regional, and national economies are doing with so little support from powerhouse individuals in the government, corporate and entertainment business. We think the regional and national economic issues are pretty serious business but we sure would like to ride and share a laugh or two mixed into a stern conversation with Leno at NBC studios in Burbank.
  -- If and when five minutes with Leno on or off camera are secured and I assure everyone that Dr. Betty is going to tell her emotional story and how community colleges can and will change millions of lives. Having Leno as a friend of the community college movement, rather than a thorn, is worth millions of dollars in how we strive to change the mindset about the two-year campus experience.
  -- Generally, it would be a mistake to under-estimate the damage that Leno has inflicted on the community college movement with his frequent disparaging remarks ... and what a wonderful opportunity he now has to do something positive and help the American economy and millions of people better their lives ...

  -- Michael M. Brown

• educating Leno and others
• Posted by Sarah Silver , Director at University Centers of the San Miguel on August 24, 2005 at 3:04pm EDT

• Bravo for this effort! We are too small and remote a region to even have a community college so we have established a local non profit higher ed center that is affiliating with a community college, 4 yr, and graduate programs from elsewhere to provide access to higher ed for our isolated communities here in sw Colorado. Like cc's everywhere, it is about sustaining our communities culturally and economically and our students are committed to excellence, whether they are enrolled in community college or post-grad work.

• C.C. alumni speaks truth to power
• Posted by Bart S. on August 24, 2005 at 3:50pm EDT

• People -- as a happy community college alumni, I'd only note that I never even heard of the Leno matter until I read it here.

  So -- by helping publicize ol' Pointy-Jaw, more attention was brought to the issue. It's like Michael Moore and Curtis Sliwa -- "ignore them, and they might go away" -- but more pernicious.

  Free tip, from Marketing 101: don't use your limited and valuable time to bring down the other guy -- focus on your own message.

  Heck -- go to Letterman, with your case. He loves to take shots at Leno -- who, frankly, hasn't been funny for 15+ years. Or try MTV, or Current TV.

  Have a nice day -- really. And good luck -- I'm rooting for you.

• Posted by Mary T on August 24, 2005 at 4:26pm EDT

• Fabulous! But don't stop with economics. Community Colleges are essential in fulfilling the civic mission of higher education, too. We prepare the workforce, certainly. We are an economic engine in our communities, you bet. We also engage students in service and the civic life of our community. Community colleges educate citizens - citizens with a voice in our country's democracy. That's nothing to be ignored, dismissed, or minimized. So take the message to Hollywood - and ALSO to Letterman's NYC. Get the good out of this story!

• Posted by Paul Bodmer on August 24, 2005 at 5:02pm EDT

• The Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)annually presents the Fame and Shame Awards to the media outlet or person(s) who present positive (Fame) and negative (Shame) images of community colleges. Jay Leno was this year’s winner of the Shame award for his negative portrayal of community college students. While many incidents could have been used, the TYCA award committee chose the segment from his show where he portrayed community college students protesting proposed tuition hikes with misspelled signs. See the full description of the Fame and Shame awards at http://www.ncte.org/groups/tyca/awards/fameshame/108296.htm

  Betty's ride is a productive way to draw attention to the negative stereotypes propagated by cheap shots comics make. We included the Fame award as a way of saying there are good media stories.

  Paul Bodmer
  Senior Program Officer for Higher Education
  National Council of Teachers of English

• Other media outlets suggested
• Posted by Bart S. on August 24, 2005 at 5:02pm EDT

• Two more media suggestions in NYC:

  Comedy Central -- they love this media stuff.

  (Top-secret)
  Highest ranking cable info-tainment show in U.S. -- O'Reilly Factor. I understand he likes under-dog stories, being a proud Irish-American.

• Lighten Up? Are You Kidding?...
• Posted by Sheldon W. Helms , Psychology Professor at Ohlone College, Fremont CA on August 29, 2005 at 10:18pm EDT

• Lighten up? Lighten up? Looks like somebody needs to do a little research into the effects of propaganda. One joke, yes, that’s harmless comedy. But apparently Leno is making a habit of this, and that could lead to a much larger effect.

  Look at the reputation damage Leno's predecessor, Johnny Carson, did to Bakersfield, California. For years, Carson did Bakersfield jokes, and its residents are still considered low-brow hicks by folks all across America, even though 90% have never even visited the city. Leno is now doing the same to Community Colleges, something that won't just affect a single city's reputation, but may dissuade millions of Americans from pursuing an education. I hardly think that's fodder for recurrent humor.

  I, for one, applaud such a bull-by-the-horns approach as Dr Young’s. It reminds me of another brave woman who's attempting to meet with a person of power and do some educating. I hope Dr Young has more success than Ms Sheehan has so far.

• the wrong Leno
• Posted by Mary Paulson at Ohlone College on August 30, 2005 at 4:44am EDT

• Dr. Young,
  If you don't get Jay's attention, talk to his wife. She's the brains in the family, anyway. ;~). She brought the treatment of women by the Taliban, in Afganistan, to the attention of women's groups in the USA long before others in the USA noticed. I'm sure she has better access to Jay's ear than anyone. Once you remind her that it's a women's issue, especially single mothers and lower income women, I'm sure she'll get on board with the project, sans the Harley :~).
  Good luck!
  Mary Paulson
  Speech & Communication, Ohlone College

• You go, Dr. Betty!!!!
• Posted by Crystal Woolsey at College of Lake County, Illinois on September 19, 2005 at 11:10pm EDT

• Thank God for forward-thinking intelligent women like Dr. Betty who use all aspects of themselves to raise awareness of the need for community college education. I have a diploma as a Licensed Practical Nurse from a community college, which got me the job to finance my Bachelor's in Music History and Humanities and also enabled me to purchase my Harley with cash. The entry-level jobs I could get with my BA wouldn't pay as much as what I earn with my community college education. I am currently a student in a community college once again, this time working on my foreign language requirement needed for my Master of Arts--the community college I attend is less expensive and closer to home than the university that I will later attend. Betty, if I wasn't in the middle of school myself, I'd ride my Harley alongside of you.

• Greay Job Dr. Betty Young
• Posted by Jerome T. Klue MPA , Sergeant of Police Cuyahoga Community College Cleveland, Ohio at Cuyahoga Community College Cleveland on September 21, 2005 at 4:36am EDT

• I was able to be a part of Lesson #1 and was given the opportunity to (Police) escourt Dr. Betty Young on the first leg of the campaign.

  Dr. Betty Young is indeed on a mission. Her mission and personal story about her own life is amazing. She worked her way through a community college as a single mother then continued on working and going to school.

  Dr. Young is proff that Community Colleges give opportunity that is vital to so many throughout america. How many other success stories can we give that have started in one of our Community Colleges.

  Dr. Young, Your doing a great job! Set the record straight get the mission accomplished.