

George Lucas Will Use Disney $4 Billion to Fund Education - waterlesscloud
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-deal-george-lucas-will-384947

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patmcguire
I've always felt you could do the most good by funding a good chain of
community colleges. One of the big causes of the explosion in for profit
colleges is that in many areas have more students that want to enroll in
community college than they have the ability to provide. For-profit schools
fill the gap.

Community college has the stigma of "not real college," and I think they tend
to get short shrift on funding because of that. What, you don't want everyone
to go to a four year school?

There's a great article in the Atlantic[1] that makes the case that the way
work used to be structured meant a more consistent learning curve - you got
better at working one machine, you could transfer those skills to the next and
learn on the job - whereas now there tends to be an initial barrier you have
to clear before you can learn anything. You can't get a job programming
machines until you know the languages and have the math skills, but there's no
way to get there through another job. You have to put your life on hold before
you can get to an advancement path. That's the main hurdle - once you're past
that point you're on the more experience/better skills track again.

Community college shouldn't the focus so much because it'll reach
nontraditional students and save money for students who want to transfer to
four year schools but because the separation between no college and a good
two-year degree is the biggest, hardest gap to cross and once you get people
across it they're already most of the way to accomplishing whatever they want
to next.

[1]
[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/01/making-i...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/01/making-
it-in-america/308844/)

~~~
krspaul
You can throw money at existing community colleges - but what good does it do
if there's no visionary leadership?

Myself being primarily involved with filmmaking and film classes at North
Country Community College - I am attempting this year, before I graduate, to
change the filmmaking culture that currently barely functions at my CC. Ive
seen enough from the students here, in 3 semesters worth of film classes, to
know that these kids who have great interest and talent at our CC, who migrate
towards taking film classes, they all have talent. Theres a spark of magic in
each of their shitty flip-cam produced final projects. And these kids just
slip through the cracks after the semester is done, because theres no
infrastructure to catch or support them.

Flip cams do not command high levels of creative performance. They just dont,
and its a shame these kids dont get the chance, now, to use better. Especially
with the price of technology today.

I began attempting to make a change at the end of last Spring's semester, and
get the school to budget competitive equipment for film classes. The process;
Everything I tried doing through traditional bureaucratic methods of improving
the school's filmmaking situation, was either a barrier or unefficiency.

By the time I go through the proper channels to make visionary culture change
at the CC, Im already gone. Everything is a process of approvals and
appropriations. Meetings. Decisions. Levels. Kicking things upstairs, come on!
Ill be transferring to a top ten film school, like USC, that already has all
that good stuff Id like to play with. And at that new school, im 'happy to be
there' guy. That emotion, buries the ones I have attached to my CC. Once I
have that access to proper filmmaking equipment, I could give a shit about the
ills of the CC, regardless how much I loved the school.

However, I believe if I could now have the proper filmmaking equipment at my
current CC, I would be making great films now, not two years from when I first
started, and not at a 50k a year institution. If im making great films now, at
5k a year, dosent that shift my perception about what I would need out of
continuing my education at a four year? wont my decision making be different
at that point?

Im definately interested in the future of filmmaking and community colleges.
So, heres a nice place to plug the fundraiser I set up to help get our school
filmmaking equipment and establish a new film club.

<http://www.indiegogo.com/filmequipment>

at 28k, its competitively budgeted. the goal is to do the most with what
amounts to table scraps of funding.

4 billion, and 28 thousand. Thats a lot of filmmaking to be created at every
single CC in the nation. Im taking a stand to show the world how.

~~~
mattparcher
A bit of unsolicited advice for your indiegogo campaign: dropping the f-word
in your campaign title (“seed filmmaking equipment for our college, you f
ckers”) probably isn’t a great idea. I am not at all offended myself, but I
think it may be off-putting to quite a few folks out there who may otherwise
be interested in helping.

~~~
GuiA
The rest of the copy of the campaign is also very poor, and makes me feel like
OP is likely immature and that if I donated, my money would be poorly used.
And the F word is what bothers me the least.

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pg
A lot of philanthropists in the US seem to become interested in education. Is
this as true in, say, Sweden? I wonder if it is largely an artifact of the
brokenness of American schools rather than the universal importance of
education. (Not that education isn't important. It's immensely important. But
maybe in some places it doesn't seem like a problem.)

~~~
ThomPete
Education is a big topic most places also in Scandinavia where it's more or
less free.

But where there is active entrepreneurship in the US in this field, most of
Scandinavia is copycatting others or developing government plans on how to
improve education per. the PISA measurement scale.

The Scandinavian model is known for it's group oriented focus on learning
where the new discussion is whether this is the right approach.

Among other things especially the tiger mom revolution from china is a big
discussion and Canadas education system is very popular.

Finland seems to be the only Scandinavian country that is doing exceptionally
well on the PISA scale.

