While I was away

John Sperling passed on. I am mindful of Horace's de mortuis nil nisi bonum, but Sperling was a public figure of consequence, deserving an assessment. In keeping with the life he led, Sperling died in the Bay Area, not the city whose name he took for his empire of for-profit education.

The New York Times wrote, "A survivor of childhood illness, learning disability, poverty and physical abuse, he earned a doctorate from the University of Cambridge; a liberal former union organizer, he spent years battling government regulation; a longtime professor who did not enter business until his 50s, he became a spectacularly successful capitalist."

The University of Phoenix made him fabulously wealthy. His net worth in 2002 was $1.1 billion and he spent 20 years on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. With the troubles of parent company Apollo and its stock drop, he was below a billion in 2013.

He reveled in being quirky, combative and rebellious, especially against the education establishment and the government. And yet the GI Bill — authored by Arizona Sen. Ernest McFarland — allowed Sperling to get his bachelor's degree from Reed College in Portland, Ore. Federal student loans turned what would have once been considered a "business college" into a mighty profit engine.

Among the individuals who wrecked the commons, Sperling is right up there. Privatizing profits, socializing losses, the cost and quality of an education at the University of Phoenix and other for-profit schools deeply questionable.

They are a huge source of student debt. Dropout rates are high. Apollo faced allegations that it paid recruiters based on the number of students they signed up, ultimately settling a whistle-blower suit for $80.5 million. As the Arizona Republic wrote, "A two-year Senate investigation pointed out in 2012 that an online degree from the University of Phoenix cost six times more than a comparable degree from the Maricopa Community College system and that Sperling was paid $8.6 million in 2009, 13 times more than the president of the University of Arizona."

As Sperling's empire rose, America's real public universities were being starved of revenues, for taxes must always be cut. Business can't provide every good in a civilization, and without regulation it can dismantle it, one hustle at a time. The very idea of a real university education has been degraded to minting cubicle proles rather than well-rounded citizens who can think critically. How convenient.

Sperling did nothing for Phoenix, aside from attaching its name to his education hustle. If he contributed in any meaningful way to local arts, culture, civic betterment or rolling back the Kookocracy, I have yet to hear of it. Even Apollo's massive new headquarters was built in a seedy warehouse district off the Maricopa Freeway. Imagine if it had been built downtown.

Like Charlie Keating before him, Sperling was a taker, there to use up the city and discard it. Keating at least pretended to be a civic leader.

This really matters because great cities require stewards who can knock heads and write checks. It is on display all over Seattle, with Bill Gates and Paul Allen merely the biggest names that have invested in the city and the commons. Old Phoenix enjoyed this and it went away as the old stewards died off. The consequences speak for themselves.

RIP.

Meanwhile...

The state primary, sadly, produced no surprises. There was a time when Scott Smith, successful former mayor of Mesa, constructive conservative, pragmatist, (gasp!) moderate and Mormon would have been a shoe-in for the Republican gubernatorial spot. Perhaps the LDS vote was split with Ken Bennett.

I'm sure Smith wasn't kooky enough. Photos of him shaking hands with our Kenyan Socialist Overlord were widely circulated to scare the old Anglos. So prepare for Gov. Ducey — unless Democrats are willing to fight.

And don't buy the meme about "independents" as the decisive force in state politics. Few voters who claim that label really are independent. They lean right or left, and the Arizona independents are overwhelmingly "conservative" (i.e., Kooks). The age-old question remains: "Will the Mexicans vote?"

Mayor Greg Stanton announced a 30-year plan to expand light rail (WBIYB). It is apparently supported by everyone on Council — even "Better Call Sal" DiCiccio — except for Kook Jim Waring.

This is good, right and proper, but a few words of caution. First, metro Phoenix badly needs heavy commuter rail to the East Valley and the west and northwest suburbs. Light rail won't serve every need. Second, the bus system needs more frequent schedules on heavily traveled routes. Third, don't make the mistake of bypassing Union Station with the south line — it would make an ideal commuter rail and Amtrak hub. Fourth, the city must implement an economic-development strategy to fight back against all the business going to such car-dependent places as the "Price Corridor." Dallas, slightly less populous than Phoenix, already has 90 miles of light rail. It will be interesting to see what Phoenix is like in 30 years.

The Republic's excellent Betty Reid wrote about aspirations to add more high-rises downtown. I hope they happen, although most are mid-rises. The story includes this from my friend Will Bruder, who said "downtown still needs three things: a pedestrian/bike lifestyle, a modern streetcar and a single distinct high-rise...San Diego has a "great downtown" where the airport and the high-rises are located close together. People walk or ride bikes.

