Disparities in College Costs in Missouri

The following are estimate for tuition, room and board, books and supplies, and spending money as provided by the Sallie Mae Education Investment website. It is a great site for comparing college costs.

The following are the costs for one year at some of Missouri's 4 year public universities.

Truman State University $15594

University of Missouri Kansas City $20194

University of Missouri Columbia (Mizzou) $19630

University of Missouri Saint Louis $19774

Missouri Institute of Science and Technology (Columbia) $20,788

Northwest Missouri State University $14949

Southeast Missouri State University $16,692

Now here are a few Missouri Private Colleges

Washington University $55979

St. Louis University $50196

Fontbonne $31677

Maryville University $33182

Westminster College $27674

Why the Disparity?

Rick and I know people in science who have been to each of these universities. All are quite competent in what they do and seem well prepared for their careers. So why the difference in costs?

One reason is the lack of federal/state money going to the private institutions, so they make up for this by charging more for tuition, fees, room and board. They also spend a lot of time shaking the alumni trees for some fat donations.

Does this mean these students are getting a better education? Based upon our experience with employees and co-workers, I really think not. As a matter of fact, the second lowest cost school, Truman State University, has been ranked by US News and World Report for twelve straight years as the # 1 public university in the midwest that offers both bachelors and masters degrees. All of the schools listed have their strong points, but some people seem to think that the expensive schools come with a name that will help them to get better jobs.

Not true. It's actually the graduate school that you attend that matters, namewise. And even that isn't that important. What is boils down to is the type of person you are, your abilities, your work ethic, being a life-long learner, recommendations and how well you interview. It is, unfortunatley, also who you know.

So do you want your four year degree to come with a cost of more than $200,000 with no better an education than a four year public school with a cost of no more than $60,000? If you are a realist like me, you'll pick the latter. I don't want my kids paying off a four year bachelors degree for the rest of their adult lives.

Should Public Schools Pay for Special School District Student's Private School Tuition?

Today in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch there is an interesting article discussing two cases where the courts have had to try to decide if public school districts should have to pay for special school district students, or special needs students, to go to residential private schools. Here's a link to the article, it adresses some pretty complex questions.

Click Here for Article

Two students are discussed with very different issues.

Student 1: "a struggling Oregon high school student whose parents enrolled him in a $5,200-a-month residential school after he became a heavy marijuana user and ran away from home".

He was evaluated for learning disabilities and didn't have them, his folks removed him from public school before he could be evaluated for ADHD, which it sounds like he may have this or possibly Oppositional Defiant Disorder based upon the description.

Questions:

• Should the District pay for this?



• Why did Mom and Dad allow his problems to get this far (to Junior year in HS) before they decided to have him evaluated? Have they ever thought to take him to a psychiatrist? Did they take him?
  
  
• Without waiting for a diagnosis from the school district which would have helped place the student in an appropriate learning situation, can the district be expected to pay for the private school?
  
  

All students have the right (by law) to an appropriate public education. The key word here is "appropriate".

Maybe it isn't appropriate to put my son into a learning situation with an out of control student too. Does that mean the school district would pay for me to put my son into a private school that refuses to educate kids with problems?

Hmmm.

Student #2: Younger learning disabled student whose Dad enrolled him in a private school without ever trying public school.

If this child has a true diagnosed learning disability, why didn't Dad enroll him in public school with the guarantee of special school district help in that setting? This one has already gone to the Supreme Court where the decision was deadlocked when judge Anthony Kennedy recused himself.

Questions:

• What is this child's learning disability and why would a private school do a better job educating him?
  
  
• Why would his Dad not have the child evaluated by Special School District before the child started school, and then look at public school options?



• It seems as if Dad jumped the gun, but as the president of Viacom, perhaps he is used to getting what he wants right away. And I'm guessing he could better afford this private school than the local school district.
  
  
• Shouldn't there be an independent consultant for parents and public schools who can best decide if a student's learning disabilities (or behavioral disabilities) might best be addressed by a private residential facility? Otherwise it seems as if any parent can make this decision at any time for any student, and this could decimate the entire public school system.
  

Let us all know what you think by commenting on the blog itself, so others can read your responses.

