Motivational Collapse
Let's just say that my motivation wanes. This week was kind of lame. I seemed to be extremely busy, but I also seemed to get relatively little done. The senseless week of homecoming is finally finished, as a moderate success. I still don't know the final numbers on the profit, but I suspect that it netted a fair quantity of money. It didn't seem as profitable or successful as last year, though. Yesterday was God's day: it was the day of physics. I did some physics with Jon, took the PSATs, went out to lunch at Thai Corner with him and Matt, and worked at school for about 7 more hours. I worked for another 2 hours at school today, and have done some homework. The bike rack project is nearly done: our guy from the city needs to survey the locations and then we're on the list to get them. I need to revisit my Esperanto studies and do some more homework and add to my extemp tub and write a radio AND do an innumerable number of other things which carry out into the indefinite future.
Why are you spending our tax money on bike racks (do you really mean racks?)? So few people cycle to school and there are already locations to lock bikes up. How will bike racks do anything for the school at all?? I hate frivilous money-spending. And realize this is coming from someone who cycles to school.
Ted, you're not looking at this rationally. The city is going to spend the money on bike racks anyway. There's a waiting list to receive rack installations, so if we don't get them, someone else will simply take our place in line and the same number of racks will be installed per year.
I don't deny that it's frivilous. Have you ever considered how frivilous all those lights are in school? I mean, in reality, the school could really just run half the lights and think of all the money that would be saved on electricity, bulbs, and bulb replacements. In addition, I think it's a real waste to run the heat. Considering that about 1550 students are in the building for 6-8 hours out the day, body heat is probably sufficient to mantain the temperature. And what about this remodeling of the pool?? Completely unnecessary. In fact, I think that absolutely no funds for maintenance should be alotted whatsoever. All maintenance should be carried out by students, who should personally pay to keep the janitorial staff around, or organize work details. They could raise the money for maintenance projects by asking for donations or selling things. I mean, none of the individuals or businesses in Hillsdale or Multnomah ever tire of getting hundreds of students asking them if they want to donate money to or buy things to benefit publications, sports teams, speech teams, chess teams (?), other activities, improvements, books, computers, or any other expendable item. And what about the fact that the city has snowplows? Does it ever snow in Portland? Only once every few years. And so what if the city shuts down for a couple days and no one can travel anywhere because of the snow and ice. What is the world coming too... all this waste...
If only the school systems were privatized...
just like the presidency has been.
Ted, you sound like a socialist. What really needs to happen is for government to be privatized...
I sound like a socialist?!? Please explain why.
However, I agree that most functions of government should be privatized.
Publications doesn't solicite doantions- in fact, all money comes from one of three sources: a)advertisements, b)Statesman subscriptions, c)yearbook purchases. Yearbook purchases are subsidized by yearbook ads, Statesman ads pay postage for Statesman subscriptions, which are the major source of income. None of those are donations- in every instance something of equal value is being recieved for any money given.
... or at least theoretically. If so, then that's perfect justification for our cost-cutting and privatization measures...
Molly-
How much do the Statesman and yearbook promote advertisements? Do Hillsdale businesses come to you looking to advertise, finding the Statesman as a profitable advertising media, or do you peddle advertisements as I might peddle wreaths for Boy Scouts? (You want them, but could get much cheaper and probably better ones from a for-profit organization.)
The yearbook does make all the Jr Troyan kids go and sell ads, trying to sell them to every business within about a 20 mile radius (no joke)- and I don't know their prices. Actually, those ads are a bit sketchy as I fail to see what good it really does to advertise in a yearbook- I never decide to go somewhere because it was in the yearbook ads, in fact, I rarely pay much attention to them.
Statesman ads are $5 per colum inch (one inch high, 2 1/4 inches wide), which makes a standard business card $20, with rates for half and full page ads a little less per colum inch because of their size. About 1/2 to 3/4 of the Statesman ads come from business who come to us, and the other 1/4 to 1/2 are from us calling and asking. This year enough businesses have called us (some very random ones, some that have never been solicited even in past years) that not too many have been sold by calling and asking.
So I guess at least some businesses must see advertising Statesman as a good investment. But the prices for Statesman do seem very reasonable.