Downtown won't really work based on the spec/sprawl economy left in the metropolitan area. It lacks any champions among the developers and leasing playerz, as benefits Tempe's lakefront. I go back to the lack of an economic-development strategy aggressively focused on downtown and Midtown. Nobody is going to finance a skyscraper above the horrid Central Station without major corporate tenants. ASU students only go so far.

Check out the stories on the City Desk and you will see that every successful downtown is luring major corporate investment, including headquarters. All over America, we are seeing a "back-to-the-city" movement of companies — they not only like the convenience, but need to lure high-skilled young workers that demands a vibrant, dense center city. The lack of this in downtown Phoenix is a key component of the metro area's limited, coughing economy and limited offerings in attracting global talent.

While I was away riots came to suburbia, the militants we created with our invasion of Iraq are on the march and Russia is nibbling away at Ukraine. More to come.

 

Comments

[ptb]

Regarding rail:

Wouldn't it be grand if the city used eminent domain to acquire the old train station if need be? I've asked repeatedly why we can't work out a relatively inexpensive track-sharing arrangement with UP/BNSF, a la New Mexico's commuter rail line, and I have yet to get an answer. We need leadership on this matter, and we need it now. Choo choo, time to make some noise and get this deal in the works. If we wait for ADOT/MAG, the deal will only get more expensive and delayed, which is the antithesis of what could be.

[Pat]

Sperling was freakishly frightened of his impending mortality, from what I've read. Ah, well, no luggage racks on hearses, as they say, and only sycophants to attend his funeral.

[Petro]

Sperling was also a supporter of marijuana law reform.

---

Ukraine's elected government was struggling to keep the IMF and its Western-style austerity requirements out when it was overthrown by Western-supported factions both within the country and without (e.g., CIA.) Russia and China are working together economically to de-link from the dollar, and Putin is the guy you turn to when the IMF comes a-knockin'.

Ukraine’s Unelected Government Imposes IMF Austerity - Ian Welsh, March 28

The Russia China Axis continues to form - Ian Welsh, May 23

[Pat]

Petro,I can't address his motives for reforming the nation's drug laws, maybe they were pure as the driven snow, but the Feds do deny Pell Grants to people with felony drug convictions, so...

[Jerry McKenzie]

People with felony drug convictions can't get food stamps either.

The former Seattle Police Chief was on The Colbert Report and called for an end to the Drug War. He is also (now, with apologies) against violent police responses to peaceful demonstrations.

The IMF and World Bank will soon cease to be useful USA puppets.

[wkg in bham]

Thanks Jon for bringing up one of my favorite pet peeves: “Higher Education”. One can bang away at the University of Phoenix; and deservedly too – get a degree without ever getting out of you PJ’s. Locally (B’ham that is) you could add Brown-Mackey and Virginia College to the mix. Any “college” that advertises on late-night TV must be immediately suspect. These institutions are worthy of all the scorn we can heap upon them – and pity for the rubes that fall for the scam.

My real problem is with public and not-for-profit private colleges/”universities”. We’ve some doozies here in Alabama: U of West Alabama (formerly Livingston State), U of North Alabama. U of South Alabama, Troy State, U of Montevallo (public), Jacksonville State, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Samford (private), etc. These colleges/universities are jokes.

Not knowing much about the school, I find it hard to believe that 50,000+ students flock to ASU for the academic excellence. Would seem to be a clone of the UCF in Orlando at 50,000+, little more than a diploma mill.

It makes me want to cry when I see Clyde and Thelma really sacrifice to send young Bubba off to get a dose of “higher education”.

[Ruben]

While the Democratic Party has focused on the presidency , the Republican Party has focused on every other office from dog catcher of Doglick, Arkansas to the speaker of the US House of Representatives, you have to ask yourself, "who had the better plan".

Since we're in dog mode, the governor race in AZ is going to be a dog fight. Who will win, the republican pit bulls or the democratic sissies?

The Cathy "satan" Sherrod connection could hand you demos a victory. Do you have the guts to play that card? We'll see.

[cal Lash]

Ruben
U cannot win a card game when the other guy owns the cards. And they also have loaded dice.

Back from las cruses

A quote from Charles Bowden:
"The Center for Biological Diversity has saved more ground than Jesus. I often don't agree with them, but their record is better than mine. When I'm dead, and when everybody reading this is dead, the only thing that matters is ground," he said in a 2009 interview with the Tucson Weekly.

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/083114_bowden/border-chronicler-charles-bowden-dead-69/

[phxSUNSfan]

"Not knowing much about the school, I find it hard to believe that 50,000+ students flock to ASU for the academic excellence." -wkg in bham

There is a dichotomy at work within ASU and it is largely the fault of the state. ASU enrolls tens of thousands of students, most of them from Arizona. There are 4 major campuses and a few smaller locations throughout the state. One telling fact is that only 54% of students admitted end up finishing a degree. Many students fail to meet requirements of their degree programs.

