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.