The growth of unpaid internships

It seems many companies are preying on college graduates to get free labor.

Working for nothing?

Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say [New York Times]

“With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor.
Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined employers.
Many regulators say that violations are widespread, but that it is unusually hard to mount a major enforcement effort because interns are often afraid to file complaints. Many fear they will become known as troublemakers in their chosen field, endangering their chances with a potential future employer.”

I am all for cracking down on employers that are trying to get something for nothing, but I feel like if officials get too trigger happy with enforcement, it could force businesses to decrease the amount of positions available, which will make it tougher for us students to get the experience we need.

Professors Banning Laptops In the Lecture Hall

Professors at some school are banning laptops to help get kids to pay attention.

Back to Pencil and Paper

Wide Web of diversions gets laptops evicted from lecture halls [Washington Post]

A generation ago, academia embraced the laptop as the most welcome classroom innovation since the ballpoint pen. But during the past decade, it has evolved into a powerful distraction. Wireless Internet connections tempt students away from note-typing to e-mail, blogs, YouTube videos, sports scores, even online gaming — all the diversions of a home computer beamed into the classroom to compete with the professor for the student’s attention.

Part of me wants to say, “Make your lectures more interesting, and kids will pay attention,”  but I know that isn’t the whole story. I’ve noticed many students at Tech have a tendency to be distracted in class, but it would be impossible to force them to pay attention to something they clearly have no interest in. I feel that as long as they are paying customers, let them do whatever they want while they are in class. It only becomes a problem when it distracts other students.

The Student Loan Burden

Student loans have become a necessary part of going to college, however it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to escape the debt once they finish their schooling.

Easy Money

The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden [Wall Street Journal]

“Unlike other kinds of debt, student loans can be particularly hard to wriggle out of. Homeowners who can’t make their mortgage payments can hand over the keys to their house to their lender. Credit-card and even gambling debts can be discharged in bankruptcy. But ditching a student loan is virtually impossible, especially once a collection agency gets involved. Although lenders may trim payments, getting fees or principals waived seldom happens”

“Yet many former students are trying. There is an estimated $730 billion in outstanding federal and private student-loan debt, says Mark Kantrowitz of FinAid.org, a Web site that tracks financial-aid issues—and only 40% of that debt is actively being repaid. The rest is in default, or in deferment, which means that payments and interest are halted, or in “forbearance,” which means payments are halted while interest accrues.”

This is becoming a serious problem for students today. The cost of a higher level education is spiraling out of control, and students are becoming servants of their accumulated debt. Schools have always said that a degree will increase your potential salary, but many recent graduates are questioning that wisdom while they struggle to find jobs in our struggling economy.

The World of Facebook

The New York Review of Books published an article outlining some the factors key to Facebook’s rapid early success.

Facebook, network of choice?

In The World Of Facebook [The New York Review of Books]

“Mark Zuckerberg, the primary founder of Facebook, who dropped out of college six months after starting the site, took most of his ideas from existing social networks such as Friendster and MySpace. But while Microsoft could as easily have originated at MIT or Caltech, it was no accident that Facebook came from Harvard.”
“Facebook was successful early on because it didn’t depart significantly from how its audience interacted, and because it started at the top of the social hierarchy. Zuckerberg distinguished his site through one innovation: Facebook, initially at least, would be limited to Harvard. The site thus extended one of the primary conceits of education at an elite university: that everyone on campus is, if not a friend, then a potential friend, one already vetted by the authorities. ”

It is always good to be aware of the intentions of the companies whose services we use on a daily basis. It seems that Facebook is an unavoidable part of the college experience today, for better or worse. Considering the recent changes in Facebook’s privacy settings, it may serve students to be skeptical of the company. They use all of the data that you input on the site in order to make money on advertisements, it is a good idea to remember that the internet only gives you the illusion of privacy!

Good study habits?

Recent psychology studies are showing the importance of “active recall”.

Maximize your potential

Close the Book. Recall. Write It Down. [Chronicle of Higher Education]

“If you’re like many professors, you’ll tell them something like this: Read carefully. Write down unfamiliar terms and look up their meanings. Make an outline. Reread each chapter.

That’s not terrible advice. But some scientists would say that you’ve left out the most important step: Put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you’re uninhibited, say it out loud.

Two psychology journals have recently published papers showing that this strategy works, the latest findings from a decades-old body of research. When students study on their own, “active recall” — recitation, for instance, or flashcards and other self-quizzing — is the most effective way to inscribe something in long-term memory.”