I chose ASU over Washington, Michigan, etc. because of W.P. Carey's undergraduate programs and the prestige of associated schools. So I am writing this from a biased prospective, of course.

However, it must be stated that the school is dealt a bad hand due to state requirements. The legislature mandates entry for every eligible Arizona high school graduate. Admittance is granted into "general University curricula". This is why, I believe, ASU created "Interdisciplinary Degrees". Many of the students not meeting additional requirements for ASU's individual schools/programs are usually placed in one of these degree programs. I met many friends my first two years at ASU who were admitted to W.P. Carey, Cronkite, Mayo Premed, etc. who were later "reassigned" to an Inter-D course of study after their major GPA dropped below 3.0.

ASU, and to a lesser extend, UofA and NAU have been given the additional task of reteaching too many AZ high school graduates from the ground up. It's a daunting task that the school has embraced under current leadership. I do believe the school would benefit if one or two campuses were used to create new public universities. That is highly unlikely due to the state of politics in Arizona. Given the circumstances, university leadership keep a tight grip on all of its resources.

[cal Lash]

Welcome back phxSUNfan?

[cal Lash]

PS phxSUNfan, did I not C U at the Democratic primary party at the Press Room, building?

[cal Lash]

from the above Front Pages.
who reads Mein Kampf?
answer
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/george-orwell-reviews-mein-kampf-1940.html

[cal Lash]

Side bar: A giant tree fell and made a huge noise in my life:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/books/charles-bowden-lyrical-writer-dies-at-69.html?_r=0

[wkg in bham]

@phxSUNfan: don’t mean to dump on ASU. I’m sure it’s quite possible to get a really good education there – it just takes some effort by the student. Must identify professors and classes where real college work will be thought. Sometimes means approaching the prof and asking “what would you be teaching and what would I be reading if this were a real college course? What kind of papers would I be writing?” Most professors are delighted to have a real student show up and will go the extra mile to help you. Could be a problem with adjuncts who just don’t have the time.

You point out a really big problem I have with many “universities”. They admit thousands of unqualified students and dump them into remedial courses for a year – at full tuition of course.

[cal Lash]

Want a real education: travel a lot, work a variety of menial jobs around the world and spend spare time reading. U will be much smarter than the academia's of the world.
The street has the best PHD's.

[Rogue Columnist]

Welcome back phxSUNSfan. You've been missed. Now if we could lure back Soleri, PhxPlanner and others...

[Emil Pulsifer]

Welcome back pSf.

Mr. Talton wrote:

"While I was away riots came to suburbia, the militants we created with our invasion of Iraq are on the march and Russia is nibbling away at Ukraine. More to come."

A couple of interesting points.

First, ISIS has been trying to hold on to Iraq's largest oil refinery for some time now, with opposing sides taking and retaking control of it. Apparently in retreat ISIS sabotaged it and it will take a year to repair; also, "The Iraqi federal pipeline connecting Kirkuk with the Turkish port city of Ceyhan, would be unable to transport oil for years to come after being sabotaged".

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/2014/09/04/Iraq-s-Baiji-Refinery-repairs-to-take-at-least-a-year.html

Does the act of sabotage signal that ISIS is no longer interested in capturing the refinery?

Second, the Sotloff "beheading" video seems to have the same fake m.o. as the Foley video. I found some desciptive comments from online websites which sum it up succinctly:

"This video is such a poor hoax it’s ridiculous. He has a military grade tactical knife and saws it at the throat with ZERO BLOOD. It would take one swipe and he’d already be to the bone, and after several swipes before they conveniently fade to black, there’s nothing on the neck, shirt, or hands of the assassin………He’s entirely too calm, as well. He speaks in terms of knowing he’s destined to die, so why read off the cue cards like they want him to if he knows there’s no chance of surviving. The whole video stinks of hoax to high hell. Stupid americans eat this shit up, though. We’re fucked."

"People you are just crazy! Believing in this propaganda bull. Have you watched the video? that terrorist guy seesaws his neck 7 or 8 times before video fades out and yet there’s no blood gushing from his throat. And where’s the “best” part of the video? Why would these terrorist bastards take out the most brutal part from it?"

[Ruben]

433 miles from here in a little town they call Juarez, they cut off the head, the right arm, the left arm, the right leg and the left leg of hundred's and hundreds of men and women. A handful of people write about it. Two handfuls of people read about it.

On the other side of the world, "they fake cut the head off one person". The entire western world ramps up to take action.

No wonder Mr. Bowden took up bird watching.