Rethinking the Mom Thing

As my kids get older and more independent, I find myself feeling at a loss sometimes for what to do with my own personal time. So much time and effort has been spent in raising my kids, that my husband and I are having to reflect upon what it is we actually liked to do before the "Mom Thing" happened to us. Truly, any time we've had has always gone toward our kids and making sure they are the best possible people that they can be.

But things are different now. Emily is finishing her junior year and is looking toward college and a job. Her boyfriend and all of her activities take up most of her time. Ricky is finishing his freshman year, and as Mr. Popular with 800 friends, his time is taken up in a very social way. Both still like to do family things with us, but there is less and less time for that sort of thing.

As friends of mine know, I've stayed sane through all this "Mom" stuff by getting together with my girlfriends one Friday a month at "Moms Hell Night Out". But now that doesn't even seem like enough socializing to me, since I have so much more free time without kids. And as a teacher, going into summer, I've really been thinking lately of what parts of me I've lost over the last twenty years, and how I'd like to get back into activities and social events that I used to love to do. Here are a few:

1. Golf: I used to golf quite a bit up in Michigan, and have really missed having the time to do this. I stink at it, but it is so much fun and it is so nice to be outside for that long I really miss having that one great shot a day. It's literally been 18 years since I've done much of this. There's that "Mom Effect" again.

2. Excersize: Summer is good for this, but I'd like to extend this to the rest of the year. I'd like to do lots more bicycle riding on some of the cool trails around St. Louis with friends. Fun and get in great shape too. This of course means a slight investment in a bike carrier, but since I've also decided to spend less on the kids activities and more on me, that'll work.

3. Theater: I might just get us some season tickets to the rep. Or go to the Opera, or Symphony or anything that brings a bit more appreciation of the arts into my life.

4. Organizing my life. Taking all those boxes full of stuff that I said I'd organize "later" sounds just awful, but I think "later" has arrived.

5. Wine Tasting. Nothing more fun than getting a group of friends together and appreciating the grape. This of course can be combined with riding bikes on the katy trail, so #2 can actually correlate with #5.

6. Flute: I've just started playing with a church orchestra this year, and hope to do more. Actually, I might even have time for lessons to get better (maybe I'm dreaming here.)

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I'll keep thinking, another aspect to all of this is doing joint activities with Rick too. Af course we have to agree on what we like, but the bowling league we were in through church was a hoot. It answered the need for a fun couples activity with other people we know and like, and also was a good outlet for my competitive side. So we'll see how the "Mom thing" plays out this year. I'll keep you posted.

A New Button

Here's a pretty nice thing, our GoodSearch account is in pretty good shape so they've created our own little button for us. Cool Huh?

GoodSearch & GoodShop

YOU SEARCH OR SHOP...
WE GIVE!

Raise money for Oakville Band Parents Association just by searching the web and shopping online!

Search the web now!

Free coupons at top stores!

Add to your site

Biology and Chemistry Tutoring

Just thought I'd mention that I do online biology and chemistry tutoring with live chat and email. It's a great way for me to help kids, and pick up a little extra $ at the same time. If you or a student you know should like to be tutored in biology or chemistry at the high school level (I happen to like working with high school kids, if you didn't know) just click the link below to get started.

http://www.liveperson.com/dr-mehigh

Getting All Artsy

Recently, I started to draw as a way to relieve stress. Back in high school I used to draw characitures of my friends and family, and I used to share them in class. My drawings now are again mostly of my family, although I've included Em's boyfriend and our dogs too. Here's one of me and our dog Cindy:

I found out that I can upload my pictures and make t-shirts and cards and stuff. I made t-shirts for Emily and Matt and gave them to them. Here's the picture I used:

Cute, huh?

You can see more of my drawings at CafePress.com

I have ideas all the time, and before I go to bed I draw them in pencil and it really relaxes me.

Of course, as a teacher, I've had a few ideas too. And drawing them was much fun as it helped me laugh at my situation of good teacher and no money.

Here is one:

All of my drawings so far are on various products like dog bowls and t-shirts and tote bags. Here's a link:
Come visit my store on CafePress!

You can see most of my drawings there. I recommend looking for "teacher's dream".

How to "Fix" Education in the US

I've been involved lately in some online chats using a site called "Yedda". I found it through AOL and it is a site where questions are posed, and then anyone who signs up for this free site can answer. Answers are posted, then people can rate the answers as helpful or not. One questions posed a few days ago was "What do you think should be done to improve education in the U.S.?" It has engendered hundreds of responses and they are pretty revealing. I thought I'd share some here.