This information could come in handy around finals time for my fellow Tech students. It is not easy to memorize the facts and trivia included in some of the coursework.

Video Games at Tech

Lori Shyba, new faculty here at Montana Tech, is teaching a class that centers on designing video games.

Designing games at Tech

Serious Gamers [Montana Standard]

“”Art, painting, color, 3-D modeling sound — you can take all of that and put it into one art form,” he said. “I’ve come up with a great idea for a game; now I just have to learn how to create a game.” Gibson is exactly the kind of student Lori Shyba, who teaches the class, had in mind when she proposed the course. Shyba said the class aims to teach students about the cultural, economic and industrial significance of video games.”

Considering the video game industry does about $18 billion worth of business a year, it seems the time is ripe for Tech students to get familiar with the process.

IMG source

Marvin Camel fighting to be known as Montana’s only world champion boxer

Boxer Marvin Camel reminisced about his accomplishments in the boxing world during a recent visit to Montana.

Heavy hitter: Marvin Camel still fighting to be known as Montana’s only world champion boxer [Missoulian]

Belt for the Champ

“Anybody can do what I’ve done,” Camel says, “but in reality, nobody has. I often ask myself, ‘Why me? Why was I chosen to be the first cruiserweight champion of the world?’ I come from a town of 1,500 people, Ronan, Montana, and I’ve won two world titles. There are towns, there are states, there are countries with millions of people that have never won a world championship.”

“We gave Montana two world championships,” he says. “Other people got close – Roger Rouse (of Anaconda) was ranked No. 1 in the world – but nobody else could get over the hump and win a championship. I’m a two-hump camel, because I got over the hump twice.”

Part of the reason Marvin may have trouble getting recognition for his accomplishments is the waning popularity of boxing as a whole. It seems that Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fighting have eclipsed boxing in popularity these days, as evidenced with UFC/MMA style events at the Butte Civic Center, rather than boxing matches.

Input wanted on HPER renovation project

Montana Tech students have an opportunity to let their opinions be heard regarding the upcoming HPER renovation project

Big changes in store for Tech

Time to weigh in on HPER [Montana Standard]

“Construction is scheduled to last 10 months and start in mid-September. Renovation is planned for roughly 25,000 square feet with another 7,000 square feet of expansion along the west side of the building. No work is planned for the gym, which enjoyed a $650,000 renovation three years ago.”
“The pool will be part of the conversation, but both stressed the dialogue will extend far beyond “pool or no pool.” In the end, maybe the pool will be left alone. Maybe it will be taken out, and the space used for something else. Maybe needed pool repairs — a new liner, revamped dehumidification system, a cover — will be part of the project.”

I certainly hope they decide to keep the pool, considering I use it all the time! Of course I can understand the motivation though, keeping a pool heated 24/7 can’t be cheap. Be sure to let your voice be heard in this debate!

NBC’s Late Night Disaster

Today Conan O’Brien released a statement that he would not move the acclaimed Tonight Show to accommodate Jay Leno’s sinking comedy television show.

Fed up?

See Conan O’Brien’s entire statement here : Conan O’Brien Statement

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

-Conan O’Brien

What will happen now at NBC? NBC was recently purchased by Comcast and hopes to resurrect the struggling television network. While the Tonight Show has struggled behind David Letterman’s late night show since O’Brien took over as the host of the Tonight Show, has NBC made a mistake in replacing Leno to save O’Brien?

Stimulus Funds used on Tennis Court in Bozeman

A portion of the Federal Stimulus funds were used to replace aging tennis courts courts with a new rubber tiled surface.

Stimulus Funded Tennis Courts Draw Ire In Montana [ABC News]

Proper Stimulus?

“The issue started with reports that the City of Bozeman decided Monday to spend about $50,000 of its $621,000 in stimulus money to replace aging courts with a new rubber tiled surface — a move the city pointed out was perfectly allowed by stimulus guidelines.

But Gov. Brian Schweitzer lashed out at the idea Tuesday. The Democrat said that such a project would have been laughed out of the building if Bozeman had specifically asked the Legislature for it.”

Partisan bickering aside, this “infrastructure” improvement is technically allowed by the stimulus guidelines. It also raises the question of what exactly this project is intended to stimulate? Giving short term busy work to contractors is no way to rebuild an economy, one wonders how much of the massive $787 billion stimulus fund is being used on projects like these.