Student Bloopers in A Class by Themselves

Washington Post ^ | 12/22/2001 | Ken Ringle

[freesia2]

Prof. Anders Henriksson wants you to know that college kids today aren't necessarily stupider or less informed than they were 30 years ago, and he offers as a Christmas stocking stuffer an improbable book full of proof.

The volume is "Non Campus Mentis": non sequiturs, faux facts and boneheaded statements gleaned from three decades of student tests and papers at universities and colleges across North America. It has inched its way onto the New York Times miscellaneous bestseller list. And it certainly is miscellaneous.

[freesia2]

Just in case my intentions aren't clear, this is posted to give you a laugh. It is not a thread concerned with the miserable failure of our schools. (If you want to talk about that, try the Philadelphia schools thread.)

This is hilarious and worth a click. Enjoy. :D

[real saxophonist]

I just think it's funny this appeared in the Post.

[timm22]

Those quotes are funny, but I don’t think they are indicative of a failure in schools. Most of them just look like simple misspellings or jokes by the students.

[Squantos]

"Zorroastrologism was founded by Zorro. This was a duelist religion."

My favorite :o) Good fun read.....Stay Safe !

[Helix]

That's funny. It reminds me of the time when my daughter, who was about five, was watching a show about dogs. She came running into the kitchen all excited about a boy who had saved his dog from choking by using the "hind licker" maneuver. I laughed till I cried.

[freesia2]

I don't think so either, and yes, I thought some of them were intended to be funny. For instance, this one:

Moses was told by Jesus Christ to lead the people out of Egypt into the Sahaira [sic] Desert. The Book of Exodus describes this trip . . . including the Ten Commandments, various special effects and the building of the Suez Canal.

[freesia2]

Love it! "Hind licker" maneuver. LOLOL

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. Here's an easy link:

Student Bloopers in A Class by Themselves

[EODGUY]

I fondly recall taking many "blue book" final essay exams and including some pretty bizarre and repetitive information. Of course that was only for the professors who graded exam booklets "by the pound".

[sweetliberty]

" Most of them just look like simple misspellings or jokes by the students."

No way!! You ever watch Leno's jaywalking segments? There are some seriously clueless college students out there.

The article was funny, but its still sad.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL!:

"Zorroastrologism was founded by Zorro. This was a duelist religion."

"During the Dark Ages it was mostly dark."

"I remember the very moment I started collecting this stuff," Henriksson says. "I really ought to blame it on my wife. I was a teaching assistant in Toronto grading about 500 papers on Machiavelli. She heard me laughing from the other room and asked what was so funny, and when I told her she said, 'You have to save that.' "

A student had written: "Machiavelli, who was often unemployed, wrote 'The Prince' to get a job with Richard Nixon."

[Pharmboy]

My kids had to run into the room to see what I was laughing about when I read the one about "The French and Indian War." Thanks for sharing--this is a HOOT! How can these kids be so ignorant?? (And by the way, the City University of NY doesn't surprise me--open enrollment, you know).

[real saxophonist]

Well, these are true, though not from college students: A caller to one of those newspaper call-in lines, where they publish the comments, said Cleopatra was African-American. So I called and said wait a minute, there was no America when Cleopatra lived, how could she be African-American? Wasn't she Egyptian? Wouldn't that make her African-Egyptian? Wait - Egypt is in Africa - So she's African-African? My comments were not published.

Also heard on the radio the other day that Kofi Annan is African-American.

[Missus]

A good friend of mine is a professor at a local university; she shared one from the final creative writing project of her 200-level class.

"She was distracted by the scent of his colon."

Ahem. Cologne Although the other would be distracting, too.

Regards, and Merry Christmas!

[hattend]

stupider

Isn't it "more stupid"?

[chainsaw]

Those quotes are funny, but I don’t think they are indicative of a failure in schools. Most of them just look like simple misspellings or jokes by the students.

If you read the history books used in the the public school system over the last 20-30 years, you will find that what these students are saying is what they learned in school.

[freesia2]

It is. I didn't write that, did I?

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL!

[contessa machiaveli]

i'm sure there are many bloopers made by wacsog. if in fact he even made it to high school.

[freesia2]

"Zorroastrologism was founded by Zorro. This was a duelist religion."

My favorite :o)

I loved that one. Clever answer.