If you aren't into college yet and have time to plan ahead, here is some good information on the whole FAFSA process and how to minimize your EFC.

Auto Industry: Help! We need 25 Billion dollars right away, or we are going out of business.

Congress: Hold on here folks. You don't even have a plan. Think this through and get back to us.

Auto Industry: You were right. We need 34 Billion dollars right away, or we are going out of business.

Congress: That's more like it. Now, don't spend it all in one place. See you later.

The land of the free and the home of the brave… unless a housing bubble bursts and credit markets tighten up. For all our attempts to spread democracy with individual freedom, property rights, and opportunities afforded by capitalism, we don't seem to listen to our own advice. All the (overpriced) textbooks will tell you that government intervention prolonged the depression of the 1930's in this country. We claimed to have learned our lesson for over 70 years and vowed that no such downturn and financial upheaval could ever happen again. We prospered.

Then we decided that everyone is entitled to live the American dream of home ownership. It is as if we changed the ending of the Pledge of Allegiance to say "with affordable housing for all." We repeated the mantra that "everyone knows that real estate values only go up." Barney Frank promised us that there is no risk. We legislatively required banks and mortgage companies to make loans to previously unqualified (until we changed the qualifications) buyers (Community Reinvestment Act – 1977). We gave them increasing quotas to meet (HUD). To allow them to meet these aggressive quotas, we created a quasi-governmental body to buy back the questionable loans (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) so the financial institutions wouldn't have to keep the loans they made, and therefore would be free to make more. The market was incentivized to participate through commissions at every transaction - with no risk of their own. Lenders and brokers were willing to make loans with increasing competition for borrowers. Loans with terms that require no down payment and reduced first-year payments – anything to sign a borrower.We built a house of cards.

Now the house of cards has fallen. Hard. And now the government tries to rescue the market that it sabotaged. Congressional Democrats blame Bush for not regulating, when Congress pushed the mandates, and Clinton's HUD created the escalating quotas. The government intervention in the free market created this mess and more government intervention is not the solution. The government needs to undo the Community Reinvestment Act and the HUD quotas.

Today is October 14, 2008 and we have already seen weeks of financial institutions failing and market turmoil from this and TODAY I heard a mortgage broker on the radio advertising for HUD loans with no requirements for credit ratings and pushing the tax credits for first-time home buyers. This is insane. Stop it already!

I am calling for the replacement of everybody in Congress that supported the "bail-out" bill. All of them and from any party. Let it be known that we will not stand for any more of this. Maybe it is time to listen to the folks at the Constitution Party.

The recent outcry by the Obama's campaign over unauthorized access into his passport, (Obama Passport Scandal) brought to mind one thought...the candidate and party who's solution to all is "more government" is complaining because government was bad. Now they will cast it as the administration's fault,  and that a government run by their administration will (of course) be better and not have these types of problems.

The unfortunate part of all of this is the State Department employee who opened the files on Obama, McCain, and Clinton are probably not direct hires of the current administration, but are more likely life-long government bureaucrats, who pretty much stick in the government regardless of which party is currently in power.

This incident concerns a passport which is a federal government document, and even though it is a clear violation of privacy, it is information that the government has created on its citizens for the purpose of security.

Now let's expand the problem and look at making health-care a part of this same government bureaucracy. The intentions are good and are designed for the well being of all, to provide nothing less than the best health care in the world. The government will have all of our medical records on file, from the smallest wart removal to the cancer that is ravaging our bodies. The government will help us make decisions for what is best for our lives and administer care with the utmost compassion. It sounds great!

It will be the same compassionate system that helps the poor out in times of trouble. We all know they would have to be the most compassionate bureaucracy in the system, right next to the streamlined and efficient Social Security administration...

The reality is that bureaucracy (more government) is not the answer to our problems just as Obama and Clinton have experienced lately. More government means more potential for abuse, because there is no good government except for the one that is limited with checks and balances.

Just think what the next election cycle could look like: similar security breaches in a national health-care system could end up dropping bombs like "this candidate had to be treated for STD's three times" and "this one is going through hormone replacement therapy." It could be interesting and really dirty, not to mention highly illegal. Is this what you want?

How do you pick a presidential candidate in the primaries? I used to think it was a process of examining what your values were and then aligning them with the candidates. Unfortunately it is hard to determine exactly what a candidate's own value system is in this current process, where most issue positions are determined by a 15 second sound bite.