1. I hear complaints about education ALL the time! It has become apparent that U.S. education is in need of improvement. Well gosh, here's an idea: STOP CUTTING THE EDUCATION BUDGETS!!!!!

2. First of all, we need discipline at home and at school. Teachers should be allowed to "correct" students without the fear of being sued. I went to catholic grade school and high school and when you did something wrong, WOWEEE did you get it. But, you know what, I really learned to write, read and speak correctly. Get rid of computers in school and let the kids REALLY LEARN to read and write correctly.
Half of the kids today can't write, they just print.

3. All my children are raised and now I am watching the grandchildren attending our schools. I find it very disturbing that physical education is no longer offered in these schools. Our kids are getting fat and lazy because they are not required to do one hour of rope climbing, jumping, running or other activities requiring exertion every day. The lunch menues are loaded with carbs and there are softdrinks (poison) galore. I spent my school years in Germany and am glad that I did. Things were strict there, one hour of gym everyday, no precooked lunches, mom fixed a lunchbox daily with a sandwich, a sweet, a fruit and a milk, all items that a growing kid needs. Parents were extremely strict about homework, no child got to play until all homework was done, no excuses. Teachers had the authority to keep an orderly classroom, even if you got smacked on the hand with a ruler if you misbehaved. Yes, we learned and we learned well. Now we have a very permissive society when it comes to our kids. They are allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want. They are surrounded by cellphones, computers, and teachers are afraid for their lives if they try to interfere. Parents are way to busy running after the almighty dollar to pay much attention to their children, so now our kids raise themselves with no guidance or attention. Wake up America, you are raising a generation of drug addicts and alcoholics with this attitude. Very sad!

4. Eliminate the unions and Federal Department of Education set up by President Carter.

5. Time to restructure how we place children in an educational environment. Some children are strong in language and poor in math. Some children have difficulty reading; which affects everything required of the child. We need to stop placing children according to their chronological age and place them according to their development in a particular subject. This would also stop the self-esteem problems for children who are not academically proficient. They would not have the age equivalent children to compare themselves.

The very first post got me pretty hot. Here it is:
6. Get better teachers. Some teachers I've seen in my kids' schools should not be teachers. The impatient hateful old lady types should just retire. Some of them obviously hate kids and need to find something else to do. Also teachers who don't know how to teach and are boring.

But when I thought about it later, there is probably some truth to this one, and I hear the frustration in the voice of this probable parent.

This is the highest positively rated answer:

7. I can solve all the problems of public education with no additional cost with three steps.
1. return all the non educational responsibilities to non educational people. (before and after school needs, breakfast0
2. Make the main focus the kids and families that want an education. (loss of the priviledge of a free public education)
3. Make "special education" special again. Remove the financial incentive to have a disability through SSI.
America had the greatest public education when it was viewed as a priviledge and NOT a right!

8. We need smaller classes! Having 34 students in each class is detrimental to every one of them! In only 45 minutes per class, how can you really pay any individual attention to any student?
Another thing that would really help: improve the ESL/ELL programs, and make the exam to get out of them a REAL exam. Right now, anyone with a pulse can test out of ESL/ELL and get placed in a regular class--only to fail miserably when they cannot keep up! Why traumatize kids like this? (This one was rated as third highest positive answer of all.)

