| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
richard
Location: Portage la Praire, Manitoba Age: 31 Gender: Male
|
 Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 7:20 pm Post subject: Redistribution of Wealth |
 |
|
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.
Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a good NDP-ER,
and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Conservative, a
feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she
had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor,
she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to
keep what he thought should be his. One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on
the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The
self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth
and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking her how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she
answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it
was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course
load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party
like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and
didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She
replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she
never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA . She is so popular on campus,
college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and
lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office
and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who
only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that
would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired
back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've
invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to
nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Conservative Party".
_________________
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Sponsor
|
Use PayPal to make regular monthly $20 donations to the free speech cause - quit any time! Or make a one time donation!
|
 |
 mynameishuynh
Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Total posts: 2207 Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 7:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| true story? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| proanti Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Total posts: 27 Location: Edmonton, AB Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 8:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| True or not, the dad has a good idea. If you're going to institute socialism, you might as well apply it to EVERYTHING. It would have the benefit of making socialism very unpalatable very quickly to students. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
richard
Location: Portage la Praire, Manitoba Age: 31 Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 8:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't know if its true, I just got it in my email. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Manganic
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Total posts: 1956 Location: Calgary, Alberta Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 8:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| richard wrote: | | I don't know if its true, I just got it in my email. |
Unfortunately, most college students are too stupid to understand it.
Bell curve, anyone?
_________________
"Every person's life is theirs by right. An individual's life can and must belong only to himself, not to any society or community, or he is then but a slave. No one can deny another person their right to their life, nor seize by force what is produced by someone else, because that is stealing their means to sustain their life. It is treason against mankind to hold a knife to a man's throat and dictate how he must live his life."
-- Terry Goodkind, Faith of the Fallen |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hunterofvoters
Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Total posts: 4525 Location: Edmonton Gender: Female
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 9:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Only way I passed calculus was because of the bell curve.
I like the point the Dad made, it's only a good thing as long as it doesn't affect you. True or not, it's a good representation of how what's good for the goose, is good for the gander, unless, your the gander.
_________________
One mind/voter at a time.
http://climbingoutofthedark.blogspot.com
Opinions posted on Free Dominion are those of the individual posters and are not necessarily the opinion of Free Dominion or its operators. Free Dominion does not advocate violence, hate speech or an overthrow of the government. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fabulous Fred
Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 9:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I hate the GPA and letter grading system. Are percentages just too hard to calculate? or are they too easily understood? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hunterofvoters
Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Total posts: 4525 Location: Edmonton Gender: Female
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 10:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Fabulous Fred wrote: | | I hate the GPA and letter grading system. Are percentages just too hard to calculate? or are they too easily understood? |
The problem is that bad prof's get bad marks so they need to equalize grades. Think about that next time you visit your doctor. Did he only pass because his marks were put on the bell curve? Scary!
_________________
One mind/voter at a time.
http://climbingoutofthedark.blogspot.com
Opinions posted on Free Dominion are those of the individual posters and are not necessarily the opinion of Free Dominion or its operators. Free Dominion does not advocate violence, hate speech or an overthrow of the government. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| TomFoolery Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Total posts: 5371
|
| Posted: 01/ 20/ 07 11:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think the bell curve was developed, in part to rank students relative to each other.
The other purpose is to removes, to a certain extent, the influence of the competance or incompetance of the instructor from the giving of grades equation.
Grades are a function of a number of very soft factors, so ranking students on some statistical basis is reasonable.
I have no particular issue with the system. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| PeedoffinBC Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Total posts: 1110 Location: Vancouver, BC Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 12:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | I think the bell curve was developed, in part to rank students relative to each other.
The other purpose is to removes, to a certain extent, the influence of the competance or incompetance of the instructor from the giving of grades equation.
Grades are a function of a number of very soft factors, so ranking students on some statistical basis is reasonable.
I have no particular issue with the system. |
So an C student 1 year is a A student the next year?, because the crop is not as creamy? waht is wrong with a percentage- straightline- or should every thing just be beige? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Manganic
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Total posts: 1956 Location: Calgary, Alberta Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 4:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Fabulous Fred wrote: | | I hate the GPA and letter grading system. Are percentages just too hard to calculate? or are they too easily understood? |
They're all meaningless anyway. Earning your degree shows two things:
a) Competence in a field of theoretical study
b) Ability to finish what you start.
Your degree/diploma gets your foot in the door of a potential employer. Once you have that first job, the real education starts.
_________________
"Every person's life is theirs by right. An individual's life can and must belong only to himself, not to any society or community, or he is then but a slave. No one can deny another person their right to their life, nor seize by force what is produced by someone else, because that is stealing their means to sustain their life. It is treason against mankind to hold a knife to a man's throat and dictate how he must live his life."
-- Terry Goodkind, Faith of the Fallen |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ben Kenobi
Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Total posts: 5107 Location: San Antonio TX Age: 28 Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 3:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Grades don't measure competence at all.
I had 3 A's from 3 other profs this term and 2 C-s from my communist profs. Is my ability reflected in the A's or the C-s or are they more reflective of the degree to which my beliefs coincide with theirs?