I guess the next step is to research the position papers of each candidate found on their websites, but honestly some of their past decisions don't exactly match up with their policy positions. It appears that local, state, and congressional politics allow a candidate to hold and govern by one value system, while the presidential requires a different set of values. What or who is the candidate?

The next step is the presidential primary debates, where candidates can express their "current" policy positions and explain how they have developed concerning real issues (flip flopping). Each candidate can clearly differentiate themselves from the other by attacking one another over personas instead of issues, which further muddies the water.

Maybe I am naive, but I always thought it was a simple process of matching one value system up against the other. I guess it is easier to be a stampede voter, rushing heedlessly to the candidate of the moment!

We're supposed to be educated college students. We can do better than that, can't we? 

I have been watching some classic TV lately from my childhood...

I  was always a fan of the Gomer Pyle show. I noticed yesterday an uncanny resemblance of Gomer to Mike Huckabee. You be the judge!

(Check out more about Gomer Pyle Mike Huckabee here. 

I read the book "Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini back during the summer and was absolutely rivited to it for the whole week. Hosseini peals back the curtain to the culture of pre-taliban and post-taliban Afghanistan. As I read through the book and was hit in the face with classicism dealt through the tribal structures and the development of a young man from cowardice to strength, I was confronted with my own personal development and value structures. How do you grow up a young boy into a man! This was an excellent book and worth recommending to anyone who wants to gain a perspective of the various cultures of the middle east.

When the three founders started College-Cram.com back in 2002, we wanted to help students with the high cost of a higher education. Our primary focus was on a viable alternative to the over priced textbooks.

We started off by creating generic content (Cramlets) that covered the basic concepts in a particular subject i.e... Accounting, Finance, Algebra, etc. We put our heads down and started to producing content and programming it into Flash. We used our network of editor friends and other subject matter experts to review the content for quality and accuracy. We first launched College-Cram.com in January 4, 2004.

Since then we have been listening to the students and instructors from around the world. We eventually made College-Cram.com a free site and changed our entire revenue model, all along wanting to help students study faster and make better grades without the sacrifice of spending hundreds of dollars per semester.

In September of 2007 we re-launched College-Cram.com in the current version as a social learning site for students to take control of their learning and access the quality content we have produced through the years. We continue to create new content every day in the content-specific communities, honestly because we love learning and sharing our knowledge with others.

With the social learning aspect now in College-Cram.com, any student or instructor can participate by producing their own notebook entries, or by sharing their class notes with all. Social learning now depends on the members, not just the three founders, and it is exciting to see individuals join in each day. Keep up the good work and continue to spread the word about the exciting learning experiences found at College-Cram.com. 

P.S. check out our latest press coverage in our home paper "To these three entrepreneurs, the last minute creates a golden opportunity."

 

I took El Sol on a three day hike over the Memorial Day weekend on the Boardstand Road & Old Military Road Trail loop of the Ouachita National Recreation Trail system in east Oklahoma. The pack performed beautifully on the trail. In camp, it was unloaded enough that the frame flex issue didn’t recur with it standing overnight against a tree. The only equipment problem I had was a zipper failure.

El Sol has nylon zippers. One of the large side pockets was loaded causing a stress point against the middle of the zipper and it split open during the hike. I was able to force the zipper to properly unzip and then zip back again and it seemed OK. Since then that point of failure has proven itself to be weak and that zipper will not stay closed if the pocket is full. However, I found a workaround solution. That pocket zips from the top and the bottom. If the zipper pulls are brought together near the weak point instead of high or low, the zipper holds just fine. This works pretty well, but I think it would be good if next year’s model uses a heavier zipper, like the main compartment zipper, on the two large pockets. I know that will just add more weight to an already heavy pack. It is a tradeoff.   

I found I like the pockets on the hip belt. I took week-long trips using El Sol in the Pecos Wilderness in June and September this year. After a few variations I settled on a compass and camera in one belt pocket and snacks in the other. The hydration system works well, but I learned the first time out with it that it is important to cover the mouthpiece when applying DEET with the pack on. Yuck - no wonder insects don’t like that stuff.

The rain cover fits nicely round the pack, with elastic to hold all the way around, and it is attached to the top flap pocket so it won’t get away from you. Drying the rain cover is a bit of a challenge around the elastic bunching, but this isn’t a very big problem.

On the June trip in the Pecos I thought it would be good if I carried some of my daughter’s load (insert Tim “the Toolman” Taylor grunts here.) It turns out I have load limits. Besides running out of energy too quickly, with over 50 pounds in El Sol I cannot get the hip belt tight enough to keep the load on my hips. The belt slips down lower than I like it, and the load is on my shoulders. This could be a function of the fat around my waist preventing me from getting a good grip on my hips, but I haven’t been able to test that theory yet as it requires removal of the fat to see if there is a difference. I will report on that next year.

