Amethyst Initiative: Mistaken Priorities from our Presidents?

I have mixed feelings about whatever it is the Amethyst is all about and unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend tonight. 

Still, I've been following the issue ever since President Oxtoby signed on. On a purely tactical level, I agree with President Gann's decision not to sign on. Claremont McKenna has (perhaps) ill-deserved reputation for students drinking. Many students list the reason that they chose not to enroll in Claremont McKenna on its party culture -- a culture which I would wager is mostly talk, anyways.

I'm still upset that I missed the talk, though and here's why: Given that it is quite commonplace for students to drink wine underage at the Athenaeum, I've been enjoying this image in my head I have of an underaged freshman toasting the college presidents with red or white wine for working on helping him get his booze on and then promptly sitting back down. I would also have enjoyed 

Now, if you're like me, you've wondered aloud what any of this has to do with college presidents. Ostensibly, they are considered about the welfare of the students. But as I've argued in the pages of The Claremont Independent, it would be better for these college presidents to get together and argue on behalf of legal liability reform instead. I wrote as much here and here.

But even here, I wonder if that's not a mistaken series of priorities for college presidents, who in recent years, have become more concerned with the growth of the endowment (or the lack thereof) than with the student body as a whole. Don't mistake my argument. I'm not calling for a return to crusty college presidents that knew more about Socrates than they knew about stocks -- although I sometimes mourn that world -- but I'm wondering aloud about whether the college presidents should be advocating something else entirely. Yes, it's true that college students drink and some drink heavily, but this seems a concern for the deans, not the presidents.  

I've long believed that college presidents are effectively the CEOs of the college and that they should have a part of their salary paid as a percentage of the growth in the endowment. The endowment, after all, is what the whole college depends upon to continue to function. 

Right now, the economy hasn't been doing too well. Given that a lot of endowments are tied up in stocks, it would seem to me that a smarter move on the part of college presidents would to argue for more Americans to have stocks and therefore invest more in America's companies, which the graduates of the colleges that they run, might one day work for. Instead of arguing in favor of alcohol education, they could argue that we need more financial literacy. 

So how about it, college presidents, how about talking about reductions in the capital gains tax, which would spur investment? How about increasing investment in the economy?

Room Draw: Is There A Better Way?

Given that today is the last day of room draw, I thought I would point out that it appears as if there are several serious flaws with the room draw system. This post presents my humble ideas on how we might make it better. Of course, in a perfect world, we wouldn't have to deal with room draw in the first place. I've presented them from least radical to most radical in terms of changes to our current system. I'll also explain why a room draw allotment on the basis of GPA wouldn't work.

• Create separate lotteries for the number of credits accumulated.

(This idea was first discussed with George Posner, CMC '12. We both were barely denied higher room draw numbers because we were just a credit or two short.)

It just isn't right that people who barely become second semester sophomores get to be entered into the same room draw as people who are just barely not first semester juniors. Why not run different lotteries for each credit level? The person who just barely makes it into a higher class could get a higher room draw number than the person who was just barely denied a still higher class.

Everyone with twenty-four credits would be in one lottery, while everyone with twenty-three would be in another. Ideally, this reform would create incentives for students to take more classes during the summer or the school year. Theoretically, an auction could be created for every half credit.

• Allow people to exchange room draw numbers.
  

Jonah Yuen CMC '11 and I first talked about this idea. Effectively, by allowing people to switch room numbers, you would create a market where people would trade goods, services, or money (or something else: use your imagination and try and keep it clean) for a higher spot in line. Ask yourself, "How much is that single in Stark or the pod in Green is worth to you" and budget accordingly. One hundred dollars? Two hundred? Three hundred? Four hundred? More?

Theoretically, the students who do better (and are therefore higher in the class) could sell their spots to freshmen, if the market called for it. Claremont McKenna is supposed to be a government and economics school. Why not remove some of the randomness and insert some politicking and economizing into the mix?

• GPA marketplace has serious flaws
  

I've heard it suggested that people with higher GPAs might get a higher room draw number. If there were no grade inflation, I'd be a supporter of this idea because there would be a meritocracy with which points were (theoretically) achievable. But, as a matter of fact, there is serious grade inflation and a B in mathematics isn't as easy to achieve as a B+ or A- in literature or gender studies. Few students get Cs in literature.

Claremont Democrats Won't Have A Dialogue

At the behest of several Republicans on campus, I made myself available to debate the Claremont Democrats on the topic of affirmative action/reverse racism. And well, you can read the email from Mike Whatley, the Claremont Republicans' President...

Hey Charles,

Sorry about this, but I just wanted to let you know that the roster for the debate has changed. Unfortunately, none of the Democrats wanted to debate you. I guess maybe it could be considered a badge of honor that none of them want to debate you.

Sorry about this,

Mike

I find it tragic, really, that the Democrats say that they want to promote dialogue and on the other, that they refuse to debate me. Perhaps they are afraid they would lose. In any event, I am considering debating an empty chair next semester.

Adam Kokesh CMC '06 for Congress?!

Adam Kokesh, former Marine, writer for The Claremont Independent, and Claremont McKenna alum ('06) is rumored to be considering a run for Congress in New Mexico. A web site, draftkokesh.com, has sprung up, with a bio of Kokesh, for those who already don't know about him.

Several alums written in to ask me how I feel about Mr. Kokesh running for Congress. I'd wager that some of them reckon I would oppose Kokesh running for Congress, but on the contrary, if Kokesh ends up running for Congress, I'd gladly make a meager donation to his campaign.

Here's why. Beyond the usual, support I throw behind most CMC alums who run for office, I think it's time that the country have a serious talk about being the world's number one miltary force. If not, there will be other Iraqs and I doubt very much that we can transform the world into a democratic, capitalist utopia with an M-16 and a U.S-drafted constitution, however beautiful the words may be.

While I thank Kokesh for his service as a Marine and wholeheartedly support the rights of him or any other member of the military to protest in the uniform of the country he served, I disagree with Kokesh on the Iraq war. Although it is clear to me that we had the wrong strategy, it appears that the security situation in Iraq has vastly improved. Nevertheless, it is clear to me, at least, that Kokesh is right on the dangers our country faces from spending too much. And the guy gives a mean speech!

Surin Pitsuwan on the Anarchy in His Home Country

Surin Pitsuwan, Claremont McKenna alum and soon to be commencement speaker, had some remarks about the disruptive protests in his native Thailand. If you haven't been following the news, Thailand has descended into violence and anti-government protests. One of the summits for ASEAN (think NAFTA for South East Asian) was disrupted and postponed indefinitely, but Pitsuwan vowed that he would continue ASEAN's mission and that they would not be otherwise disrupted. He welcomed an end to the protests in Bangkok and elsewhere.