JerseySmarts.com

Greek State of Mind

Start the Weekend Right Link Series – Volume #1, Edition #2

by Leave a Comment

Here’s hoping that you enjoyed last week’s inaugural edition of the Start the Weekend Right link series. As I noted last week, since Google Reader shut down on July 1st I’ve been using Feedly to read the latest content from my 74 different subscriptions. If you have a bunch of different websites that you check out everyday, then I encourage you to condense your efforts and check out that websites on Feedly. And hey, whether you have a free Feedly account or you use another RSS aggregator I’d be thankful if you would follow our feed at http://www.jerseysmarts.com/feed/ or (via Feedly) by clicking here. Thanks!

This weekend’s links are below for your reading pleasure. If you come across any interesting links, then please share them with us in the comments section below. Enjoy!

Start the Weekend Right Link Series – Volume #1, Edition #2
Old Professors Never Quit, They Just Hang Around, Bloomberg
As an adjunct professor with potential designs to become a full-time professor at some point in the future, I found this article interesting. The author explores the issue of having professors in the classroom that just don’t seem to ever want to retire. One of the interesting points in the article is that the number of active professors over the age of 65 doubled from 2000 to 2011. This discussion begs the question of whether it even matters that there are so many older professors in the classroom. Definitely an interesting read for my fellow education news junkies.

Most Newark Residents Want More Charter Schools, Poll Reveals, Newark Patch
This article could have easily been put in the “obviously – duh!” file. Of course most Newark residents want more charter schools! Not only have charter public schools in Newark (and other urban areas in New Jersey) been proven time and time again (PDF) to absolutely decimate the traditional public schools in terms of academic performance, they do it at a fraction of the cost of the traditional public school sector. Everyone in New Jersey knows that the silly, increasingly irrelevant teachers’ union fights tooth and nail against charter schools because they do a better job at a more efficient cost. And it seems like the folks in Newark want more charters as this article reports 71% of respondents supported an expansion of charters in the city.

Breaking Down Monmouth’s Nonconference Schedule, A Daly Dose of Hoops
If there are any other Monmouth University basketball fans out there reading this series of links, then I encourage you to check out the Daly Dose of Hoops breakdown of the nonconference match-ups that the Hawks will have during the coming season. Also, if you didn’t see the release of the nonconference games for the coming season, then this article will update you on who the Hawks are playing outside of the MAAC in 2013 – 2014. College basketball season is coming soon…

The Sweetness of Time Off, NY Times – The Dealbook
I enjoyed reading this article because I enjoy the idea of taking time off to recharge your batteries. What Dealbook does in this article is discuss how to vacation and what the concept of vacation means in and for today’s workforce. At my job, in addition to 12 holidays each year I get 31 “paid time off” days. We don’t distinguish between sick days and vacation days and we are only allowed to carryover 12 days each year. That means that each year I absolutely must take off 19 days (the equivalent of about 4 weeks of work). Frankly, I find it hard to do this because I rarely get sick and I’m not the type to go off on week-long vacations to exotic or interesting places (that’s not easy to do while you’re battling student loan debt). However, in the spirit of this article I’ve been considering going on a longer vacation by heading to some place other than the Jersey Shore. Who knows?

Neptune Plans Rent Control Measure, The Coaster
For anyone living around my area of Monmouth County and, particularly, in Neptune Township – this article is for you. It appears that there may be a local property management company that is increasing rental rates beyond what one might consider a reasonable annual adjustment. The Township Committee in Neptune is going to combat those large adjustments by instituting a rent control measure. More details in the article.

County Rolls Out New Tax Assessment Program, Asbury Park Sun
No, I’m not some nerd for tax assessment programs or local property taxes. This article caught my eye because I think it’s a great example of new methods being used to eliminate wasteful, inefficient practices from the past. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I get frustrated when working with local governments or workers who are beyond retirement age and can’t function at the speed of now. The new system for adjusting property taxes in Monmouth County is an easy to understand, logical, timely system. Good work by all involved in this program!

