When reflecting on the bamboozling labyrinth of American higher education, the film The Shining emerges as a grimly apt analogy. Sure!" says thee, the naive, wide-eyed young spud, "I'd love to stay in your picturesque mountain ski resort (college)!" Before you can say "alpha cum laude" ten times fast, you are being herded around a frozen maze of un-centralized information, predatory recruiting practices and apocryphal sources of guidance on the topic.
Researching colleges on the internet can be, to those more accustomed with wading in the kiddie pools of the internet, a tangled thicket of confusion. Where does one begin? What information is reliable? How long do I have? Are colleges in New Mexico really made of adobe and staffed by hemp flip-flop wearing new agers?
Questions of such capital importance should, without doubt, be directed to the most credible, reliable and trusted source available. For 90% of prospective students, what is that source?
The internet. The same place where you can find *&@*#$ and people doing *$%#**. Hmmm..
On the vast plains of the internet, questions of ethical business practices are frequent. Regarding the matter at hand, is Google to blame? Should the heavy hand of government swiftly cut down the offenders? Is that even possible?
Legally, the internet has an element of Wild West economic melee. In such a realm, accountability can be slippery. To hold Google responsible for the misleading ads smacks of singling out a corporate scapegoat. The offenders are too numerous, and Google is a for-profit organization. I can say reasonably comfortably that Google has more interest in making money than ensuring the equity and egalitarianism of the internet. Still, the practice of hoodwinking students into releasing their personal information cannot continue. Furthermore, colleges and institutions empirically implicated in such a scheme should be held accountable. But, to what end, and how?
Yes, it is unethical.
Yes, it is dastardly and low.
Yes, it is somewhat capricious and should be punished.
Yet, the F.C.E.E.C. (Federal Commission of Ethical Electronic Commerce) pronounced (fuh-keek), does not exist.
The measures and consequences exacted so far are lip service to the disgruntled and slighted internet using population. This is, essentially, criminal behavior that can be prevented. The only action that must be taken is this.
Take a delicious Internet Freedom Crisp from the cupboard, break off a piece, and feed it to that ravenous dog in the kitchen….the government…. (thunder and lightning).
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