“Philosophy 101 From an Octogenarian: An Important Math and Money Lesson, by Liz Smith” plus 1 more

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Philosophy 101 From an Octogenarian: An Important Math and Money Lesson, by Liz Smith Posted: 30 May 2010 09:07 PM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Today 12:00 am Sheconomics Philosophy 101 From an Octogenarian: An Important Math and Money Lesson, by Liz Smith Journalism is one thing … but finance? That's a whole new ballgame © Shutterstock "What are the most important things in life to you? What are your priorities?" This seems to me to be the kind of question people are frequently asked. So, let's just confine this discussion to women. I would say the invariable answer is this: "The most important thing to me is my significant other. Second, my family. Third, my friends." A few stalwart believers in the hereafter may say instead, "My relationship with my Creator" or "God" or "getting into heaven." (It is too tiring to go into the religious side of things so let's just accept a yes to the question on spirituality as "a given" and leave it at that.) *** I LOOK at the question at the opening and realize that once upon a time, when I was young and foolish and beset by my hormones and my ideals, that I would have romantically and foolishly said "my significant other." Then "family" and "friends." (Occasionally, when I think of the problems that have often occurred in my family, I might even put "friends" first.) Listen, my darling readers, the other day we were offered government findings that seem to shatter ancient shibboleths as to what constitutes poverty. There was a horrid statistic doubling the number of elderly poor (people over 65) to 47 million. And so I want to say that now, regarding the answer to the question of what's most important for women should always be – a healthy regard for money, how to earn it, how to invest it, how to save it so that it staves off emergencies as well as a possible old age of desperation. This single thing is more important than significant others, family or friends. I don't say abandon any of these. You can and will probably work at them all your life. And you should. But I think the most important thing for every woman is to become and remain financially independent. *** I'VE BEEN lucky. After working in journalism and TV production for many years for a pittance, I finally won a byline, got a column of my own, found myself in demand, became a TV performer and made a lot of money for a while. I also wrote a bestselling book or two. I was careless about spending and giving away. Later, I was advised by a giant friend to put my money in guaranteed Treasury Bonds and not touch it, which is what I did. And that saved money is what I live on now. Here's the catch: I have never believed I have saved enough money to be really comfortable. So after I lost my last journalism job with The New York Post, I began to worry again. These days I sometimes stay awake at night, obsessing about money, security and safety, the same way I did when I was a poorly paid, ink-stained journalist. I fear not having quite enough. So the mythic worry is almost as real as the real thing. I sometimes drive myself crazy with anxiety. Over money! Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

New courses coming at the high school Posted: 30 May 2010 11:05 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Planet Contributor The Bible as literature, an introduction to philosophy, sociology… these sound like classes that would be included on the roster of an exclusive private school, even a liberal arts college.  But as early as next year, Telluride High School will provide these courses to students. The only prerequisite? Enthusiasm. Amid the talks of budget cuts, Telluride High School is still doing its very best to provide the teenagers of the box canyon with exciting educational opportunities. But, does adding such extravagant sounding classes during a budget crisis even make sense? Well, sure. Superintendent Mary Rubadeau is completely supportive of the new endeavor, and the cost of new curriculum: practically free. Expanding the range of classes utilizes the extra class time given by the seven-period day, new this last academic year. Previously, the high school day only had six periods. Now, students and teachers have an extra space to fill. As Rubadeau puts it: "It provides teachers with an opportunity to teach what they are truly passionate about." These new classes are to be considered electives — students can choose to take them if additional periods are left to be filled after base requirements have been met.  Though the new courses will be offered to all students, juniors and seniors will take up the bulk of them considering they have more space, and freedom, to choose electives. English teacher David Lavender will be heading up the course on the Bible as literature. He emphasizes that, "This will not be a course on religion, but rather a seminar aimed at familiarizing students with the biblical verses that so many writers have drawn on throughout the ages."  The point is to teach students to catch and understand these biblical allusions, and not just miss them entirely.  "Jane Eyre" — a commonly read novel in a high school literature class — contains more 170 biblical allusions. "Ideally," Lavender says,  "students should emerge from this course with a much better understanding of both the Bible itself and of its pervasive influence on our culture." Glenn Wellman, teacher of the new "Introduction to Philosophy," is similarly enthusiastic about the enriching learning experience his elective will hopefully become. "It will be an inquiry based course that promotes analytical reasoning and persuasive writing," he said.  A college level class, the focus will be on the philosophical writings of authors such as Aristotle, Kant, Hume and Sarte.  Though there are no previous requirements, students must be willing — and able — to read difficult texts. "The idea is that this ties into later issues in political sciences," Wellman said. He wants the class to act as a sort of framework for issues that students will learn about in further classes.  After all, theoretical models in philosophy often connect to other issues. Kelly Boykin's elective on sociology will look at the study of society and people's interactions with it.  Boykin believes students will benefit by "becoming more aware of the different mechanisms that playoff each other in society." As for the future, Rubadeau is also looking to try a program called "Elluminate" through the Colorado Northwest Community College. Through this, college professors teach online classes to students throughout the country with the help of online technologies (video messaging, chat rooms, etc.) A proctor is present in the classroom to help with technical issues and to answer any questions. "They are mainly aimed toward kids who don't take advantage of Advanced Placement courses," said Rubadeau. Though they don't give college credit as APs do, students will be intrigued and challenged by the new electives, without as demanding a workload, she said. She believes that the appeal in the "Elluminate" classes is the large variety to choose from, much beyond the offerings of Telluride High School. Geology — a course the school wouldn't regularly offer, for example — is now a possibility. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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