My own personal believe is that there are to basic reasons why the quality of
education seems to go down is.

1) Still too much focus on "learning by heart". It's obvious that you need to
learn read, write and do basic calculation, but beyond that the most important
thing to learn is, how to learn.

2) Parents outsources the job of raising their children to the pre-schools,
kindergartens and so on. Forget about more money for education. If you can
make parents more actively interested in their childrens education it will
automatically raise the quality of the education they recieve.

More money for education is not going to solve those two fundamental problems.

~~~
zerostar07
Isn't it the case that people in the US invest more time participating in
their children's education (going to the extremes of homeschooling), yet their
pre-college education fares low in comparison? Also wouldn't it have a huge
impact on productivity and education inequality if education became a family
matter?

~~~
jahewson
People in the US spend much more time working than those in almost any other
developed country. Too much time. In Scandinavia overwork is socially
unacceptable, while living a balanced life is desirable. For example, workers
in the US get _no_ statutory holiday, and most employers give 15 days, whereas
in Scandinavia it is _stautory_ 35-39 days depending on country.

As the vast majority of US children are not homeschooled, it's not relevant to
the broader discussion. In anycase homeschooling is typically encountered in a
religious setting, or remote locations.

Education _is_ already a family matter, children whose parents provide a home
environment conducive to learning will learn better, it's an inevitability.
The tragedy is that such an environment is usually beyond the means of less
wealthy parents, or beyond the abilities of those less-well educated. The
solution of course, is good public schools (though the home learner will still
be top of the class).

EDIT: I'm British, we have 28 days holiday and overwork is perfectly
acceptable here. Our schools are doing poorly because of a mediocre and highly
proscriptive curriculum which has reduced the job to spoon-feeding photocopied
worksheets, and puts off anyone intelligent from becoming a teacher (the pay
is awful too). This is compounded by a severe over-dependence on standardised
testing which has further reduced the job to spoon-feeding only the
photocopied worksheet required to pass the next test, and resulted in massive
grade inflation for over a decade. Rote learning is the only lending, and
there is little to no actual understanding anymore. But people think that the
government should fix education, as it is a public endeavour, even if this
means admitting that the government don't have a clue and simply using public
money to fund private schools (see Charter Schools) which is the latest
experiment, and so far seem to be working.

~~~
Arjuna
_"People in the US spend much more time working than those in almost any other
developed country."_

To your point, you will find this paper interesting:

 _Europeans Work To Live And Americans Live To Work_

[http://people.hmdc.harvard.edu/~akozaryn/myweb/docs/final_wo...](http://people.hmdc.harvard.edu/~akozaryn/myweb/docs/final_work_to_live.pdf)

Abstract:

This paper compares the working hours and life satisfaction of Americans and
Europeans using the World Values Survey, Eurobarometer and General Social
Survey. The purpose is to explore the relationship between working hours and
happiness in Europe and America. Previous research on the topic does not test
the premise that working more makes Americans happier than Europeans. The
findings suggest that Americans may be happier working more because they
believe more than Europeans do that hard work is associated with success.

~~~
ThomPete
And yet the Danes are considered the happiest people in the world :)

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SethMurphy
This should silence all the questions of what will happen to the Star Wars
franchise, it doesn't matter. Doing good is much more important. We will never
relive the past of our childhood in many ways, including seeing another good
Star Wars film. Our children (and the world) will be better off because of it
and the original should be re-released every generation for them to enjoy
also. Good play George, good play.

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akozak
Setting this aside for a much more interesting question: What application of
$4B would, _right now_ , generate the most utility for humanity? Or
alternatively, for the US?

~~~
Eliezer
If you know the word "utility", the people who actually seriously try to
figure out the answer to that question live at:

* <http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/> * <http://www.givewell.org/> * <http://80000hours.org/>

None of these groups recommend giving to the Gates Foundation, btw. GF is
better than average but it's not in the league of the best.

(I honestly think that if Gates, Buffett, or Lucas truly deeply cared more
about saving lives than anything, they'd just hand $10M to Givewell, and that
as a test for $100M the next year. I don't see how anyone with $10B to give
could possibly not think this was a good idea - there's more than enough
Givewell track record to establish the point.)

~~~
polymatter
Maybe its obvious to others, but I think most philanthropists want to make
sure their donation is unmistakenly theirs, attributed to them and highlighted
with their name. This way you maximise all those nice social benefits to
giving. Just setting a hands-off donation to Givewell doesn't reap quite as
much.

~~~
dbaupp
If one is looking at it that way: why does it have to be a hands-off donation?
I'm sure there are myriad ways for such a donation to be used as PR material.

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tsotha
Bah. Another billionaire wasting money on education. The _last_ thing we need
to do is spend yet more money on the endless money pit that has become the
American education system.

Well, it's his money; he can do whatever he wants. It's a shame to see this
when there are so many other places the money might do some good.

