Prose and Purpose

At last week’s breakfast meeting with all the department chairs and deans, I talked about the enrollment situation for this semester and this year. A substantial increase in the freshmen class, strong quality indicators, and some of the best retention numbers in our history make for a very positive picture. And a Presidential Debate on our campus next fall, further helps enhance the forecast for next year’s entering class.

On Friday, February 3rd, I was waiting for the economic update. The jobs picture is a key indicator (even though it is considered a lagging indicator) of economic recovery, and I was looking to see if there were tangible signs that a real and perhaps more robust recovery was underway. But even though I was tuned into the economy, my greatest attention was focused on the decision by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

I am today philosophically close to where I was when I was in graduate school. I am a middle of the road economist. I recognize the importance of government fiscal and monetary policy and yet government needs to make sure it doesn’t micromanage where it isn’t necessary, and government needs to make sure that the laws are constructed in the fairest way possible.

Our local school board, of which I am vice president, recently held an open town hall meeting. The meeting was very well attended and the individuals present represented a broad spectrum of local opinion.

I’m a car person as you may have gathered from previous blogs. But it actually makes good sense to be an economist who also happens to be a car person given the important role that the automobile industry has played and continues to play, for good or bad, in our economy.

Last year at this time, as a result of a snow storm, my family and I spent over two days at Newark Airport and ultimately returned home without ever getting on an airplane to take a scheduled vacation in Hawaii. Newark is a nice airport but it can’t compare to spending time in paradise. This year, we decided to stay local and all in all it was a very low key relaxing week with lots of much appreciated family time. Also lots of time for movies and shows.

I just finished listening to the Sam Eshagoff interview on 60 Minutes. Before I comment on the interview, I would like to commend 60 Minutes for decades of worthwhile news and human interest coverage. 60 Minutes remains a leading example of TV at its best.

As I am entering the library earlier this week, I pass by a student on a cell phone and hear the student make the following statement: “I finished all my finals but I still have to write a 60 page term paper which is due in two days.” As hard as it is to believe, the student clearly stated that the paper is due in two days.