Grade inflation

[slackjawyokel]

Originally Posted by China Doll

Did you know that full scholarships are given to students whose grades would never allow them to enter any respectable college? These scholarships are offered to give them a chance.

Yes, they are called "athletes"! They are in fact given a chance, a chance to play sports! And of course the chance to bring "glory" to their school which will bring in the money from the school alumni etc...

Smart, but underprivileged kids don't bring in the cash that a sweaty quarterback will when he wins the big game. It's all about the Benjamin's baby...

[WTF]

Originally Posted by China Doll

PS: I text quite a bit, but I text in the same way that I write. None of this "c u l8r" or "OMGLOLZZZ imma git all up in his koolaid wen we git bak 2 da hizzouse" nonsense.

Why is that nonsense? It is only a text. No grades are on the line. Writers put much more emphasis on grammar than movers and shakers. College prof's are not movers and shakers.

Listen to slackjawyokel. 99% of life's mysteries are solved by being able to follow the money. Just ask any mover or shaker.

Originally Posted by slackjawyokel

Smart, but underprivileged kids don't bring in the cash that a sweaty quarterback will when he wins the big game. It's all about the Benjamin's baby...

[tylorblake]

Originally Posted by China Doll

I text quite a bit, but I text in the same way that I write. None of this "c u l8r" or "OMGLOLZZZ imma git all up in his koolaid wen we git bak 2 da hizzouse" nonsense.

I agree you you there, China Doll. I just can't bring myself to "OMG" or "cu l8r" It makes me nauseous. I have occasionally used "u" instead of "you" but I can never bring myself to do it and go back and change it.
I will admit to using "lol" on occasion but recently questioned my use of it after a gentleman friend stated to me he is too old for "lol" and joked that it is because of a "regressive reaction to a stunted youth"...... actually its funny because I just went back to his email where he stated this and he misspelled regressive.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by tylorblake

I agree you you there, China Doll. I just can't bring myself to "OMG" or "cu l8r" It makes me nauseous..

Word!.....is the 'word' around these parts.

All I was trying to point out was that we all speak uniquely. I suppose we have our preferences but at the end of the day do we want everyone writing exactly the same? Don't answer that if you are an English major! I would not recommend abbreviation used in a job application but texting? That seems a little harsh to be judged by.

Kinda like wearing a bathing suit to church...you'd expect a few WTF's but texting is like being at the beach. Wear whatca ya feel comfy in is my motto. Heck this site makes a helluva a living off abbrevations! What in the world would it be like around here without a few BBJ's thrown in the mix!

[pjorourke]

word!

[China Doll]

Skackjawyokel, the girl I knew in this particular program was not an athlete.

[slackjawyokel]

Originally Posted by China Doll

Skackjawyokel, the girl I knew in this particular program was not an athlete.

I was generalizing. Of course not all undeserving students with scholarships are athletes, I am just not a huge sports fan so when someone gets a free ride at school due to their ability to bounce or throw a ball I am not impressed. It is not like even a small percentage of them are going to be able to utilize those skills professionally once they get out into the real world.

I can see how it is doubly frustrating for someone in your situation who excels academically to watch someone who got scholarship money for poor academic work, turn around and, unsurprisingly, waste it.... Where is the sense?

[WTF]

Originally Posted by slackjawyokel

, I am just not a huge sports fan so when someone gets a free ride at school due to their ability to bounce or throw a ball I am not impressed. It is not like even a small percentage of them are going to be able to utilize those skills professionally once they get out into the real world.

Are you mad at the students that get scholarships whose sports actually MAKE money? Like the Quarterback or male basketball player or are you only pissed at the student athlete whose sports never come close to breaking even? Like softball or Lacross. What about the student with a music scholarship? Or the science scholarship? None of these students bringing in money like the athletes whose sport is making the school money.

Originally Posted by slackjawyokel

.
I can see how it is doubly frustrating for someone in your situation who excels academically to watch someone who got scholarship money for poor academic work, turn around and, unsurprisingly, waste it.... Where is the sense?

Not sure what China Doll situation was about. But since we are speculating....again with a follow the money trail, let's try this. Was the student a minority? In which case the school may have been offering scholarships to low income students because of Federal dollars that they get. There is really no way to tell with the limited information we have but schools normally do not offer scholarships without incentive from some intrested party.

There is a school of thought that nobody should get a free ride. It creates a education bubble.

Originally Posted by pjorourke

word!

LOL.....rotflmao......

