Author: Joseph Thibault

Quote – “In the Singularity University, Humans are so yesterday”

Dr. Barry, a former astronaut and “Survivor” contestant with an M.D. and a Ph. D., has put his ideas into action. He has a robot at home that can take a pizza from the delivery person, pay for it and carry it into the kitchen.

“You have the robot say, ‘Take the 20 and leave the pizza on top of me,’ ” Dr. Barry says. “I get the pizza about a third of the time.”

From In the Singularity University, Humans are so yesterday by Ashlee Vance in the New York Times.

Now they just need to add a camera to the bot to thwart the pizza delivery thieves that take the money and don’t leave the pizza.

Quote – “Mandate…the right to attend college”

Under the rules of unemployment insurance, which has been extended to millions more people since the financial crisis hit, recipients must confirm that they are actively looking for work and generally are not allowed to enroll in college. Last year, the president urged states to loosen these restrictions. But lawmakers can, and should, go much further. The next time they extend unemployment benefits, they should mandate that anyone eligible also has the right to attend college, as long as they’re enrolled full-time in a one- or two-year degree program.

From the Washington Monthly article, Degrees of Speed – Jamie Merisotis and Stan Jones

Quote – Muhammad Yunus

Mr. Yunus states. “When we were in the caves we were all self-employed … finding our food, feeding ourselves. That’s where the human history began … As civilization came we suppressed it. We became labor because [they] stamped us, ‘You are labor.’ We forgot that we are entrepreneurs.”

From The Little Big Things, by Tom Peters

Quote – Daniel Bennett, Forbes.com

Let’s make all student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy, but instead of the taxpayers taking the hit when student loans go sour, colleges should absorb the loss, or at least a portion of it.

This would incentivize colleges to focus on providing educational value and help their students launch a career–knowing that if they fail in their mission, there are real consequences. Maybe then colleges would be more attentive to helping their students succeed.

Daniel Bennet, “When Good Loans go Bad” (http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/25/student-loans-bankruptcy-leadership-education-bennett_2.html)

Pretty interesting concept.  It certainly would be opposed by most higher education institutions I believe.  I imagine that it would severely alter U of Phoenix and the other for profits recruiting efforts.