Asbury Park Press Among Hardest Hit in Gannett Job Cuts, Asbury Park Sun
At one point, I used to follow local news agencies and the surprising amount of drama that takes place at these institutions. Today, I have a much smaller though still lingering interest in what goes on at the organizations that provide the public with what is considered “news.” So when I saw that the second largest newspaper in New Jersey – the Asbury Park Press – was hit pretty hard with a round of job cuts from Gannett, I thought that this would be an interesting story to share. Which brings me to…

End of An Era at First Energy Park, WOBM
The retirement of Asbury Park Press sports writer Tony Graham leaves a large hole in the coverage of many Monmouth University sports. Tony’s writing was excellent and though I haven’t followed him any longer than I started attending the home basketball games in 2009, I always enjoyed reading his postgame wrap-ups on his wildly popular The Hawks Nest blog. You can read Tony’s announcement regarding his retirement here.

Monmouth University Stadium To Get $5 Million Upgrade, Long Branch-Eatontown Patch
Clearly, this week’s Start the Weekend Right link is heavy on Monmouth University-related news. And rightfully so – we’re just a few weeks away from school being back in session and there is a lot going on in and around the campus right now. This story is about a long-awaited, much needed update to the university’s otherwise weak football “stadium.” One of the areas of the university’s athletic facility offerings that has been a black eye in the shadow of the MAC is the football field. Some of the problems with the field can be fixed as this story shows. However, until the university finds a way to add bleachers to the visitor’s side of the field, it’s going to be tough to sell Kessler Field as a big-time, Division I football field. In any event, the addition of this new four-story building goes a long way in getting Monmouth where it needs to be.

Roxbury’s Tito Santana Enjoys the Quieter Life, Roxbury Register
This is a fun, wholesome story from my hometown’s weekly newspaper. Anyone who is a fan of WWE or, more appropriately, the old World Wrestling Federation, will know the name Tito Santana. A former WWE World Tag Team Champion and WWE Intercontinental Champion, Santana is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame and… he was one of my gym teachers in high school. I’ve written about Santana every once in a while over my various internet properties over the last nearly twenty years. He’s a great man with a beautiful family. I was friends and teammates with his oldest son in high school and from what I see on Facebook, he’s grown into a great young family man himself (no surprise there – he was an awesome kid in high school). This article gets the facts a little bit incorrect on Santana’s career as it says his last professional match was in 1993 against Virgil. That’s not entirely correct as he beat Jeff Jarrett in 2000 on WCW NITRO (but who’s keeping track?). Anyway, Santana is a great part of my hometown and I’m glad that the local paper chose to write a nice article about him.

Get your weekend started right by checking out these links, starting a new Feedly account, and/or adding the blogs above (and JerseySmarts.com, too) to your existing Feedly or other RSS aggregator account. Enjoy!

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry Wins $100,000!

by Leave a Comment

The Biggest Loser live finale is on tonight and even though I’ll probably fall asleep before it’s all over I had to come online and say how excited I was to see Jerry win the $100,000 “at home” Biggest Loser prize. Good for him! Here is a 64 year old man that lost 47% of his body weight. The man lost 47% of his body weight at an age where most people are either retired or a few months away from retirement!

That’s an amazing feat and one for which Jerry should be immensely proud of himself. And let this serve as a lesson to everyone else out there who is trying to get themselves into shape or begin living a healthier lifestyle. A man in his mid 60’s lost about half of his body weight. If he can do that, then the rest of us can suck it up and lose weight and/or begin living a healthier lifestyle.

Congratulations, Jerry!

College Fundraising in a Troubled Economy

by 1 Comment

The New York Times ran an article the other day talking about how institutional advancement (i.e. fundraising from alumni) is faring in the current economic climate. There are a few interesting parts of the article which I’ll share below, but I encourage you to read the article linked above if you have the time. From the article:

But for everyone else, this year’s giving season is an exercise in a different sort of asset allocation than the one we’re used to for our retirement accounts. It’s about competing demands, the rising need to pay for basic human services in our communities versus the emotional pull from the educational institutions that helped shape us.