[slackjawyokel]

Originally Posted by WTF

Are you mad at the students that get scholarships whose sports actually MAKE money? Like the Quarterback or male basketball player or are you only pissed at the student athlete whose sports never come close to breaking even? Like softball or Lacross. What about the student with a music scholarship? Or the science scholarship? None of these students bringing in money like the athletes whose sport is making the school money.

I'm not mad or pissed at any student who gets a scholarship. I am personally just not much of a sports fan. I just don't get the appeal. I would rather see the money spent on sports scholarships, or for that matter the money spent on sports programs go to smart kids who can't otherwise afford to go to college, or who will have to indenture themselves to a decade or more of student loan payments.

I think the country needs more chemists, computer scientists, nurses, doctors, physicists etcetera than it needs someone who is really good at volleyball.

Besides, any money that comes in via alumni or sports marketing will most likely just get plowed back into the overall sports programs anyways. It won't go to finance some smart kids, white, black or hispanic, who can't otherwise afford to attend.

Just my opinion, and I am old enough to state them and not need anything like facts to back them up!

[China Doll]

The student was indeed a minority, wtf. I don't have a problem with scholarship programs for people who work for them. This minority female explained to me that there is a scholarship program that specifically targets students from inner city schools who do not have the grades to get into college. Let me say that again: They specifically target students who do not have the grades to get into college. Giving people a chance is fine by me, but why can't they give the money to inner city students who do have the grades to get in but not the money?
In an ideal world, education would be free for everyone. I think that everyone has a right to it. The education world is not ideal, however. We have to do the best we can with what we have, and my official opinion is that whatever money there is should be given to the people who work for it.

[slackjawyokel]

Originally Posted by China Doll

They specifically target students who do not have the grades to get into college.

I have several other brilliant plans that perhaps the government should look into:

Free cars for people who can't drive.
Free musical instruments for people who can't play.
Free art supplies for people who can't paint.
Free radios for deaf people.
Free Viagra for sex offenders. (Oh shit, they already have that one covered...)

What other good plans can we come up with?

[WTF]

Originally Posted by slackjawyokel

Just my opinion, and I am old enough to state them and not need anything like facts to back them up!

Now that was pretty Gall Dern funny!

[WTF]

Originally Posted by China Doll

The student was indeed a minority, wtf. I don't have a problem with scholarship programs for people who work for them. This minority female explained to me that there is a scholarship program that specifically targets students from inner city schools who do not have the grades to get into college. Let me say that again: They specifically target students who do not have the grades to get into college. Giving people a chance is fine by me, but why can't they give the money to inner city students who do have the grades to get in but not the money?
In an ideal world, education would be free for everyone. I think that everyone has a right to it. The education world is not ideal, however. We have to do the best we can with what we have, and my official opinion is that whatever money there is should be given to the people who work for it.

At first glance what you say seems like a really good example of a waste of money.......but is it?

First let me state that I am no expert, I do like to read though and it seems that some of the reasoning behind helping kids that do not have the grades has to do with their environment. The thinking is something like this: get them from where they are set to fail to somewhere where they can flourish. Breaking the circle of poverty is not an easy task. Are mistakes made on giving funds to the poor...yes, just like they are in giving them to bright kids who wind up with say a drug addiction and drop out of school. It is an imperfect world.

Also I have no idea where the scholarship was funded from.....but if a donor set up a situation where this was possible, then that is capitalism. If it was a government scholarship...then that is politics!

[Doove]

Originally Posted by China Doll

Giving people a chance is fine by me, but why can't they give the money to inner city students who do have the grades to get in but not the money?

To piggyback on and add a bit to what WTF just said, i think there probably are scholarships that target these kids also. Beyond that, I would think most inner city kids who have neither the money nor the grades to get into college are the sort who really don't give a rat's behind about getting an education. So to find ones in those circumstances who still would like to make a go of attending college, perhaps those kids are worth helping out.

Not to say that those of you who do all the right things shouldn't get a fair piece of the pie also.

But then, i was an athlete who got paid to go to college, so what do i care?

[Ansley]

Originally Posted by WTF

The thinking is something like this: get them from where they are set to fail to somewhere where they can flourish.

I agree WTF. Learning Algebra isn't a high priority if a child is worried where his next meal will come from, if he will be left home alone while his parents are out drinking and drugging, has to take care of his siblings while his parents are both working two jobs or has to have a job to help put food on the table. It's so sad that children have to worry about their own survival before they can even think of learning.