Recently the class I have been auditing at Kansas State University, Cultural Anthropology, had its climax with the World Simulation project. This is an innovative immersive experience where about roughly 500 years of world history are simulated by about 200 students who have formed about 15 distinct people groups over the course of the semester. It all takes place in the K-State Union Ballroom over the course of 75 minutes and is one of the most brilliant things I have seen done in education.

One of the great additions to this year's simulation was the use of Jott and Twitter by the students, which kept a running log on a massive screen of everything that was happening with all of the people groups as colonization, wars, economic wrangling, empires, revolutions, and migration all took place. Group historians called into Jott with updates, which were automatically transcribed and sent to Twitter, which then produced a live stream for everyone to see. The video below shows the Twitter stream describing the events you are seeing.

I feel very privileged to get to be a part of something that is truly breaking all kinds of new ground in higher education. Michael Wesch, the professor spearheading all of this, is truly one of the most passionate educators I have ever known and is quickly becoming world renowned because of it.

Don’t tell me your theology; tell me what you have sacrificed to be a person of integrity in this world. Don’t tell me your views about the Holy Spirit; tell me how you have remained loyal to the Lord when life had turned against you, you had lost your job, and your family was suffering. Don’t tell me your views about baptism; tell me how much you love your wife and what you are modeling day by day for your children. Don’t tell me about your church affiliation; tell me that, like Paul, you are ready to be bound or even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

-Rubel Shelly

Are there ways that people say some things that strike you as fundamentally wrong, yet the ideas they promote seem to be universally accepted? There aren't a whole lot of things that bother me like this, but there is one that gets under my skin in a strange way every time I hear it said.

It's the idea of parents "sending their kids to college."

Parents send their kids to daycare. They send their kids to preschool. They send them to soccer practice. They send them to summer camp or to Grandma's house.

But they should not be "sending" them to college.

I fully understand that parental support, especially financially, is often a vital part of being in college. Many parents bear the financial burden of their children's higher educations. But I'm not talking about who is paying here - I'm talking about who is owning the college choice and experience.

I hear a lot of talk that sometimes goes like this: "I would never send my child to [fill in the blank] school." "Parents should be sending their children to [wherever] because of [whatever]." "If parents are going to send their children here we have to [something or other]."

Let me get my position straight here: college is not a place for children to be sent by parents. College is an experience that will only be beneficial if it is completely owned by the student as a life experience that he or she has chosen him or herself. A student should be condfidently saying nothing other than "I chose to go to Kansas State/OU/Harding/Purdue/UCLA/Wherever because [fill in the blank]." Parents should never predetermine a college choice. I cannot count the number of students I have known who have been set up for failure because their college life -- sometimes not only the institution but the major as well -- has been predetermined by at least one parent. I have seen students sobbing because their lives are miserable but they dread changing anything because of the potential negative reaction from a parent who had carefully laid out their entire plan.

I am not saying that going to college should be a "hands off" process for parents. I am very thankful to my parents for supporting the process for me in many significant ways and helping me make the best decision. But I am also thankful that they allowed me the freedoms to pursue many options and make my own choices based on my own criteria. They identified many opportunities and encouraged me to action in ways that I probably wouldn't have on my own. This is a good thing. But I did not become a student at the University of Oklahoma because my parents "sent" me there. I chose it. I owned the decision. I had no one to blame/credit for my presence there but myself. I went on college visits with my parents initially but only once to each place in which I was interested. After that it was up to me to go myself and ask my own questions and find my own way around. For this I am very grateful. This allowed me experiences at every college I considered that I would never have had with my parents by my side. These experiences figured prominently in my ultimate decision making.

I want to do the same for my children. Everyone knows that I am now a Sooner for life. I'm also a proponent of the state school experience for Christians. But I am committed to helping my children explore every option that they want to explore -- state schools, Christian schools, trade schools.... even no school. College is not right for everyone. I'd have to swallow a lot of pride but I suppose I could grit my teeth and even let my children enroll at University of Texas should somehow that be the right thing for them. Not sure why anyone would do that but I don't claim to know everything.

The point is, I don't intend to "send" my children anywhere when it comes to the college years. I will stand behind them as they "take" themselves. I will help them. I will support them. I'll drag all of their junk up ten flights of stairs to move into a cracker box. But it will be after they have made the choice for themselves to be there. I will hope and pray - starting even now - that they do the right things and make the right choices. But I hope that I will have instilled in them enough faith and confidence in themselves by that point that it is not a worry.

