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FKIM01

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Posts posted by FKIM01

  2. The changing face of Indiana University and why I'm stepping away for awhile...

    in Colonial Crester's Corner

    Posted

    Thanks for the kind words, all.  I didn't post this for sympathy or to be asked to stay, but the class of this diverse group showed as I expected it would.  I've been so busy this week I haven't had much time to check in anyway, so this is somewhat of a seasonal sabbatical for me due to the workload, as well as being a mental health break.  I expect I will check in from time to time, but I'm going to make it harder and more intentional for the time-being, so as I said earlier, you'll probably see a lot less of me for awhile.

    I really hope IU basketball gets a lot better, although for reasons stated above, I don't see a lot of change in Bloomington no matter who coaches the team.  Woodson is not the problem here (certainly not the biggest problem, IMO, anyway) and I think he does what he can and for the most part, is a pretty good coach who can relate to the players.  I see the problem extending way beyond the basketball team and I only hope the team can rise above the problems I see at the university level.

    Anyway, enough of that.  I'll likely be back sooner or later.  The only thing preventing that is the complete and permanent slide/implosion of IU and IU basketball and surely enough people care enough to prevent that.  Until then, talk to you later, Hoosier Sports Nation...

    -30-

    • Like 1

  3. The changing face of Indiana University and why I'm stepping away for awhile...

    in Colonial Crester's Corner

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Reacher said:

    I empathize with you @FKIM01. I hope you do stick around and while I can certainly understand your desire to take a step back, I hope you at least check in now and then.

    I saw this article the other day - https://www.thecollegefix.com/vanderbilt-has-1-administrator-for-every-2-students-analysis/. If you don't want to read it, schools like Vanderbilt and Northwestern now have an administrator for every 2 students! They are bringing in so much $, they are hiring more (useless) staff. Did the thought ever cross their mind that they could reduce tuition? 

    College degrees are becoming worth less and less in all but a few specialty (dental for example) majors. 

    Too many kids that I know of do not get the maximum value (education, friends, experiences) that they are paying a fortune for. 

    I foresee a lot of smaller schools closing as the demand for in person college wanes and online learning degrees and education become more prevalent. 

    The state of our universities seems to be emblematic of so many other areas in our country. It seems like everywhere you look things are falling apart (the airplanes literally are). Our utilities, government, infrastructure, Healthcare and more all seem broken. 

    I think the key is to be self sufficient and have a good support group available. I rely on IU sports and you folks here on HSN to get away from the craziness out there.  I can deal with @bluegrassIU much better than the idiot trying to fix my car. 😁

     

    Reading that article made me want to vomit and is very much in tune with what I see as wrong with many colleges and universities, IU included.  Eventually, I think something will come to a head, probably, as you said with a lot of schools drowning in their own financial bloat.  Most businesses could not survive operating like universities and colleges do today.  It will be interesting to see how colleges and college athletics play out over the next 10-20 years as it's really hard for me to feel like today's students are getting their money's worth (I question whether it's been worth it for awhile, frankly) and I see more and more people coming to the same conclusion.

    • Like 1

  6. The changing face of Indiana University and why I'm stepping away for awhile...

    in Colonial Crester's Corner

    Posted

    39 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

    @FKIM01

    I would rather have a colonoscopy than fill out a FAFSA.

    Going to have to keep an eye/ear out on that insurance thing.  My son goes to the New Albany campus and lives at home, so have not experienced that.

    However, my daughter graduates from HS this year and will be on campus (though not IU).  I will fight that till death if they try and push that on me.

    It may just be a dental/medical school thing, but I was very annoyed with their arbitrary requirements that made me pay a higher price for a lower quality policy.  I felt like they were telling me they knew better how to take care of my child than I did and I found that personally offensive.

    • Like 1

  8. The changing face of Indiana University and why I'm stepping away for awhile...

    in Colonial Crester's Corner

    Posted · Edited by FKIM01
    typo

    Apologies for the length, but I appreciate you all bearing with me while I get this off my chest...

    I've been trending this way for awhile, but after last night's poor showing at home against what most consider THE arch-rival, I've come to the conclusion that I waste too much time on my declining IU fandom and it's probably time to step away for awhile.  This is far from just an "I'm pissed about last night's result" decision.  IU has been transforming itself for at least the last 30 years (probably longer) and the more I see of the new IU, the less I like.  The decline of IU basketball is just a symptom of a deeper institutional rot that IU players, the IU coaching staff and even the IU president aren't big enough to reverse, at least not quickly.

