If you take an old thought and massage it a bit with new angles, can you come up with something worthy of saying: EUREKA?

Can someone else read that result and IMPROVE upon it? You bet your sweet WHAT-A-CALL-IT!

In the final analysis, is that not what communication is all about?

I am merely trying to plant a seed -

will someone with BRAINS out there NURTURE it?

only TIME will tell - and THAT is running out!

GREEN Education?

© - Tom Hyland - 02-27-09


Was driving along yesterday, and listening to NPR - 88.1 FM here in Baltimore, a one-hour show discussing: Global Warming, CO2 effects, the Major Contributors to it, Alternate Energy Sources, et cetera.

Then, all of a sudden it dawned on me - LIGHT BULB - an old, old Poser, or Conundrum popped into my head:

“WHAT IS YELLOW, HAS FOUR WHEELS, AND LAYS ON ITS BACK?”

Think, ponder, wonder - answer spelled Backwards:

! SUB LOOHCS DAED A ! HUH? You say!

WHAT IF ALL THE YELLOW SCHOOL BUSSES IN AMERICA WERE NO LONGER NECESSARY? What would be the impact?

How many Thousands or Tens of Thousands of these Mammoth Gas-Guzzling, or Diesel-Guzzling Vehicles are there on the road - Twice Daily for Nine Months of the year - Year in and Year out - SPEWING FUMES into our atmosphere? Clogging up Traffic! Double-Parking!

AND - By Law: Stopping Traffic Flow at Each and Every Stop, as Thousands upon Thousands upon Thousands of Students Embark, or Dis-embark!

Are you getting an Inkling of where I’m going yet?

How many Hundreds of Thousands or perhaps even Millions of Gallons of FUEL OIL AND CO2 FUMES could be ELIMINATED IF THESE BUSSES NO LONGER EXISTED?

HUH? SAY WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY, TOM?

Yes, my Friends and Fiends - CRAZY AS A FOX (not Ted) !

At this point we need to ‘change horses in midstream’ so to speak.

Another totally unrelated thought BURNED through my feeble mind - many, many years ago, when the new City of Columbia, Maryland, down on Route 29, was still on the “Drawing Board” there were ADS on the radio, then later, on TV - one of their salient selling points was - EDUCATION - CLASSES - TO BE BROADCAST ON CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION !

AHA! THE THICK PLOTTENS!

Now, among these two unrelated thoughts, we throw a Third Ingredient into the mixture! Way back in the Fall of 1962, I commuted daily to College Park, about Fifteen miles or so, one way, to attend The University of Maryland, as a Greenhorn Freshman. And, guess what I was introduced to? Several of my classes were via CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION!

All over that huge Campus, classrooms of 25-30 students sat, and watched a TV screen, where a Professor, or Teacher gave each lesson for about 35-40 minutes. Each classroom had an adult person in charge, known as a Monitor. When the PROF was done, the Monitor turned off the TV, and you then had a whole 5 minutes or so, to raise your hand and ask QUESTIONS! DUH!

I HATED IT! Not because of the concept, which was good; but because of the impracticality of the situation - you now had roughly only 15 minutes to RUSH, by foot, to your next class, which was often WAY on the other END of this huge campus. Back then, there were ONLY about TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND STUDENTS THERE!

Next, we must blend in yet another, Fourth Element into this semi-quasi-faux-pas INTELLIGENCE POOL!

NOW - 47 YEARS LATER - we have yet another Wonder of Wonders - The Ever-Lovin’ High-Tech INTERNET!

SO - WHAT IF - all of these governmental EX-PURTS, EGG-HEADS and ROCKET SCIENTISTS could manage to stop screaming at one another, put their heads TOGETHER, for a change, and do a little BRAIN-STORMING?

What if - the greater majority of EDUCATION - at least High School and College Level was BROADCAST SIMULTANEOUSLY ACROSS BOTH CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION AND THE INTERNET - DIRECTLY INTO PEOPLE’S HOMES?

What possible POSITIVE BENEFITS might be experienced?

1. The Reduction and possible long-term ELIMINATION of YELLOW SCHOOL BUSSES! A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OF TRAFFIC FLOW!

2. Unbelievable COST SAVINGS of GA-ZILLIONS of DOLLARS by Reduction in Spent Fuel! SAID EX-PURTS CAN CALCAMACATE THIS!

3. THE GREEN IMPACT - Huge Reduction in EXHAUST FUMES!

4. Unbelievable Savings to PARENTS for College Costs! No longer a need to HOCK THE OLE HOMESTEAD!

5. Assuming about TWO HOURS SAVED EVERY DAY by Students, and Parents who drive their kids to and fro, twice daily to school, the STRESS FACTOR ALONE would be a HUGE BENEFIT!

