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