Posted on 05/09/2011 5:23:47 PM PDT by jazusamo
One of the sad and dangerous signs of our times is how many people are enthralled by words, without bothering to look at the realities behind those words.
One of those words that many people seldom look behind is "education." But education can cover anything from courses on nuclear physics to courses on baton twirling.
Unfortunately, an increasing proportion of American education, whether in the schools or in the colleges and universities, is closer to the baton twirling end of the spectrum than toward the nuclear physics end. Even reputable colleges are increasingly teaching things that students should have learned in high school.
We don't have a backlog of serious students trying to take serious courses. If you look at the fields in which American students specialize in colleges and universities, those fields are heavily weighted toward the soft end of the spectrum.
When it comes to postgraduate study in tough fields like math and science, you often find foreign students at American universities receiving more of such degrees than do Americans.
A recent headline in the Chronicle of Higher Education said: "Master's in English: Will Mow Lawns." It featured a man with that degree who has gone into the landscaping business because there is no great demand for people with Master's degrees in English.
Too many of the people coming out of even our most prestigious academic institutions graduate with neither the skills to be economically productive nor the intellectual development to make them discerning citizens and voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
You know what would really make a difference? Let college loan people decide whether or not to make a loan based on a course of study. They can stop loaning to people who aren’t going to pay them back like Slovakian Folk Dance Studies majors, and give money to engineers instead.
That sounds like a great plan to me.
“So he went back to school and became a very respected professor with a PhD in statistics. Needless to say, he hates Bush.”
I think the Bush hatred is what advances you along in the groves of the academy.
“This test is not an easy one.”
Ummm.....I don’t know what to say. It’s only ten questions, and IMO people should answer 4,000 questions like this just to eligible to vote.
“You answered 10 out of 10 correctly — 100.00 %”
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