6. Because of less loss of travel time, and lower Enrollments for Students to actually GO TO, and LIVE ON College Campuses - the HUGE COSTS of Thousands of Colleges and Universities across this Nation to continually EXPAND, and CONSTRUCT MILLIONS-OF-DOLLARS OF BUILDINGS and RESIDENCES and DORMITORIES would be CURTAILED!

NOTE: Instead of Contributors Donating MILLIONS to have their own EGO-EDIFYING NAMES placed on Physical Buildings, and Libraries, their Tax-Deductible Money could actually be Better Used to set up: CHAIRS for Professors, Salaries for Monitors, Benefits (like Health Insurance) for Staff and Employees, Textbooks for Students, Scholarships for Students, and maybe even some future practical applications via RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT - not to mention the Establishment and Maintenance of the Closed Circuit Transmissions of Education, Directly from said Campuses!

7. TIME SAVED - we all know that America is way BEHIND other countries in Educating its Students, especially in: Science, Engineering, and Information Technology - WE COULD PRODUCE MORE QUALIFIED, HIGHLY EDUCATED STUDENTS FASTER - AND CHEAPER! Instead of just playing “Catch-Up Ball” - we could SURPASS THE COMPETITION! AMERICAN CHILDREN COULD BE BRILLIANT SOONER!

8. POSSIBLE MORE COST SAVINGS TO PARENTS, ESPECIALLY SINGLE, WORKING PARENTS - maybe just a few Thousand or so, would no longer have to pay out hard-earned money to Glorified BABY-SITTERS, aka Pre-School and Nursery School operators? How? If Dick, or Sally, or Junior is now HOME ALL DAY - he/she may be Enticed to Baby-Sit the younger ones by PAYING him/her One-Quarter, One-Third, or even One-Half - of what they USED TO PAY OUT! MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND!

9. Local Government Savings - States, Cities, Counties, Towns, Boroughs, Parishes, Burgs - whether they pay Thousands upon Tens of Thousands of Dollars for outright PURCHASE of said Busses, or Contractual Monthly RENTAL FEES - this money, or possibly even LESS could be put into the necessary Development, Maintenance, and Staffing of Communications Devices for Education Transmissions!

10. Finally - you may ask: “But what about those poor YELLOW SCHOOL BUS MANUFACTURERS?” Ever hear of a JITNEY? Way, way back in the early Sixties, in Downtown Atlantic City, New Jersey, they had these cute LITTLE Busses! I rode them more than once! Smaller, more efficient, less bulky, took up less room on the streets, and to me - they made much more sense than the VEHEMOTHS back home in ole BAWLMER!

BUT - guess what, now - Forty-seven years later, I’ve NEVER SEEN ANY OTHERS! Yet another possibility - what if said Manufacturers started making ALL-ELECTRIC JITNEYS - and then Marketed and SOLD them to Governments and Municipalities ALL ACROSS AMERICA?

WORKS FOR ME!

OOH - OOH - what about all those poor Yellow School Bus DRIVERS? Might have to think on that one for awhile? Maybe some of them could be trained, and hired as MONITORS for all those college campuses? Just a quick thought.


SO - there you have it - GREEN EDUCATION -

The simple act of MURDERING SOME YELLOW SCHOOL BUSSES -

Results in Multiple Long-Term Benefits -

Reduction in TRAFFIC - Reduction in CO2 POLLUTION - Reduction in FUEL COSTS - Reduction in COLLEGE COSTS - Reduction in TIME WASTED - Reduction in COLLEGE BUILDING COSTS - Reduction in TRANSPORTATION COSTS - Reduction in STRESS -

AND - the EXPANSION of High-Tech CC TV and a more POSITIVE USE of that wonderful tool - THE INTERNET - and more, more, more!

Would there be any Side-Effects? Less Arguments, Less Fights, Guns and Shootings and Stabbings inside SCHOOLS! Any impact on Teachers and Teaching, and Security Personnel, and Fire Drills, and Phys Ed?

As CURLY might say: “SOITENLY!”

Naturally, I’m just a humble, know-nothing Layman - what do I know? That is where all the EX-PURTS, EGG-HEADS and ROCKET-SCIENTISTS come in - WORK IT OUT!

ECONOMY - EFFICIENCY - EFFICACY - ENVIRONMENT - EFFORT -

5 E’s - ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE - IF - WE PUT OUR MINDS TO IT!



“WHAT IS YELLOW, HAS FOUR WHEELS, AND LIES ON ITS BACK?”

IF YOU DON’T KNOW NOW - YOU NEVER WILL!


© - TKH

Peace - Tom