June 13 2023 - Education US vs us

 

The New York Times article on the US voters' dwindling support of the Democrats says that 60% of Americans do not have a college degree. They attributed the dwindling support to negative attitudes towards educated candidates.   In terms of education comparison, Canadians led the world in 2020 in percentage of the adult population that had a tertiary degree with around 66 percent of those aged 25 to 34 with a degree. Statistics Canada reported in 2016 more than half of all Canadians aged 25 to 64 had post-secondary qualifications.  In comparison in the United States, 49% of 25 to 34 year olds have a tertiary degree. There are numerous indicators and comparisons - particularly from the OECD - so it would take a fair amount of work to make a definitive comparison.  However, the latests figures say that Canada has the highest tertiary education with 59.96 percent, and Japan is next with 52.68 percent.  The U.S. has 50.06 percent.  The place where the U.S. stands out in the comparison is per capita GDP with the U.S. at over $63,500 and Canada at just over $43,000.  The other measure that is highlighted at the website is the relationship between education and happiness.  There is a  comparison chart of what the world's most educated countries have in common.  It is HERE.  It shows happiness level, expenditure on higher education, and unemployment rate.  How that relates to United States and Canadian politics?  In 2018, a Canadian academic tweeted this:  “Conservatives have a strong lead among those who have not attended college or university, while the Liberals have a lead among those with university education.”  And included the following line about the Tories: “The party of the uneducated. Every poll says this.” So we can return to the New York Times article which gets at the headline that shows up a fair amount:  "Are Republicans dumb like liberals say they are?"  Or this headline:  "DeSantis:  Agling to become king of the 'stupid party'" A few years ago, we had a tour of the new performing arts centre in St. Catharines.  Here are two of the pictures from that visit.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

The Oldest University

I was wondering when the first PhD was conferred.  What is the oldest university?  Here are some of the oldest, still-functioning universities in the world from mentalfloss:   Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences - Khozettan, Iran. ... founded around 200 B.C. The University of Al-Karaouine - Fes, Morocco. ..founded in 859.  Al-azhar University - Cairo, Egypt. ... started in 975 University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. ..1088.  The University of Paris - Paris, France. around 1150 University of Oxford - 1096 The Catholic church had the right to grant a doctorate in the 1100's.  A doctorate of philosophy was developed in Germany in the 17th century, and the term philosophy refers to the Greek meaning - love of wisdom.  It wasn't until the 20th century that academic staff and professors in English-speaking universities held doctorates. Today there are estimated to be 5.6 million people in the U.S. with PhD's.  It is thought that 10 - 15 million people world-wide have PhD's. These  shoes were on the graduates of the Blessed Trinity high school students last June.  What percentage of the 300 or so graduates will become doctorates?  In the U.S. 1.77% of the population has PhD's, so there's a few in here.

Guelph Arboretum

Yesterday's snowstorm over the lake didn't land in Grimsby.  It did land in Guelph.  I was there yesterday for Baxter's dental experience - he broke the canine tooth that had been repaired in 2014 at the same clinic.  This time it had to be removed. Guelph is a centre of veterinary specialists associated with the University veterinary programs. My interest was the Arboretum and the range of yesterday's landscapes was remarkable in the snow.  New-fallen snow outlined the trees and defined the curves of the landscape.  There was perfect light - the sun was shining through a misty haze in the sky - just the faintest of shadows.  Guelph is home to the University of Guelph.  It has an exceptional program in veterinary medicine which is ranked fourth in the world. I drove through that section of the campus - with barns, horse crossings, and horses outside in the paddock. I stopped at the beat-up recycle bins for some abstracts.  One bin was for manure.   Guelph has large agricultural, horticultural and environmental programs. The pretty Victorian conservatory is the icon that testifies to the beginnings of the programs in the late 1800's. The Arboretum, started in 1971,  is surprisingly large.  With the amount of snow -  two feet - it kept filling my boots when I walked through it.  So I toured it mostly in the car.  You can tour it on youtube here and see how remarkable it is.

What Next America - Am-Next!

I wonder what the expression will be for America during the Trump-era.  Will it be something like Brexit?  It could be Am-Ex - the American Exit.  There's the mystery of what next, so it could be Am-Next.   Our pictures today were taken last November at the University of Toronto campus, with the stone portals and doorways looking through to the Autumn colours in the distance.

Notre Dame University - The Biggest Marching Band in Practise

Hi everyone,

We stopped in South Bend, IN on our first day of travelling to Kansas City (well Overland Park, south of Kansas City).  Our hotel was at the entrance to the University.  It's a glorious place with its famous football team. The sports stadium is the biggest structure on the campus, and everywhere it's 'Those Fighting Irish'.  I could hear fabulous music coming from the campus and knew this was special.  It was the marching band practise.  There must have been at least 500 musicians all in sections/rows numbered and organized.  There were 3 conductors on ladders and a loudspeaker system.  The sound was fantastic and the music was wonderful.  I didn't include the picture of the official coming towards me to ask my affiliation.  'Amateur photographer' was my reply.  'With any newspapers?' was the quick comeback.  I can imagine the level of coverage this band gets.