Privacy and Security.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has gone into effect. The law has been compared to the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is the gold standard for privacy protection. The CCPA allows California residents to find out what information companies have collected on them and have the information deleted and not sell it. However, it is only enforced by the state attorney general. Individuals cannot sue a company for not following the law. It does not also go as far as the GDPR in requiring opt-in. Under opt-in, no company can collect data without you giving your permission. However, the CCPA is a significant improvement in consumer privacy in the US. Should you be concerned about your data? The answer is an emphatic yes. With your data, companies and individuals can target you. Consider what Cambridge Analytica did with the SCL Group to commit psychological warfare during the 2016 election in support of the Trump campaign.

On another security area, the TikTok app has come under criticism. The CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman, called the app “fundamentally parasitic.” The app is always listening and tracking the user. Also, all of the information it collects goes to China. If you value your privacy and data, don’t use the app, don’t put it on any device, and don’t let your children use the app.

Helicopter Parents!

It has been an interesting week. I received a complaint that was sent from a state representative to the university provost, who sent it to the college dean, who sent it to my department chair, who sent it to me asking for information. I had given an exam. My classes have 100 to 200 hundred students. I require the students to show a picture ID and sign out after they complete the exam. The exam is on the learning management system and is available at class time. It is possible to take the exam and not be in class. It is also possible to have someone other than the student to take the exam and not be in class. This is the reason for the sign-out sheet and picture ID. After the exam, I review the sign-out sheet. Anyone taking the exam without signing the sheet has their grade changed to 0. I had a student that did not sign the sheet and took the exam. I changed the grade to 0. This happens every semester. Most of the time, they complain and then admit they were not in class and we go on. This semester, one of those students that did not sign the sheet contacted her state representative, who contacted the provost. There were multiple emails requesting information and explanations. The student came into my office hours yesterday. She was very upset and said that she forgot to sign out. I recognized her and knew that she took the exam in class. She was extremely embarrassed that her mother had escalated the issue to the state representative instead of letting her talk to me. It took several minutes for me to get her calmed down and stop crying. She left knowing that professors are not horrible and want students to succeed. I let my department chair know that the issue wad resolved that the real problem was a helicopter parent. Don’t be a helicopter parent!

Slip and fall.

A couple of weeks ago, it was raining when I went to campus. As I was coming in, I met my colleague Dave and his huge umbrella. When we got to our building, we were cautious about getting the water off of us and our shoes. The building has a very high gloss floor that, when wet, is extremely slippery. We got on the elevator and went to our floor, the fourth floor. We were walking down the hall toward our offices and BAM!! Before I knew anything, I was on my back on the floor. Evidently, I stepped on a wet spot. After lying there for a minute or two, I took an inventory. Nothing was broken, but likely a few sore muscles and strained ligaments, especially since my left lower leg was bent almost 180 degrees. It doesn’t normally bend that far. I managed to get up and walk to my office. I let my boss know about the fall. Then, I heard from HR. They needed an accident report. So, I went to HR and filled out the accident report. Several days later, I got an email from the person that investigates accidents. He made an appointment and came to my office and needed to see where it happened and took my statement and pictures. I thought this was over until the next Monday morning I got an email from him. He asked if I had the university’s slip and fall training. My response, “No. I already know how to slip and fall.”

It's broken and needs to be fixed.

I watched the Nevada Democratic presidential debate. I really don’t know why they call it a debate; it was more like a free-for-all with accusations flying in every direction. It is evident that no one candidate is remotely acceptable to all who would like to vote against Trump, which is a shame. The Democrats are giving us choices of old people with four in their 70s, a middle-aged female Senator that had no name recognition outside of her home state, and a gay mayor. Is there no one that we can unite behind? It looks like four more years of the orange bully.

Many issues need to be addressed and that are not being addressed in Washington. We have an immigration crisis. Many from Central America are fleeing gangs and personal danger. We need more workers in this country, especially those willing to do manual labor in farms and factories. We have a medical care industry that is falling apart with higher and higher costs. We have people that must make a decision to purchase medicine or food every week. We have too many people profiting from health care, too many intermediaries. Pharmacy Benefit Managers, drug wholesalers, and pharmacies have a higher return on capital than any other sector. And what benefit do they provide? Likely they offer no tangible benefit to the patient or the physician. Why do we allow them to exist?

