The Influence of a College Education

As the cost of a college education rises beyond the grasp of many people in the U.S., an alternative scenario is playing itself out.  As noted in a recent NYTimes article, there are many ambitious youth who are choosing not to go to college - who firmly believe in the “get rich” scenario that the internet and social media can bring – and has brought – to some of their peers.   It isn’t just Mark Zuckerberg  and Bill Gates who achieved incredible success without a college degree – there are others, such as the founders of Tumblr and of JetBlue airlines.   

It's daunting to face the prospect of taking on tens of thousands of dollars of debt, for a degree that only “promises” success.  Meanwhile, the media play up the stories of those who chose another path – without a college degree.  So it’s not surprising that many of today’s youth are thinking twice about college.   And yet the numbers are not in their favor… statistically speaking. 

To quote one source: “Georgetown University…  found that 14.3% of those with a high school diploma or less earn as much or more than the median college student. That works out to a one in seven chance of out-earning the median college student.”  Not great odds, are they? Further, according to a Gallup study, “of those with college degrees, roughly eight in 1,000” make more than $500K per year –  0.8%.  For those without a college degree, the odds drop as low as three out of 1,000 – or 0.3%.  Another way of looking at it is the “return on investment” of a college education.  “College tuition provides a 15% return, much better than stocks (7%) and real estate (1%).” 

So what to do about the hype of the non-college route?   And the very real skyrocketing cost of tuition?  It’s time to deal with both – from the realistic perspective and the concept of what constitutes a good college education.  Perhaps it’s more a matter of achieving a goal – a college degree – at a place that can provide a valuable degree without costing so much it creates a hole you can never escape from. 

Indeed, there are horrific stories of people taking out loans that balloon into payments multiple times the worth of the original loan.  There’s no reason to be “in debt for life” because of the promise of a college degree.   

If college really is the “answer” for many students, the “question” needs to be (a) where and why am I going to college and (b) what am I going to have at the end, aside from a diploma?  For example, there are institutions that have great reputations with companies that hire.  In addition, there are programs with internships built-in, and other opportunities to explore that will create a more “employable” solution at the end of a 2 yr. or 4 yr. degree.  Perhaps just a “college degree” isn’t enough anymore – or at this cost. Perhaps it’s a plan for the future, for all four years and beyond…

It will be interesting to see how the lure and influence of the internet plays out among the current generation of high-school graduates in years to come.

The Mayan "Doomsday" and Media Influence

There is a cultural fear – around the world - that December 21^st, 2012 will mark the end of the earth (as we know it).   As the day approaches, it seems there are a number of factions – including the media – trying to “debunk” this fear.  There’s good reason for this, as acting as though the world will “end tomorrow” has led to destructive behavior in a number of places.

What has influenced so many people to believe this may happen?  The Mayan calendar cycles in “baktuns” of 394 years.  A recent meeting of experts in Mexico, where this was discussed, pointed to the fact that there may have been 13 baktuns completed by Dec. 21st 2012, and 13 was a significant number for the Mayans.  Therefore, the end of that cycle would be some sort of milestone, "but not an end.”

Anthropologist and scholar Alexander Voss, notes that the “end of the world” phenomenon is more of our own creation than the Mayans.  "This is thinking that, in truth, has nothing to do with Mayan culture…This thing about looking for end-times is not something that comes from Mayan culture."  Or, as another scholar put it - the end of the 13^th cycle could be a milestone, such as a prophecy of something else, such as a drought, disease, or other event.  “The Mayas did make prophecies, but not in a fatalistic sense, but rather about events that, in their cyclical conception of history, could be repeated in the future,” said Alfredo Barrera, of the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History.

What does this mean as December creeps forward?  It means, as noted in the U.K’s journal, The Register, you better pay your taxes.   And yet the panic is worldwide: from the “believers” website to Hollywood's thriller movies, so the “end of days” has played a large part in the public’s imagination.   According to Reuter’s, 10% of the population (in the 20 countries they polled) believes it will happen on December 21^st.  There’s the “collective mass psychosis” of women inmates at a prison near China, and the pilgrimage of many to “hide out” in the Alps.  And in Russia, there are people hoarding food, matches, kerosene, and candles.  

