Neil Young Claim: Steve Jobs Listened to Vinyl

Musician Neil Young, in a story originally reported by the Associated Press, claimed that Steve Jobs loved to listen to music. The issue was that the deceased, virtually deified Apple-onian preferred to take in the tunes on vinyl. No compressed digital files were quite good enough for Jobs' ears.

The ironic story, confirmed by Jobs biographer Walter Mossberg, appears in today's siliconvalley.com.

Margaret Runyan Castaneda, ex-wife of Carlos Castaneda -- RIP

Once upon a time, Carlos Castaneda's writings mesmerized a generations of readers for whom the exploration of mysticism was akin to an enchanted journey. It's hard to imagine today, when the current deities are tech wizards and untouchable celebrities. Whatever Castaneda's faults -- and there were some whoppers -- at least his books attempted to touch something eternal and immaterial.

Ironically, one got the sense Castaneda was close to few people. Among them was Margaret Runyan, who met the author when he was an obscure deliveryman and she worked for a phone company in Los Angeles. Their story is a turbulent tale, and includes ambiguity about their marriage documentation, and the interposition of a legal organization which appears to have been something of a "keeper of the flame" for Castaneda.

The LA Times' obit of the former Mrs. Castaneda, who died over a month ago, offers intriguing details about the life and times of Margaret Runyan Castaneda and her famous husband.

"The Wire's" Sonja Sohn Returns to Baltimore's Street Life

Sonja Sohn
(click for her resume and
representation information)

Sonja Sohn, who made her acting name playing a tough female cop in The Wire, has returned to the Baltimore streets the TV series so splendidly depicted. She is the force behind a program called "ReWired for Life," which aims to work with young people similar to those portrayed on the HBO series. (This is not to be confused with a non-profit of the same name which specializes in medical issues.) Sohn, whose real-life background was somewhat similar to The Wire's characters, wants to "give back" to Charm City.

It's not easy to "give back," as Washington Post contributor Phil Zabriskie noted in today's well-written, thoughtful piece on Sohn's initiative. For fans of The Wire, and for insights into the hard work that leads to personal change in unforgiving environments, by all means read this story. Here's the link to it.

Melbourne's Graffiti Art Displayed

Melbourne graffiti
(image from BBC and Lonely Planet)

I've never been to Melbourne, or to Australia, for that matter. Whenever I've read about the city, it was often characterized as an attractive destination more or less dedicated to white-collar commerce and culture, both high and low-brow.

I did not realize Melbourne housed a vibrant, interesting graffiti art movement. Who would have connected street art with a city that had a reputation as being a bit buttoned down? Well, my perspective has changed, thanks to an online BBC slide show, done in conjunction with Lonely Planet, on the Melbourne''s graffiti.

The images showcase a highly energetic spirit, vibrant color and line, and a desire to transform dull wall space into living, breathing expression. The brief slide show is worth a few minutes of your time.

Judge Rules Newark Must Produce Facebook Donation E-Mails

According to a story in today's Star-Ledger of Newark, a Superior Court judge ruled earlier today that the city of Newark produce e-mail correspondence related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to the New Jersey city. The suit, brought by the ACLU on behalf of an organization called the Secondary Parents Council, had its genesis in the intransigence of Newark mayor Cory Booker's administration toward requests for the correspondence. Booker's team was an equal opportunity snubber, as it refused information requests regarding the Facebook largesse from The Star-Ledger and the Associated Press.

At issue is how local residents have been excluded from having any insight or say into the distribution and use of Zuckerberg's donation. For all the flapdoodle about how the money would help Newark schools and the community, the management of the funds has been extraordinarily secretive.

Keep in mind Facebook's wunderkind's highly publicized contribution came as the film The Social Contract, with its highly unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg, was released. Some saw the donation as intended to distract the public from awareness of the Facebook creator's unseemly personality. It also was tied into the politically motivated restructuring of Newark's schools and the emasculation of the city's teacher's union. However, to believe the unlikely quartet of Zuckerberg, Booker, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and Oprah Winfrey, the donation was all about education, opportunity, and community. For more on this topic, you're welcome to explore my three-part blog post about it.

Too bad no one bothered to ask the city's residents their opinion on the matter.

Obama Administration Rewrites National Forest Regulations

National Forests in Washington State
(map from US Forest Service)

I just returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest, where national forests are among the region's glorious natural treasures. As the journey is fresh in my mind, today's Washington Post story about the Obama Administration's rewriting of national forest rules held my attention.

