BungoJungo

I am confused. 

As I write this post, Bethel College in Newton, KS (my Alma Mater) is in a "Presidential Transition".  While I understand what that means, I do not understand the impetus.  I've included all of the information I have received concerning this matter below.  Since this information is limited, I do not want to speculate.  I do want to express my frustrations and concerns.

I have been frustrated with Bethel's opaque and disorganized communication procedures many times in recent years.  My frustration has increased.  I believe that if Bethel is to survive their current travails and prosper in the future, the Board of Directors needs to immediately adopt a policy of transparency in communication.  The Board is defined (and should act) as representative.  Instead, they function as sequestered oligarchs.  The institutional communications are disorganized, poorly scheduled, and obtuse.  And the pattern of such is long.  From poorly communicated program reviews to budget cuts without clear foundation and forward to this "Transition".

Yesterday, I received two emails from Bethel.  The first was the official press release:

Here is a link to the Official Press Release which does not specify why the change was made and names John Sheriiff (EVP for institutional development) as interim replacement.

The second email I received was a forward of Barry Bartel's message to the Bethel Campus.  I have included that message below:

The following my part of a discussion via email with other Bethel Alumni.

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I've been thinking about these issues sporadically (and, in full disclosure, probably without the proper amount of focus) over the past few days.

One of the primary things I keep struggling with is an institutional hedging on choosing clearly how to operate Bethel.

Bethel wants to be in the world but not of the world.  And, I'm not entirely convinced that is possible. I continue to think about other Mennonite institutions.  Bluffton grew their enrollment significantly in 1990s.  But, this came at the cost of a clear identity as a "Mennonite" school. Hesston has been consistently able to build new facilities, but they remain a 2 year school and an environment that is often considered insular in respects to the world.
 
Bethel has tried to walk the line and remain a "Mennonite" school while
providing all the worldly resources and experiences.  And I think this is a truly special and noble effort.
 
In order to continue this walk, I think there needs to be truly radical
change within the way the institution operates.
 
First, cut all school sponsored athletics and athletic scholarships.
Bethel is an institute of higher learning, not a training ground for
professional athletes.  I agree that nourishment for the body should still remain a part of the institution.  But do collegiate athletics really have a place at an institution like Bethel?  I struggle with this.
 
Second, focus on revision-ing the core of the Bethel College experience to properly equip students for the world.  Even if Bethel is not of the
world, their output (in terms of students) is certainly going to be.
Maybe it shouldn't be a "Computer Science" degree.  Maybe instead, it
should be a "Technology" degree providing experience on how to utilize and develop technology to improve the world.  And, instead of specific
language majors couldn't the resources be made available to learn and
appreciate the wide range of languages that dominate our daily lives?
 
Third, run the operational aspects of the institution like a real-world
business.  This ties in with the push from the accrediting entities push
to operate on an actual budget.  My grandfather taught economics and
business at Bluffton for 35 years.  Perhaps the best thing I ever learned from him was, "The only things you should ever borrow money for are to build or buy a home, or to start a business".  Bethel is past the starting phase.  And, to be blunt, those entrusted with managing the budget and other monetary resources (like the endowment) have failed.  I don't know the details, but I can imagine that the drop of value in the endowment was based on investing in instruments that offered the potential of great reward, at great risk.  And we're certainly on the great risk side of that equation right now.  I do not advocate a "conservative" approach to much in life.  Money and it's subsequent management should be approached conservatively.
 
Finally, use common sense.  I am still baffled by the "oversight"
regarding academic scholarships.  Bethel suffered financially because it
didn't have the foresight to see the number and quality of those receiving academic scholarships?  Poor management. There should have been a check/balance for that. I also think about how the Program Review was handled back in 2005.  Extremely poor communication to students and alumni.  If you reduce the entities involved in Bethel to purely business ones, the students and the alumni are the employers and
the faculty and staff are the employees.  Tuition, and donations pay the
bill and if the bills ain't being paid, the business goes under. Yet, the people paying the bills had little or no say in the decisions.

I know this is rambling and I'll stop now.

I have often espoused the virtues of Les Stroud.  Les writes, directs, produces, and stars in a show called "Survivorman" seen on the Discovery Channel in the US and the Outdoor Life Network in Canada.  The premise of the show is explained in the blurb from the official site:

"No food, no shelter, no fresh water, no tools… no camera crew. One man – alone in the wild for seven days with only his wits and stamina to sustain him."

