HomelessCosmonaut

I hope this ends up on Colbert with Stephen completely devastated that Tyson likes Stewart better.

Let's say tomorrow you wake up and you're suddenly in charge of the VA. What are the first changes you would make?

I remember back in high school we had an assignment where we analyzed some presidential speeches, including Kennedy's inaugural address in comparison to George W. Bush's big speeches at the time. It was obvious that the style and execution of these speeches were wildly different. Kennedy's inaugural address was articulate and studious, delivered poetically to establish an inspirational tone.

Meanwhile, Bush (and I don't mean to single him out, he was just president at the time, and most of his contemporaries do this too) delivered speeches that were much more direct - almost bullet-pointed - using very little advanced vocabulary, and extremely punctuated so that audience members could interject with applause.

The assignment also noted that Kennedy wrote his inaugural address while Bush's speech was compiled by speechwriters. The prompt asked us to consider the merit of writing your own speeches and the value that should be placed on a poetic and articulate delivery.

Most the class agreed that the old way was better and that we were missing out on a better form of national storytelling. What do you think?

What's the best way to train your mouth not to make incidental little noises, like saliva in your mouth or a small smack from your lips?

It feels to me that colleges - both community and higher - try to fill two key societal roles whose goals don’t always align. On one hand they are a venue for personal enrichment & the pursuit of knowledge/understanding. On the other, they’re the accepted finishing school for the greater economy’s supply of skilled workers.

Can a community college - or any college for that matter - truly fill both those roles without damaging compromises, or does one need to take priority over the other?