<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div id="ydp814c0960yahoo_quoted_5675657476" class="ydp814c0960yahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;"><font size="3">On Sunday, September 24, 2023 Bill Sapsis via Stagecraft
<stagecraft@theatrical.net> wrote:</font><div><div id="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;" class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yahoo-style-wrap"><div dir="ltr" id="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydp95acf61cyahoo_quoted_5847510610" class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydp95acf61cyahoo_quoted"><div><div id="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqtfd15839" class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqt4286710149">
<p class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">>Would now be a good time to start talking about Vo-Tech
programs for technical theatre?</font></p></div>
<p class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">I think there have been a number of forces putting pressure
on making an education something that is worth the investment.</font></p>
<div class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">Regarding shutting down arts programs, The "Car
Talk" radio show on PBS often made fun of the "Art History
Majors".<span> </span>They considered it the epitome
of a degree for which you can't find a job in the field. Likewise in theater,
the joke is "You are an actress? What restaurant do you work
at?".<span> </span>So the arts majors have long
been taking criticism regarding it being a viable career. </font></div><div class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3"><br clear="none"></font></div><div class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">And there is some
truth to the jokes.<span> </span></font><font size="3">There are many more people who want to be in the art fields,
than there are job openings for them. Sports is another example, since only 1.4% of college football players end up as pros. But in
theater, the students involved with the theater department are theater majors. Whereas,
in sports, it is expected that you are earning a degree in another field.<span> </span>Business management is a very popular subject
for athletes, though some take easy, junk, degrees.</font></div>
<p class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">For years now, the rising costs of college education, beyond
the cost of inflation, has also been putting pressure on making the degree earn
its investment.</font></p>
<p class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678ydpec5a301MsoNormal"><font size="3">The efforts by Biden to use federal money to pay college
debts has brought the tuition topic to the forefront. The issue of buying
votes, and capitalism vs. socialism is a major part of that. <span> </span>So, there is certainly a political component.</font></p>
<div><font size="3"><span style="line-height:107%;">But, I think the main issue is if an arts major expects
to earn enough money when they graduate, to make it worth the money they spent on the education.<span> </span>If they expect to have to
ultimately pay for it themselves, they are more likely to choose something
other than an arts major. </span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="line-height:107%;"><br clear="none"></span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="line-height:107%;">Reducing the cost of a theater major, through the Vo-Tech system, is one solution. Another approach for keeping the status quo, is if art departments get the
government to subsidize them. But that requires that they do things the government
wants them to do. And in general, I don't like that idea. Let the democrats fund their own arts institutions without my own tax money. I actually don't like the idea, even if the government were to get more inline with my own views.<br clear="none"></span></font></div></div><div><font size="3"><br clear="none"></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="3">-Joe<div id="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqtfd33985" class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqt4286710149"><br clear="none"></div></font></div><div id="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqtfd21576" class="ydp814c0960yiv1756250678yqt4286710149"><div style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;color:rgb(38, 40, 42);">
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