"Tens of Thousands of College Students Have Nowhere to Sleep"
.. articles as this one could serve to be positive for some children and grandchildren of yours out there ..
(Reuters/Luke MacGregor)
[ note: the image location address? had w=1600, changing it to w=800 worked ]
Written by Quora February 14, 2016
This question originally appeared on Quora: What is the best way to answer a student who says, “Why are we learning this? We are never going to use geometry or Shakespeare in the real world”? Answer by Richard Muller, professor of physics at UC Berkeley, author of Energy for Future Presidents.
I was watching an interview with a well-known actress a few years ago. She was opposing nuclear power, and made some statements about the aftermath of Three Mile Island. After she went on for a while, the interviewer pointed out that she got many of her facts wrong. She was indignant. “This is not about facts,” she said. “It’s about feelings!”
Many, maybe most people have a similar approach to life. There is a marvelous description of this attitude in the wonderful book Uncommon Sense by Alan Cromer. Most of the world makes decisions based on feelings, not taking into account thoughtful analysis. Yet nothing conflicts with good decision making as much as giving in to this instinct.
In my mind, Shakespeare and geometry teach the most essential lessons needed for a productive and successful life. Properly taught, they teach you to think, to take in evidence, to analyze, and to deduce. My favorite Shakespeare course was taught by professor Hugh Richmond at Berkeley; I went to all the lectures (as an auditor) and did the readings while I was a graduate student earning my PhD in physics at Berkeley, but this course was very important to me. Whenever I see professor Richmond, I thank him yet again for this course. No course gave me more insight into human behavior, or about writing and persuasion—Shakespeare’s methods for convincing us of his insights.
Think of Antony’s great speech, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen …” and how he brings a hostile crowd to his own point of view. In what other course would you learn how to do that? Is that a skill that will prove useful in your future life? Let me ask that differently. Is there any more important skill?
And it is not just the way that Antony does it. It is the very fact that he does it. Recognize that, and you become aware of an aspect of life that you don’t get in a physics or engineering course.
About writing…. Shakespeare sets the standard, not in flowery language, but in vivid language—language that makes you understand what it is that Shakespeare wanted you to understand. That’s why you need to read (or better yet—watch) the originals, not the short study guides designed to give you the plot and help you with a pop quiz.
Think of what we learn about life and love from Much Ado About Nothing, about how two people who hate each other can change and feel deep and true love toward each other. I can go on and on, and if you had a good Shakespeare course, so can you. Many of the great books are comparably good; I particularly love Russian novels, especially War and Peace. But I sometimes just sink into Moby Dick and read it again.
Geometry is the class that teaches us about logical thinking, about what it means to draw a conclusion, about the meaning of truth, and how we can test to see if a conclusion is correct or incorrect. Most reality cannot be reduced to simple theorems in the way we do for geometry, but a study of that subject shows us that at least some truths really do exist; some speculation is definitely false, and with careful thought and analysis, you can (at least sometimes) tell the difference.
Of course, there is a limited amount you can learn from these courses. They are really meant to trigger lifelong learning—of logic, of literature, of books and plays, of fact-based knowledge and knowledge of people and persuasion—that informs and educates. Stick with it for a few decades and you will understand and be able to control and influence much of the world around you.
If the actress I was referring to had studied geometry, maybe she wouldn’t have been so cavalier about whether facts matter; if she had studied Shakespeare, maybe she wouldn’t have been so cavalier, trusting so totally in the guidance of feelings.
If you are older and feel that you don’t understand the world, if you feel powerless and cheated out of life, it just may be because you didn’t study Shakespeare or geometry when you were younger, or because you just got through them instead of getting into them.
Please act today to support the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act:
"Tens of Thousands of College Students Have Nowhere to Sleep"
1. Contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative and urge them to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act (S. 2267 and H.R. 4043).
Please be sure to edit the sample letter on the page to explain why YOU support this bill, including any local, or state information – especially examples of youth who would benefit from this legislation. If you are writing on behalf of an agency, please describe what your program or agency does. The more you personalize the letter, the better!
2. Spread the word! Please share this information with your networks.? FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please contact Barbara Duffield, Director of Policy and Programs, at bduffield@naehcy.org or (202) 364-7392.
Old and on the Street: The Graying of America’s Homeless
"Tens of Thousands of College Students Have Nowhere to Sleep"
The emergence of an older homeless population is creating daunting challenges for social service agencies and governments already struggling to fight poverty.
Seattle Underbelly Exposed as Homeless Camp Violence Flares
By KIRK JOHNSONMARCH 1, 2016
Mike Metchum is among the homeless people living under Interstate 5 in a Seattle encampment known as the Jungle. Credit Michael Hanson for The New York Times
SEATTLE — So dangerous is this city’s biggest homeless camp, called the Jungle — three ragged miles stitched along the underbelly of Interstate 5 — that if a fire broke out there today, firefighters would not be allowed in without an armed police escort. State lawmakers are considering closing the camp by erecting a razor-wire fence around it, at a cost of $1 million. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/us/seattle-homeless-jungle-camp.html
China’s Homeless Find Shelter Under McDonald’s Golden Arches
By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZDEC. 31, 2015
A woman sleeping at a McDonald’s restaurant in Hong Kong in October. Across East Asia, 24-hour McDonald's have become a sanctuary for the downtrodden, providing a warm, dry place to sleep. Credit Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
BEIJING — He woke to the cry of the morning janitor. “Put your shoes on!” she said. “Put your shoes on!” She rattled a chair. “This isn’t your house! Sit up!”
Homelessness is far from a developing country’s problem. In Europe alone, there are 3 million people on the streets. In Australia and Canada, hundreds of thousands of people are homeless. Of course, the problem is much worse in poorer countries. There are over 9.5 million homeless people in Columbia and 24.4 million in Nigeria. In total, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights estimates that the world has 100 million homeless people. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/poorest-list/the-15-most-homeless-cities-in-the-world/
Kudos to all the good people who spend much of their lives working to ease the plight of the homeless. And one seeming tick there for McDonald's of China, too.
‘Poor people don’t plan long-term. We’ll just get our hearts broken’ Why do so many poor people eat junk food, fail to budget properly, show no ambition? Linda Tirado knew exactly why… because she was one of them. Here, in an extract from her book, Hand to Mouth, she tells her story in her own words Linda Tirado Sunday 21 September 2014 08.26 BST http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=112640981
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