9. I would repose the question: How do we improve education while raising the living standards of the lower socioeconomic strata of society. For decades, longitudinal studies have linked the a) schooling level of parents with that of their offspring b) higher scores on standardized tests are correlated with affluent children, lower scores with the working class. So, when we ask a question of improving standards, we need to think of class issues. Further, to answer the question of 'how to improve education', US children fall low or last on comparative standardized exams (eg OECD administered tests, TIMSS). Perhaps the US should look at how countries like Finland conduct their education systems (they scored first). In addition, teacher qualifications need to be standardized, or at least meet minimum requirements of both methodology and subject specific classes. If we use Finland as an example, it is as difficult to get a required Masters in Education, which is needed to teach as to get into other research degrees. In North America, why do teachers not need Master's degrees, or at least after-degrees that include practicums. Why are the media and the US government always simplifying the issue? Why do they not consider sociological explanations and see what other countries are doing? And last but not least, why do we talk of improving education as meaning improving standards? That talk has been around since the 1920s (Eisner, 1976). First of all, whose standards are we talking about? What knowledge should be prioritized? And, should learning not be individualized for children to meet their needs and interests? The No Child Left Behind Act ignores a) racial issues b) socioeconomics c) Arts and the humanities at the expense of Math and Language. Should the US not pay its teachers more and stop blaming teachers? Otherwise, there will be no incentive for teachers to stay in teaching (as the retention rate is low) and paying them more will attract bright minds. After all, is not teaching the next generation of value and is not babysitting? If those of you think that teachers need to have children, then perhaps all parents are qualified as school teachers. Try planning for, teaching, and overseeing 30 children at once. And, don't forget about staff meetings, gradings, coaching. Also, if we do not trust teachers to teach our children, then why not home school them? America… start thinking outside the box when it comes to education policy – please. (This one was my personal favorite as it just makes soooo much sense.)

10. Interestingly, here is the second highest rated answer:
Hit the parents up side the head with a 10 foot 2X4 to get their attention that
they are the problem !!!!!!!!!

11. This tenth highest rated I both agree and disagree with: Abolish the Department of Education. It spends billions of dollars each year, while arguably preventing students at every level from getting the best education that they can.
Reduce the influence of the "education mafia". Many professors of education haven't taught a class below the university level in decades, are hopelessly out of touch with what works in the classroom, and saddle their poor students (future teachers) with poor methods and bad ideas that have to be unlearned in the classroom at the expense of the children they teach.
Seriously limit the power of teachers unions. In many cases, these have evolved from protecting teachers from unfair labor practices to ensuring that no teacher can be fired for anything less than a criminal act, no matter how incompetant they are in the classroom.
Eliminate No Child Left Behind. No Child Left Behind = No Child Gets Ahead.
Provide different educational tracks for the top 25% of all students, the next 25%, and the bottom 50%. Have enough flexibility in this that individuals don't get incorrectly pigeonholed in the wrong track. The top 25% should be headed to a university, the next 25% to a community college, the bottom 50% to vocational training that will allow them to do meaninful, productive work and become valued members of society (as opposed to dropping out when they can't master Algebra that they will never use). Attempting to provide a "world class university prep education" for all ensures that a "world class university prep education" is actually provided to nobody. And not eveybody belongs in a university after graduation.

12. I can guarantee you almost every teacher I know feels this fifth highest rated one at some point or other:
No Child Left Behind needs to be abolished. It was never funded and elitest. Saying 'Get Better Teachers' is a crock. How about 'Get Better Parents?' The parent involvement is the KEY component to the future academic success of the student.

13. Parents are the singlemost important variable in education. Values, reinforcement and motivation come right from the parent. With or without the best teachers, technology and facilities, a child can learn. Standards are useless without strong parental support. Schools should identify cases involving poor attendance, poor preparation, discipline, truancy and lack of motivation early on. Negligent parents can be held accountable with requirements to attend weekend or evening educational parenting classes. A task force is needed in each district. If you realistically get negligent parents into the schools, lay down the law with clear objectives that require compliance, results would soon follow.

Well, what do you think? I'd love to hear from you by having you post an answer on the blog so others can read it. Just go to the blog and click below this post to comment. Let's get a great discussion going!!!

GoodSearch and Band Craft Fair

Hey everyone, please use http://www.goodsearch.com/ when you search the internet. It's the yahoo search engine and is, of course, free. I say that since everytime you do a search for something using GoodSearch you deposit 1.3 cents into our oakville band account. The money we earn doing this will go to pay for instruments, travel and music.

Click on http://www.goodsearch.com/ right here, and then put Oakville Band Parents Association into the second box, then click "verify". Then do your search. Use general terms and click only once per search, then click through to whichever website looks best for your term.

To remember to do this daily, you can go to "spread the word" and then download the GoodSearch tool bar and put it on your browser.

This is all free, and we could make some great money to fund the band with your help.

You can also use GoodShop in much the same way. There are hundreds of online stores like Target, Macys etc. For example, if you have never used ebay, you can sign up as a new user through GoodShop, then confirm in the email they send to you. Once you put a bid on an item, even a small one (and they sell EVERYTHING) ebay will deposit $12.50 to $17.50 into our account. Only if you want to shop online, although some retailers on ebay accept checks too.

