Tuition

It's what affects us, but we don't think about it on a daily basis. I am spending an average of $38.26 a day just to be in college. Currently, tuition of full time undergraduates (per semester and broken down into Virginia and non-Virginia):

ARCHITECTURE: $4,869.00 / $15,869.00
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: $4,840.00 / $15,840.00
COMMERCE: $4,878.50 / $15,878.50
EDUCATION: $4,841.00 / $15,841.00
ENGINEERING: $4,846.00 / $15,846.00
NURSING: $4,843.50 / $15,843.50

According to the UVA Today blog, the Board of Visitors just approved hikes in the cost of tuition, meal plans, and housing for next year. The number given for the tuition of an undergraduate (school is unspecified) is $5,314 / $16,787.

Reasons for this hike include unexpected costs and a decrease in state funding. This year there was a total unexpected cost of $11.2 million and a reduction of $14.7 million. Sounds like a lot, right? "Sound financial management calls for the University to look beyond 2010-11 to the following fiscal year," Sandridge said. Ok, way to not mention a large, approved spending.

Does sound financial management approve a $58 million price tag on SIS and yearly several million maintenance fee? According to a friend who graduated as a computer science major, if you put a team of graduate computer science majors together, you could have gotten a more user-friendly and efficient product than SIS... for a lot less. SIS is better than the previous system, ISIS, but I don't think it was worth $58 million.

While having a sound financial management means cutting excess, it also means making good choices in what you do choose to spend.

Third Culture Kids

I attended the first hosted event of TCKs at UVA. Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are defined as:
“a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture" (Pollock and Van Reken). However that doesn't fully capture their identity because some TCKs have traveled between two or three countries and some TCKs have been to nine countries. Some quotes about what a TCK is that I stole from the section describing the TCK identity:

"A global citizen independent of cultural distinctions yet whose identity lies in his/her membership of multiple cultural groups."

"A TCK is someone who spends a lot of his/her time growing up outside of his/her native country. A TCK identifies himself/herself best with other TCKs. It is almost as if it is a nationality in and of itself!"

From what I hear, you are a TCK if any or all of the following apply:

• It takes you at least 15 minutes to answer the question “Where are you from?”
• You swear in a myriad of languages.
• You have a favorite seat in airports and on airplanes.
• You've filled out so many customs/immigration papers, you don't even need to know the language to know what they're asking.
• You don't know anything about the history or geography of your country of birth but know pretty much everything about any other place in the world.
• An earthquake, heavy storm, bomb threat, or anything else doesn't freak you out
• You have more than one type of currency weighing down your wallet with typically more of the currency that you don't need.
• You plan vacations to different countries just to get things cheaper than they are where you live.
• You have multiple vaccination cards because they keep getting filled up.
• You have to explain how you learned to speak certain languages, why you can speak some but not read others, and why you still can't speak some even though you lived in the country where they're used.
• People constantly tell you you're "interesting" or "different.”
• You practically jump someone when you find out they're also a TCK.
• The thought of living in one place for longer than a few years and NEVER leaving scares the living day lights out of you.

Truthfully, this is a fascinating phenomena for me. The idea of a global citizen is appealing, and the fact that there are highly mobile family units that travel so much that they "float" in between nationalities is a lot to wrap your head around.

For more coverage, there was a UVA Today article about TCKs and the group on Grounds, TCKs at UVA.

The talk itself was fantastic. Tina Quick was a great presenter. She introduced fairly well the complicated identity of the Third Culture Kid, the benefits and downfalls of being a TCK, and the importance of colleges recognizing TCKs and their different needs from internationals and domestic students. She was engaging, she was humorous, and she was comprehensive. I could feel the weight of her expertise, having been a TCK herself and currently an adult TCK with children. Her book, The Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition, which is about how to ease the transition into college for TCKs will go on sale this summer.

not hipster... zipster yo.

Oh.Em.Gee. I am not a fan of excessive use of this phrase, but sadly that is what is coming to mind. ZIPCAR IS COMING TO UVA.

For those of you who are not familiar with Zipcar, it's a carsharing company that charges hourly rates and covers your gas and insurance. They have one of the largest fleets: over 6,500 vehicles throughout North America and the UK. You reserve a car, pick it up at a reserved spot, do your thing, and then drop it off at the same spot. It's super easy to reserve a car, and you have a choice among Minis, pick up trucks, BMWs, hybrids and more! UVa is going to offer three hybrid Honda Insights and three Honda Civics starting November 17. The hourly weekday rate is $8 and weekend rate is $9, as well as an annual $35 fee to be a member.

Did I mention that Zipcar has its own slang and promotes a "lifestyle"? (Good. Clean. Fun. anyone?) You can also be a

zip•ster (zĭp′ster) n. slang

zipster

: One who uses Zipcar. A gender neutral term for a person (or people: Zipsters) who believe in cost-effective transportation solutions that are good for the planet and easy on the wallet.

That sounds extremely catchy and attractive. Wouldn't you want to be a zipster?

Introducing the big news two days ago, UVa Today Blog lauds Zipcar as a step towards "[decreasing] the number of vehicles on Grounds and help [reducing] parking demand and associated congestion." Well, I'm glad that they noticed the problem! There was ridiculous traffic during the U2 Concert and Saturday football games, where parking is nigh impossible.

I also mentioned that Zipcar promotes a greener lifestyle. They devote an entire page to Green Benefits and how the "idea is bigger than all us." Today, in American politics class, Professor Doneson talked about American moralism and how it is a unique take on virtue. Essentially, he argues that virtue in America was different from virtue in Europe. In Europe, virtue meant suffering, sacrifice and asceticism, while in America, virtue is a form of self-interest: we do well by being good to others. For example, doing community service is great for the community, but it also helps us get into college. In the same way, I was struck by the way Zipcar promoted a greener planet. It's good for the planet, but it's good for you too! By saving money (and the planet), you have an extra $500 a month, which could be "put back into [your] community by buying local and sustainable products" (Zipcar Website). According to Tocqueville (and not just any critical French commentator!), Americans are attracted to the easy and convenient way of doing things. Even on the UVa Today blog, Zipcar is described as a "convenient, economical, and environmentally responsible alternative to owning a car." Those are three adjectives about which no one can argue.

Therefore, I must congratulate Zipcar and UVa on recognizing this American tendency (albeit probably differently than I did in politics class) and encouraging a planet-and-wallet-friendly mode of transportation. I would argue that college students are the epitome of the American need for ease and convenience. Introducing the zipcar to UVA is probably one of the best decisions since [reusable] to-go boxes!