Slowing Economy Or Disruptors?

Yesterday was the career fair. I was surprised by the number of companies that were not there and the number of companies that had booth space but did not show up. We continue to hear about layoffs. HSBC announced that 35,000 of its employees would be laid off this year. We hear from alumni that other companies are laying off employees. We also read about store closures from companies like Macy’s and Pier 1, who also filed for bankruptcy. The retail industry is reeling from store closures and bankruptcies. Is this a portend of a pulling back of the economy? Or is this just a result of the disruptors from the online marketplace? According to Forbes, disruptors create businesses, products, and better services. They are better by being less expensive, more creative, useful, impactful and are scaleable. I guess we will have to wait and see whether it is the economy slowing or disruptors. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/03/27/you-say-innovator-i-say-disruptor-whats-the-difference/#6b3ad6696f43)

What is happening in the economy?

Today was the career fair at OSU. There were fewer employers than normal. There were several cancellations. This observation was based on tables labeled for employers, but no one present. Also, several of the employers that hire many of our graduates were not present. This is not unusual because the hiring cycle is for most of the internships and full-time jobs to be filled in the fall of the year. The employers canceling is quite disconcerting, especially when they are a major vertically integrated oil company. The economic indicators have pointed in the direction of a recession for several months. It makes me wonder if this is not another indicator of a possible pullback in the economy (i.e., recession.) I have weathered several recessions in my lifetime. I will not weather another. I have moved all of my investments to recession-proof areas. I would not have done that if I were younger; and in fact, I did not do that either through ignorance or optimism when I was younger. What is going to happen to the global economy? I wish I knew. I only know that there are many disrupters affecting the economy today. Do your best to maintain and, hopefully, improve your position today.

Unplugged Experiment Results

I did unplug for the weekend. I only used my smartphone for phone calls (except to text my wife for permission to call.) I did not count how many times I would find myself reaching for the device. During a commercial, or when I was bored, or just out of habit. I started getting up and moving or exercising instead of reaching for the smartphone. I realized it had become my primary source of news, and no one needs as much news/opinion as is out there. It is possible to overdose on the news. And we don’t need Twitter and the ridiculous things tweeted. Thank you, chief bully, in Washington!

As I got used to the idea of not using my smartphone, I found my self reading more. I started writing new ideas using a pen and paper! I even found time to meditate. It makes me wonder if our youth would be better off if they put away their smartphones and started engaging face-to-face with each other. Since I have 600+ students this semester, I am wondering how I could start an experiment with them? Can you give up your device for two days?

Device Addiction

Are you addicted to your smartphone? Can you put it down and not look at it for an hour? Two hours? 24 hours? Yes, I did not think you could do that. It means that you have become dependent on that smartphone. I am sorry to tell you that you are either an addict or on your way to becoming one. What would you miss if you did not look at it when the smartphone dinged with a notification? Would you have missed a tweet? Was it even directed to you or just something that was tweeted by someone you are following? We don’t email, but rather text. We expect an immediate answer to that text, while we are expecting a slower response to an email. We seem to have entered a world of instant gratification. I want it now!

I have a challenge for you. Unplug. Put away all your communication devices for 24 hours. I mean no phones, no tablets, no laptops, no computers. Can you do it? Try talking face-to-face with those around you. It might be a new or unremembered experience. What if you live by yourself? Can you keep yourself amused and busy for 24 hours? I wish you luck. I am unplugging until Monday. Today is Friday. Talk to you on Monday.

Become a Social Media Troll!