So, the deal with Survivorman is Les does it all.  He gets dumped into some remote locale with a load of camera gear and has to survive and film.  The quoted blurb above is a little misleading.  During each episode, Les is usually equipped with SOME provisions.  This has included at various times: a multi-tool, emergency blanket, swiss army knife, minor foodstuffs, etc.  And, he always has some sort of way to contact a production team in his general vicinity in the event of an emergency situation.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a big Les Stroud fan.  The newest season of Survivorman starts August 10, 2007 on Discovery.  I enjoy this show because Les is (probably correctly) portrayed as an "Average Joe".  He's not going to win a modeling contract, he's not a prime physical specimen, he's  just a guy who knows survival techniques and how to effectively produce entertaining television.  He is a small, Canadian god of a man.

The Discovery Channel also has a show called Man VS. Wild .  This show stars Bear Grylls an is positioned as having basically the same premise as Survivorman.  It is a survival themed show.  BUT, Bear is a FORMER MEMBER OF THE BRITISH SPECIAL FORCES, Bear CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST, Bear is a BEEFCAKE!  LOOK LADIES!  See Bear take his shirt off!

An initial review of Man VS. Wild brings some interesting things to light.  Bear always travels with a camera crew.  He even shows his proper British manners by directing them around dangerous obstacles like alligators, venomous snakes, and toothbrushes.  Bear also ALWAYS has a flint (fire starting tool) and a water bottle inside of an unmentioned metal carrying case often used to boil water.  Bear also likes to climb up and down things.  Things like cliffs, trees, and waterfalls.  Yes, waterfalls.  But, Bear is qualified to do all of these things because he CLIMBED MOUNT EVEREST.  Of course all of the risks he takes and all of the geographical obstacles he overcomes are central to the excitement of the plot.  They are also most often things that untrained and sane people should never attempt.  If you're lost on a mountain without food or shelter should you really be spending time and energy climbing sheer rock faces?

What I'm trying to convey is that BEAR doesn't appear to be all he's cracked up to be. 

And now, some interesting information has come to light regarding Man VS. Wild and the exploits of fair Bear.  The full details can be read in this ABC News article (The story was first run by British TV4).  Details from the article include:

"Channel 4 confirmed that Grylls had spent the night indoors on at least two occasions when the series had led viewers to believe he was spending the night in the wild."

and

"…is an episode supposedly set on a deserted island (actually Hawaii) that shows him building a raft, which was actually constructed and then disassembled by show consultants so that the host could easily put it together."

Wow, what a fraud.

Discovery is working fast to spin the news.  Here's an excerpt from their response: "Moving forward, the program will be 100 percent transparent, and all elements of the filming will be explained upfront to our viewers".

I think they should change the name of the show to Limey VS. Marginal Outdoor Discomfort

I can't wait for the new season of Survivorman. 

I think I need to add a category that is dedicated to coffee rants.

On the way into work this morning I realized that I hadn't stopped at  Caffe Moderne for coffee in a while.  So I parked in the 15 minute loading zone out back and walked to the entrance.  They've added a gate around some nice looking outdoor seating.  After much confusion, I realized I was smarter that the gate and figured out how to open it.  Then, I walked to the front door…..locked.  Apparently, Caffe Moderne has decided to follow the footsteps of other fine downtown Wichita coffee shops and not server coffee in the morning.   Maybe they're trying to cut overhead but it still baffles me (easy to do like a gate) why COFFEE shops aren't open to serve COFFEE in the MORNING.

I made the mistake of driving through the Dunn Bros across the alley.  Awful.  I can get burnt drip coffee with fake cream at the office and not have to pay ANYTHING for it.  How this place remains operational is a mystery to me.

A Starbucks would make a bundle downtown. 

I haven't posted anything in a while.

My life is rolling along.  The boys are healthy.  Spring is coming.  And, Daylight Savings wasn't too much of a pain.

I have a bunch of pictures I need to upload to Abe and Leo's sites.  I did not inherit the attention to archival detail that my grandfather possessed.

I'm excited that baseball season is nearing.  I promised myself that I wouldn't attempt to keep three fantasy baseball teams afloat this year.  I think that may be a smart decision.

So far, I have $166.70 accumulated on MTURK.  I think I'm going to set my sights on a 32" monitor instead of a Wii.

This is all rambles.