I used this quote from the article to highlight the last sentence regarding how we are shaped by our educational institutions. I hear this line from my undergraduate institution, my graduate institution, and my fraternity time and time again and frankly, it’s insulting. I’m sure that there are some people in the population who go to college as chunks of clay and who are then shaped into whatever artwork their professors can manage, but how prevalent is this type of person in society? I know many more alumni from my undergraduate institution who can’t stand the college than who adore it and thank it for making them who they are today.

In fact, the comment that I hear most often from my fellow alumni is that the school was too expensive to attend and that one or two overbearing professors really left a negative mark on some students. In fact, it gets a little humorous to hear how one or two of the English professors are out of line (and out of the times) with their stance towards educating college students and how their methods are not replicated in the working world at all. Stupid professors…

Plus, what ever happened to the idea of students being their own people and bringing something new to the university? Why is it that some people think these universities and organizations shape individuals? Isn’t it the opposite? Don’t the individuals shape the climate and the culture of the organization? Anyway, the following text is also from the article:

The Amherst endowment, which stood at $1.7 billion at the end of June, lost about a quarter of its value over the next four months. The families of its students suddenly need more financial aid because of the economic downturn. And now the college is turning to its alumni for help, at the very moment that many of them are experiencing their own catastrophic financial losses.

Again, I focus on that last sentence with respect to my experiences with my undergraduate alma mater. At some point in November I received the annual phone call from a Freshman at my old college asking me to donate. The new strategy for these solicitations is to have you talk a little bit about your time as an undergrad and give your suggestions to the student on the phone about how he or she can make the best of their time on campus. It’s all an effort to get you to donate to the university – nothing more, nothing less. Well, after about thirty seconds of my babbling about undergraduate life to a Freshman who wasn’t listening anyway, the girl made the “ask.”

If you haven’t been solicited by the telephone before, the “ask” is when the person on the other end of the phone gets to the point in the script where they need to ask you for a donation. They usually start out high and are willing to go as low as they need to go in order for you to say “yes” to their request. This girl asked me to donate $1,000. I almost fell on the floor! Go back and read the last sentence quoted above – alumni are feeling the financial crunch, too! How dare my undergraduate institution (where I paid nearly $100,000 in tuition) ask me to donate $1,000 in this economic climate!? I told the girl that I was offended by the number and that if the university knew about my current status (which they SHOULD know about – I teach there), then they’d know that the number was out of my range. So she asked me for $500 and I told her that I wasn’t going to donate anything and thanked her for her time.

Up until now, I haven’t asked to be taken off of the solicitation list from my alma mater because I wanted to get the phone call and to consider an annual donation to a cause of my choosing (as stated in the article). However, after the ridiculous ask by the college this year I think I’m going to request to be taken off of their annual solicitation list. I donate my money to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation not because the fraternity “shaped me” in anyway (it did not), but because I know where the money goes and I see the end result with my own two eyes. I would encourage all of you to do the same in terms of researching and understanding where your scarce donation dollars are being spent.

Forgetting Student Loans in the Bankruptcy Mix

by 2 Comments

People are going crazy right now over the economy and how they (and their families) will continue to pay the bills next month or the month after. Some people are looking at their 401k accounts and literally crying due to the literal lack of retirement funding available for them. For some folks, the way out is to declare bankruptcy. Well, as a sort of student loan guru I just wanted to remind the big student loan borrowers out there that student loans are not eligible to be wiped away in bankruptcy court.

One of my new favorite places to go to read about events in the student loan industry is Student Loan Stories. This is a great blog that covers student loans from all angles and was good enough to post the story linked above regarding how student loans are not eligible for bankruptcy. As someone who still owes six figures in student loan debt, trust me when I say that I knew about this years ago! But this is the type of information that isn’t shared nearly enough with college graduates in terms simple enough to understand. And we all know the garbage that has gone on with the student loan companies and certain colleges being offered kickbacks to recommend one company’s consolidation services over the others.

Disgusting.

Anyway, just putting out the grim reminder that you can’t put your student loans into bankruptcy. Sorry!

