Nine Shift

Suburbs scramble to meet needs of 'car-averse' millennials

More convincing evidence another NineShift prediction is coming true.  And we love the Washington Post front page story with the term 'car-averse' in the headline. 

In its front page story, “Suburbs scramble to add transit to attract car-averse millennials,” The Washington Post (March 30, 2015) writers note, “Mass transit, once viewed as a prescription for traffic congestion, is now considered a must-have economic development tool to attract millennials — the country’s largest living generation — along with their employers, and the taxes that both contribute to local governments.”

Photo: License plate on our new car. Only old people buy new cars now.  

 

The Boys Come Back

Ten years later, a number of the boys Julie and I mentored are coming back to visit. It is really nice. 

None are millionaires, none went to Harvard.  But they all are better off for having been mentored. And that is very gratifying.  We are glad to see them.  

Despite the occasional media urgings to become a mentor, being a mentor is a lonely hobby.  Don't mention it at Rotary, because it's not something we recognize or appreciate in society.  But mentoring is not "thankless," because the boys thank you. 
Photo: Former boy Hawkins comes by this week to chat with Julie, who mentored him. 

Media Part of the Anti-Male Conspiracy

The media, even my beloved BBC, is part of the anti-male conspiracy today.

Ignoring science in trying to get women into science, the media is devoted to the myth of "gender diversity" in every profession, especially that women can and should be 50% of engineers and STEM professionals. Even the BBC allowed that the representation of women in 15% of the computer tech jobs in Silicon Valley was "sad" and "ugly."  (BBC Business News, March 31, 2015).  

Not that the media, nor anyone else, thinks "gender diversity" works the other way. Males are only 15% of elementary school teachers, just 10-11% of nurses.  But is the situation in hospitals "sad" or "ugly"?  Nope.  

Teachers in Amery, Wisconsin, getting CEUs for listening to my presentation on gender differences in learning.  Only 15% of elementary school teachers are male, a situation called "sad" and "ugly" by the BBC (not).  

Obama's Plan to Eliminate Males from College

President Obama's plan, which thankfully will never become law, would virtually eliminate males from college.

Our son Willie got accepted to Reed College (top ten liberal arts college), Beloit (around #25) and the University of Wisconsin at Madison (one of the top 20 universities in the world).  But he would not qualify for free community college under President Obama's plan.  Why?  His high school GPA was 3.0.

Reed, Beloit and UW looked at his test scores.  Test scores are gender neutral, with females overall having the same test scores as males.  GPA is gender biased against males.   Under President Obama's plan, the 3.5 GPA requirement would make colleges virtually all-female.  Even his proposal violates Title IX.  

Parents of Boys at a "For Parents of Boys" talk I did, one of six, this spring.

From the Last Century, I Miss Church

Continuing our series on what we miss from the last century, I miss church, especially during Easter Week.

In my hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, like in thousands of other cities, the big Catholic churches - - with their beautiful architecture - - now are empty and ready for destruction.  When I was growing up in the "mid century"  (as in, "mid century classic furniture"):
*My aunt went to mass every day, early in the morning.
*Palm Sunday service was devoted to Palm Sunday, not Good Friday like it is today.  Today few people go to church on Good Friday, so the day is commemorated on Palm Sunday. And the whole joy of Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem is lost.
*There was an ecumenical service on  Good Friday that lasted from noon to 3 pm. It was held in the movie theater, the town's largest auditorium. 
*Some stores closed between noon and 3 pm. Many of us took off work, although it was not deemed a holiday by employers. 
*And most of all, I miss the hymns.  Sometimes on Thanksgiving I copy the words off the Internet and we sing a couple of the hymns at home or driving in the car.  I like that. 

Church somewhere in Puerto Rico. Julie took the picture last month.