In Massachusetts, the latest user-generated crisis has centered around the evaporation of low-cost student loans due to the credit crunch. Families are scrambling to find ways to pay for their children’s university and college education, surprised by this sudden disappearance of what had been seen as a very deep well.

I am not here to comment on the causes of the credit crunch. My thoughts turn, instead, to the revenue foundations that the US higher education system built on. The primary question is: Have institutions priced themselves out of relevance?

Other thoughts also come to mind. Is it time to move away from teaching certain skills/fields in universities and colleges, and consider moving to specialized apprenticeships. This idea is one that conjures up images of the guild system, and it is not a dissimilar idea. Certain areas would benefit from a system led by leaders and experts in the field, teaching real-world practices and implementations, rather than theoretical concepts.

In today’s society, the cost of higher education makes people indentured serfs, chained to a bank loan that they thought would afford them the opportunity to get ahead, to make a difference. If we are going to make people indentured serfs (harsh imagery, but how long have you been paying off your student loans?), then why not put them through an apprenticeship, where they can work their way through their education while learning the skill they have entered into.

Work-study and co-op programs have made a stab at that. But I am thinking of learning and working simultaneously. Developing skills, and paying your way in the same place.

Before you classify me as some Luddite or elitist, you have to understand my perspective. I have a liberal Arts degree (History) and found my place in the business world by learning my primary skills on the job. I have played both sides of the fence, and I would say that many others have as well.

And where a theoretical foundation is good in some fields, it needs to be heavily supplemented by real-world practice.

To circle back to the idea of cost, how much of what we require of people in a higher education is directed at the skills that they are most interested in learning? Does a university or college provide the skills needed to support our economy? How do we most effectively and economically ensure that we have an educated and knowledgeable workforce?

These are not for reasons of nationalism or core political beliefs. Every reader here should know I am a Canadian by now. The idea of rationalizing higher education to deliver what people want/need in a way that is effective, efficient, and economic without compromising the fundamental need for a free and open society to have centers of higher learning that foster debate and new idea is one that should be part of the debate in the current election cycle.

How do you deliver an education system that is open to all, and serves the needs of all, without bankrupting the people in the process is one that needs to be addressed.

Tags: bank loan, college, education, Massachusetts, reform, student loans, United States, universities

It’s February 2, 2007.

And it’s finally flippin’ snowing.

Here’s the proof.

Tags: ARIN, content, HTTP, IE, IM, IP, ISP, it, Massachusetts, Om, pr, Technorati

Summer is officially over. Our neighborhood is now an emptying parking lot as the City of Marlborough begins to recover from the Annual Labour Day Parade.

All of the usual floats and groups were there — in fact, the order is almost predictable now.

Machine gun fire is echoing from one of the floats. It seems that the parade is less a celebration of the working man, and more a celebration of the military culture of the United States. I know that the average military man is a working man, but does the air of my community have to ring with the constant rage of machine gun staccato to remind me of the glory of the military?

The one memory I will take from this year? The several thousand balloons released by parade spectators bearing the words “Gabrieli for Governor”. I think the Gabrieli campaign should have thought a little harder about this. Now there are flocks of latex animal killers floating through the MetroWest skies.

Yay team.

Technorati Tags: Labor+Day, Labour+Day, Parade, militarism, Gabrieli, balloons, waste, Marlborough, MA, Massachusetts

Tags: ARIN, community, HTTP, IE, IM, it, Mac, Marlborough, Massachusetts, Om, One, pr, Technorati, United States

This post has two underlying reasons for existing: 1) to test out the new MSFT Live Writer Beta; and 2) to talk about a great story that GigaOm pointed us to today.

Om Malik pointed out a story in the Seattle Times today that talked about “Broadband in the Boonies”. Having grown up in the boonies of British Columbia, this immediately got my attention. The story discusses the explosive growth of Internet businesses in the now heavily wired interior of Washington State; the story focuses on the are around Twisp, Winthrop and the Methow Valley.

Until you have been in this area, and I have, you don’t get the possibility of winter isolation. The story talks about how these places are four hours from Seattle; what they neglect to mention is that this is 4 hours in the period between April 15 and October 15, depending on snow.

The direct westerly route to Seattle from these locations passes through the Cascades. Through the extremely high and snowy Cascades.

Samantha and I took a spur of the moment detour through this little part of heaven, pausing a night in a campground in Twisp. Right on the river. When we woke up the next morning, I remembered how much I missed those early morning moments in the mountains.

Twisp is far more isolated than Golden, BC, or any of the other towns that we passed through on our trip this summer. But it is a reminder to us all that place is important. Not because we have to be there, but because it is where we are at home.

I have lived in the Valley. I have lived in Massachusetts. But neither has been home.

And to me, home is worth more than anything.

Technorati Tags: GigaOm, Seattle+Times, Twisp, Winthrop, Methow+Valley, Washington+State, Home, Broadband, Freedom, Om+Malik

Tags: attention, broadband, business, GigaOm, HTTP, IE, IM, Internet, IP, ISP, it, LAN, live, Malik, Massachusetts, media, Om, Om Malik, pr, Technorati, the other

It’s just about noon and the temperature is racing towards 95F.

The humidity is high enough that the dog went for a swim, not a walk this morning.

The atmosphere is currently: 80% Nitrogen, 19% Pollution, and 1% Oxygen.

I am trying to imagine why so many people want to live here.

