End of the CSUs

A year ago, I was in a Political Philosophy class and the professor said "California State University Northridge will not be around in 20 years." I thought he was a crazy professor with a flair for the melodramatic. I was right, but he was also right.

Now, I take the same professor for a Modern Political Philosophy class. He says the exact same sentence. I look to the left of me and notice 20 people wanting to add who can't get the classes they need. They won't get in because the administration froze permission numbers. They're visiting the class has been in vain. They will soon flee to community college for a semester and then transfer out of state. The CSU Chancellor has said that he wants an 11% cut in CSU enrollment. He will get it.

My professor said the process will take 20 years. I give California State University system as we know it about a decade. Cuts and the inability for a budget to be made have killed the system. The system is too big to sustain.

The dream of subsidized public higher education in California is dying if not already dead.

There are a couple of choices I think the CSU system must do in order to salvage what is left of this subsidized public higher education system:

1) Cut down the number of schools.
23 is too many. There are several schools within an hours or so drive even from CSU Northridge (Long Beach, Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills). There is a need to consolidate. What I think should happen is that the state comes up with criteria for which schools survive the cut. I would suggest a combination of academic performance and ability to get jobs, much like a law school ranking system. The schools that do not survive the cut get spun off into the community college system, get privatized into non-state universities, or simply sell the space to other buildings.

2) Increase the admissions standards.
It is in my experience far too easy to get into CSUN. I know it goes against the principle of expanding higher education to the disadvantaged, but I feel that raising the GPA/SAT standards to get into CSUs would improve the health of the system. Part of the problem we face now is the fact that the system over-enrolled before the decline. I have often called CSU Northridge "Cal State Community College Northridge". Perhaps I am coming of as an arrogant elitist, but I feel a higher admissions standard would yield a better intellectual crop than what I currently see around campus and raise the prestige of the Cal State system.

Unfortunately, these are the only major ideas that I have that would save the California State University system. But as it stands, there must be a change to the current path.

Angels in the Hall of Fame

Yesterday, shortstop Barry Larkin was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. While I think Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell should've been the ones voted in, thats a discussion for another day. Angels fan favorite Tim Salmon was on the ballot, but only gained five votes for admittance. Which is five more than I think he should've gotten. He was a no-brainer not Hall of Famer. He's an Angels Hall of Famer but not a Baseball Hall of Famer.

There is nobody representing the Angels in the Hall of Fame. There are Hall of Fame players who could've but it ended up they didn't (Rod Carew and Nolan Ryan) and others who played a small portion of their careers for the Angels (Reggie Jackson). Come to think of it, there are no Angels players who will be Hall of Fame bound anytime soon. I think the first person to get into the Hall of Fame as an Angel will be manager Mike Scioscia. Here are a few potential candidates who could get in as an Angel, but probably will not.

Vladimir Guerrero: 2004-2009. Will go in as the last Montreal Expo. He has the highest shot of any player. Won an MVP with the Angels in 2004. He is a HoFer who hit 173 of his 443 HRs as an Angel. One of the most feared players of the 2000s. But he hit most of his home runs and RBIs as an Expo.

Jim Edmonds: Angels 1993-1999. Will go in as a St. Louis Cardinal. He won a World Series title with the Cardinals in 2006. While starting out his career as an Angel, he made his mark as a great defensive centerfielder with the Cardinals. He also hit 1200 RBIs and 393 home runs. He has my vote for the HoF.

Torii Hunter: Angels 2007-present. Will go in as a Minnesota Twin. Considered the greatest defensive centerfielder of the 2000s probably. Has the solid offensive numbers to back up a HoF candidacy. While he gets my vote, he will probably be a borderline candidate who will be a fifteenth balloter.

Albert Pujols: Angels 2012- Probably end of career. Will go in as a St. Louis Cardinal. Unless he puts up monster numbers with the Angels, nothing will match his Cardinals career.

Psalm 73

Let me preface this by saying this: work has been getting me down lately. I had an atrocious day yesterday in regards to customers being mean and me not being able to show up on time (an absolute rarity for me not to show up ten minutes early; as a matter of fact so rare my coworkers were wondering if i had gotten into an accident or something). Also, I have been called in a lot of mornings, so I haven't had the chance to get into the Bible before work, like ever. Not to sound like I'm complaining, I was getting pretty grumpy and short-fused. My normally positive attitude was quickly turning negative.

Fortunately, this morning, my shift was actually scheduled. This enabled me to plan some time to get into the Bible. I've been going through Psalms and I was on Psalm 73.

I was really touched by this Psalm today. In it the believer is envious of those who seemingly have everything in spite of being antagonistic towards God. Meanwhile the believer has very little worldy claim. This lack made the psalmist very jealous and envious. In the same way, I was becoming jealous. I was discontented, wanting more and more. I was becoming jealous of those who don't have to work in retail. In the same way I was decrying my (relative first world pains) sufferings.

But as I was becoming foolishly jealous of those my age who don't need to work, I was touched by the psalmist's turn around verse 25 of the psalm when he says "Whom do I have in heaven but You? And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth." This made me realize I was focusing on the wrong things. I was getting stressed out over my law school decision. I was getting stressed out over my car payments, insurance payments, being able to afford law school itself. I was focusing on the wrong things. While those things are practical, I need to focus on one thing: God himself.

I remember a message (sermon) I had heard at my first joint college meeting discussing how the earthly things will pass. My car will pass and I will get a new car. My law school and career will pass. Everything will pass. As a matter of fact, Christ himself spoke "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away." The words, God Himself, shall never pass even though everything else will.

Reading this word really revitalized me. Honestly, I feel physically better and much less cranky carrying this word with me. It's so funny. God knows exactly how to revive a believer.