Take Passion and Pride in Your Work

by 1 Comment

One thing that drives me crazy is when a worker takes no passion or pride in their profession. Before I get going I should say that if you are an employee who is in a job just to make some money for a fixed period of time, then this blog post doesn’t really apply to you. I’m referring to the professional worker – the person who is in their chosen career whether that career is white collar or blue collar, high paying or low paying, sitting behind a desk or working in a field. This post is about the career man or woman.

Is there anything more pathetic than a person who just “exists” in their job and does nothing to make their company or employer better at the end of the day than when they arrived in the morning? People should have a ferocious passion for what they do everyday. They should attack their job on a daily basis. Career workers should grab each day by its neck and make that day their own!

I believe that I think this way because I come from a family of hard workers. My Father was a dedicated and committed employee even up until a few months prior to when he passed away. He was a loyal employee during his active working years and he was a trusted hand during his retirement years. My Mother is the same way. She works for a local Township and because of her efforts since assuming her department’s management role, the department has become more efficient than it has been in years. She makes her department better each day than it was when she showed up in the morning. My brothers and I are on the same track. My older brother has worked his way to a front end manager (when needed) at his restaurant and he’s one of the Owner’s trusted confidants. Plus, he’s been working diligently at this various jobs for the last decade – even becoming the number one cell phone salesman for the now-defunct “The Wiz.” And my younger brother is so committed to working that the kid held TWO jobs while taking college courses last semester! In my family there is a ferocious commitment to working and making our employers better before we go home for the day.

For what it’s worth I see these types of passionate employees all around me. My roommates, my friends, most of my coworkers, etc. I know people who have to be at the office between 7am and 7:30am and who generally leave the office between 6:30pm and 7pm; and these people do this on a daily basis and excel in their positions because they attack their jobs and their various daily tasks. They make their employers better.

Sure, everyone has an off day here and there. And yes everyone “slacks” from time to time. But anyone can tell the difference between an employee who wants to make a difference and the employee who is there to collect a check. Think about the last time you called your cell phone company or cable company’s customer service hotline. How many of you encountered someone who thought outside of the box to solve your problem? How many of you got someone on the phone who didn’t need to transfer you because they were going to take the initiative to solve your problem in the best interests of every party involved? Very few of you, I’m sure.

In an economy like this it becomes blatantly apparent when you’re dealing with an employee who just wants to get his or her check at the end of the week. I recently asked a vendor that I’ve been working with to make a business inquiry to a third party on my behalf. Three days (and multiple opportunities to make the inquiry) later, my vendor not only had not asked the question on my behalf (which, remember, he is being paid to do), but he actually assumed what the third party’s answer would be! What the hell is this?! Without going into too much detail, the “assumed” answer from my vendor could have only been reached if he didn’t take a ferocious stance in favor of his client (me).

Talk about taking no pride in one’s work! This vendor is being paid by me to represent me to the third party! F’ing stand up and represent my best interests, damn it! This is a blatant example of someone who doesn’t have a ferocious commitment to their client. This is an example of someone who is concerned about making their quota for the week/month. This is an example of someone who wants to generate revenue at anyone’s expense – even his client’s! This is also an example of someone who has lost my future business.

The moral of the story is that you should be proud of your work. If you hate your job, then find a new one. It might take some time in this market, but start looking today. You should be passionate about what you do; at the very least you should know at the end of the day you’ve accomplished all that you can accomplish to the highest degree of excellence that you are capable. Attack your work. Be ferocious. Excel.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2008

by Leave a Comment

Happy New Year! First things first… It’s 2008 – can you believe it? It’s funny, I distinctly remember being a little kid and watching the ball drop to ring in 1986. But that was over 20 years ago in my family’s Manhattan apartment! Now on to the annual self-consuming resolutions!

Faith
For a variety of reasons, I did not get to attend Church as often as I would have liked to last year. I hope to have almost perfect attendance this year, but that’s not the crux of this resolution. I do not believe that it is adequate enough just to attend Church and be a warm body in a seat; in the next year I’d like to continue becoming involved in the Catholic Church through a few different avenues.