So, to all parents everywhere, trust your new college students enough to treat them as adults with their own abilities to run their lives. Your "sending" of them anywhere should stop long before college is even an issue. Trust is much more effective than control.

The Christian school where I did graduate studies, Abilene Christian University, has finally made a bold and correct move regarding its alcohol policies. As is common with many conservative Christian universities (and definitely those affiliated with Churches of Christ), the historical policy has been to ban drinking for all students in all places at all times. This includes off-campus drinking by those 21 and older. Any student found drinking alcohol of any amount at any time and any place during their enrollment under these policies typically faces punishment by the school and possible explusion in worst cases scenarios.

I am not a drinker. I do not promote drinking. I believe there is a toxic and out of control alcohol culture in America that must be dealt with. But I also believe it is not the place of university administrations to place moralistic sanctions on their students even in situations that have no direct connection with the institution. Universities have a right and obligation to deal firmly with students who are breaking the law. But to extend the hand of control off of their own campuses to the actions of those who are granted every legal right to certain behaviors in their own homes and elsewhere, whether morally right or wrong, is an abuse of authority. Such policies have not served to shore up the moralistic atmospheres of such institutions and have only worked to build a Christian subculture facade that has nothing to do with spiritual development of students and everything to do with maintaining face to a Church community that exists under tremendous delusions about what is really going on behind closed doors.

Many of you who have read this blog for long, or know me personally, are aware of my overall sentiment towards the concept of Christian universities. I have tempered somewhat in my feelings about this, and seeing schools like ACU make risky moves like this increases my level of appreciation for these institutions and their quest to be real places of experience and learning and less like moralistic control camps where parents can send their kids to be "safe." Policies of moralistic control are not what teach college students how to be discerning in their judgment and how to grow in wisdom and self-control.

Bravo, ACU, for doing the right thing.

Hope is dawning on the horizon. Could it be that my despondency over the abandonment of AIM is being answered? This week Facebook is building in an instant message feature. This seems to be the greatest hope yet of resurrecting live chat between friends. Although, I still don't think it has quite the advantage of AIM because it requires one to be on the actual website. But, in my world, most people are on Facebook most of the time anyway. I audit a fairly large lecture class at K-State and I can see many of the students' laptops from where I sit. Literally about one out of every two are surfing around Facebook during class.

I'm a big believer in the kind of communication that live chat technology facilitates. Facebook has been amazing at keeping connections open between friendships that have otherwise moved apart, but the quality of communication that AIM has always allowed has not been duplicated. The other day a friend of mine from Abilene was noting how several from our group of friends there were still involved in each other lives, despite most of us scattering across the country. But I had to point out it was the ones who were still using AIM.

So, I have great hopes for Facebook chat. Maybe this could bring back some of the dynamic among the "younger" generation that has been lost. (And before you leave it all over the comments, yes I know the relativeness of that statement - face to face, handwritten letter writing, etc.)

Thanks to the miracle of interchangeable parts, my new Macbook Pro that took a swim along with my car is back to 100%. My return to the world of Apple was almost thwarted, but a small screwdriver, a big fan, and the fine folks over at iFixit saved the day. I received an organ donation (well, more like an organ "trade for cash") from a recently deceased Macbook and so far the anti-rejection drugs seem to be working just fine.

My camera, on the other hand, has gone blind. After its faithful service in documenting my life for a couple of years, I've had to take it out back and put it out of its misery. This was one of the best shots I got with it. My Garmin GPS, however, took as much of a float trip as everything else and it's still barking out directions like a champ. Garmin dot com, garmin dot com....

But, I could have lost it all and it wouldn't be that big of a deal because all of this "stuff" was purchased for next to nothing via Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay. I even got a huge steal on the car itself through the ACU community boards. About the only things I buy new are groceries, and even that has not always been completely true because when I was in Alabama I found a great little store near my apartment that sold a lot of older near-expiration food from grocery stores that was still good for ultra-cheap. Also, when I was in Abilene I was part of Abilene Freecycle and scored some pretty good stuff through that, totally free. Even a nice recumbent exercise bike. There is new furniture and a wall-shaking Bose surround system at our campus ministry student center, all for less than $200 total.

I was about to sermonize about money, but I'll spare you. What it comes down to is that it is entirely possible to live a comfortable life on not a lot of money if you are willing to be patient and content with what you have. And not let your money leak out daily on inconsequential things. And good lord, no credit card debt.

Well, I guess I sermonized a little.

My 8 feeds from Craigslist have updated. Better see if there are any hidden gems.