Taking the article at face value, the administration has done the nation a service by revising the rules governing federal forests. The land is a valuable public resource. Among other things, it provides twenty percent of the country's drinking water. Consequently, forest management is much more important than meets the eye.

The Obama Administration's conservation-wise approach is a useful, sensible way to go. The notion that resource "extractors" should have the upper hand in this debate strikes me as an act of folly which the United States can no longer afford.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange To Air New TV Talk Show

Julian Assagne (photo from BBC)

The following news is not a practical joke: WikiLeaks website founder Julian Assagne will host a TV talk show. Now, this isn't a simple venture, given that Assagne is currently under house arrest in Great Britain. Ah, but a little matter of the criminal justice system has characteristically not stopped intrepid television executives from marching where angels fear to tread.

Assagne's program will air via an English-language channel based in Russia. That's right, folks: the Kremlin has just tweaked national security honchos throughout what used to be called the "West."

You can't make this stuff up. For more information, the LA Times' blog "Show Tracker" has additional details.

Apple Makes Its Move Into Education Publishing's Fortress

Apple, in a splashy New York announcement, made a strong move into reshaping education publishing. In essence, Apple has attempted to reshape aspects of learning via its software's ability to combine video, text, and (ahem) existing materials into a unique "textbook." One key impact is in the area of "personalized learning," a current and very hot buzzword in education.

Apple found big-time education publishing allies for the initiative. One interesting overview of today's events, with some hyperbole, appears in the San Jose Mercury News.

Apple's salvo into educational publishing will have its strongest immediate impact among college and high school students and faculties. However, the Cupertino firm has its eye on younger students, whose "personalized learning" will require much more trained, adult management.

For all the fuss over the entry of gadget-enhanced education, the fact remains students will still need to master readin', writin', and 'rithmetic. Those challenges are eternal ones that resist "abracadabra" solutions.

World Health Organization Notes That "Dangerous Abortions" Are Increasing

A BBC report notes that a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report states that there is a global rise in what the WHO characterized as "dangerous abortions." The global percentage of these abortions, defined as those procedures conducted by untrained personnel, reached 49% in 2008, a five percent increase over the previous 13 years.

Disturbingly, the WHO study found that over 19 of 20 abortions conducted in Africa are "unsafe."

For women, the report is depressing news. Meanwhile, religious fanatics continue to pursue a rigidly moral agenda whose purpose is to prevent women from controlling their own bodies, and by extension, their fate.

Anti-SOPA, Anti-PIPA Web Blackout Starts Tonight

SOPA -- Are you pro or con?

Companies for whom the Internet is their lifeblood and their passion are initiating a 24-hour service blackout starting this evening. Their aim is to protest a House bill called SOPA -- the Stop Online Piracy Act -- and its Senate counterpart, PIPA. The bills are currently in their respective House and Senate committees.

Among the blackout leaders are Wikipedia, Mozilla, and Reddit. They'll be dark starting at 9 pm Pacific time. Other Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Google, have posted anti-SOPA protest statements on their home pages.

One significant issue with the proposed legislation is that it gives corporations who feel "violated" profound legal latitude to shut down or financially encumber what the firms view as "rogue sites." Typically, those kinds of sites offer pirated versions of intellectual property, such as movies. It is major movie, cable, and TV content providers who are SOPA's principal advocates.

There is a brief, useful QandA-style overview in today's siliconvalley.com, if you're unfamiliar with the SOPA controversy.

Do you have an opinion about SOPA/PIPA? You're welcome to leave a comment on the topic.

JFK Hearse To Be Auctioned

JFK's Hearse

According to a post in the LA Times blog Nation Now, the hearse which carried President John F. Kennedy from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Love Field in Dallas will be auctioned. There will be no starting bid for the hearse, a 1964 white Cadillac.

Of course, this being a story about JFK, nothing is quite as it seems. The vehicle has a dodgy history. There have been a variety of owners. The hearse was once painted a "dull gold color," noted Professional Car Society president Steve Lichtman. Some doubts have been expressed about the hearse's provenance. While reading the Times' interview with Lichtman, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry.

One thing, however, is certain: this is an odd story to read on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Europe's Great Astronomical Venture -- the Planck Telescope -- Nearing its End

Orion. Photo taken by Planck Telescope.

With all the world's troubles reaching occasional fever pitches, it's comforting to know that scientists continue to explore and expand our shared knowledge of the universe.