[phxSUNSfan]

"You point out a really big problem I have with many “universities”. They admit thousands of unqualified students and dump them into remedial courses for a year – at full tuition of course." - wkg in bham

I would agree with an exception: Arizona's public universities do not admit students to line their pockets. This is completely different when comparing for-profit universities. Public universities are required (via State law) to admit these students. To be clear, ASU's interdisciplinary courses aren't remedial courses. It is true that they don't carry the burden of traditional programs (completing high level math courses, e.g. calculus). Yet even these programs at ASU are nationally ranked. This means that student enrolled in an interdisciplinary degree program are still held to high standards which contribute to the low graduation rate across the board. ASU's interdisciplinary program is ranked among the top 5 in the nation.

Class sizes at ASU are generally small, especially in upper division courses so access to professors is simple. ASU professors, including researchers, are required to teach a minimum number of courses and are required to keep office hours for students. This has not adversely affected the quality of research at all. ASU is one of the nation's top producers of Fulbright Scholars (quantity and when evaluated on a per capita basis). Research output remains among the top 25 in the nation. ASU's incubators rank among the top 20 in the world and undergraduates contribute at a high rate.

[phxSUNSfan]

Good to be back. I've been traveling for work for quite a while and I have a quick reprieve the next few weeks. I've still been taking my weekly dose of Rogue Columnist.

Cal, that was not me you saw. Unfortunately I was not able to make it. I was not in town on the 26th.

[cal Lash]

PSF. My mistake it was Ruben Gallego. I had a good time. The food wagon was OK, the speeches were Ra Ra and they didn't toss me out because I was a republican.

Ruben,and Emil, the ISIS is doing everything it can to draw the neo cons into convincing the US to go back to war. Same old plan that Osama Bin laden had.

Halliburton stocks are down.

[cal Lash]

PS if you are interested in making a Charles C Bowden Memorial
I recommend the one that will be held in Las Cruses around 092814.
I will let you know. I am at [email protected]

[wkg in bham]

@PSF: “This means that student enrolled in an interdisciplinary degree program are still held to high standards which contribute to the low graduation rate across the board.” Good for ASU. At a lot of places retention is everything and courses are dumbed down until everyone passes.

Re: “ASU professors, including researchers, are required to teach a minimum number of courses and are required to keep office hours for students.” Excellent. At a lot of research universities, the professorship views teaching – especially undergraduate – as onerous. The really top dogs might do a seminar here or there.

Re: ” I would agree with an exception: Arizona's public universities do not admit students to line their pockets.” Some of them in Alabama do. I’ve read of this happening in other places too. Additionally they’re more than happy for you to hang around for years without completing a degree – as long as you can write a tuition check you’re welcome to stay.

[mike doughty]

On AZ Central today:
The housing market's moderate slowing is proof another housing bubble isn't about to pop anytime soon in the Phoenix area, said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at W.P. Carey.

"Usually when demand is weak for an extended period, supply starts to grow, as it did in the second half of 2005 and throughout 2006 and 2007, heralding the collapse of the housing bubble," he said. "However, this summer, supply is slowly weakening.

"It appears that the lack of enthusiasm among buyers has spread to sellers, instead of causing them to panic. Many sellers clearly have the patience to wait for better times and are unwilling to drop prices to dispose of their homes."

This has to be in the vein of "there's got to be a pony somewhere in all this horses hit"
Is it any wonder that ASU is so popular with the power structure in the Valley.Pass the pom poms.

[Jerry McKenzie]

cal, you are a Republican in voter registration only. The GOP would toss you out but they are not sure if you're packing heat.

I'm starting to like the Dallas Cowboys now that all the bible-thumpers are foaming at the mouth over a very big scary openly gay guy playing football (as opposed to all the ones that were and are in the closet).

I attended ASU 30+ years ago and got a sheepskin in History there so I have mixed feelings. My daughter attended as well and I feel pretty raped and mugged over the ever-increasing tuition hikes, and the pettiness of what classes will transfer from a community college and preresiquites. And then there was the English professor that flunked her when her every assignment and test grades were As and Bs -- why? a female teacher's aide was jealous that a male teacher's aide liked her and lied to the professor that she was surfing the web during class so he gave her an F with no appeal. Then there was the physics professor they treated like shit because he opposed nuclear energy and got on Pinnacle West's bad side. So overall, I'm saying ASU is on a long downhill slide.

[Hattie]

God this upsets me. My aunt, uncle, daughter and I all went to Reed College. On the plus side, Barbara Ehrenreich is also a Reed graduate.

[Sanjeev Ramchandra]

phxSUNSfan, click on my name which links to my website describing my university system restructuring plan that provides greater accessibility, affordability, and accountability to a public university education for many more Arizonans while breaking-up the ASU monopoly within Greater Phoenix.