Links: Keys to organizational success, changing the college narrative, a DOL RFP, and more!

I know you don't want to work this dreary Monday ahead of Thanksgiving, so enjoy these interesting links in this new Grant Writing Confidential Post: Go to www.seliger.com to sign up for FREE WEEKLY GRANT ALERTS and click on BLOG to read more than 600 posts about grant writing at Grant Writing Confidential.

* “Willingness to look stupid ,” which is often key to getting things done and learning new things.

* “Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return on Investment Analysis .” Depends on the degree, above all else, but at least a third of degrees aren’t worth it in financial terms. If you were told to take out $50,000 of debt for a one-third chance that you’ll never make anything from that debt, would you take the risk? For as long as I’ve been grant writing, “Department of Education Grants Are All About Going to College and Completing A Four-Year Degree .” We’ll know things have really changed when the Dept. of Education changes its perspective and emphasizes skills more than degrees.

* “Plans for Telosa, a $400-billion new city in the American desert, unveiled .” I’d move there: Phoenix, but with better urban design and transit. Sounds great! There is the minor issue that, historically, attempts at building utopian cities in America have all failed badly, no matter the intent. Will this one be different?

* “The housing theory of everything : Western housing shortages do not just prevent many from ever affording their own home. They also drive inequality, climate change, low productivity growth, obesity, and even falling fertility rates.” Housing shortages are entirely self-imposed, too.

* “On the Link Between Great Thinking and Obsessive Walking .”

* “A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’ : The number of men enrolled at two- and four-year colleges has fallen behind women by record levels, in a widening education gap across the U.S.” Colleges and universities, or “institutions of higher education” (IHEs—as they’re known in the business), are used to setting up special programs and services targeting women: “Some schools are quietly trying programs to enroll more men, but there is scant campus support for spending resources to boost male attendance and retention.” But note: “Yet skyrocketing education costs have made college more risky today than for past generations, potentially saddling graduates in lower-paying careers—as well as those who drop out—with student loans they can’t repay.” Word about the dangers of college is getting out: going, taking out loans that can’t be discharged through bankruptcy, and not graduating is extremely perilous.

* “The feared eviction ‘tsunami’ has not yet happened. Experts are conflicted on why .” So why have we been denying landlords’ property rights for so long? This also demonstrates that many of self-described “experts” don’t actually know much.

* “So You’re About To Be Cancelled : A group called Counterweight assists people whose bosses and co-workers are forcing them to endorse ‘social-justice’ beliefs.”

* “Increased politicization and homogeneity in NSF grants .” This is, needless to say, bad, for science and our society.

* There is a Dept. of Labor RFP from Aug. 10 for “Improving Gender Equity in the Mexican Workplace.” I’m not sure why that activity would be in the DOL’s purview, however worthy said activity might otherwise be. We like to point out silly seeming RFPs when we see them.