A case in point is the Planck Telescope. This spacecraft was launched in 2009 by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the mission of "mapping the oldest light in the Universe," according to a recent BBC report. The British article noted that the telescope, which has delivered far more than anticipated, is reaching the end of its functional ability.

The details about the mission are remarkable. For the Planck Telescope to properly work, its instruments have had to operate in temperatures well below 250 degrees Centigrade. At its most extreme, the telescope functioned within one-tenth of a degree above absolute zero. I don't have any scientific background, but the telescope's ability to work in such extraordinary environments strikes me as just slightly south of the miraculous.

The telescope's mapping features are fascinating in their own right. I can't pretend to explain them, but the BBC story discusses them in reasonably accessible terms for laypeople to grasp. One profound area of research Planck scientists contemplated and researched was a notion called "inflation." The concept, as the BBC article noted, is a "'faster-than-light' expansion that cosmologists believe the Universe experienced in its first, fleeting moments." It also touched on the idea of "ancient light," or elements that existed long before the Age of the Dinosaurs, or before anything we could possibly associate with our planet (including its own existence).

As the late British scientist J.B.S. Haldane (shown in photo) famously said, "My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."

I'll second that motion.

Former SEC Official Fined For Taking Job With Alleged Ponzi Fraudster Robert Allen Stanford

Robert Allen Stanford (right) celebrating a victory
his cricket team -- the Stanford Superstars -- won
(photo from The New York Times)

The new millenium has largely been a fiscal disaster of epic proportions for the United States. One example of how corruption seized the country's major financial and governmental institutions is the Robert Allen Stanford saga.

A little fresher about "Sir Robert" is in order. Stanford, a dual citizen or Antigua/Barbuda and the United States, was raised and made his initial big stake in Texas, starting with the Houston real estate market. He later moved to the Caribbean, where he opened financial firms under the cozy terms existing in Montserrat and, later, Antigua. He parlayed the firm's products into a bonanza. The Antiguan government was grateful enough to Stanford to award him a knighthood. Shortly after the end of fellow Texan George W. Bush's tenure in the White House, the SEC and FBI discovered gambling was occurring in Sir Robert's casino. In essence, the SEC accused Stanford of operating a Ponzi scheme. The FBI arrested the knighted financier. Stanford has pleaded not guilty to the SEC's accusations. Meanwhile, his defense team, including court-appointed attorneys, are in tumult, according to a post in the Texas Lawyer publication's Tex Parte Blog.

Sir Robert's trial is scheduled to begin January 23rd. In the meantime, the SEC has fined one of its own for taking a job with Stanford. The former SEC official, Spencer C. Barasch, was the head of enforcement in the SEC's Fort Worth, Texas regional office. During his tenure, Barasch squashed three separate probes into Stanford's enterprises. In 2005, Barasch left government employ and eventually wanted to get his share of the Stanford gravy train. To that end, Bararsch offered his services to represent Stanford Financial Group in yet another SEC probe of Sir Robert's activities.

Barasch's reasoning was remarkable, according to a Washington Post report of the former SEC regional enforcement chief's actions. "Every lawyer in Texas and beyond," Barasch told the SEC's investigators, "is going to get rich over this case. Okay?  And I hated being on the sidelines." Alas, the Post article noted that the Justice Department maintained Barasch neglected to pay attention to "a federal ethics law which prohibits former federal officials to represent clients before their former agencies on matters in which (the officials) participated 'personally and substantially' while working for the government."

For this ethical lapse, Barasch agreed to settle for a fifty grand fine, while his attorney continued to claim with a straight face that Barasch was entirely innocent.

Such misunderstandings of ethics remain with us as we struggle through the profound, systemic corruption in America, and financial "wizards" such as Stanford, Bernie Madoff, and a gaggle of former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac senior executives increasingly resemble Caribbean pirates rather than knights in shining armor.

Silicon Valley's Historical Electric Treasures

Just a quickie tonight: some of America's most important electrical gadgets, some of which influenced development of further gadgets, are housed in some boxes in San Jose. The artifacts need a true home, and a sense of organization. This amalgamation of stuff, known as the Perham Collection, is connected to a project called History San Jose. The story in today's San Jose Mercury News goes into details.

Venture Capitalist Cali Tran Reflects on His Background

Cali Tran at Harvard Business School

What makes a young venture capitalist tick? In the case of Silicon Valley investor Cali Tran, it's all in the challenge.

The 36-year-old Tran came up the hard way, as the son of Vietnamese refugees living in California. His intellect and drive earned him a scholarship to Bowdoin, positions as a Wall Street analyst, and entry into Harvard Business School. Eventually, he heard venture's siren song. He currently is a principal at North Bridge Venture Partners, specializing in wireless and Internet innovations.

