Who Is College Material?

American Spectator ^ | 9.28.09 | Mark Goldblatt

[HeadOn]

See my post 100. I’m sure there are exceptions. Maybe I’ve been working for them!

[DannyTN]

"Storage of facts is not equal to "literacy". Wanting to know, knowing where to look, and having the inner drive to do so are the rootstocks of literacy..."

I think we are confusing the definition of literacy.

lit⋅er⋅a⋅cy –noun

• 1. the quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write.
• 2. possession of education: to question someone's literacy.
• 3. a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field: to acquire computer literacy.

  The author uses definition 1, he contrasts students in remedial english vs honors english.

  You appear to be going beyond definition 3, in this case American History literacy. But your definition goes beyond, to elements of wisdom, sagacity, astuteness and motivation.

  I would never use the word literacy to encompass everything you've described.

  And I would take issue with the premises that unmotivated people should be considered illiterate and are not worthy of college. If they can pass the tests, their motivation of extracurricular knowledge is their own issue. But I also think good educators can and should inspire a thirst for learning.

[TXnMA]

"Wanting to know, knowing where to look, and having the inner drive to do so are the rootstocks prerequisites for attaining literacy..."

Better?

I was not defining literacy; I was emphasizing the personality factors that facilitate achieving it. Face it; some folks are handicapped in those areas. And others have been culturally brainwashed into believing that they are (or, that it is "cool" to be) so handicapped.

IMHO, motivation is paramount. Some are motivated; some lack motivation; and there are some whose culture demotivates them. The latter represent a true tragedy.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

Anyone who can read and understand any of his books has a good, if not excellent, grasp of the English language and will be successful in other endeavours.

I hope you're right! :-) Good for your daughter! I love to hear of kids who read--and read good books!

[DB]

Unfortunately as MS Windows has changed over the years it is getting more and more difficult to continue to use my old software tools. One of my first major software tools I wrote back in the 80’s was a linear circuit analysis program. The core of it was written in assembly language to take full advantage of Intel's new math coprocessor - the 8087. It increased the speed by around 8 times over just using the normal 8086 CPU.

So, ya, I guess I'm “old school”... ;-)