Fantasyland exposed

 So, Alberta has finally cut university and post-secondary funding.  It's about time.  The bloated bureaucracy and administrative costs have grown with nary a thought to what these overlays on the overlays were actually producing out the graduation end.  

"This will lead to higher tuition and fees, further layoffs and decreased programming," moaned a release from the Council of Post-Secondary Presidents of Alberta.  As I said, it's about time.  Sorry, philosophy is a lovely degree, one which I would have loved to have had because I loved the subject, but it won't get you employed.  I graduated with another "useless" degree, English, but happily I got a job in journalism in spite of it.

Universities have merrily gone along offering courses that will get no one anything.  That's why technical colleges like SAIT and NAIT sprang up.  I used to tell my kids that unless they were going to take medicine, dentistry, engineering, architecture or law, to forget about going to university.  That was many years ago.  Nothing's changed.  An arts' degree is charming, but you need a trade diploma after that, such as a teaching certificate, to get a job.  Kenney has tied funding to employment and income.  The philosophy profs are not amused.  

It's all about self-interest and job protection for the universities.  I mean, come on, what does anyone need professors "emerita" for??  They are just big leaks in the payroll who no longer set foot in a classroom.  Tenure?  Forget about it.   

Now, Ontario universities are asking for $500 million more to deal with "pandemic pressures".  Come on.  They claim to have lost more than $1 billion since COVID closed cafeterias, residences and rental facilities.  What does buying a hot dog have to do with education?  Beats me!

Apparently, Ontario has dished out $25 million in post-pandemic emergency funding, as well as $50 million for virtual online learning, but apparently that's not enough hot dog money.  We all know where that money goes:  Into the bank accounts of admin and profs.  

As I said, I got a job in journalism in spite of my English degree.  As a 21-year-old grad, I pounded the pavement in Toronto, going from ad agency to ad agency with examples of re-written ads I'd found in local magazines and newspapers.  After many rejections, I actually burst out crying in one creative director's office.  He felt so sorry for me, he took me to lunch, made a call and got me a job at IBM Canada, one of his clients.  From there, I landed a job at publishing giant Maclean Hunter.  

In other words, I got a job by crying, not because of my English degree.  I'm not proud of it, but the tears launched me.  Because I am a good writer, I succeeded.  

So, no, I don't feel sorry for the universities.  They have made their esoteric beds and must lie in them, or dump a bunch of tenured profs and charming courses.