DISQUS

Well, now I really can't decide whether to see it! I never watched the cartoon, and it sounds like the movie would make me motion-sick... I don't know why Hollywood seems to think that's a selling point.

hee!
I think that the point he should really be making is that many of the folks in his class are being asked to study something which has nothing to do with their jobs, using skills they don't have and which are also not relevant to their jobs.

Unfortunately, he obliquely skids past that point. He (or, of course, she - about which matter I don't have an opinion) mentions that many of the students are ill-prepared, find the material boring and the assignments way over their heads, and then... veers off into a lengthy anecdote about a woman who can't and won't actually live in reality or communicate about her schoolwork. And then zooms back near the point just in time for some rhetorical hoo-ha about whether or not doctors and cab drivers should have to read [insert socially progressive classic novel here].

The author tries to frame the argument as if it's about whether these folks should have to have college credits to do their jobs, but then makes all the actual points about things like whether they have the skills necessary. Ms. L. doesn't know how to use the internet or interpret an assignment or talk to human beings. Young police officers to be are bored by classic literature. Most of these students never took any extracurriculars and got bad grades. Blah blah freaking blah.

I'd say that the essay almost accidentally exposes some real issues. For example, I'll bet you fifty dollars that at least half of the students involved, here and in similar situations, have undiagnosed and untreated learning disorders of some kind. Ms. L, for one, clearly has some serious problems which go farther than that. There simply needs to be much wider awareness of these issues and more resources devoted to training teachers to notice them and to getting students the help they need. It's a problem which is slowly getting solved, too slowly for my taste. (And slowly enough that it apparently doesn't even occur to the author.)

Then, of course, there's the introduced and sort of forgotten problem of bizarre job requirements. I'd like to see a lot more jobs ask for evidence of skill and experience in the place of high school and college degrees. My girlfriend currently works as a cataloging librarian, with 7 or 8 years of experience in the same job; even so, and even though they value her and she is very good at what she does, it was like pulling teeth for her to get them to give her a raise. For years, they maintained that they couldn't give her a raise without promoting her and couldn't promote her any further unless she got a degree in library science. This despite the fact that I know people with degrees in library science, and what they cover in their brief study of cataloging is nothing compared to what she has learned in years of hands-on work.

I'd say that one aspect of both problems is just bureaucracy. It's easier for organizations to "standardize" things by saying, oh, everyone needs a college degree for these jobs, or a related one, or to take X college credits, than to look into what each job requires and what would actually make someone better at it. And it's easier for schools to overlook any problems students are having unless they are hideously obvious.

I don't think it's reasonable to say that college is a waste of time for these people, either. If they can take some classes and get promoted or get the job they want, then it's helped them. If they learn from it that they are not able to do the kind of work they are expected (like Ms. L, who is clearly not going to be able to succeed in many fields, and might as well learn that here - but won't) then it's helped them find out they need to change fields or get help of some kind.

What Professor X really wants, clearly, is to teach people who go to college just for the joy of learning, and to claim that that's the only real purpose of college and it's a waste of time if that's not your interest. Because if that were true, then maybe MAGICALLY
Professor X would end up teaching students who are excited about analyzing poetry. And apparently, X doesn't want to do anything else to fix the "screw ups" that have gotten him or her into this "mess" today.

well of course there is... both the piercing and the pub were named after the prince.

Damn. And here I would have sworn that you were making all those up....

educational as always ;)

dude, right? it's almost always more fun. the original Mario games did a good job with their crappy little short gambling games... it was a nice break but after awhile anyone who didn't qualify for Gamblers Anonymous was ready to move on!

wow. that got grim!!

and thank god we can celebrate him during his lifetime! let's hear it for smitty!

I have a friend who lives for fashion, and is the only person I know who reviews films based on the costume design.

I smell a guest post!!! Please?

I'm already enjoying the photoshop action, but I'm waiting for someone to 'shop a headset or ipod onto that thing.

man, people bring a lot of weird rage issues to this blog.

I think I need to make stickers that say "STOP! Here Mind Disappears Up Rectum!"

Forgotten and unloved?! Did other people not grow up on Technicolor and colorized musicals from thirty or forty years before?? And the Warner Brothers cartoons with Bing-like birds and things?

Ahhhhh... firm, steely-eyed genius.

that would be great. it combines news and comedy!

/laughing hysterically at work/

I have decided that it is not sad that I know all this stuff and can say "Yes!! Yes! That's TRUE! Master Splinter totally liked him best! Gosh, and he was so serious and DREAMY...." but that it in fact shows a well-developed young imagination and attention to detail.

This is so true. I don't want small talk, I want you to watch where you put your scissors!

As someone who lives about ten or fifteen blocks away, I'd say that looks about right.

I love this election for the same reason, for the excitement of seeing that the Democratic candidate at least will inevitably be either a person of color or a woman. And I loved it a lot more before Hillary brought racism into it and before some of her high-profile supporters started trying to claim that only Hillary had any barriers to becoming President....

what I love about this: it's like the distillation of the spirit of every post. It's the Uber-Videogamey!

is this not the cutest theme ever? i love the ladybug!
my favorite is the one she's using, which i guess is a modification of one of her themes. I spent some time trying to get mine to look like hers, but then I got frustrated and found one that worked better for me. but someday I expect I will get the one up that has teeny adorable photos in it!

Danica's last blog post..Sunday Salon: The Number (and the number of books in my house!)

OH MY GOD how cute is that digital scrapbooking stuff? I was skeptical at first but this is adorable! the only sad part is no cute 3-d stickers!

Danica's last blog post..Sunday Salon: Rallies and rats

Can you manipulate it by repeatedly entering and exiting the GameStop until the majority of the games and peripherals are used? Let's see some independent research!

I love how challenging something so simple is....

There's probably a really deep life lesson in here somewhere. Maybe "Don't drink beverages with barely a 2.0 GPA."