Right out of the box - adjust to fit

The pack looks good. It has a solid design and seems well constructed. The frame allows easy adjustments for torso length and waist/hips size by changing which slots the straps use. It came with the straps set for the longest torso and widest hips. The mesh back band is typical for an external-frame pack and although it was installed, it was not tied taut at all. I retied it as tight as I could without changing where it was or how it was tied. Before I put a load in the pack I found that the mesh did not keep the frame off my back and it was uncomfortable. Upon examination it became obvious that I could move the mesh up to the area where the frame hit me, so I did. That helped.

To see how it would feel with a light load I put 25 pounds in the pack. The straps felt good, but the frame could still push against my spine in some positions. I re-examined the way the mesh was installed and I retied it to maximize the effect of the mesh. That helped considerably, but it seemed I didn’t have it taut enough to keep the frame from hitting me in one position. I completely removed the pack and straps from the frame so I could get more leverage and tighten it more. That worked. The slot system for attaching everything is simple to use.

I put 40 pounds in the pack and adjusted the straps. I had a good fit. I carried it a mile on level ground and it felt really good. I added ten more pounds and walked down and up the hill by my house. It still felt good. I still hadn’t removed the tags, and I wanted to be absolutely sure this was “a keeper” before I cut them off. Comfort was my first criteria, and El Sol had passed that test. At this point I closely examined the features of the pack I finally had in my hands.

Features:

El Sol is a big pack. The top extends to allow over 5,000 cubic inches inside, plus there is room below the pack to strap a tent to the frame. It has two large side pockets on the pack, two more “normal” pockets, and each of these four have an outside elastic mesh pocket (the pockets have pockets.) There are two more zipper pockets on the hip belt. A pouch goes over the top. They say it is removable, but I haven’t figured out how. That pouch has a second zipper pocket with a rain cover. The empty weight of El Sol is more than my old pack, but I sure do like its features.

The main compartment can be extended upward and or divided (zipper shelf) into a large upper and smaller lower section. A zipper arc provides access to the lower section of the main compartment. A heavy-duty zipper provides access to the upper section in addition to the double drawstring top opening.

The main compartment has a sleeve designed to fit Outdoor Products’ 2 liter Cyclone® hydration bladder and a hole to feed the hose through. There is a clip for the hose on the left shoulder strap. As an early adopter, my pack came with the hydration system included, but product information now shows it “sold separately.” I have seen the hydration system at Wal-Mart, so I feel good about my prospects for replacing that if I need to someday. Another change seems to be in color choices since the blue I bought is no longer available.

The shoulder and hip straps are padded and comfortable to me. It has the usual adjustments for lifting shoulder straps off the top of the shoulder, a sternum strap for keeping them centered, and pulls to change the pack frame angle from the hip belt. I had no trouble getting a full load balanced to put the weight on my hips and use my shoulders to keep the pack upright without tipping me over.

The unique frame is 37 inches long. The Enduroflex™ material feels like molded plastic. The frame is rigid enough to provide load lift from the waist that I expect from an external-frame pack. It is also flexible and gives a little with twisting movements. Since I am used to a very rigid frame this felt different, but it feels good so I adapted quickly.

I have walked with some internal frames and enjoyed the flexibility they provided, but I never really felt the load support I was used to with an external frame. I also never found one as comfortable or that allowed my back to breathe as well as the full mesh back band installed on my old pack. El Sol did. It occurred to me that this Enduroflex™ design may be the optimal hybrid of the benefits of both internal and external frames. I got very excited about the prospects of taking El Sol on the trail. I removed all the tags and leaned the loaded pack against a wall.

The next day I picked up the pack and noticed the flexible frame didn’t appreciate leaning with a 40 pound load. It had taken on a slight curve. It took a few minutes to recover its shape while I walked in it, so when I took it off I laid the still loaded pack on the pack face, leaving the frame unstressed. I didn’t have the new shape issue again as I went through my season of training hikes in the neighborhood.

One evening as I returned from a training hike, a young man who has an Osprey internal-frame pack arrived at our house. He remarked about my training regimen being the coolest thing he had ever seen, and showed interest in my new pack, so I offered for him to try it on. It had 40 pounds in it. He was astounded at how well it carried the load and how good it felt to him. When I told him it cost about $100 he was shocked. He said he understood why I had chosen El Sol.