The gentleman suggested to me that in the 21st century, many brick and mortar colleges may become obsolete because in this new age of technology, online colleges may replace many smaller colleges and offer a quality education without any need to sit in any seat on any campus.
As we move towards the second decade of the new century, we already have had the ability to attend online colleges and universities that offer a wide range of classes and degree programs.
With the popularity of electronic reading devices and online access to a remarkable amount of educational resources, might small brick and mortar colleges like Marymount College soon become a thing of the past?
Why can't professors who now teach classes on a college campus simply upload lectures onto sites where students can view the instruction and even provide two-way interaction during course study?
Who says professors can't create an entire course of study complete with textbooks that can be viewed by students on portable tablets or E-books?
Online education can be addressed when considering "The Marymount Plan" produced by supporters of Marymount College and the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project now undergoing another public hearing by the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council who will then debate and create a final set of motions that will be the framework for the college's future.
There are two main factors I hope all will consider.
First, the ONE and ONLY big difference between "The Marymount Plan" sought by the college's President Dr. Brophy and the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project is on-campus housing.
For almost nine and one half years, the Expansion Plan had on-campus housing as a component until Dr. Brophy and others voluntarily removed on-campus housing from consideration.
The second factor revolves around both plan. They both share the same similarity in that there are no plans to upgrade or add any classrooms! I should think that if we are too believe Marymount supporters' claims that they want to move the college into the 21st century, then why do both plans remain so silent on the actual places where instructors teach students at the classroom level?
What about the idea that no classrooms may soon be the norm for smaller colleges? Why can't that be added into the discussions.?
Everyone has the opportunity to view online colleges and there is even a Saint Leo College that offers online degrees.
When a professor now has the easily ability to set up a site which provides all the instruction necessary to offer a degree-level college course and access to all instructional needs that can be acquired electronically, can you start seeing that smaller colleges like Marymount College may be the last of a breed?
When a human being has the ability to get a quality education like the one Marymount supporters contend the college provides without actually spending one minute on the Palos Verdes Drive East campus, is that such a bad thing?
Just think about Marymount's enrollment cap of 793 students if and when it offers online education like supporters and Dr. Brophy are now talking about. Marymount could offer online degrees to 793 thousand students who won't need to traverse a single winding road or a set of switchbacks.
Currently we are watching thousands of dollars worth of advertising being spent on securing 2,700 or so signatures on petitions to place a measure on the November ballot that could cost taxpayers many tens of thousands of dollars.
Registered voters in R.P.V. just received a Digital Video Disk from Marymount College.
With today's technology, that same DVD could have had an entire course of study and even a textbook or two on it that students could have used to further their education.
Marymount supporters may be throwing money towards an already obsolete interest.
If a student could receive the same quality of education sitting at home that they could receive in a classroom that isn't part of any modernization at Marymount, why shouldn't they?
With just one of my computers at my home, I have more that the total sum of computing power and storage that it took to land 6 Lunar land crafts on the Moon and return the Apollo astronauts to safety, and still more to bring the three brave astronauts home on Apollo 13.
With the growing popularity of E-books and electronic readers, i-Pads, and other tablet electronics, having a "college level library" like Marymount supporters are tauting, is already available to me, in the comfort of my man-cave.
Virtual classrooms are not science fiction. A quality college education without the need to step onto a literal campus has been around and will probably continue growing.
Just think about the current cost of sending a student to Marymount College full time and including housing and then compare that with what the cost might be to receive the same level of education without the need for costs to house the student or provide brick and mortar classrooms, libraries, athletic facilities, and a bookstore.
I volunteer many hours at Miraleste Intermediate School. One day I showed up with a eight gigabyte flash drive that took up the entire palm of one hand. I wanted to show some students what I had received less than two years before they first saw what I brought in. They were amazed at the size and how 'huge' it looked compared to new flash drives they all had.
I believe students today already have the ability to navigate through an online college and they probably learned it in middle school.
I can certainly see Dr. Brophy being the last President of a Marymount College that has a physical campus and him then becoming the first President of an online Marymount College that can offer a quality education to many thousands of more students that it could ever offer with its physical presence on Palos Verdes Drive East.
I can see the classroom faculty numbers remaining identical to what it is today and even growing in numbers as more degrees can be offered.
As a college, Marymount can survive and even prosper without on-campus housing and without the extraordinary costs and debate we are all being assaulted with.
It just takes another look forward into the 21st century by folks who can envision sights other than the moving of bentonite and balls landing on P.V. Drive East.
And it just takes more reasonable discussions than we are currently seeing.
But of course, I will still stick around and oppose on-campus housing.
Please don't sign the petition.
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