Subsidizing Higher Education

Some of my work colleagues and I were discussing higher education and the cost of getting a degree.

I like to view what Milton Friedman has to say about the subject.  The question Dr. Friedman puts forth is “Whether or not Higher Education Subsidies are justifiable activities of the government?”   The argument that Dr. Friedman puts forth is that by having a federal government subsidize education you are taking the taxes of lower income people and then using those funds to benefit the people that are typically of higher income families.

 

 

According to Pew Social and Demographic Trends in 2012 estimated that 31% of American adults ages 25 and older have bachelors degrees compared to 1971 where only 12% of adults had attained a bachelors degree. 

According to the Pew Research of Social and Demographic trends  the biggest increase in borrowing has been among more affluent student.

 

Here is a quick look at the numbers of where I went to school.  As an African American male in 2012 there were about 558 AA male Students enrolled in the spring session.  There were  917  AA women enrolled at the University of Central Oklahoma.  The Total Student Population was 15,832.  Within the same year the graduation rate in 4yrs would have been 12% 6 years 36% and 41% in 8 years.

	AA enrollees and graduates in 2012 UCO
Enrollees		4yrs grad	6 yrs grad	8 yrs grad
558	males	67	201	229
917	females	110	330	376
1475	totals	177	531	605

According to the American Counsel of  Education found that in 2007 – 2008 the individuals who earned their baccalaureate degrees in 2007- 2008  were not nearly as racially diverse as the overall undergraduate student body. The graduates were largely unmarried, childless, white young adults in their early 20’s who were financially dependent on their parents and who seamlessly moved along paths toward degree attainment.

What I find interesting is that in the height of political talks there are people that are claiming that the GOP are doing damage to the country and are failing in the case of where I am from I see outcry against Mary Fallin.  She proposes cutting 25% of the state income tax as a result would reduce the education funding. I wonder why? Why is it that if she reduces the expenditures towards education she is failing the state as some of my peers would say? My question is what can be done to increase the number of AA University graduates. Continuing to push for more funding is just going to inflate the cost of education. 

 

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. See leadership and staff.

Ebola a few weeks later

Last week there was the issue of Ebola spreading through the Dallas area. I can remember going to lunch in my non hospital environment co-workers were wanting to put on masks to deal with customers out of fear of getting ebola. I would turn on the radio and hear people discussing how President Obama was not on the job for not closing down airports and sending a CDC SWAT team to Dallas.  In the aftermath it seems easier to look at the situation and say what we should have done to make the situation better.

I have been trying to understand how things have come the way they are. I do know that with the advent of technology such as the EMR or electronic health record was supposed to help with preventing a patient as such to have gone through the process that occurred. The patient claimed to go to the hospital after being in the country facing a viral outbreak. Instead of being admitted to the hospital, the patient was turned away with the possibility of  infecting others as well as eventually dying.

The problem is that this infection is very similar to having the flu. The emergency room staff are not always able to discern the effects of foreign illnesses from standard illnesses. Finally after three days the patient is admitted to the hospital.  

The thing that I don't understand is how the CDC was not able to enact any type of security measures to prevent  further spread of the illness. A few weeks ago I found some of the CDC guidelines about dealing with the virus in Africa. The thing was the manual was about 200 pages which half devoted to the appropriate wear and removal of the PPE.

The line from the Executive office is that they do not want to close the borders due to destabilizing emerging countries.

"Everything will be okay... we have the best health system in place"

I can understand why the guy wasn't diagnosed at the beginning 

Why weren't the people that had primary contact with the Ebola patient quarantined?

Days later after patient zero had been admitted to the hospital two nurses involved in patient care tested positive for the Ebola virus. 

As usual the government has been slow to react. I find this troubling considering that the virus is not quite as contagious as some and didn't end up in a city that is densely populated.
 

Protocols for containment of Ebola

Monday Moring Quarterbacking

It is very easy to look at a situation after things happen and place blame. That is not my intent of understanding what is going on.  I do believe in looking at things from a rather simplistic point of view. Ebola virus disease (EVD) according to the World Health Organization is formerly known as Ebola Hemorrhagic fever.

·         The Virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population in human to human transmission.

·         The average EVD case fatality is around 50%  Case Fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.

·         There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but two(2) potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.

Ebola gets its name from a 1976 outbreak in a village near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the WHO the Ebola virus is difficult to distinguish from other infectious diseases such as  malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis.  

While I was driving the children this morning I heard Peter Brock radio talk host say that the CDC has issued a statement regarding about the new infection of a nurse.  According to the CDC “There was a break in protocol.”   According to Fox News there are trainings and standards that must be adhered to.  Well According to the CDC there is a document that explains how to control those virus infections.

Infection Control for Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers In the African Health Care Setting. Developed and written by Ethleen Llyod M.S. Helen Perry, M.A. Liliien Yang, M.S. written in 1998.

So now my question is which procedures were broken and did the Nurse test positive for the virus? Was the hospital following the CDC/WHO guidelines?