Thursday, October 20, 2011

For profit schools at GEEX

This past weekend, thanks to my friends at Fongo Bongo Games, I was able to attend GEEX, the gaming and electronics expo.  For the most part I was impressed, I got to meet some Mandalorian Mercs, some rebels from Rogue Base, as well as members of the 501st legion.  I also got to see a screening of Ghostbusters SLC.  On a more serious note, Southern Utah University had a pretty good presence there, they even brought robots.  The downside is that they were outnumbered by the for-profit schools that were in attendance, such as Broadview University and Stevens-Henager college.  While SUU works hard to provide a quality education for their students, these other schools are in it to make a profit, if their students gain any benefit, it is purely secondary.   Proprietary schools offer a sub-standard education and charge a premium price for it.  I believe that the South Towne Exposition Center should be ashamed for letting these predators into their facility.  The attendees of GEEX are, largely, young and not well informed about the difference between a real university and a for-profit one.  They came there to play games and check out cool new tech, not be harassed by recruiters for these profit oriented institutions.  I also have to say I am disappointed in Salt Lake Community College and the University of Utah for not putting in an appearance and leaving these proprietary schools largely unchallenged.  Come on, an expo full of young people drawn to computers and electronics, there has to be some interest there.  To sum it up, well done SUU and stay away from those for-profit schools kids, they are bad for you.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Skeptical Literacy on Debunkatron

Extra perceptive readers out there might have noticed that Skeptical Literacy has been added to the, "resources and communities for your debunking toolbox," section of Debunkatron.com.  Guess that means I should get some new content up here soon.