Nine Shift

New Data on Suburbs Still In Decline

Here's another way to measure the decline of suburbs:  deaths versus births by county.

This is the issue in my county. The county is growing in population, BUT the growth is in senior citizens, not working age people.

The NYTimes did an excellent story on it recently. Here's an excerpt:

"Hunterdon County, N.J., is rich. It ranks sixth nationally among counties in median household income, and has for decades exemplified the American outer-ring suburb.

But in one crucial measure, this exurban enclave 60 miles west of Manhattan resembles old mill communities in northern New England or impoverished regions of Appalachia. The measure is death as compared to birth, otherwise known by demographers as “natural increase.” In this case, it’s negative.

Hunterdon County residents gave birth to 3,590 babies between 2013 and 2016. But even more residents — 3,647 — died. Go back to a four-year period two decades earlier: 5,882 births, 2,947 deaths."  Here's a chart NYTimes did from census data on counties (in red) where deaths exceeded births in 2016.

Kevin Love and the Gen Y Anxiety Epidemic

My brilliant co-author Julie Coates premiered her research on the Gen Y Anxiety Epidemic last week at our annual faculty development conference. 

Kim Helms and Laura Pruit-Walker from Jacksonville State University in Alabama also did a session on student anxiety, also a first.  Together they have identified a huge and hidden issue on campus, and in the workforce, for Gen Y.  

Basketball star Kevin Love did his part by admitting to a panic attack recently, helping to make the issue more visible in society. 

Is Peer Review the Cause of the College Accreditation Sham?

Accreditation, apparently, has peer review as a critical element.  That's got to be a big reason why accreditation is such a sham. 
The fox investigating the other foxes.  No wonder us chickens are getting a bad deal. 

Now back to college basketball tournament. Now There's a clean industry. 

A Good University That Almost Lost its Accreditation

While flunking colleges and universities retain their accreditation, here's a good university doing work that no other college or university is doing. And it almost lost its accreditation a few months ago. 

Chicago State University, an historically black university, is #9 in the nation in graduating African Americans in pharmacy.  Number 9. In the nation.

It is #6 in the nation in graduating African Americans in another health profession.  Number 6. In the nation. 

At a time when our economy and society requires diversity, demands diversity, needs diversity in its workforce, this university is outperforming over 2,600 other accredited colleges and universities in the country.  And yet it almost lost its accreditation a few months ago.  Really?  

Is College Accreditation a Sham?

There are about 2,618 accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Why? 
Here's the facts, about all of them:

-They, on average, only graduate 55% of their students.  That's an "F."
-They have tripled the debt their students incur over just ten years ago.
-The majority of students are given the wrong grade by their teachers.  That's also an "F."
-They discriminate against half of their students, a violation of the Title IX law.
-They have dumped the U.S. position in college graduation from #1 in the world down to #18.

And yet these institutions are "accredited. "   Please explain why.

Nine Shift Photo: Young woman in boat in Puerto Rico.

How Print Newspapers Can Survive and Thrive

Last night I watched the great movie "The Post," about the Washington Post in 1971, during the days of linotype machines and hot metal and the special language of copy editors. 

This morning I read a NYT opinion column about how print newspapers contain more indepth and insightful news than we get online, and I would add on TV.  It's true.  You miss most of the news by not reading a really good print newspaper, even if you subscribe to it online. 

So here's what we proposed ten years ago to keep print newspapers surviving and even thriving: 

*Customize each newspaper by the reader's interests.

*And then deliver or have it mailed to wherever the subscriber is that day.

*The result:  advertisers will flock back because the reader will be interested in their product. 

Here's how it works. The reader goes online and specifies what kinds of news s/he wants to receive, and therefore which subjects to exclude. As soon as I get The New York Times, I throw out the fashion and arts sections.   

Then the computer designs a newspaper individually tailored for that person and it gets delivered, or mailed by the Post Office. My newspaper usually arrives the same day by mail.  

Finally, if the subscriber is going to be at a different address: a hotel, a friend's house, wherever, the person changes the address online.  I know, I'm brilliant.......   

Every day a few older men gather in the town square in La Parguera, Puerto Rico.  

 

 

Big Brother is Here: Thanks Google

I had no idea Google listens in and records your in-person face-to-face conversations.

In the ongoing uncovering of big tech's bad influence on society, my brilliant co-author assures me Big Brother is here, and it is Google.

Two days ago she was talking with a young friend in-person about some beads made in India.  The next day she got an ad on her cell phone for those very beads made in India.   Her cell phone was not on during her conversation, just nearby. 

100 years ago banks got a rush of robberies from robbers buying cars that went 80 mph on dirt roads, one unfortunate consequence of the automobile. Here we go again.  Hopefully Big Brother can be contained.  

 

The Decline in Shopping

Nine Shift has predicted that nine of your twelve waking hours each day would be spent differently in this century than in the last century. 

One of those waking hours that has changed is now shopping, with online shopping growing and in-person shopping on the decline. The media has documented this, but has not covered our contention that Gen Y is also buying fewer tangible products. 

Gen Y is and will continue to be big spenders on technology, software, online services, etc.   

Driving into the Twin Cities today I am seeing all these cars, and so thankful I work at home, and shop at home. Additional thought: I wonder if shopping online cuts down on the "spontaneous" buying that occurs when in a physical store. Your thoughts?

Big Money For Trains Coming

"There's a ton of money out there" from investors interested in funding passenger rail in the United States, says James Coston, CEO of Corridor Capital, a Chicago based passenger rail development firm. 

He spoke last week before passenger rail supporters trying to figure out how to fund a new passenger train route in Wisconsin.  

The initial success of Brightline, a totally private passenger rail company in Florida, may be a success story that will turn on the spigot of money for trains.  The question is not IF but WHEN trains will get a huge infusion of billions of dollars for updating our transportation infrastructure. 

Photo: Really old road leading up to a lighthouse, no longer used, in Puerto Rico.

The Millennials March On

Whether it be healthcare, marijuana, gay marriage, sexual harassment in the workplace, BANNING GUNS, eliminating student debt or even trains, the Millennial generation will not give up for the rest of their lives. 

My brilliant co-author Julie Coates says that values form during the teen and early twenty years of life, essentially college for those who go to college.  And that those values stay with a generation throughout their lives.  

So don't expect Gen Y to give up on the issues they hold dear.  They will keep fighting for their values as they grow older, just like other generations have. 

Photo: Julie in Puerto Rico last month