First, I purchased the Catechism of the Catholic Church over 2 years ago, but I have not read it yet. In the coming year I want to read the Catechism. Second, I have not attended confession in over a decade. In the coming year I want to attend confession. And finally, my local Church in West Long Branch has a weekly listing of other items that parishioners can give money to instead of the weekly tithe. These are all items related to the school that is a part of the Church (for example, you can buy books for a student or projection screens for classroom). In the coming year I want to purchase some items for the school through this program.

Finances
Student Loans
I’ve decided to break out my financial resolutions into a few different subcategories this year. The first of these are my omnipresent student loans. Last year I successfully paid down more than $8,000 in student loan debt. Given some of my other financial resolutions that are listed below, I don’t know if it would be wise to put a dollar figure on how much I’d like to pay down my student loans in 2008 outside of the regular payments. That said, I am certainly going to try to pay down these loans as much as possible – if possible.

Savings & Retirement
In the coming year, I’ll be fully engaged in my company’s 401k and getting the maximum possible match. That’s a first for me and I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out. At the personal level, I’ve been working towards a certain dollar amount to have stashed away in my ING Savings Account by the end of 2008 and I’ll keep that dollar amount private. I am, however, going to make every effort to reach this dollar amount and it looks as though I might be able to get there sometime next fall (I have long-term financial projections!).

Usable Web Solutions, LLC
Last year I wanted to increase my website company‘s revenue by 50%. This year, I’m going to focus on a different goal. I’ve suspended taking on new accounts until all of my existing accounts are brought current (both financially and fully designed). Once that is accomplished, I’d like to gain 2 new accounts in the next year while maintaining or renewing all of my existing accounts.

I also have a few personal website projects that I’ve kept on the shelf for a variety of reasons. I’d like to get these projects moving and completed by the end of this year.

Health
This is the resolution that most people make on January 1st and then go and break on January 2nd! Well, I’m not going to lay out a specific weight that I want to be at by the end of the year and I’m not going to lay out a number that I want to be bench pressing, squatting, or curling by 2009. All I want is to be in better shape by the end of 2008. I joined a gym last week and I’ve laid out what appears to be a decent training schedule so I’m on the right track. We’ll see how it goes.

Also, I am overdue for many check-ups. In the coming year I want to get a physical, have my eyes examined, and take a trip to the dentist. Some of this will require looking to see which doctors I am currently assigned to with my health care provider, but I’ll take care of that stuff.

Personal Advancement
Actually, I find this to be the hardest area to create quantifiable goals. Isn’t achieving all of the above some form of personal advancement? How does one quantify an advancement in their personal life? Let’s give it a try… In the coming year I want to read the stack of books that I’ve accumulated in my bedroom. Sometimes you get a book and you just don’t have a minute to read the damn thing, you know?!

I would also like to teach college courses again in the coming year. I admit that this is a “gimme” goal because I know I’ve already been scheduled to teach again in the fall. But hey, why not give myself a freebie?

One of the things that I started doing in the last year is de-cluttering my living area. This is actually dually rewarding because most of the stuff that I no longer use I just donate to charity. In the coming year I want to continue de-cluttering my “stuff” which may include purchasing an outdoor storage unit and replacing one of the existing storage units in my Family’s backyard up in North Jersey. Some of our existing stock is falling down and dangerous, so there may be more than one “good” here.

Oh, I’ve also began pushing a more “sustainable” lifestyle in the last year. What does that mean? It’s a manageable mix of recycling more, using earth-friendly materials, and not creating excess waste if it can be avoided. For example, I purchased two canvas reusable grocery bags to use at when I go grocery shopping. Now I’m not sure if there is a quantifiable way to judge if I’ve made a more “sustainable” lifestyle once the coming 12 months are over, but I’ll certainly be working towards that goal.

Professional Development
I’m actually looking for some good opportunities to learn more about my job and my industry. I attended the Opportunity Finance Network conference in Miami, Florida a few weeks ago and I was stimulated to learn more about many of the other areas of community development finance that I’ve not yet been exposed to at my job. In the coming year I want to learn more about some of these areas (native lending, rural lending) and continue to do the best that I can at my job.

So that’s my full set of public New Year’s Resolutions. We can meet back here in 12 months and see how I made out!