Articles and posts have abounded this year, from the Huffington Post to the New York Times and even on Wikipedia, not only pointing out these trends but trying to show how they have been fabricated or misconstrued – in order to put the public’s mind at ease.  And why not?  The media, to some extent, used its massive influence to create the panic in the first place – so why not use the media to diffuse it?  Let’s see what happens.  (We look forward to seeing you on December 22^nd!)

Shopping Influence & Giving Tuesday

It’s been interesting to watch retailers (and the media) wake up to the nation’s purchasing habits – and “name” them, “institutionalize” them, and further promote these habits.  I’m speaking, of course of “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.”  It wasn’t long ago that the day or weekend after Thanksgiving marked the beginning of the holiday buying season... yet the “official” nature of these spending days has now been set in stone, so to speak, through the phrases and the sales.

What’s more intriguing today is to see how others are trying to bend the rules a bit – not picking up on consumer habits and “naming” them but rather using the technique to try to create behavior itself.  To “influence” how consumers spend their money… and the best example so far has been “Giving Tuesday” – the day after Cyber Monday.  Nonprofits now are doing their best to continue the tradition of “year-end giving” by naming a day – and hopefully creating the behavior.  

It’s not that far-fetched an idea, in this case.  As a general rule, people do tend to give more to nonprofits during the holidays – perhaps because of the concept of “giving” to those in need during the holiday season, perhaps because of the year-end tax deductions.  Who knows?  However, nonprofits have had a longstanding tradition of pushing donations in the 4^th Quarter and some generate the majority of their revenue stream at this time.

So how to influence giving?  GivingTuesday.org is the brainchild of the 92^nd Street Y – and they’ve created the website as well as the Twitter hashtag #GivingTuesday.  And the idea seems to have taken off… thanks (perhaps?) to the 92^nd Street Y’s partnership with organizations such as Microsoft, the United Way, JPMorgan Chase, and the Huffington Post, among others. 

According to Crains New York, approximately 1,500 organizations across the U.S. are promoting the idea. And the media have picked it up, with stories from Atlanta to Oregon (picked up from the AP Newswire) to NPR. 

It’s nice to see that a new effort from nonprofits to generate donations has gained some traction among a number of factions – from donors to the media.  Now let’s see if this “influence” idea works – and if consumers will “follow the name.”

Hostess & Brand Influence

It was not hard to recognize what influenced Americans most this week.  The outpouring of sentiment across media at the news that Hostess was shutting its doors was tremendous – reflecting the power and influence of brands on children.

To quote one tweet I received, as we sent out condolences to one another: “I can’t remember the last time I had a Twinkee.  But it’s still so sad!”   It’s not about what we’re eating now – Hostess is in trouble because not enough of us are Twinkeed out.  Instead, our culture has become more health/snack conscious and has been shunning these types of foods.   But that hasn’t stopped the shock factor of losing one of America’s “favorite” brands… and may be the best hope for a resurrection….

Of course, every media outlet had its twist on the closing.  Fox News was all about the union battle that led to the closing decision.  The Huffington Post blog was about how declining sales, over time, led to the company’s demise.  But the Boston Globe hit the nail on the head when it comes to “influence.”  With a photograph, they noted the buying frenzy for the last of Hostess memories.  

As one mother lamented for her 2 yr. old daughter: “She’s never had a Twinkie…I can’t wrap my head around it. It was always in lunchboxes, and I was a teacher. They’ve always been there.”

And therein lies the power of brand influence.  We may not have bought one for decades but the sentiment hangs on.  No one wants Hostess to disappear forever – it represents the staple of our childhood. 

“Adrienne Vincent, 52, of Braintree, was already feeling nostalgic about her favorite Hostess snack — Devil Dogs — and feared it might bring her to tears. She recalled climbing out of the family swimming pool as a child to be greeted by her mom with the chocolate cake sandwiches, shaped like a hot dog bun, with a creamy filling.”

Hostess represents childhood to us – to the joys of eating those sugary, fatty, high-calorie foods when we were young and our parents didn’t know any better. 

We’ll see where the Hostess story goes. In the meantime, we should salute Hostess for the power of their brand influence over us – even if we only realize it when the doors have shut.