CU's Skorton talks higher ed on Al Jazeera America

• President says college worth the cost but could be more efficient.

Cornell University President David Skorton is scheduled to be a guest on "Talk to Al Jazeera" with host Ali Velshi at 5 p.m. Saturday on the cable news network Al Jazeera America.

Skorton is on to discuss higher education. According to Al Jazeera, he'll assert that higher education is worth the costs, though schools need to be run more efficiently. He'll also weigh in on skill training versus traditional education.

Skorton announced this spring he will leave Cornell to lead the Smithsonian Institution in at the end of the 2014-2015 academic year. A cardiologist and musician — he plays the saxophone — Skorton also has spoken out on suicide prevention.

Al Jazeera America is on channel 210 on Time Warner Cable of Ithaca, 347 on Directv and 215 on the Dish Network.

Skorton will be the second Ithaca-area leader to appear on a national television news program this year. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick was on the roundtable segment of NBC's "Meet the Press" March 30, discussing Democratic politics, challenges to cities of all sizes, and touting Ithaca's young talent pool.

"Talk to Al Jazeera" is a 30-minute interview program of one-on-one conversations, one guest per episode.

Skorton was interviewed in the network's New York studios.

According to a partial transcript provided by the network, Skorton talks about how colleges and universities could reduce student costs perhaps by collaborating more. Institutions should promote diversity but also success of students from various backgrounds by improving supports for first-generation students, he says. And Skorton endorses the idea of the national educational standards known as the Common Core but suggests their implementation could be improved.

"I, for one, think it's reasonable to find a way to do the Common Core standards or something like the Common Core standards the right way so that people feel good about it," Skorton tells Velshi. "We want to make sure that where our child is born, the neighborhood that he or she grows up in, doesn't determine what the outcome of that child's education is."

Asked about Cornell installing suicide means barriers on bridges, Skorton calls for mental health parity in insurance and mental-health intervention to prevent suicides.

He also offers a bit of his upbringing and personal life, including playing the saxophone, and his impending new job with the Smithsonian.

"Talk to Al Jazeera" with host Ali Velshi airs at 5 p.m. Saturday. Al Jazeera America is on channel 210 on Time Warner Cable of Ithaca, 347 on Directv and 215 on the Dish Network.