Ferber's Ramblings

The rising cost of college has led many students and families to ask the same question: is it still worth it? For  decades  the answer seemed to be yes, but now  it's  not that clear. The documentary Ivory Tower shows how the cost of higher education has ballooned, driven by expenses that have little to do with learning. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus argue that colleges have lost focus on students  valuing  prestige over teaching. Sanford J. Ungar pushes back against critics of the liberal arts,  believing  that broad learning has value. And David Foster Wallace, in his Kenyon commencement speech, emphasizes that the true purpose of education is not just about jobs but about how we  live . Taking these perspectives togeth er,  I believe higher educa tion  is worth the price, but only if we recognize its deeper purpose beyond money.   The  Ivory Tower   documentary  highlights the problem of rising debt. Stude...

               The debate about how similar fast food is to tobacco is not just about what you consume but about personal responsibility, health, and government regulation. While both industries profit from products linked to long-term health risks, I believe the claim that fast food is the new tobacco is false. Unlike smoking, eating is essential, and placing fast food in the same category oversimplifies the problem. Instead, the focus should be on providing more education and personal choice, as seen in the perspectives of Radley Balko, David Zinczenko, and Michelle Obama.    Radley Balko, in his article “What You Eat Is Your Business,” argues that the government should not regulate personal eating habits. He criticizes policies that treat obesity as a public responsibility, including taxpayer-funded health programs and restrictions on food choices. He states when the government interferes with personal decisions, individuals los...

               Pop culture’s influence has been at the center of debate for a long time. Some see it as a distraction that has negatively affected people, while others see it as a tool that helps increase someone’s critical thinking. While some will argue, I believe pop culture is a net positive for us. While going through the articles and videos of Steven Johnson, Malcolm Gladwell, Alexandre O. Philippe, and Phil Miller, I think the case becomes clear that pop culture does help us.    Steven Johnson, in his article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter,” argues that contemporary television has become increasingly complex, requiring viewers to follow multiple plotlines, recognize connections, and analyze character relationships. He refers to this trend as the “sleeper curve,” in which popular media over time has added more challenges for audiences, forcing them to think and engage more. Johnson brings up the show The Sopranos an...

My earliest experience of becoming literate was trying to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My mother and I would sit together on my bed, where I would try to pronounce the words her finger traced over. I would follow along, saying the words aloud, making multiple mistakes, but I would continue pushing forward. When I did not know a word, I was discouraged, but my mother would help me sound it out. Her encouragement allowed me to learn from my mistakes and build off of them. What frustrated me most was when I would peek at my older siblings' books and homework and could not understand them. This frustration turned into motivation catch up to my brother and sister so I would be able to understand their world.   I began to feel literate between kindergarten and first grade. In kindergarten, we learned the basics of letters, sounds, and common phrases but by first grade, we began practicing unfamiliar words and phrases for weekly spelli...