Recent Survey Provides Surprising Beliefs About Human Origins

Half of N.J. doesn't believe in evolution
BY SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP MAY 20, 2012 ASBURY PARK PRESS/COURIER NEWS
     You say we came from evolution? Well, you know, half the state doesn’t agree. Support for the idea that humans evolved from lower forms of life stands at 51 percent in New Jersey, according to a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll. Forty-two percent said they didn’t believe in evolution, while 7 percent said they don’t know. Surprised? Penny Abramson was. “That shocks me,” said Abramson of Matawan, who figured Darwinians were a much larger majority in the state. “Wow.” The results of the statewide poll provide a window into what New Jersey believes and suggest that in some cases, we take our cues from the political figures we trust, rather than independently forming our own opinions. The poll offers plenty of discussion starters. For example:
• Most people in the state (64 percent) believe that there is life after death. “I probably thought it was much higher, but I am not shocked,” said Julia Rose-Dick, 47, of the Baptistown section of Kingwood. “I do think more people tend to believe there’s something better after this life. I’m not quite in agreement, but I’m hopeful.”
• About half of state residents (49 percent) believe there is life on other planets. Laura Kaiser, for one, thinks that’s a fairly safe bet. “The universe is so infinitely large, I find it hard to believe we’re the only ones,” said Kaiser, 38, of Ocean Township. But Charles Burke, 82, of the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, doesn’t believe in extraterrestrials and said he’s “not even inquisitive” on the subject. “I haven’t seen any factual reason for me to think differently,” he said.
• Speaking of heavenly bodies, 38 percent of New Jerseyans put stock in astrology. Not Raymond Hebert, though. “I’m a God-fearing man,” said Hebert, 53, of Asbury Park. “I’m not one of the 38 percent.” On the other hand, Hebert’s friend, Charles Azodoh, 32, of Eatontown said he regularly consults his horoscope. “You don’t believe in astrology?” he asked Hebert. “I’m a Virgo. With Virgos, we’re the type of people who analyze everything. “To each his own,” he said.
     It was the slim majority of New Jersey residents who said they believed in the theory of evolution, however, that most surprised Laura Kaiser and her brother, Michael A. Saperstein. “This part of the country, I would expect that to be much higher,” said Saperstein, 34, of Ewing. “I’m surprised more people don’t have more faith in science,” Kaiser said. “It’s surprising, and a bit alarming,” added Abby Hayden’s boyfriend, Corey Asraf, 23, of Asbury Park. Among the not-so-surprised was Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. Murray said 53 percent of New Jerseyans concurred with the theory of evolution 12 years ago when a similar question was asked in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Murray noted that skepticism toward evolution was higher in some other states. In recent Republican primary polls in Alabama and Mississippi, for example, 60 and 66 percent of respondents, respectively, said they didn’t believe in evolution. “For the Northeast, it’s not so bad,” said Dr. Jack Cuozzo of Lebanon, a dentist who has given talks about creationism around the state for many years. Nationwide, four in 10 Americans said they believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago, according to a December 2010 Gallup Poll. Thirty-eight percent said they believe God guided a process by which humans developed over millions of years from less advanced life forms, while 16 percent said they hold to the view that humans developed over millions of years, without God’s involvement. In the Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll, support for evolution was higher among Democrats (55 percent) than Republicans (45 percent). The level of education was a factor as well, with 69 percent of college graduates saying they believed in evolution, compared with 37 percent of those with no college experience. The poll did not ask about respondents’ views toward alternative theories, such as creationism or the theory of intelligent design. Respondent Alycia Marshall, who indicated in the poll that she didn’t believe in the theory of evolution, said her own view on the subject is more nuanced than the yes, no, or don’t know answer options she was offered. “I actually have a combination view,” said Marshall, 28, of the Bayville section of Berkeley. “I’m one of those people who believe that at some point we were created. I don’t believe we evolved from monkeys per se. It’s more likely we evolved as human beings.”
Contributing: Staff writer Sergio Bicha

Is College Worth It?

A CBS 60 Minutes broadcast of May 20, 2012 reported on the controversial alternative to college proposed by billionaire Peter Thiel.  The story examined viewpoints about the financial and educational practicality of a college education in the United States.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7409142n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

College Readiness

One-third of today’s college students require remediation. Of those students, half will never receive a college degree. Clearly, something isn’t working. The link below to an infographic lays out the state of college readiness in the U.S., and explains why being prepared for college matters now more than ever.

College Readiness

Community College Enrollment Surge Comes to an End

The article from The Chronicle of Higher Education from the link below provides information on the expected downtown in community college enrollment.  This useful information can help inspire discussion on the ramifications of such a trend.

