This article is in a 1950's time capsule. I never planned on going to college simply because I was not good at school things and I knew it. However I did go to college and how I got there is interesting. The summer after my forth year of high school, my uncle had a management job in a local brewery. I went to work there. There was a strike at a brewery in a nearby city. Our brewery needed men because we were filling the gap so to speak. A school friend got a job too. In the fall close to the time people headed back to school, my friend looked at me and said: «no school to go back to this summer; lets see if there is a college we can go to.» I knew he did not have the money but scholastically he had it. For me, highly unlikely. He said he would see if he could get a day off and look around. I had no optimism for the idea but I went along with it. At the time, to my recollection, there were four colleges in Western New York State: University of Buffalo, State Teachers College, D'youville College and Niagara University. All were unattainable with my scholastic ability, not considering the money.

A day later he was back on the job with his report. College was out and we did not have the money anyway. But he said there is a new after high school called a Technical Institute, a two year school supported by the taxpayer and industry. The tuition was very small so we could handle it. He continued with his report with, « we have a chance to get in there. »All subjects were filled except one named metallurgy (what's that); we have a chance to get in there because they need to fill seats. We took the required entrance exam and we both were admitted.

I somehow made it through the first year and was drafted out the second year because I was not in the top two thirds of the Metallurgy Class. In fact I made up the lower third. I know this because the class had a party for those going in and I was the only celebrant. After the Army I was back and finished the second year and graduated. From the Technical Institute, now called a Junior College, a Teachers College was my stomping ground where after two years, I walked away from it and never went back.

In my school days the High School day was one class after the other with lunch, study halls and gym periods. The Technical Institute was much the same minus jym and study halls. In the four year college I went to, the standard was sixteen 55 minute periods with shop and laboratory study adding two or three more hours for some specialties. Of course, today's schedule may be different; my last time in college was in 1958. The 55 minute period went something like this as I remember: settling down (5 minutes +), updates and announcements (5 minutes), reports on homework (10 minutes), occasional 10 minutes test, lecture and home work assignment (5 minutes).

My solution: throw out the settling down, throw out updates and announcements, throw out homework reports, throw out the test and replace with: an orientation for each course, where the students are told what is wanted of them, where the information can be found, right to use own resources and a lifetime right to take the required final test and receive credit for passing. Lower building cost, no dormitory cost, no necessity to buy text books that are not used, minimum lecture cost, though some specialties need teaching and if so only teaching utterance allowed in classrooms.

Other Ideas: Tutor Students ( Students who have past the test), subject jam sessions (student helping each other). Lectures on DVD's, subject condensed on disk or paper. How to pass the test information.

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