Marathons and Fundraising

Many volunteer groups use marathons to raise money. I can understand big corporations donating money to the runners so people can associate some sort of goodwill with the company which is eventually profitable for the company. I'm assuming the runners wear some sort of label indicating where they got their money from. But why would individuals want to donate money when they know only part of it goes towards the cause the volunteers are running for (which I assume is more than personal gratification)? For the uninitiated, volunteer groups hire the services of a coach (and probably equipment etc). So you begin with a deficit - you have to pay the coach, who is hired for a period of about 6 months - which is not a small amount. So if I donate some money, I know part of it goes to paying this coach's salary. I'd rather just donate the whole amount directly to the organization than to the runner. But oddly enough groups do manage to raise quite a bit of money from friends, relatives etc. And the reason I think this is, is because the donors don't know that part of their money goes to the coach. They are blissfully oblivious to the way these things work. And maybe they don't care. Maybe they donate purely because they want to support their friend/relative and the whole donating for a cause is just a bonus. Who knows?  

music videos

Its been really long since I've seen music videos. Both MTV and VH1 have more "behind the music" stuff these days. And not to mention the countless pointless reality shows. Yahoo launchcast is apparently good, but I haven't tried it personally as it works only on windows. Today I found this video blog on blogger, thanks to yahoo! Everyday there is a link to one video, something from current artists. Its pretty neat, and hopefully will introduce me to some nice music. btw, doesn't the lead singer from the cardigans(nina something) look so much like kirsten dunst?

International Student Application

International students make up quite a large fraction of the graduate student population at most US universities. There are currently two stages in the graduate school admission process for international students. First you get admission into a university, second you need to get admitted into the country i.e. you need a student visa. The first notification comes about 2 months before you graduate from undergrad. The second comes a few days before you are ready to leave for the US, usually a couple of months after graduation. Getting a student visa has become increasingly difficult over the past few years and this current system needs to change. The second part of the admission process can and should be carried out ahead of time. There are already links in place between the university and the USCIS (at least that's what it used to be called), through the SEVIS system which allows the govt to track every international student in the US. Once the university is ready to offer admission, it should just forward the required details to the relevant immigration office to make sure the person can get a visa. It could possibly forward to the local consulate and have them process the application ahead of time. This way the student knows well ahead of time whether or not s/he will be able to pursue higher education in the US and make plans accordingly. Moreover, the university knows ahead of time whether the student will able to come or not. This can close the gap between number of admissions offered and number of students who actually show up.