The Craft fair is also on this weekend (March 7 and 8) at the high school, so don't forget to go take a look.

I thank you for any help that you can give us!

Trivia Night for Band

Ok, we really sucked at trivia tonight, but we had a ton of fun. And that's the whole point, so we are pretty happy. At each trivia night, there are some questions that we are able to answer that I just can't believe that any of us remember. Like the following (answers are at the end)
1. What one hit wonder did the Tokens have in 1961?
2. Who was the father of the US constitution?
3. What product advertisement states: Once you pop, you cannot stop?
4. How did David Halberstam die?
5. Who has the most division I A titles in wrestling? (answers could be: Iowa State, Oklahoma State, or Oklahoma)
6. What author wrote about vampire Edward Cullen and his girlfriend Bella Swan?
7. What airline uses the following slogan: You'll Love the Way We Fly (1994)?
8. What rapper's real name is Sean Carter?
9. What Dicken's book contains the character Uriah Heap?
10. What 2008 Disney movie is about a dog who lives in a movie studio and thinks he is a superhero?


Answers:
1. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
2. James Madison
3. Pringles
4. vehicle crash
5. Oklahoma State
6. Stephanie Meyer
7. Delta
8. Jay Z
9. David Copperfield
10. Bolt

I hope you did better than I did with some of these.

Just Venting

Ok, its been a long week. Even though I was only at work for four days, it felt like it was about two weeks long. I just need to vent. See if you share my annoyances.

1. Heinz road guardrail. I worked for over a year and a half to get a guardrail installed on Heinz road where the stupid Cambridge Hills subdivision never materialized. The problem that occurred there was initiated when the trees that used to line the road, and therefore protected us from going over the embankment there (40 foot sheer drop) and possibly killing someone, were removed for the non-existant subdivision. So the guardrail was finally installed, and it is too short. How incredibly stupid.

2. Kids who routinely don't bring something to write with to school. How stupid is this?

3. Teachers who don't post grades. My son and a friend's son thought they were doing ok in one class until the teacher posted lots of grades on SIS. At the last minute. And I couldn't follow along with what had happened and intervene to kick him in the butt and help this from being a critical situation. HOW annoying.

4. Friends who won't listen. (Not you moms.) No matter what. Or how reasonable and factual you are, they are right and you are wrong. No amount of logic will sway them. Emily has also found this out when discussing environmental issues or social issues with friends. Crazy.

5. Men who don't go to the doctor no matter how bad they feel, like my husband. I guess it is better to spread the infection to the rest of the family and whine like a puppy. Lord help me.

6. Kids who, when papers are due at school, continually think I'm so stupid as to believe for the fourth time that their printer ran out of ink so they couldn't print it. Sorry, it's late this time. ANNOYING.

7. My dogs. Ruining house, constantly wanting to go out, begging for food, interrupting sleep. Love them, but almost not worth it.

8. Mortgage companies. Some work with you, some are just darn rude.

9. Girls who call. Late in the night. Giggly goofballs with excess hormones wanting to talk to my son. Should know better. Geez.

10. Old men at the grocery store. Stand in front of items I want and won't move. Send a woman, we know how to shop and help each other out.

Ok, done venting. Now I feel better.

The Science of Deception

My family is hooked on the new Fox show "Lie to Me". The show is a new drama series inspired by the scientific discoveries of Dr. Paul Ekman, a real-life specialist who can read clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose both the truth and lies in criminal investigations.

The great part about the show is that it is all based upon a field of scientific study that has been around for a long time, the Science of Deception. This is the science that studies nonverbal communication which is often referred to as body language. This involves facial expressions, gestures, touching (haptics), physical movements (kinesics), posture, body adornment (clothes, jewelry, hairstyle, tattoos, etc.) and also the tone, timbre and volume of the voice. Spoken content is ignored.

For greater understanding, you have to study the part of the brain called the "limbic system". The brain, including this system, controls all behaviors, whether conscious or subconcious. The limbic is where we need to focus to understand nonverbal behavior, as it is the part of the brain that reacts to the world around us reflexively and instantaneously, in real time, and without thought. So this area actually gives off a physical manifestation that is a TRUE response to stimuli coming in from the environment. The limbic is also the center of our emotions, and it is from this area that signals ro out to other parts of the brain, which then direct our behaviors as they relate to our emotions or our survival.