Community College Enrollment Downturn

The Aspen Prize -- One Million Dollars Awarded to Community Colleges

Valencia College, Florida takes top honors of the first offering of the Aspen Prize as reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education. 
http://chronicle.com/article/Valencia-College-Wins-First/130091/?sid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en                                             (This link requires authentication for off-campus use.)
As noted on the Aspen Institute website: "The purpose of the Aspen Prize is to recognize community colleges with outstanding academic and workforce outcomes in both absolute performance and improvements over time. By focusing on student success and lifting up models that work, the Aspen Prize will honor excellence, stimulate innovation, and create benchmarks for measuring progress."  This link further describes the prize:
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/aspen-prize/about  
The Aspen Institute website has profiles of the ten finalists selected for the total million dollar prize. Each profile highlights a strategy that focuses on reducing the risk for at-risk students, mainly in developmental education, but quite a few in career/technical programs and industry partnerships.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/aspen-prize/finalists
A total of 120 eligible colleges were selected during the competition using an analytic model drawn from IPEDS data described below. You can see the data dashboards in the pdf version of the Round 1 Model Description. Sad to say, no colleges in New Jersey were deemed eligible.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/aspen-prize/eligibleinstitutions 
The evaluative rubric used gives shows the criteria deemed important by the Aspen Institute:  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27262972/Round%20One%20Model%20Description.pdf

NJ Stars Program

Below is a link to the latest information on the status of the New Jersey STARS Program.  The article namely aims at the proposed changes.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/new-jersey-stars-program-proposes-changes-to-continue-college-aid/article_31d5f736-1faa-11e1-9a93-001871e3ce6c.html

Measures of Student Success

 The Voluntary Framework of Accountability is the first national system of accountability specifically FOR community colleges and BY community colleges.

Below find a link to the VFA website, which contains a very important draft report and summary of success measures  from the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Committee on Measures of Student Success. IPEC encourages you to read the entire report. 

http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Resources/aaccprograms/vfa/Pages/default.aspx

Obama Meets with Higher Education Leaders

Below is a link to an article from Inside Higher Education that describes President Obama’s recent meeting with a small group of higher education leaders.  Note the apparent shift in focus from increasing aid to affordability, cost, and productivity.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/06/obama-meeting-focuses-cost-affordability-productivity

For-Profit Educator In Trouble Over Misleading Success Data

As reported on National Public Radio, Career Education Corporation is in hot water because of misleading information it has stated about job placement rates for its students.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/07/142111407/for-profit-education-provider-faces-trouble
Career Education Corportion is an international for-profit education provider with about 90 campuses located throughout the United States and in France, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom and three fully-online academic programs.
http://www.careered.com/

Technology To Improve Student Success At Central Piedmont Community College

In an innovative move, Central Piedmont Community College connects with its students to increase their chances for success.  As reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education the,"Online Student Portal learning system, a Web site, assesses the learning styles of at-risk students (whether they learn best through reading, hearing, or hands-on work) and helps them understand how their personality traits might connect to study and career choices. It also provides a ready link to college counselors and instructors, allowing them to send so-called "early alerts" if a student starts having trouble in a class. And it carries a record of these interactions from term to term, so students and advisers can easily see where students have been—and where they're going."  Note: Access to this article from off campus requires user authentication.
http://chronicle.com/article/7-Community-Colleges-Try-an/129605/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

New Jersey's Lost Decade -- Local Economic Decline Felt Most by Middle and Lower Income Groups

As reported by New Jersey Policy Perspective, "New Jersey real incomes were lower in 2010 than in 2007 for most households. Only high-income households were better off. Unemployment was at its highest rate in 35 years, and the number of children living in poverty increased by 16 percent in just two years."
What happened? Where did the income gains come from and where did they go? This is the focus of The State of Working New Jersey 2011: The Lost Decade:
http://www.njpp.org/reports/the-state-of-working-new-jersey-2011-the-lost-decade

California Community College Seeks a More Diversified Board of Trustees

The Associated Press reported that Cerritos Community College has changed its trustee election system so that it will be more culturally inclusive:
Posted: 10/05/2011 08:33:01 PM PDT

NORWALK, Calif.—The Cerritos Community College board of trustees has moved to change its trustee election system a week after a lawsuit was filed charging that the current system discriminates against Latino voters. A statement from the college says the board introduced a resolution Wednesday night to change to a system where trustees are elected from their own residential areas. Currently, trustees are elected at-large. The board anticipates the change will take effect in December. Last month, three Latino voters sued the college, saying the at-large system does not give Latinos fair representation on the board and violates the California Voter Rights Act. The college says it wants the lawsuit withdrawn since the change, which was already under consideration, is now being adopted.