Fast Food for the Brain

Network for Learning offers a rich menu for laymen on the run

"Take a spoon, dip it in hot water, and then press it to your creamed face, gently, never pulling the skin, and iron the wrinkles away," explains a middle-aged instructor, demonstrating with a spoon. Thirty-five women and two men watch attentively during the 2 1/2-hour class in a Manhattan high school. The students, who range from an attractive redhead in her 20s to an actor in his 50s, also learn that steeped camomile tea bags applied under the eyes prevent pouches, dry oatmeal helps preserve a youthful complexion, and a postage stamp stuck on the forehead is a good reminder not to frown. And those are only a few of the face-saving tips suggested in a course titled "Wrinkles, Wrinkles, Wrinkles," one of 168 offered this month by a trend-setting new continuing education program, Network for Learning.

There was a time when Grandmother dispensed advice for getting rid of wrinkles. But in an era of increasing specialization, such simple, homespun arts have become the domain of a select few--to say nothing of newer skills needed to cope with daily life. What, for example, is the difference between a Treasury bond and a Treasury certificate, or a condominium and a cooperative apartment? Whether the subject is glamour or gold, condos or coops, Network for Learning provides the answers, enlisting experts to explain esoterica in layman's language. Says Jeffrey Hollender, 26, executive director of Network: "We've expanded the bounds of traditional adult education." One of his instructors puts it more succinctly: "We're the fast food of education." The menu offers two entrees: a "one-night stand," running 2 1/2 to three hours straight, or four two-hour sessions spread over a month. Average cost: $35 per course.

An enterprising student who started a window-washing business at age 14 and never finished college, Hollender was fascinated by the notion of a "skills exchange," suggested in Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society. He put the radical education idea into practice in Toronto in 1977; that nonprofit institution now has 30,000 students a year. Then in 1979 he rounded up $60,000 and opened for business in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. From an initial enrollment of 400 in its first month, Network has grown to 4,000 students a month so far this year.

Network's phenomenal success is due, in large measure, to Hollender's shrewd ability to live off the fad of the land. Network offers a class, for instance, on how to crack crossword puzzles. Gourmets can learn to concoct Japanese raw fish delights or cook a vegetarian Chinese dinner. Singles can practice "Love Strategies for the Successful Woman" and find "Fifty Ways to Meet Your Lover." Those interested in other figures can learn how to incorporate their own businesses, make investments under $2,000 and even read the financial page of a newspaper. People who want to see the world on $15 a day are counseled by Travel Writer Arthur Frommer. John Rand, vice president of the advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather, teaches a class in writing ad copy.

At the start Hollender was as relentless in recruiting instructors as he is in attracting students. He would walk into a gourmet shop and ask the owner to teach a course in opening a food store. But today experts come to him asking to teach; he accepts only 10% to 15% of the applicants. Teachers earn an average of $30 to $40 an hour, and can make as much as $12,000 a year teaching one course a week. But for many the rewards are more than monetary. Says Rand: "Anyone who works hard all day and enrolls in this kind of course is not your usual student. The caliber is fascinating."

Last year Network grossed $1.5 million, and Hollender now plans to expand by including other cities (possibilities: Hartford, Conn., and London). He also nourishes hopes of breaking into the new cable TV market. Says the youthful entrepreneur: "Running Network is as close to becoming a college president as I ever want to be."

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