Big explanation, small take home: The limbic system is responsible for our survival and reacts without thought. If is like a reflexive behavior. For this reason it is also referred to as the "honest brain". These behaviors can be observed and decoded as they appear in our faces, our hands and feet, and our bodies.

The manifestations of these behaviors are called "tells" since they tell us about the person's true stste of mind. People usually aren't at all aware that they are communicating non-verbally so the speaker doesn't try to control them the way he/she does verbally in order to persuade the listener to accomplish the speaker's goals.

Anyway, back to "Lie to Me". On the site you can test yourself to see if you can spot the tells, and tell whether or not someone is lying. On the show, which you can watch on www.fox.com my favorite part is when the tells are revealed, and are compared to pictures of famous people, like politicians, who are shown exhibiting the same behavior. Funny funny stuff.

Here is a link to the show. Try the tests, they are really fun. www.fox.com/lietome/

An excellent book written by a former FBI Agent named Joe Navarro called "What Every BODY is Saying" goes into excellent detail explaining how to read a multitude of emotions using nonverbal behavior. His research is excellent, I've paraphrased information concerning the limbic system above,and there are many examples and pictures shown. If you are interested in this area of science, I most highly recommend his book.

Please help Tiger Bands!!!

Recently, a proposal was placed on the www.donorschoose.org website for the Oakville High School bands called "Equipment Needed to Mobilize Tiger Bands!" To see the proposal, click on the title above.

For those of you not familiar with DonorsChoose.org, it is a charity organization started in 2000 by Charles Best, a former social studies teacher from Bronx, NY. He noticed that teachers often were providing basic supplies like paper and pencils for the kids, yet couldn't afford to do science projects or anything that needed special materials. He thought that people would want to help if they could choose a project to support (like the giving tree with the apples at Oakville Elementary). So, he created a website and invited his colleagues to post requests for materials they needed. His students volunteered to send 2000 letters to people around the country, explaining that $10 can make you a philanthropist. They received $30,000.

Teachers, like me, in public schools around the country submit requests for anything they need. I posted a request last summer while I was lying around after surgery, and in November I received the funding ($400 in equipment for my science olympiad team).

Once the proposal is funded, they buy the materials requested withing 1-2 days of receiving a donation, and they compile thank you letters from the class or group. In that way, ordinary folks get the choice and feedback usually reserved for millionaire philanthropists. Your $10 gets the same transparency as Bill Gates' $1 million. If you choose, your name and a quote will be posted on the proposal page showing your support of the program.
So far we have three people who have donated to the band proposal. Anyone with a small amount of money to donate can make a HUGE difference as "citizen philanthropists."

Please consider helping us out, and donate a few bucks. Every donation is tax exempt and you will immediately receive a letter you can use to take the donation off of your taxes. You can pay online with a credit or debit, or you can send a check. The info you need to send the check is on the site.

You can click on this link: Donors Choose to go right to the proposal.

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Doctor Who?

I often wonder about the meaning or origin of certain words. It cracks me up that some of the kids at school call me "Mrs. Doctor Mehigh". The word "doctor" is used in our culture for a medical practitioner (m.d.) as well as someone who is an expert in their field of study (PhD like me). Some kids actually think that since my handle is "doctor" that I am somehow competent to treat their ills, sprains, and other boo-boos.

So where does the term "doctor" come from?

I used the "The Oxford English Dictionary" [OED] which is kind of like the Bible for those of us interested in etymology (meaning of words). Here is what I found.

The earliest use of "doctor" in WRITTEN English was in 1303, but the term applied to "doctors of the Church," meaning "learned men in the scriptures."

It was not until 1377 that it was used in the sense of "medical doctor," or one who treats illnesses or diseases.


The entry from the OED above traces the word's origin -- from the Old French "doctor" from the Latin "doctor," meaning "teacher." And that noun came from the verb "docre" which meant "to teach."

So if we go with the original Latin, it seems like all of my teacher colleagues should be called "doctor". Wonder if we did call teachers this if we'd make more money? Or get the respect we deserve? hahahahahah

I think if you put the m.d. together with the "teacher" you will probably have the best type of medical practitioner. One who listens to a patient and teaches them how to stay healthy. Just my opinion.