Posted on 10/30/2022 8:30:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
College is big business, and one of the few that enable lazy people (teachers) to make a good salary. Course decisions are based upon that.
I was a Chem major taking organic chemistry back in the early Eighties after I got out of the USN.
We had 8 students in our class, which is good, but our professor was a POS.
She was a dedicated Democrat, married to a Democrat Supreme Court judge in our state (or so I was told-I can’t find his name, but that doesn’t mean much-she was the type to keep her own name). She vaguely resembled Ruth Bader Ginsberg, with none of the charm and a surfeit of malice.
She didn’t teach the course. She would have us read the textbook in class, then go up to the board and answer questions. While we were reading, she would balance her checkbook. She did a lot of checkbook balancing.
So, based on reading the book, she would compel you to answer questions, which due to the lack of instruction, few could answer correctly. She was rude, and humiliated and insulted people who were sent to the board.
We went en masse to the chair of the department who was competent and an engaged professor, nice guy, be he wasn’t going to address the issue, so we went to the Dean. He told us there was nothing he could do.
It made us pretty angry. We weren’t looking to just “get over”. We all wanted to learn, but she wasn’t interested in teaching. And learning a subject like that strictly from reading a text book and absorbing what you could from the abuse as you stood in front of the chalkboard was a poor substitute for an engaged teacher.
When we had our final, she left the class and didn’t come back except to collect the tests. We all cheated on that test. As soon as she left, we all looked at each other, and in unison, pulled out our text books and worked the problems together. It was the only test I ever cheated on, and I didn’t regret it one bit.
I had more trouble with Physical Chemistry, but the Chair of the department taught that one, and he was a good and compassionate teacher. He helped me learn enough to pass that course. He recognized I was struggling and offered to help me. That is what a professor should do.
I still have my Morrison and Boyd, 3rd edition, from when I took organic chemistry in 1974. Took a look at it just now, and can’t believe I ever once knew even a fraction of all that. I see that it cost all of $17.95 new then.
I had a calculus instructor that way. Kids would walk into class and see him and then would leave and rearrange their schedules. I stayed with him and learned a lot. He was tough but good at teaching.
Fifty years on, I still remember a couple of the quotes from that book.
Talking about enantiomers: "Everything, except of course a vampire, has a mirror image."
Talking about synthesis: "The manufacture of soap is one of the oldest of chemical syntheses. It is not nearly so old as the synthesis of alcohol, however. Man's desire for cleanliness is much newer than his desire for drunkeness."
The problem is that they want the prestige and pay of a medical degree but the education of a ditch digger. Idiocracy was prophecy.
The two local state universities basically allow anyone with the money to get in. As a result a very large percentage of them flunk out in the first semester or two. Also the two classes that have the most time slots are remedial math and remedial English. They aren’t prepared for college and should never have been admitted.
” I considered taking it to my shooting range once but decided against such. He became once an adversary and now an old friend.”
Some say ‘If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger.’
I have heard enough of combatants from WWII, Guadalcanal, European, North African theaters, meet their former foes in friendly social settings and get along very well. It is a mark of maturity and growth to be able to do so.
In 10 years or so? We’ve seen it in the last two years.
The 7th edition is listed at $525.19 on Amazon, but cheaper versions are available (Kindle, paperback, used, etc.).
Organic Chemistry, 7th Edition Textbook Binding – January 1, 2010
I just remembered. When I took organic at the beginning of the first class, the professor sat on the edge of the stage and said, “They say organic chemistry is Hell, Well, think of me as your Dante.” I got a C in the class.
That is why she left the class.
Yeah, I looked around a little online this morning and saw that. I don’t know if it’s the actual bookstore price, though. Still, textbook prices are astounding today compared to when I was in school.
One of my brothers married a girl from a major textbook-publishing family. I’ve been giving her grief about gouging starving students for decades now.
They still have to get through everything else to have DR in front of their name
In her case, it wasn’t unanimous. There were 82 out of 350...in our case, it was 8 out of 8!
LOL, so THAT’S what happens in colleges these days!
You obviously paid attention in class. A for you.
Nursing school was tough, any score below 80% on any quiz, test, or practical could get you thrown out of the program. Best case you had a corrective interview with the Dept. Head.
Worst case you were advised to go to another major.
My corrective interview came on a drug quiz concerning pediatric patients. I did pass in 2011 and have been a Nurse as a second career . ( My first was Aerospace, then Medical manufacturing engineering). The kind of Nursing I do now, Pediatric Outpatient, and no matter how long I have a patient, I review the Meds,dosage, administration times, and any other prior notes every shift that I start, because the standard is 100% in the real world.
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