Should we believe anything is social media? I keep hearing about social media trolls that post comments that are false and misleading. I wondered how easy it is to create a fake persona and use it to post on social media? I did some research to see how easy it is to become an online person. All it takes is an email account. There are several free email providers and some that will not share your email information and encrypt your email. All it takes to obtain an email account is your name and date of birth. Use a fake name and a false date of birth and you now have an email account. To access social media like Twitter, all that is needed is an email account. Create an account in your fake name and give them the new persona’s email account. They send you an email with a code to verify that you have that email account. Put the code into Twitter, and you now have a Twitter account in your new persona’s name. You are now free to Tweet to your heart’s content about anything you want and it cannot be traced back to you. This is especially true if you did all of this from a public network, like Starbucks, or Walmart, or McDonald’s. Enjoy your life as a social media troll!

Do early primaries make sense?

After binge-watching the news over the last week, where we had the drama of the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, I have to ask what does it matter. The first two states are small, have a majority of white voters, have little diversity, and do not not reflect the diversity of the country. It begs the question, why are these two states the first? The second question is, who cares? Yet we have candidates dropping out of the race after two states. Perhaps that is a good thing. Is it reasonable to have over twenty candidates running for the Democratic ticket? It should be obvious that the country needs a change in the White House. We have a president who is out of control. He has the Attorney General doing his bidding like a personal attorney and interfering in the judicial process by changing sentencing recommendations.

We need to change the nominating process. Bloomberg is ignoring the first four small state primaries. I am thinking that this makes sense. Go for super Tuesday and then the Democratic nomination should be transparent and the country can understand who can replace the reality TV star in the White House. Yes, I said reality TV star. I have never watched a reality TV show. I am sure that I am in a small minority in this country. I admit that I don’t understand the attraction to reality TV. In the last year, I have researched reality TV. I am no closer to understanding the appeal, but it is clear that this country is being run like a reality TV show. The only difference seems to be that a reality TV show has a script, the country is without a script and directed by an egomaniac. He seems to be back in his reality TV show, firing people that will not bow down to him. What has happened to the Republicans in congress? Are they really so spineless that they are willing to allow the violations to the Constitution that they gave the oath to uphold?

The beginning steps of higher education reform!

Thinking more about what classes are relevant to our alumni, we are working to create a survey that will give us an indication of the skills the university needs to be teaching. We will be asking, what do you use in the job that you learned during your university education. We will not be asking about what courses should be taught. If we know the skills and knowledge that people use, we can understand what classes are relevant. We will also be asking about the skills that a person uses that they wished they learned in college, but learned in the real world and maybe the hard way. The overarching question is, how can we make a college education relevant, valuable, and a lower cost?

When the survey is developed, we will be sending it to alumni, sharing with others in academia to send to their alumni, and sharing on social media. The more people we can get into the conversation the better, and the better chance of making a meaningful change. Is this tilting at windmills? I don’t think so.

Are universities really educating their students?

This is an interesting question that can be answered in several ways depending on how you define education. When I look up the meaning for higher education, the definitions are skewed based on the desired end product. If you are looking for a well-rounded individual, you look for a general education that covers many areas of knowledge, ranging from science to arts to philosophy. If you define education as giving students the skills to get a job, you look at the courses that employers want. If you refer back to the 2/6/2020 post, you will see what pragmatic education might look like. I want my students to get the knowledge that they need to get good jobs. I don’t want them to pay for a class that will offer them no advantage in the “real” world.

I don’t see universities adopting this idea unless they are forced to do it. Think of all of the humanities departments that would have to lay off people if students were not required to take diversity classes or humanities classes. These university-wide requirements support entire departments, if not entire schools, within the university. What would we lose if these departments were required to downsize and become relevant? I suspect not much. If we made education appropriate to the real world, we could reduce the time to get a degree by 25% and reduce the cost of “higher education” by the same amount. Maybe it is time to get real and relevant to higher education. Maybe it is time to get the employers and those paying for a college education involved in the conversation.

What are you going to do this summer?

Are you planning on traveling on vacation? We are. Last summer we went to Costa Rica for three weeks. My ulterior motive was to see if we could live there. I really should say if I could live there. I don’t think my spouse will ever agree to live anywhere other than Texas. Since I chose Costa Rica, it was her turn to select this coming summer’s destination. We are going to Ireland for three weeks this coming summer. We had considered going for a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec railroad in Colorado in May. I just found out that I will not be teaching summer school this year.