All the degree shows is the ability to stay on task and finish. You are less of a risk to employers with a degree, but it isn't a measure of competence.
_________________
"Things change and one day I realized I felt comfortable in being a woman and didn't need to pretend I could conquer the world with one hand. " -TexasRedTop
"Some people do it monkey. From God's perspective there is nothing wrong with it."
(With apologies to Bill Whatcott) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Manganic
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Total posts: 1956 Location: Calgary, Alberta Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 7:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ben Kenobi wrote: | Grades don't measure competence at all.
I had 3 A's from 3 other profs this term and 2 C-s from my communist profs. Is my ability reflected in the A's or the C-s or are they more reflective of the degree to which my beliefs coincide with theirs?
All the degree shows is the ability to stay on task and finish. You are less of a risk to employers with a degree, but it isn't a measure of competence. |
If you read my post again, you'll see that I do indeed indicate that grades themselves are meaningless.
A degree shows competence in the theory of a subject, and the ability to finish. That's it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| TomFoolery Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Total posts: 5371
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 8:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ben Kenobi wrote: | Grades don't measure competence at all.
I had 3 A's from 3 other profs this term and 2 C-s from my communist profs. Is my ability reflected in the A's or the C-s or are they more reflective of the degree to which my beliefs coincide with theirs?
All the degree shows is the ability to stay on task and finish. You are less of a risk to employers with a degree, but it isn't a measure of competence. |
I admit that most of my formal education was from sciences and engineering, so knowledge could be assessed in a more apolitical manner.
I don't think I would survive an arts degree...I'm be murdered by some leftwing loon. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DA_Champion
Joined: 07 Jan 2001 Total posts: 13941 Location: Columbus, Ohio Age: 26 Gender: Male
|
| Posted: 01/ 21/ 07 9:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It's funny the exotic perceptions some of you have of universities. I've taken around 40 university courses spanning 3 faculties and eight departments, I've sat on academic committees, and I've worked both as student and staff, all the while maintaining an A- average. In my experiences, most of the comments listed don't seem to align with my experiences. Maybe I've tried to make the most of it, or McGill is just a better school.
Tom Foolery wrote:
| Quote: | | I don't think I would survive an arts degree...I'm be murdered by some leftwing loon. |
It depends. A friend of mine who's far more right-wing than I am, has come out of an arts degree with something around an A- average. Most arts faculties are really big and there are will be a fair number of right-wing professors.
I took my first arts course at McGill this last semester, because I didn't want to graduate without at least seeing the faculty of arts first hand. I got a B+, worse than my usual performance in science classes (~A-), I was boosted because I had a 9/9 for attendance and class participation (I don't know of any science class which gives you points for that...). When I went over my term paper with the TA, he said I had some taken off because my arguments with respect to sociobiology did not include many of the arguments discussed in the course material in lectures. I told him I wasn't aware we were restricted. My mark on the paper was 71%...
hunterofvoters wrote:
| Quote: | | The problem is that bad prof's get bad marks so they need to equalize grades. Think about that next time you visit your doctor. Did he only pass because his marks were put on the bell curve? Scary! |
Not likely, it's extremely difficult to get into medical school. In Quebec for example they cut the number of spots in medical school so that they would have fewer doctor salaries to pay. But now a lot of people can't find a family doctor. Anyhow, because of that, only really good students with good overall resumes get into medical school. I don't know if this was true 30 years ago, with respect to the situation for your 55 year old doctor.
Ben Kenobi wrote:
| Quote: | Grades don't measure competence at all.
I had 3 A's from 3 other profs this term and 2 C-s from my communist profs. Is my ability reflected in the A's or the C-s or are they more reflective of the degree to which my beliefs coincide with theirs? |
I think it reflects very badly on you that you go from stellar to incompetent the second the attitude of the person in charge changes. I know very few people who pass themselves off as communist, perhaps your profs didn't consider themselves communist, and your use of the term demonstrates your ignorance of the subject matter. What was it about the "communism" of these professors that made it such that you couldn't understand the material?
FabulousFred wrote:
| Quote: | | I hate the GPA and letter grading system. Are percentages just too hard to calculate? or are they too easily understood? |
Yes they are. A numerical grade is completely meaningless in an academic setting. If the final exam for 2006 is easier than the final exam for 2005, does that mean the class of 2006 should get higher grades? No, because that would be disrespectful to people who use grades to evaluate applicants, such as graduate schools and employers. It's much more fair to have a curve, normally. For example, in a law class of 300 students, you can be pretty certain that the average people one year are of the same capability of the average students another year, far more certain in fact than the exam being of the same difficulty.
Note, all standardized tests and IQ tests are graded on a bell curve. This is because some IQ tests are harder than others. Here's an example, I got a 1460/1600 on the SAT, and a 1380/1600 on the GRE. A lower numerical grade. However, they both come out to the same number, ~141, according to IQ-conversion meters I've found online. I did less well on the GRE because its verbal section is much harder.
_________________
http://xkcd.com/675/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sponsor
|
Use PayPal to make regular monthly $20 donations to the free speech cause - quit any time! Or make a one time donation!
|
|
|