Tran's story and interests and related in his recent interview in siliconvalley.com by journalist Peter Delevett. It's a brief, yet very interesting piece, touching on the immigrant experience, the fascination with VC's promise, and an insight into how challenges are considered and mastered.

Hostess, Maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, Declares Bankruptcy -- Again

The One and Only Hostess Twinkies

Twinkies are the kind of American food only Americans could cherish. These golden, "cream" filled cakes, shaped like fat fingers, are a guilty pleasure, highly fattening, and filled with artificial ingredients. Only a sourpuss doesn't enjoy them, or complains about their "unhealthy" aspects.

Hostess, the firm that manufactures Twinkies, Wonder Bread, Ding Dongs, and other absurd items that barely qualify as food recently declared bankruptcy for the second time. According to the story about the filing in the Washington Post, Hostess' action will not stop production of these edible cult items. The idea is that this latest fling at financial reorganization will provide management with the opportunity to "restructure" employee pension and medical benefits, among other actions.

Hon Hai's Terry Gou Bracing For Recession "Worse Than 2008-2009"

Terry Gou

The Taiwanese firm Hon Hai plays a key role in the manufacturing of Apple products, Dell laptops, and Sony TV. The enterprise is a 71% owner of Foxconn, which has been accused of creating inhumane labor conditions in its factories in the People's Republic of China. Recently, Hon Hai's chairman, Terry Gou, expressed a decidedly pessimistic take on global economic prospects. According to a story in the Financial Times, Gou said "the only certainty is that there will be a (global) recession, of a scale I have never seen since I entered business."

When someone with insight into the manufacturing volumes and needs of the world's hottest tech products speaks, it's worth considering what has been expressed. And what Gou said is very grim news indeed, coming on the heels of Europe's economic troubles and a still very uncertain United States. One shock, one black swan event, could send the whole house down again, 2008 style.

Travel Tip #1: Avoid Bedbugs

I'm on the road for much of this month, and I'm trying to be mindful of some of the hazards of life away from home.

One of them is bedbugs. It's hard to know what lurks in any hotel room, from five star to darkest night. However, a little prudence can dodge the dreaded bedbug. A Time article discusses the unpleasant creature.

Bon voyage!

US Families Pay Over $4,000 For Gas in 2011

Did 2011 seem a little more expensive to you than 2010? Well, if a significant portion of your family's income is dedicated to getting around in an automobile, you probably noticed the impact of gas prices on your budget.

Chances are most American families did just that -- with reason. According to a story in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the typical American family paid $4,200 for gas in 2011. That's $350 per month for "fill it up, please."

The most startling fact in the Journal-Sentinel story appears about halfway through it: "Fuel was the top U.S. export in 2011, the first time that's every happened."

That's right -- the land of "drill, baby, drill" exported fuel.

Of course, if you want to believe the feds and a gaggle of compliant Wall street analysts, there's no inflation in the United States. Those higher food and fuel prices, though, don't count. They're "volatile," and are consequently dismissed in standard inflation calculations.

For those whose family income goes into paying for such "volatile" necessities, those assurances are cold comfort.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg To Take Online Computer Coding Course

New York City Michael Bloomberg, whose eponymous computer terminals formed a cornerstone of his commercial empire, announced he intends to take a computer coding course this year. The class was spawned by an initiative called Code Year, which promoters are using to encourage more people to understand the rudiments of computer code and actually create very simple computer programs. (For more information, the About Us in codeacademy.com provides a very thin thumbnail outline of the project's goals.)

Pointedly, the Big Apple mayor and media mogul publicized his decision via Twitter. (It may have been posted via the hashtag #codeyear.) The story was picked up by online editions of the BBC.

Some of Code Year's most enthusiastic supporters have suggested that computer code language is analogous to the spread of Latin in Europe and the Mediterranean. While the analogy has its appeal on the surface, a look at the details makes one hesitate to embrace the concept. Of the many code languages in current use, which one would be the world's lingua franca? Another consideration is that code languages are not static, but fluid creations dependent upon logic and a certain sense of architectural understanding for successful creation of apps, databases, and web pages. How many code creators share that amalgam of sensibilities? And anyone who thinks a quick course in "code" can lead to the construction of something useful probably has not worked with code.

