15 MAR 09: Now You're All Mine

Did you realize Columbus State University was on spring break this past week? Based on the news, you might have never known it. First C.S.U. announced 12 staff cuts. Then it announced new policies for first-year students - as if those 12 laid-off people will need to improve their resumes next fall.

The latest announcement is one which might cause a stir for some local families. Beginning in the fall, Columbus State University will require most first-year students to live on-campus. They may be doing partnerships with Columbus Technical College, but C.S.U. shows it's still the swanky school.

In addition to this requirement, Columbus State will require new students to take a three-hour course called "First-Year Seminar." The way a C.S.U. statement describes it, freshmen will get college credit simply for learning how to go to college. I don't think Auburn University even does this stunt with football players.

The statement says First-Year Seminar will teach new Columbus State students all sorts of things....

+ "Information literacy." You'd think most 18-year-olds would know the difference between Wikipedia and a library book.

+ "Critical thinking." Some regular e-mailers to this blog clearly have mastered this - as they're critical of almost everything.

+ Life skills such as "time management." Does this mean all-nighters during finals week are now out of style?

First-Year Seminar actually will have a textbook, as all the students go through a "common reading" on civil war in Sierra Leone. It'll be like The Big Read, only a lot less entertaining.

Perhaps more college students need First-Year Seminar than I realize. But when I started college Thirty-Something years ago, students didn't have this sort of hand-holding. In fact, high schools offered some of us "college prep" courses in things such as composition. Boy, did we feel brilliant when fellow college juniors in Reporting class had to review basic grammar skills for two weeks.

Yet Columbus State University officials say First-Year Seminar is necessary to keep new students from dropping out. They explain the goal is to help them connect with "other students, faculty and campus resources." I assume the "resources" part will not include run-ins with C.S.U. police for illegal parking.

Student retention is also explained as the reason why C.S.U. wants freshmen to live in campus housing at least one year. But is this a polite way of saying landlords are jacking up the apartment rents on Gentian Boulevard too high?

There are exceptions to the on-campus housing rules. Columbus State will NOT require it for active military personnel at Fort Benning, married students or people with a "permanent residence" within 30 miles of Columbus. I'm not sure if this means local parents are supposed to kick their 18-year-olds out of the house or not....

(You knew there was a catch to that offer of in-state tuition for Chambers County residents, didn't you? How can you keep 'em out on the farm near Lanett, after they've seen C.S.U.?)

But I can hear the objections from some parents now. They'll not only smell a plot by Columbus State University to make money from campus housing - they'll see a strategy to detach first-year students from their families and "indoctrinate" them in college thinking. Why, they'll probably schedule First-Year Seminar during all the hours Rush Limbaugh is on the radio.

My years at the University of Kansas convinced me that the college experience changes people - and not always for the better. Some become skilled in careers, and/or well-grounded for life. Others go off on flights of fancy which they come to regret. At least one high school friend needed rescuing from a cult - and no, it wasn't the Young Republicans.

THE BIG BLOG QUESTION thus is asking what you think about this new policy at Columbus State. Should first-year students be required to live in campus housing? Or to put it in a more hip-sounding way, should the dorm be the norm when freshmen start to swarm?

-> Our other blog starts with poker, and heads in surprising directions from there. People around the world visit "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: Last week's Columbus Council vote on alcohol zoning is rubbing a reader the wrong way. (Get it - rubbing? Alcohol?)

Richard, So Councilor Mimi Woodson thinks the zoning change (to allow alcohol to be served with 300' of schools, churches, parks, etc.) will bring "good family restaurants" to the south side of town. I would think the owners of good family restaurants who chose not to serve alcohol would consider her remarks insulting. And why does she care anyway? Many of her constituents in south Columbus have contended for years that she doesn't really live in the district that she represents anyway.

And what does Lynette Gross of Columbus South Inc. mean by saying this change will bring "true restaurants to the South Columbus area?" I wish you would call her for an explanation

And what's the scoop on two different organizations - Columbus South, Inc and Victory Coalition both focusing on the same Victory Drive area? Perhaps in your spare time you could do a little research for us and let us know the difference.

I think it would be interesting to know if anyone on the Boards of either of these organizations actually lives in the south Columbus area or owns businesses in the area.

My guess is that retired General Jerry White doesn't live in south Columbus. I heard he previously had a lot of influence on Columbus South, Inc. and he now is heavily involved in the Victory Coalition. Why the breakaway from Columbus South and the new organization? I would think the opening of the new Infantry Museum would keep him busy enough.

Just Wondering

The Columbus city web site shows Mimi Woodson with an address on Avondale Road. If she doesn't really live there, maybe she's simply following Roberts' Rules. As in the rental properties of former Phenix City Manager Bubba Roberts, or one-time Rep. Danae Roberts....

We left a message for Lynette Gross and an e-mail for General Jerry White with questions, but we received no replies by Saturday night. Yet we were able to confirm White does NOT live in the Columbus South area. Someone told me that should prove White really cares about the area - a little like Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warning against the U.S. turning Socialist.

Now to other highlights from a wet weekend....

+ The price of gasoline went up a bit in Columbus, to a low price of $1.69. But would you believe that's still lower than Opelika and Auburn? Well, that's for now. That could change next weekend, when the big air show is here instead of there.

+ A statement from outgoing chair Josh McKoon said Muscogee County Republicans selected Art Smith as their new chair. Smith works at Aflac, but apparently doesn't have enough clout to get the duck's head on the logo turned around to face right.

(Josh McKoon's statement added Muscogee County Republicans voted to urge local and state officials to refuse federal stimulus money. They must really think Mike Gaymon at the Chamber of Commerce is right - and may be hoping his predictions about an economic rebound will be followed by a run for mayor.)

+ Rep. Mike Rogers appeared in Phenix City, and defended his requests for earmarks in a Congressional spending bill. He explained the legislative branch of government must not allow the executive branch to control all spending. That's funny - I thought President Obama was offering stimulus money to the states he didn't win last year.

+ Fox 54 "News at Ten" showed a startling sight at a Columbus memorial ceremony - as Mayor Jim Wetherington and NAACP President Bill Madison sat side-by-side, and actually seemed to be talking to each other. All we need now is for Bert Coker to join the negotiations, and Columbus Council meetings might be peaceful at last.

+ Keep Columbus Beautiful held a special day of hazardous waste recycling. How many people brought peanut butter crackers, only to be told they were not included?

+ The Columbus Civic Center hosted an evening of mixed martial arts matches. Please do not confuse this with the programs and activities at the Muscogee County Extension Office -- as those are mixed marital arts.

+ Georgia Tech fell to Florida State 64-62 in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals. How many of you remember Florida State star Toney Douglas as a transfer from Auburn? How he went from ball-hog on the Plains to potential lottery pick in Tallahassee, I'm not quite sure....

+ Instant Message to Joché Tax Service: First of all, Danny Glover isn't pronouncing your name correctly in your TV commercials. Second of all, Glover's voice sounds like he did the ad in a waiting room before an Internal Revenue Service audit.

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