---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 13:47:45 -0500 (EST)
From: Cherryl Ann Premdass <cap202 at is5.nyu.edu>
To: Neva Morales <nmorales at acsu.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Re: spelling....knowledge (fwd)
Hey be my guess and send it, by the way I did ask you for the infor on
that!
On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, Neva Morales wrote:
> wonderful words of wisdom!....you should be part of this bioserver!
>> On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, Cherryl Ann Premdass wrote:
>> > She makes an interesting point-that education is currently being look upon
> > as a privelege of the rich. Unfortunately, on many levels that is true.
> > Just take for instance the collosal cost of graduate education. In light
> > of that, I still feel that those that frown upon well-educated individual
> > are (1) covertly envious of their achievement or (2) envious of the wealth
> > that is stereotypically associated with that education.
> >
> > The truth of the matter is, there is a major percentage of graduate
> > students who are not finacial secure, but see education as a bridge not
> > only to intellectual strength, but finacial security.
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, Neva Morales wrote:
> >
> > > i thought this was a little interesting.
> > >
> > > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > > Date: 17 Nov 1997 07:40:03 -0800
> > > From: Julia Frugoli <JFRUGOLI at bio.tamu.edu>
> > > To: womenbio at net.bio.net> > > Subject: Re: spelling....knowledge
> > >
> > > (SNIP)
> > > >
> > > >And so we have students who are only interested in material they are
> > > >going
> > > >to be graded on. And students who can't spell or put a sentence
> > > >together
> > > >because they don't read on their own anymore. They don't read and
> > > >therfore can't write. And most infuriating of all, they are not
> > > >students
> > > >at college, feeling priviledged for being there---they are consumers
> > > >shelling out big bucks for an education; their professors are education
> > > >providers in the way doctors and nurses are health-care providers. As
> > > >such they feel completely free to demand maximum quality for their
> > > >buck.
> > > >And to their way of thinking, this means being able to call a professor
> > > >and leave the message that they would like him to return their call!
> > > >They
> > > >feel completely at ease holding a TA responsible for their own bad
> > > >grades
> > > >on an exam or a lab report. They feel that if they failed to perform
> > > >well, then it is the problem of the provider, that the provider did not
> > > >do
> > > >his or her job, and that they, as consumers, have every right to demand
> > > >better performance.
> > > >
> > > >I am not sure what the answer is. How do you instill a love of
> > > >learning?
> > > >I don't know but I think that even in the last 10 years, we've gone a
> > > >long
> > > >way towards losing whatever instilled it in the first place. I'd love
> > > >to
> > > >hear from people as to how they think it might be possible to make it
> > > >cool
> > > >to be an intellectual again. How do you make it cool to be well-read,
> > > >to
> > > >have a great vocabulary? When did being well-eduacted and literate
> > > >become
> > > >intellectual snobbery? And how do we turn that around?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > Alice
> > > >
> > > IMHO-
> > >
> > > The problem comes from the way colleges today attract students. We tell
> > > students that a college education gets them a good job. Few come to
> > > learn; they come so they can earn more money. Pre-meds used to be the
> > > worst because they came to college only to get to medical school; now
> > > they are joined by pre-law,business and engineering majors who only
> > > want to get that job... Colleges send out brochures telling how
> > > successful their alumni are, and so the process of higher education is
> > > seen not as a priviledge one earns and can lose, but as a service one
> > > pays for. I certainly support the ideal of higher education being
> > > accessible to all, but when I look at some of my husbands' students at a
> > > public institution, who 35 years ago couldn't even have gotten into
> > > college because their ability to read is questionable, I wonder if we're
> > > doing them any favors. They don't care-it's just a stop along the way
> > > to the job that will buy them the car and the stereo 2 levels above the
> > > one they own now. And they certainly don't improve much over the
> > > course of 4 years in reading/writing ability (one can get into some
> > > Texas colleges without even passing the TAAS test-a basic test for high
> > > school graduation that it suppossed to measure the ability to read and
> > > write at the 12th grade level. Interestingly, one can also teach high
> > > school in Texas without being able to pass this test, but that's
> > > another thread....) It makes the degree more and more meaningless.
> > >
> > > This is not to disparage the gems of students both my husband and I
> > > have seen over the years. There will always be people who love to
> > > learn. As long as they get the same "reward" (grade, diploma) as those
> > > who couldn't care less, I think we all feel "something's rotten in
> > > Denmark."
> > >
> > > We turn out "college graduates" who can't read, write, do math, or
> > > seperate psuedoscience from fact because of the pressure to produce a
> > > product-a graduate. As long as academia at the administrative level
> > > consciously or unconsciously sells education this way, things won't
> > > change.
> > >
> > > Way too cynical for a Monday morning,
> > > *****************************************************
> > > Julia Frugoli
> > > Dartmouth College
> > >
> > > visiting grad student at
> > > Texas A&M University
> > > Department of Biological Sciences
> > > College Station, TX 77843
> > > 409-845-0663
> > > FAX 409-847-8805
> > >
> > > "Evil is best defined as militant ignorance."
> > > Dr. M. Scott Peck*****************************************************
> > >
> > >
> >
>>
