tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post5167141885758916844..comments2024-03-28T20:53:54.312-05:00Comments on Orange Crate Art: Higher-ed monopolyMichael Leddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-66102483947731639832015-04-24T16:41:19.078-05:002015-04-24T16:41:19.078-05:00Anon., thanks for these comments. I wish (I’m not ...Anon., thanks for these comments. I wish (I’m not kidding) that you were writing on a page of your own and not letting your finds just serve as comments here. Here is <a href="http://www.luminafoundation.org/files/advantage/document/financial/2013-Form_990-T.pdf" rel="nofollow">Form 990 for 2013</a>. Searching for <i>lumina criticism</i> also yields interesting results. <i>Non-profit</i> and <i>reform</i> are words about which to be wary.Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-33978443028761518122015-04-24T16:12:56.170-05:002015-04-24T16:12:56.170-05:00A little more skepticism for the day: EDX in Cambr...A little more skepticism for the day: EDX in Cambridge is a 501(c)3 "public charity." Guidestar notes that $25,836,362 in government grants are the lion's share of its funding suggests that MIT and Harvard as institutions are not funding it directly. The administration for this charity paid itself $3,299,943 in the fiscal year ending 2013. It claims a million enrollees for its courses online. Couple EDX paid with government grants with a Lumina which involves itself in Cayman Islands "passive investment" behaviors, and one sees a far different picture than philanthropy or broader education. Something in Denmark might be rotten?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-32715770639114009282015-04-24T16:04:50.200-05:002015-04-24T16:04:50.200-05:00It would be instructive to Google Lumina Foundatio...It would be instructive to Google Lumina Foundation's Form 990 for the tax year 2013. A long and boring read to some, I found it fascinating. For a 501(c) tax exempt corporation to have many of its related groups organized in the Cayman Islands, as well as Canada and the UK, and for an IRS-approved tax exempt foundation to state that its secondary function is "passive investments" of some $1.4 billion in funds, all the while the corporate leadership is supposedly paid $26K for a full time job, perhaps the statements made by this foundation's spokesperson are nothing but marketing. How much money of that "passive investment" of over a billion has been distributed to schools? Precious little. The New York Times article's writer could have applied some few minutes with a search engine to have learned that Lumina is not higher education's friend, but a local office of many offshore tax havens, for so it seems. Google "2013 Form 990-T 4.1M - Lumina Foundation for Education" for the PDF. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-75046934328023777172015-04-24T14:07:51.692-05:002015-04-24T14:07:51.692-05:00There’s a famous (or once-famous?) piece, “How to ...There’s a famous (or once-famous?) piece, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gw_UcMT4u-ZSW7ZBN_RAMspZFex6o83oIbnvtuV-CM8/edit?pli=1" rel="nofollow">“How to Say Nothing in 500 Words.”</a> Early editions of <i>The Practical Stylist</i> have something along these lines too.<br /><br />“Educational attainment” sounds to me like a way of talking about credits and degrees, as “assessment instruments” is a way of talking about tests.Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-27463790698876499092015-04-24T13:39:41.173-05:002015-04-24T13:39:41.173-05:00I keep thinking about this.
Is educational attainm...I keep thinking about this.<br />Is educational attainment what we used to call learning?<br /><br />Another series I'd like to see is <br />How to Write Badly, Well.<br />(Not sure how to phrase this...)<br /><br />There's an art to writing badly, don't you think? <br />Wait. No, not "art", which implies conscious effort. But maybe some kind of genius?<br />Most people can write badly at a mediocre level, but the stuff that truly flays you, that's something else.Frexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13191192404386975664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-39844873388173649532015-04-24T12:20:05.428-05:002015-04-24T12:20:05.428-05:00I know. But I wouldn’t want to do anything to aid ...I know. But I wouldn’t want to do anything to aid and abet the enemy. :)Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-55692621537803733862015-04-24T11:12:36.989-05:002015-04-24T11:12:36.989-05:00I mean, "educational attainment"?
--Frex...I mean, "educational attainment"?<br />--Frex/FrescaFrexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13191192404386975664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-48748630391327646592015-04-24T11:11:38.635-05:002015-04-24T11:11:38.635-05:00OMG, this cries out for one of your How-to-Improve...OMG, this cries out for one of your How-to-Improve-Writing mop ups.Frexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13191192404386975664noreply@blogger.com