The most significant argument against the case for code as a universal, marvelously expressive tool is language itself. Like it or not, English remains the dominant language to talk about, define, and leverage code creation and its activities. Ironically, one of the world's most illogical, imprecise languages serves as the globe's current analogy to Latin's firm rules and powerful brevity. It is the English language, rather than alphanumerically communicated propositions, that continues to provide a most rewarding window into the human mind and soul. To paraphrase Hamlet, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in anyone's code.

New York Mets Hire Firm Specializing In Bankruptcy

Mr. Met

According to a story in today's The New York Times, the New York Mets have engaged the services of bankruptcy and financial restructuring specialist CRG Partners to "provide services in connection with financial reporting and budgeting processes." The baseball team immediately denied CRG was brought it to advise the team's besieged owners about how to navigate through dodgy fiscal issues, even though the firm handled the Texas Rangers' bankruptcy. Nope, the Mets just wanted some savvy numbers crunchers to join the party with Mr. Met in the House that Madoff Built.

The Mets, meanwhile, have reportedly been late on loan repayments to Major League Baseball. The baseball franchise will have a major bank loan payment due. There's no sign the team ownership has enough money to make the payments. In November, according to the Times article, the Mets laid off ten percent of its full-time staff. That's an astonishing act for a flagship baseball franchise in the nation's largest, most lucrative market.

It's no secret the Mets have traded away expensive players and did not make a bona fide effort to sign its star shortstop, Jose Reyes, at the end of the 2011 baseball season. He was merely the first Met to win a batting title. During the summer, the Met management made horse's asses of themselves by trying to get hedge fund sharpie David Einhorn to purchase a minority interest in the team. Einhorn, an outstanding poker player as well as a sharp value investor, didn't take long to walk away from whatever charm team owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz could muster.

Now, a once-proud franchise has been reduced to peddling pieces of the team to anonymous, presumably deep pockets. This turn of events is hard for me to swallow. When I was a young boy, I somehow talked the sponsor of our baseball team into naming it the "Mets." And, at one point in New York Mets history, a relative of mine was the team's general manager. Now, it's impossible for me to root for the team. Mets season ticket sales are evaporating. The Mets ownership may face a very tough court case with the feisty trustee representing victims of the Madoff scam. A bankruptcy specialist has been brought it, while employees are let go.

Who's next? Who knows. In the meantime, the team's song "Meet the Mets" takes on an ironic feeling, as there won't be anyone left at the Queens ballpark worth meeting. As for Mets fans, fuggedaboutit.

HBO Squeezes Netflix In Streaming Dispute

For some time now, Netflix and content providers such as Sony have been at war. The movie studios, distributors, and outlets (such as Starz) are furious that Netflix outfoxed them in deals that enabled Internet streaming into consumers' homes and devices, as well as permitting mass rentals for home DVD delivery.

The studios have essentially become a pack of raptors intent on savaging its designated victim. According to an Associated Press story appearing in today's San Jose Mercury News, the most recent foray comes courtesy of HBO, Time Warner's pay TV brand. Home Box Office has escalated its hostility by stopping the bulk sales of its DVDs to Netflix.

The situation for Netflix will become more dire in March, when Starz pulls out its roster of Sony and Disney products.

A word to the wise: enjoy Netflix's streaming while it lasts.

Federal Judge KOs Cat Litter TV Ad

Who is going to win the commercial war to fill America's cat boxes?

Believe it or not, there's fierce competition to be the country's leading (cat) shit collector. In one corner is Clorox, best known for manufacturing bleach. In the other corner is Church & Dwight, which produces Arm & Hammer branded products. These two firms have been fighting like cats and dogs over which product will fill cat boxes across the country.

Recently, according to a Reuters story appearing in the Chicago Tribune, Church & Dwight sued Clorox for false television advertising. (No shit.) The presiding judge, in his wisdom, ruled in favor of Church & Dwight's argument, claiming Clorox's cat litter pitch "showed a high likelihood of 'irreparable harm' to Arm & Hammer's product.

Apparently, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant called any felines -- the ultimate expert witnesses -- to testify.

Aretha Franklin Announces Engagement to Former Detroit Firefighter

As reported in The Detroit Free Press today, Aretha Franklin has announced her engagement to former Detroit firefighter and "longtime friend" Willie Wilkerson. For the Queen of Soul, the impending wedding will be her third marriage. Let's hope the third time is the charm for this incomparable singer. Go, girl!

