New study shows college students lack common skills

[monolith94]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Arts students This never happens with those who do science/numerate disciplies...

Prejudice - . I and all of my humanities-major friends know how to do all of these tasks with ease.

[Provost Harrison]

You must have used the spellcheck for that post

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Agathon

Education would be better served if we simply abolished fees and gave the faculty back the power to fail people who don't work or who should really be somewhere else. It would also be better served if students didn't have to work 20+ hours a week to make ends meet instead of studying.
.

I worked 20+ hours a week through both my degrees and still managed to play sports and get good grades so I don't think a little work should ruin things; I actually think that, generally, people who pay part of their own way, work harder and appreciate their education more.

A more marginal student may have a tougher time if they need to work but in fairness, agathon, you KNOW that many of your students don't crack a book for weeks.

[Flubber]

Regarding credit card offers . ..

I'm a lawyer and I have to read those things two-three times to understand them. They purposely try to confuse things with ambiguous language so that you don't realize that the introductory interest rate only applies if you complete your form in Latin and it is received on a Tuesday.

Seriously, the offers are written so you think its a better deal than it actually is. Once you read the details, you will find that the introductory rate applies to very little.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Agathon
None of this surprises me.

Because of our new right wing overlords, colleges are compelled to treat students as customers instead of students.

Education would be better served if we simply abolished fees and gave the faculty back the power to fail people who don't work or who should really be somewhere else. It would also be better served if students didn't have to work 20+ hours a week to make ends meet instead of studying.

U of T isn't that bad because it tends not to admit the real dunderheads, but smaller colleges have a terrible time of it.

Back in the really good old days students paid their course fees directly to their professors, who rented their lecture halls from the university. This might either encourage quality teaching, or might worsen grade - inflation.

I do pre - ROTC exams. The examinees are required to answer in writing questions about their past and present health. I am struck by how many of the applicants are unable to organize a few sentences to describe recent personal experiences. I've also noticed that I the school the applicant graduated from makes a very big difference. I've noticed that graduates of military schools, even some of which supposedly have a good reputation for academics, have conspicuously poor writing skills.

[KrazyHorse]

Anybody who pays interest on a credit card balance is a sucker anyway.

My credit card sends me free **** (~50$ a year) and I don't pay them any interest at all.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Anybody who pays interest on a credit card balance is a sucker anyway.

True-- I only ever pay interest on my mortgage and my line of credit

But the point stands . .. the offer brochures generally imply things that are just not supported by the legalese.

I know I know--you are all just SHOCKED beyond belief

[Barinthus]

<--- A Sucker.

How do you get out of paying interest on your credit card?

[Asher]

1) Spend only what you can pay off at the end of the month.
2) Or, set up a line of credit through your bank and use that to pay off your credit card balance at the end of the month.

[C0ckney]

or better yet, don't have a credit card.

[Asher]

Nonsense, if you use your creditcard properly it's awesome. Not just for ordering things online, but for getting free stuff.

Over the past two years, I've accumulated 678,095 "pcpoints" through my Mastercard. This equates to $678 at any "Loblaws"-owned stores in Canada (grocery stores, "Superstore" (like walmart), etc). I can also transfer the points to be good for The Bay (a department store) or Petro-Canada (a gas station).

And I don't pay any fee for the thing, nor do I pay interest on it. And it's boosting my credit rating.

Credit cards are good things.

[C0ckney]

well if you're happy with it then that's cool.

personally i don't really need a credit card and i prefer to use cash for everything anyway tbh.

[Asher]

So what? You don't have to use a credit card if you get it.

Are you familiar with credit history and why it is important?

Everyone should get one, even if they don't use it. Just make sure it's a no-fee card.

[Asher]

I actually have 3 different creditcards, but only use my main mastercard.

I have the Visa "just in case", and I've got another mastercard just 'cause I had it before my better PCMastercard.

Because I don't use them, they continually sending me offers for free stuff. I got free upgrades on all the cards if I ever do want to use them, they've sent me coupons to use and discounts for places like Amazon, etc.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Flubber


I worked 20+ hours a week through both my degrees and still managed to play sports and get good grades so I don't think a little work should ruin things; I actually think that, generally, people who pay part of their own way, work harder and appreciate their education more.

A more marginal student may have a tougher time if they need to work but in fairness, agathon, you KNOW that many of your students don't crack a book for weeks.

They aren't stupid. They know that the university will jump on us if we fail more than a certain percentage of students (you have to submit a grade count -- I did last week). Since this percentage is usually covered by the people who don't hand in all the work, people who hand in a bunch of crap know that they will probably pass.

We simply no longer have the power to mass fail students, and they know it.

There are a few professors who buck the trend, like my dissertation supervisor. He won't take any crap at all, but he has tenure and a habit of telling university officials to get ****ed if they don't like it. I TAed for him a few times and did a few lectures when he was away. It was a refreshing experience.