    I saw a lot of this up close with my daughter spending four years in IU's dental school, culminating last May.  The educational experience was fine, although she told me herself that she wasn't exposed to some procedural aspects of general dentistry that she's simply had to learn on the job because IU's dental program wasn't in position to teach her.  I don't remember what it was, but it wasn't like it was some new experimental procedure.  It was something common like crowns.  Whatever it was, my first thought was, $50,000/year tuition and they don't even teach that?!!  That was far from my first disappointment with IU as an institution of higher learning.  My first conflict came with their militant insistence that we complete a FAFSA even though I told them several times we had no intention of taking any loans and we would not qualify for any financial aid.  I assured them through my daughter that we intended to 100% self-pay.  I thought that would make them happy but they badgered her repeatedly about completing the FAFSA and I hated putting her in the middle.  I finally told her to tell the school administrators that I had no intention of wasting my time completing a FAFSA solely for their curiosity and if they had an issue with simply accepting my tuition payments, they needed to talk to me and leave her alone.

    My next conflict with school administrators was over their insistence that we pay for more expensive health insurance that provided inferior coverage vs. what we already had.  Initially, I was able to satisfy them that the insurance already in place was sufficient, but each year, they became more and more picky and insistent until they finally force-placed their more expensive crappy high deductible insurance and put it on my tuition bill.  I told my daughter that I 100% disagreed with their tactics, but wasn't going to make any more waves since it was her last year.  Their tunnel vision giving them only one satisfactory solution to various problems regardless of how students or parents were impacted was a constant source of irritation for me and if I had another child, I would absolutely not pay for an Indiana University education.

    These are just a couple of examples of what I see as a much larger problem that's ruining most colleges and universities.  I only have close experience with two (Indiana University and University of Southern Indiana where I graduated), but to varying degrees, I think at least some institutional rot is present at most colleges and universities.  I've encountered a lot of college graduates who, aside from being educated on the necessary subject matter, are being taught how to think and even encouraged to have certain opinions.  I saw it with my own daughter.  I've asked her where some of these opinions came from and long story short, they are very much formed as a result of who she was exposed to in college, rather than her being free to form her own views without bias.  Now that she's away from that influence and exposed to life in the working world, I see evidence that at least some of these new views are changing.  I don't see the influence of what I see as institutional rot being healthy for young minds and I think that spills over into aspects of life outside of a student's education, including how athletes compete on the floor.  The end product is mentally soft teams who fold at the first sign of adversity.  Obviously, that's a vast generalization, but I see a lot of evidence of it at the college level.  Much more so that I see at the high school or professional level, which leads me to believe that the problem is most acute at the college and university level.  High school and professional teams seem to win much more than college teams on the road.  Why is that?  I think I have an idea.  If things don't change at the college level, I see fewer and fewer students being willing to invest in a college education, given the questionable quality of what they receive in return for their tuition dollars.

    I could go on and on, talking about how I believe NIL has negatively impacted college sports, among other things that bother me, but I'll close my manifesto here by telling you that I've very much appreciated the HSN community, even those I've openly debated with.  This is a good fanbase that deserves better than the product we're getting and I'm pretty much over wasting time on or caring about Indiana University.  I probably won't go immediately in case any of you want to interact, but I'd say that by the end of the week, I'll log out  and remove the bookmarks from my browser and stay away, at least for awhile.  Winning (a lot) would likely rekindle my interest, but absent that, I have better things to do with my precious time.  Thanks to all who participate positively here...

    • Like 5
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  9. Purdue Pre-Game Thread

    in IUBB Game Threads

    Posted

    5 hours ago, IUFLA said:

    No, it probably wouldn't... But Trayce is getting minutes in the NBA because of everything else he brings... 

    But the chart was posted just to drive home the point that I'd basically never seen Edey shoot from more than 7 feet from the hoop... 

    Apparently from your chart, he has, although not very successfully.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

  12. Big Ten Basketball 2023-2024

    in General Basketball Discussion

    Posted

    1 minute ago, IUFLA said:

    I don't think Reese said anything until Anderson didn't shake his offered hand...

    You'd think a coach would act a little more like an adult in that situation...

    He didn't then, but I don't doubt Maryland was doing some woofing during the game since they were finally having something to woof about.  Could be that Reese said something to the bench during the game that was cause for this childish response.  Nevertheless, you're the adult, dude.  Use it as motivation for the next time.

    • Like 1

  13. Purdue Pre-Game Thread

    in IUBB Game Threads

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Hoosier4Life53 said:

    Which results in a foul most of the time.

    Absolutely.  I think Lurch isn't called as much as he should be simply because it appears defenders are allowed to be more physical against him.  I think officials let the big boys play more than they should, but if you don't, lots of fans whine about that as well.

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