I can teach this summer if I chose to. However, the Dean’s office changed our pay for summer school classes to such a low rate that no one is going to teach summer school. I don’t know if the administration’s intention was to do away with summer school entirely, but they have effectively done that. I wish I could say that the administration made a conscious decision, but I suspect that the Theory of Unintended Consequences is alive and well. They are also making changes in the pay for faculty to teach online classes. The changes are published but are extremely nebulous and ill-defined. This has lead to another consequence. Many faculty have canceled their online classes for future semesters. They did not wait for further definition.

My question is, what am I going to do this summer? My spouse has already said that if I am home, I can see her for breakfast and evening supper. I am to leave her alone for the remainder of the day. It should be an interesting summer.

Tuition Free College Education

NYU medical school has gone tuition-free for all medical students. https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2018/08/16/nyu-makes-medical-school-tuition-free/#111b3567a9d8

Five countries have tuition-free university degrees. It can be accomplished. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/080616/6-countries-virtually-free-college-tuition.asp

What would it take for a USA university to do away with tuition for business students? A large endowment would help. NYU Medical School’s endowment is $600 million to offset the former $55,000 per year tuition. There are approximately 700 students in the NYU Medical School. Instate tuition at Oklahoma State University is $9,018 per year. With approximately 4,000 students, OSU would need an endowment of approximately $575 million to give the 4,000 students free tuition. There are ways to lower the size of the required funding.

One obvious way is to lower costs. When the university has more than three times the number of administrators and staff as teaching faculty, there is obviously room to reduce the overhead.

Another way to reduce the required endowment is to revise the curriculum and reduce the hours needed to get a degree. Do business school students need 24 credit hours of general education that includes six hours of history and government, six hours of humanities, six hours of natural sciences, three hours of social and behavioral sciences, and three hours of diversity classes. Eliminating these would reduce the number of required endowment by 20% or $115 Million. Would the business students be as prepared to work in the USA business world? I think so.

Healthcare cost

Do you wonder why the cost of medical care continues to rise at alarming rates? Why we hear about exorbitant bills for simple services? Why an EpiPen that costs about $400 for two, when the manufactured cost is less than two dollars? Why insulin costs five times more in the USA than in Canada? Have you ever heard of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (HMOA)?

Prior to 1973, medical agencies, which include insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, and clinics, were service organizations and could not function as a for-profit business. The HMOA changed that and now, medical care is a for-profit business. It has led to continuing increasing costs and new intermediaries. These intermediaries include insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, prescription management companies, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Multiple for-profit companies in healthcare increase our cost of healthcare. How can we correct this? It will be difficult. Repeal the HMOA? That will probably happen when pigs fly based on the lobbying power of these companies. Medicare for all? Will that really change anything? Medicare does not negotiate prices so they have little effect, much less than Medicaid. Move to another country? Maybe. The only thing that will change the current system from the damage caused by HMOA is a public outcry, term limits for politicians, removal of entrenched politicians. I am only one, but with help, we can change the world.

False posts & Facebook.

I spent the last several days with my bride celebrating our 50^th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed breakfasts, dinners, winery, and just being with each other. This took priority over my time and mind. Missing blog posts was not a priority. Driving back was an easy seven-hour drive. I spent most of the time listening to NPR. Even on NPR, the talk was centered around what is going on in Washington and Iowa. The deep divisions in the country sadden me.

Today I read that Steven King has left Facebook because of their continuing to accept targeted ads that are false. I agree with him, but leaving makes little difference with Facebook’s billions of subscribers. I came to the conclusion that it is better to stay and call out the falsehoods. I also expect to see several deepfakes this election season. Deepfakes are ads that have been digitally modified to make the person say something that they would never say. Google deepfakes, and you will learn more. Researchers are working to be able to identify deepfakes. Facebook has not agreed to delete the identified deepfakes. The youngest generation is not on Facebook. Perhaps we should all leave. What do you suppose its value would be with no subscribers. Wake up Facebook! Be honest and ethical!