I would like to share a posting relating to an article that I read from another Ning-group. It was about why sustainable education is an enemy to the edu-capitalism or edu-imperialism, if we are not too far away from the ed-utopia?
The article originated from a student’s question posted on May 8, 2008 Chronicle titled "Invest in People, Not Buildings.” Here it goes:
“Everywhere I hear the sound of dump trucks. It’s my fourth year at the University of Virginia, and they haven’t stopped building since I got here. A new commerce school, a new theater. If UVA is any example of the state of public education in general, we need to evaluate our priorities before another brick gets bought.”
Later in October 3, 2008 Chronicle has another article about the 375-Billion Dollar Question: Why Does College Cost So Much? In the October 20, a faculty member Mr. Orr, put it in a tangible way in his article “Meditation on Building”-
“It is estimated that the construction, maintenance, and operation of buildings in the United States consumes close to 40 percent of the country’s raw materials and energy and is responsible for about 33 percent of our CO2 emissions, 25 percent of our wood use, and 16 percent of our water use. In 1990, 70 percent of the 2.5 million metric tons of non-fuel materials that moved through the economy were used in construction.”
Fine, these inquiries were from the typical "resourceful" 4-year universities. Though the size of a textbook in our 2-year colleges can never be comparable to that of an edu-building, to what extent the open textbook project is a potential omen to the "Culture Inc."?
The article originated from a student’s question posted on May 8, 2008 Chronicle titled "Invest in People, Not Buildings.” Here it goes:
“Everywhere I hear the sound of dump trucks. It’s my fourth year at the University of Virginia, and they haven’t stopped building since I got here. A new commerce school, a new theater. If UVA is any example of the state of public education in general, we need to evaluate our priorities before another brick gets bought.”
Later in October 3, 2008 Chronicle has another article about the 375-Billion Dollar Question: Why Does College Cost So Much? In the October 20, a faculty member Mr. Orr, put it in a tangible way in his article “Meditation on Building”-
“It is estimated that the construction, maintenance, and operation of buildings in the United States consumes close to 40 percent of the country’s raw materials and energy and is responsible for about 33 percent of our CO2 emissions, 25 percent of our wood use, and 16 percent of our water use. In 1990, 70 percent of the 2.5 million metric tons of non-fuel materials that moved through the economy were used in construction.”
Fine, these inquiries were from the typical "resourceful" 4-year universities. Though the size of a textbook in our 2-year colleges can never be comparable to that of an edu-building, to what extent the open textbook project is a potential omen to the "Culture Inc."?