US Nonprofit Attempts to Bridge Digital Divide With Emerging Nations

Over the Christmas holidays, I spoke with a young woman whose work for a nonprofit took her to a number of emerging nations. The nonprofit's mission, as I understood it, was to help people at the local level build sustainable small businesses. However, the young woman's zealous belief in the combined clout of technology and capital to create a better world made me wary. Perhaps her outlooks were products of her stint at a major US graduate business program. What was most striking during our conversation was her hubris. Her bossiness masked a lust for power that contradicted her idealistic stances. The encounter made me wonder about an organization that would cultivate the young woman's ways of behaving and thinking.

For better or worse, this sort of human capital has become a significant American cultural export. An article in today's Los Angeles Times discusses the mission and impact of a nonprofit called Digital Divide Data (DDD). The organization is not exactly a stranger in the nonprofit night. DDD's co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Hockenstein, has a resume including Harvard, MIT, and McKinsey. Many DDD board members have graduated from the Ivies and/or Stanford. (In this aspect, DDD and the power brokers behind the American charter school "movement" have something in common.) DDD has also generated plenty of high-profile media coverage, including a mention in Tom Friedman's best-selling book The World Is Flat. All of these resumes and publicity presumably add up to an aggregation of connections and clout toward a defined, worthy cause -- the basic ingredients of the early 21st Century nonprofit success formula.

Cambodia Digital Divide Program,
supported via Boeing Co. "scholarships, training assistance,
and purchase of computers." (Photo and quote from Boeing Co.)

It all sounds good on (dare I say it) paper. How does the formula work in practice? One curious note comes across in the LA Times story. The gist is that DDD has outsourced "tedious" digital jobs that "would be prohibitively expensive to do in the United States." The organization's work includes job training specifically toward those people unlikely to otherwise have access to this type of work.

And there's the rub. By exporting these projects, DDD has effectively brought the impact of low-cost, globalized labor into premium areas such as digitization of libraries in American universities. In effect, the projects drive the cost of production down, while not putting any money into an average American's pocket. How's that for a "feel good" project?

This leads us to an uncomfortable question: what is the domestic societal cost of achieving this "greater good"? And who is defining what that "greater good" is? Is it a self-important business school grad filled with a sense of righteous mission? Is it board members with a shared, elite educational background and "successful" endeavors? Where are you in this formula?

Academia's Star Professors and Their Corporate Connections: One Case Study

It's fascinating to watch college football during the holidays, but watching under-21s play without pay bothers me. The bowl games are a financial bonanza for universities, though they like to downplay that notion. Meanwhile, lots of "scholar athletes" play for free, while the U "monetizes" their gratis labor. It's scandalous that the players don't get paid, while the schools rake in the cash.

A 1930s photo showing a vaudeville-band act
serenading cows at the UW-Madison's Dairy Barn, in a scientific test
to determine whether soothing music would produce more milk.
(Photo from Wisconsin Historical Society.)

This observation connects to a larger theme, namely that American universities never really come clean about why education is outrageously expensive. These days, the cost to weave through the academic obstacle courses known as undergraduate and master's degree programs can reach a quarter of a million dollars. Parents of students, and students themselves, are told that the outrageously high cost of higher education just can't be helped. Meanwhile, universities raise tuition rates at double the nation's inflation rate, without even condescending to answer the question of sound fiscal management.

Sometimes, universities point to their salary structure and shrug their collective shoulders. What schools don't like to publicly air is that academia's top stars' and insiders' generous compensation packages are just the tjp of each school's "dream team's" financial bottom line. "Name" faculty members attract significant contracts for "research" or other tangible contributions to enterprises or big-time grant funding.

Dr. Thomas Zdeblick

A case in point recently emerged at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the school's Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Thomas Zdeblick, M.D., earned more than one million dollars in university compensation in 2010. But that's peanuts compared to the $25 million Dr. Zdeblick has earned in royalties since 2003 from the medical equipment firm Medtronic. Dr. Zdeblick, one of the nation's leading spinal surgeons, created a back surgery product called Infuse that Medtronic manufactures and sells.

As the Journal-Sentinel article noted, major league academic department chairs and paydays from pharmaceutical firms and medical device makers is hardly unusual. While ethical issues were noted in the article, the money is what stands out. I'm entirely in favor of inventors making money from their creations.  However, when a university hides behind "inflation" and sticks it to parents and students to pay so that academic stars are compensated to enrich themselves, that's a problem.

I doubt academic mandarins have any desire to resolve this issue. Why would they give up such a lucrative deal? In my view, parents and students have to rise up against this system and compel it to come clean. It's something to consider while you're watching unpaid "scholar athletes" compete in this year's corporate-sponsored bowl games.