Business Completion Degrees Come in Lots of Colors

Getting a business degree at the bachelor's level used to be straighforward. You either studied management, if you wanted to run a business, or finance if you wanted to be a banker. But today's students have a dizzying array of business specialties to choose from, even at the undergrad level. Business degrees are now targeted to every category from accounting to organizational management, entrepreneurialism, management information systems and marketing to new areas like sports or entertainment management. Here's a list of business completion degrees at the bachelor's level, for students who already have a few credits under their belt and want to go on and finish a program that will give them some real business expertise.

Your Smart Phone Is Giving Away Tons Of Information About You

Lots of us have a high level of paranoia about online privacy. But the fact is that your cool little smartphone is probably giving away far more information to marketers - including your name - than any website. Smartphones can tell someone else where you are at any given moment, and actually be used to build a very detailed map of all your activities. "In the world of mobile, there is no anonymity," according to Michael Becker of the Mobile Marketing Association. Read about smartphone privacy apps here in the Wall Street Journal.

Americans need tons of completion degrees. But it's doubtfull that state universities have the solution

A great deal of buzz has emerged across the US about the tens of thousands of people who have taken some college courses but never finished a degree. Governors in several states and legislators in Washington would like to see state university systems deal with the problem, rather than for-profit schools. But state universities haven't proved capable or even willing to address the needs of adult learners who need completion degrees, including flexible scheduling and online learning. More here on state universities and the completion degree controversy.

What the heck is a preceptor?

No, it's not a long lost dinosaur. It's a type of teacher - a mentor really. The most popular use of preceptors today is in nursing programs that are given online. These types of degrees require that a student (who is already an RN in most cases) do a considerable number of hours of "hands-on" clinical work for school, even if the online school is on the other side of the country from the student. That's where a local preceptor steps in. More here on nursing preceptors for clinical requirements in an online RN to BSN program.

John Lennon & Wishes

John Lennon's oft-quoted lyric that "life is what happens to you while your making other plans" comes to mind on the 30th anniversary of his murder. As I get older, it's an undeniable fact that one's life is defined, in a sense, by a series of random and possibly senseless events you wish had never happened. I wish our friends Jim W and Susan hadn't left us too soon, that 9/11 had never happened, and that I could revise out of my history any number of other things which, unfortunately, don't necessarily lose their resonance over time. There are religous and psychological explanations available for all our disasters, but at the end of the day, I suppose it's about deflecting alot of it so you can keep moving forward with purpose and pleasure, whatever the reason why.

I certainly wish John Lennon had never been killed. It's a voice we've all missed. So today let's just recall a few of his more amusing and interesting quotations:

"I wanted to be a fisherman but I couldn't because I was a f**kin genius."

"The world went mad and used us as an excuse."

"What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interested in being a dead f***ing hero. ... So forget 'em, forget 'em." (speaking about his critics in a Rolling Stone interview)

"You're just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You've got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It's all down to you, mate."

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

"If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it."

"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it."

"It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. You'd wake up in a concert and think, Wow, how did I get here? "

"How could she say to me 'Love will find a way'"

"I'm a loser, and I'm not what I appear to be."

"Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, just rattle your jewelry."

"We live in a world in which we hide to make love.. while violence takes place during the Sun´s light."

"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all."

"Avante Garde is french for 'bullshit'."

"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall."

"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you Julia."

I'll close with an interesting quote this week I came across by Giles Harvey, writing on NY Books. Speaking of Lennon's classic songs like "Strawberry Fields" and "A Day In The Life," he said "For someone like myself, born several years after Lennon’s murder, it is difficult to believe there was a time when these songs didn’t exist: they seem like a part of nature." I think Lennon would be happy with that.

Big Dreams, Big Money, Empty Seats and Big Losses for One Ohio School

The University of Akron somehow thought it's football team could really pack 'em in for home games, and blew over $60 million on a fabulous new stadium. Unfortunately, average game attendance is closer to 10,000, and the school is having a rough time coming up with the $4.3 annual debt payment it must make to support the venue. Here's a tale of collegiate athletic hubris in Akron

When Did Sneakers Get So Weird?

It's just before 5pm that I always ponder the deepest mysteries of our universe. This afternoon I'm harkening back to the retail experience I had at lunchtime, when I purchased a new pair of sneakers.

Naturally, I went for some dark, bland running shoes, the kind that old white guys like me change into before running to catch the train home. But I couldn't help but marvel at the array of strange athletic shoes spread across the display wall.

When did sneakers become do decorative? In my lifetime they've evolved from white or black shoes with a round circle logo on the side to strange, garish swirling things that would frighten Ziggy Stardust.

