GAH!

Although I am a firm believer that people should always attempt to educate themselves, I have must state that I am TIRED of ignorant people wasting my time.

It is one thing for someone to simply not be aware of a topic, and need some assistance to grasp the concept; that's what teachers are for.

Some people have difficulty grasping concepts and need additional help to make the connections that others seem to make more easily; that is what tutors are for.

It is another thing entirely for someone to:

• A) Not know something,
• B) Refuse to put forth the effort to learn it.
• C) Fail to apply it.
• D) Fabricate reasons why they don't / can't learn.
  
• E) Expect you to pass them because "they're just not getting it".

I believe that this all stems from the idea "no child left behind". I understand that children should not be left behind and perpetually set back in grade until you're left with an eighteen year old adult with the reading skills of a fourth-grader. Once you remove the ramifications of not-studying, applying your knowledge, etc. (they can't fail me), why should the child put forth any effort at all?

One of my students, a non-traditional student who is apparently a grandmother, believes that college should be just like the school where her grand babies go. If she doesn't pass an exam, she wants to re-take it, over and over again, until she does. Apparently this is a common technique in the public school system (though I don't know what grade) where her grandchild attends. She, the non-trad student (AKA "THAT student"), assumes that all education systems are like this and that if she just continually walks around clueless that she'll get passed because people are tired of looking at her.

Here's the kicker, she's on something called "Financial Aid Probation". Essentially, she has failed so many times previously, that the University (or the State / Fed) is going to suspend her Financial Aid unless she can pull her grades up. I agree with the idea that people who aren't getting the grades shouldn't be able to pull down thousands and thousands of dollars (and most likely not paying them back) - potentially removing funding from those people who -are- making the grade. So this student is faced with a challenge, pass your classes or loose your money.

She is in both my Intro to Sociology and my Intro to Criminology course. It turns out that she was in my Intro to Psychology course last spring (and failed - but only by 5 points). This term she is failing again - not scoring higher than 50% on any of her exams and once she scored 34% OUT OF 100%.

Normally, I would have written her off as an Ashley and let her fail without a second thought. Since she is a non-trad (a category of students who usually out-perform my other students), I tried to give her a bit more attention hoping that she would be like my other non-trad students and really contribute to the class.

NOPE.

She realizes that she's failing and she's continually panicking about it. I usually receive between three to four emails from her at a time; usually within the scope of 10 minutes. They all say about the same thing, usually with more and more panic in her tone each time. She has probably accessed every help desk, tutor and resource at the university to help her improve her grades, but the reality is that she just doesn't have the academic tools to be in college at this time.

It's no great failure to say that a person is not ready...yet. Usually it's a matter of intellectual focus rather than sheer brain power, but a University should not be used as an alternative form of Unemployment / Welfare. A university is a place of learning, a sanctuary for academic achievement (cue monastic chants in the background with a subtle mix of "Georgetown" from St. Elmo's Fire), and most importantly a means to change your life.

Not everyone is ready to change how they think about the world or their place in it. Until they are ready, they should not be at College.

Have you Seen this?

I was watching a program on Discovery channel and saw an add for one of their series called: "The Colony".

From the site:

The Colony is a controlled experiment to see exactly what it would take to survive and rebuild under these circumstances. For 10 weeks, a group of 10 volunteers, whose backgrounds and expertise represent a cross-section of modern society, are isolated in an urban environment outside Los Angeles and tasked with creating a livable society.

With no electricity from the grid, no running water and no communication with the outside world, all the volunteers have to work with are their skills and whatever tools and supplies they can scavenge from their surroundings.

Experts from the fields of homeland security, engineering and psychology have helped design the world of The Colony to reflect elements from both real-life disasters and models of what the future could look like after a global viral outbreak.

Over the course of the 10-week experiment, the Colonists must work together to build the necessities of survival, such as a water-filtration system, a battery bank that powered their electricity, a solar cooker, a shower system and a greenhouse – and even some niceties (a coffee maker!).

Watch some of the episodes here.

Gamers, be warned...

...when the World Governments AGREE to build a Doomsday Seed Vault.

From Cnn:

A vast underground vault storing millions of seeds from around the world opened Tuesday in a mountain on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean.

Dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management.

Norwegian musicians performed Tuesday as part of an elaborate opening ceremony marking the opening of the vault, located 130 meters (427 feet) inside a frozen mountain. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, placed the first seeds inside the vault, followed by other dignitaries.

Anyone else a bit... unnerved by this announcement?

-Me

An Analog Revolution, Part 1

Letter writers use pen, paper to say it best
By KELLY W. BROWN

Most agree it is more satisfying reaching into a mailbox and finding a hand-written letter rather than just bills and junk mail. However, the age-old art of letter writing is dying.

In a 2006 survey, the U.S. Postal Service reports the average American household received one piece of personal correspondence a week. The trend has been in a steady decline since 1987, when the average home got two or three letters a week, the survey said.

But in Hattiesburg, letter-writing is alive and well.

"I think e-mail is fine ... but I just think that when you 'handwrite' a letter, it's so much more personal," said Anne Love, 67, of Hattiesburg. She said she began writing letters when she could barely write - her mother would write thank-you notes, and Love would copy them. Today, she said, she still writes at least one letter per day.

"I feel like I can say things more personally in a letter than I would on e-mail," she said. And, she pointed out, when you take the time to write and send a letter, people know how much you care for them.

"Acknowledging people is almost a lost art," she said, and when she writes to them, "It's almost like I have a mini-visit with them. I'm thinking of them when I address each card."

When one of her best friends was in the hospital with cancer, Love said she wrote her a note every day. She still has the scrapbook with the correspondence to her late friend. She also keeps in touch with childhood friends in the Delta, women from her church and anyone, she said, who needs encouragement.

"If you think someone's having a really hard time, or if something is going on where you would maybe feel uncomfortable saying something, it's never the wrong thing to write a note," she said.

Marcia Gatewood, 73, is a recipient of Love's letters and an avid letter writer. She started as a Memphis State University student in the early 1950s. She writes around three per week, sending notes of encouragement.

"I think you can just put your thoughts on a piece of paper, what's really on your mind and what you're really thinking about," she said. "I enjoy getting notes, so I figure people enjoy getting them, too."

What e-mail has in speed, she said, it lacks in style.

"I hope that note writing and letter writing are not dying arts. It is easy to sit down on the computer and write something quick, but to me it is not as personal," she said. "When you're writing a note, you're sharing your personality, and you don't do a lot of that with a computer."

Letter writing has a place in the American conscious, particularly for couples who were apart during wars and other separations. But even younger generations have relied on letters to bridge the gap.

Diane Eaves, etiquette consultant, said she exchanged letters with her husband, Thomas Eaves, while he was stationed in Taiwan during Vietnam War. She still is a "letter-writer."

"I love to write letters, I do, and I love to get letters," she said. "I really do think that it's just like a gift when you send a letter to somebody, because most of the time what do we get in the mail? Bills. It's fun to get a letter that you can read and re-read."