~~~
jontas
To be fair (and for all I know you could be 100% correct), it has not yet been
made clear how he plans to disburse this money.

Maybe he isn't going to do it in the wasteful ways you predict. Maybe he is..
time will tell.

~~~
tsotha
Nothing is impossible, I suppose, but he's the latest in a long line of really
rich people trying to address this problem in recent decades. The others have
had virtually no impact. Personally, I think if anyone would have succeeded it
would have been Gates.

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cpeterso
SF author David Brin has some unusual suggestions for philanthropic
billionaires looking to immortalize themselves with a significant legacy. For
example, build a third-world university system ($5B), fund a manned Mars
mission ($25B), or create an annual prize for whisteblowers ($1M annually plus
witness relocation).

<http://www.davidbrin.com/eon.html>

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pella
<http://www.edutopia.org/mission-vision> ( The George Lucas Educational
Foundation )

 _"Our Vision

Our vision is of a new world of learning, a place where students and parents,
teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve are all
empowered to change education for the better; a place where schools provide
rigorous project-based learning, social-emotional learning, and access to new
technology; a place where innovation is the rule, not the exception; a place
where students become lifelong learners and develop 21st-century skills,
especially three fundamental skills:

-how to find information

-how to assess the quality of information

-how to creatively and effectively use information to accomplish a goal

It’s a place of inspiration and aspiration based on the urgent belief that
improving education is the key to the survival of the human race. We call this
place Edutopia, and we provide not just the vision for this new world of
learning but the real-world information and community connections to make it a
reality." _

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nealabq
George, education is currently in turmoil. A Jedi Benefactor with $4B could
help restore balance. Please consider Khan Academy. The padawans would be
grateful.

~~~
2arrs2ells
I don't think Khan Academy is constrained by capital.

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ScottBurson
If I had this kind of money to fund education, I think I'd set up my own
voucher systems in some inner cities. I think real choice and the real
competition it can bring about are the only way to fix education in this
country.

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acabal
Good for him. I'm picturing him realizing that he's getting older, and that he
can either keep spending money on kid's movies, or he can try to make a real
difference in the world.

Education is a great thing to focus on too. My personal belief is that a lot
of our social and political problems stem from a population that, on the
whole, lacks critical thinking and analysis skills. When one can't think
critically, emotion and fear take over, and people vote against their own
interests or slide into apathy. If Lucas is planning to invest in high-school-
and-below-level stuff, he might have a chance at changing that for the next
generation.

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jpxxx
This genuinely makes me hate myself a little less for the fifty bucks I threw
at the last three movies.

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modernise
Interactive movies. Psychiatry and schools, two birds w one stone.

------
loceng
Good Guy George

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sergiotapia
But what about Jar Jar Binks! Rabble rabble, hate hate!

\---

I bet the internet feels silly at this point.

~~~
Wohlf
Jar Jar Binks Memorial Film School.

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marshallp
That's so foolish, he should be investing it into the ultimate medical
technology of this generation, focus ultraound
[http://www.fusfoundation.org/MRgFUS-Overview/about-
focused-u...](http://www.fusfoundation.org/MRgFUS-Overview/about-focused-
ultrasound-surgery)

~~~
anigbrowl
Eventually you'll grow out of this fear of death. If you are so obsessed with
focus ultrasound, invest in it yourself.

~~~
josephagoss
I disagree, why will he eventually grow out of his fear of death? I think if
the majority of the worlds population didn't believe in a god, afterlife,
mother nature or something like the spirit world then we would have millions
of people with a active fear of death.

The only people that truly don't fear real death are atheists that have made
peace with that fact.

I am a atheist that has not out grown a fear of death, but I can't relate to
anyone I know because they all say the same as you, "you will eventually out
grow that fear", then I ask what if I am right and when we die we are forever
gone and there is no afterlife? They say "Well that is unlikely, there is
something else out there" So everyone I know doesn't fear death, because they
think they will never truly die anyway.

Like I said, the only people on earth that really do not fear death are a
small amount of the atheist population that have come to accept death as
inevitable. But what I think is that if all of humanity was atheist, we would
be pouring billions in immortality research.

~~~
georgeorwell
Death is completely painless non-existence. Absolutely nothing to fear about
it.

~~~
josephagoss
I guess its the fear of non-existence. Of course once we are dead its not a
issue, but whilst we are alive its something on some of our minds. (not
wanting the party to end)

~~~
georgeorwell
Yeah, fair enough, I've struggled with the same fear. I want to stay alive as
long as possible too.

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stephen_mcd
Still won't make up for the prequels, sorry George.

~~~
splicer
I disagree.

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mythrowaway2
Enough to attend Harvard for a few years.