It's not that people don't wear garish shirts, pants, skirts and leather pumps, but sneaker designers seem to truly challenge each other to redefine loudness with each new model. And customers have bought into the idea that they should look like Bozo the Clown or Dorothy with the ruby slippers if they want to be with it. In fact, they pay dearly for the right to shine. Sneakers (I mean, athletic shoes) run anywhere from about $80. to $250. these days.

I guess all that orange, silver and green polyurethane has to be used somewhere.

WikiLeaks About To Whack Some Large Banks

It's tough to avoid feeling a bit conflicted about WikiLeaks. I can't applaud the release of information that endangers anyone's life, but as a child of the 1960's, I hesitate to stand up in favor of government secrecy.

The recent release of diplomatic messages, in truth, seems a bit comic. We're provided with "revelations" that Vladimir Putin's prime minister Dmitri Medvedev is a puppet, that Italian head of state Sylvio Berlusconi is vain and useless, that Saudi Arabia wants the U.S. to attack Iran but won't do any of the dirty work itself and that Angela Merkel is uncreative - and we're expected to be surprised in some way. Anyone who wasn't already quite aware of the above must have spent the last ten years on a foreign planet.

The one overarching insight that seems to emerge is that everyone in the middle east is so apprehensive about Iran that even old enemies seem inclined to join together to try and resist it. It all confirms the grand mistake the U.S. made by starting the war in Iraq, and creating a regional power vacuum that Iran has clearly exploited.

The next revelation, delivered by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in an interview with Forbes, is that WikiLeaks has a trove of emails from a U.S. bank that will be released shortly, which "could take down a bank or two." He adds that some "flagrant violations and unethical practices" will be revealed in the emails. Can anyone feel sympathetic toward the bankers about the be outed?

The Angry Birds Peace Treaty: Hilarious Satire

I suppose this Israeli-produced comedy bit is a satire of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians, but it could apply to anything from Northern Ireland to the Republicans versus the Democrats here in the U.S. Childishness knows no borders. Just remember, the victims of Halloween did not die in vain!

Choose Wisely When It Comes To Going To School For Criminal Justice

Criminal justice is a cool-sounding specialty. But the truth is that for every highly paid FBI agent, there are alot of airport security guards who do stressful, repetitous work and don't earn a whole lot of money. Here's a overview what kind of career benefit you can actually get if you go for a college degree in this specialty, what the limitations are, and how you need to pay close attention to who is going to be able to hire law enforcement officers in the future before spending time and money on criminal justice degrees.

Glossary of Courses in Criminal Justice Programs

Gone are the days when police learned on the job. Today's law enforcement candidates have to get degrees involving a dizzying array of concepts like victimology, international law culture, criminal justice ethics, forensic biology and more. Check out this interesting glossary of criminal justice course descriptions.

"Move Over" or pay the most whopping traffic ticket you ever saw

Every heard of the "move over" law? If you haven't it could net you one of the highest tickets you've ever seen.

Under this law, if a police car is pulled over at the side of your road, you are required to slow down to 20 miles an hour and move one lane away from the parked car. It actually applies to any emergency vehicle at the side of the road. The law is well intentioned - police offers have been struck and killed while making traffic stops all too often. But the implementation is a bit questionable - particuarly in the view of this New Yorker. Here in the Empire State, the fine for not moving over is more than $750. for the first offense, plus three points off your license and a mandatory appearance in court. New York state, looking as always to soak every dollar they can from anyone and anywhere, has done a masterful job of not getting the word out about this law. But it probably exists in your state no matter where you live. Only two states in the U.S., Maryland and Hawaii, do not have similar laws at present. Find out more here.

Olympic Hockey: Size Definately Matters

It's downright strange how dominant the two North American men's hockey teams are proving to be in the Vancouver Olympics. Hmm, are they really that much better than the Europeans? I'm not so sure. I'm looking forward to the U.S. / Canadian gold medal game this Sunday as much as anybody else. But come on, the fact that this tournament is being played on an NHL-sized rink, and not the larger Olympic rink that's been used in past years, gives a distinct advantage to American and Canadian teams. The smaller rink forces the close, non-stop hitting Canadian/U.S. style of play on the Europeans, most of whom have grown up on larger rinks that favor open ice skating and fancier passing plays. The result is that these Olympics are turning out to be more an advertorial for the National Hockey League than a true world tournament. It's too bad, because in past tournaments, North American players have performed extremely well on larger rinks, and the game has been more wide open and entertaining, at least if you ask this hockey fan.

Education Careers

Here's a new article on my site success degrees about what kind of choices you need to make to get off on the right foot in an education career.