Technorati Tags: massachusetts, heat, humidity, east coast, pollution

Tags: current, HTTP, IM, it, live, Massachusetts, Om, Technorati

In Canada, the norm is to have a community recreation centre, usually with a pool, an arena and a curling rink.

In the parts of the US where we have lived, community pools are almost unheard of. Private fitness clubs are the only places with pools, other than private homes.

This explains why my seven year-old still can’t swim.

While in Victoria, we have been able to enjoy

• Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre
• Saanich Commonwealth Pool
• Recreation Oak Bay
• Esquimalt Recreation Centre

All of these locations have VERY reasonably priced swim sessions, as well as public lessons and swim teams.

And in Massachusetts and California? Well, I think that if you are privileged enough to live in Sudbury, MA or Palo Alto, CA, you might have access to a public pool.

Oh yeah, how’s that Protestant Work Ethic thing working out for you?

Technorati Tags: Canada, US, Recreation Centres, pools, protestant work ethic

Tags: Canada, community, HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, IP, it, live, Massachusetts, Om, pr, Technorati, tn

We have survived the wedding. Actually, I make it sound like it was a trial, but it was, in fact, a rather pleasant experience, even for an introvert such as myself. Beautiful setting out at Starling Lane Winery (I highly recommend the Blackberry Port).

Being in Victoria and area has reminded all of us why we love it here; and why we need to move back sooner, rather than later. Not only is Canada a far more civilized country than the United States, Victoria is a far more livable place than Massachusetts. We even did the rounds of some open houses today, reminding ourselves that although this is a far more livable place, the architecture for homes during the period the area was most intensely developed (1945-1980) was brain-damaged, if not completely diseased.

But the benefits are beyond count. An unseasonable warm day is 90F, with very low humidity. Humidity comes in the winter, in the form of rain, rather than snow. We are in plant zone 6-7 (and some 8), which for the gardeners in the crowd means that plants grow here far more abundantly than you could ever dream of in Massachusetts.

And the people are friendly. The gerneralization made about the people of Massachusetts towards outsiders are, in most cases, true. Unless you have lived in Massachusetts for 2-3 generations, you are treated as a newcomer, and should be either shunned or completely distrusted. We have encountered some notable exceptions, but they are few and far between.

So yes, a return to Victoria is definitely beginning to take shape.

Technorati Tags: Victoria, BC, Canada, lifestyle, Winery, Massachusetts

Tags: blackberry, Canada, cro, HTTP, IE, it, LAN, live, Massachusetts, Om, One, Technorati, United States

Patrick McGoohan created the amazing character of “Number Six” a year before I was born. But sitting here in my beautiful home in Massachusetts, I understand the feelings that the character must have experienced.

The premise, for those who don’t know the show, is that Number Six is a top agent for an unnamed spy agency who resigns for reasons that are never clear. He is then suddenly kidnapped and placed in this remarkably serene village by the sea, where all his needs are fulfilled. However, this comes at a price: he is no longer free.

I live that every day.

I have had people say that this view is extreme.

But it is also true.

I am free to go about my business in any way I chose, but the US government or my current employer can revoke my status at any time.

Then I am free to return to Canada poor, but free.

It is crazy to think that borders mean so much. Working on the internet has made boundaries meaningless to me. I have contacts all over the US, and around the world. But I am trapped by borders.

Now, I know that this may not always be the case. One of the senior executives at the company I work for is also Canadian, but with a Green Card. He has complete freedom to go where he wants, and do what he wants, and work for whomever he wants.

I miss that freedom.

The life of a “guest worker” is starting to wear on both Samantha and me. We are concerned that our eldest may be discriminated against in later life simply because he is Canadian. We are also worried about what may happen to our youngest because he is a US citizen.

They are simply our children. How can we raise them in such an atmosphere of uncertainty?

Samanatha is going to Victoria to visit her parents in April. When she comes back, I know that the distance between where we are (Massachusetts), and where we want to be (Washington, Oregon, British Columbia) will need to be bridged.

I know that we must return to the West Coast.

But here I am, trapped in the netherworld that the “guest workers” inhabit.

I cannot recommend this experience to anyone. A job in the US seems like a good idea, but consider the costs.

You will be trapped by a job, be trapped in a job, and be chained to one job.

That is the compromise you have to accept.

I can no longer accept it.

I am NOT a number…

Technorati Tags: h-1b, guest worker, green card, canada, the prisoner, management, outsourcing

Tags: app, business, Canada, children, current, government, Green Card, HTTP, IE, IM, Internet, it, live, Massachusetts, Om, One, pr, Technorati

CCUCEO has a great take on the arrival of the Imagination Age.[here]

The Minimum Wage Class is the result. In some cases, people fall into this group as a place to start when they arrive.

In other places, like here in Massachusetts, it is almost carried like a badge of honour to just scrape by.

And then there are those that have moved beyond Industrial, beyond Information.

I just wish the people who paid the bills joined us out here.

Tags: HTML, HTTP, IE, IM, information, it, Massachusetts, Om

Ok, huge title for this little gem.

Next Up: Google Office?

Oh…I can feel the pain in Redmond tonight.

Steve, I hope your platinum parachute is packed well. I have a feeling the board may start asking for your head.

And the Massachusetts’ decison to go with OpenOffice/StarOffice looks to be not so weird.

Tags: EAD, Google, HTTP, Internet, it, Massachusetts, Om, PHP, tn