Let them take less classes

Earlier this month, I mentioned how colleges could reform themselves. I've mentioned that it is UNREALISTIC for colleges to keep adding core requirements and expect students to graduate within 4 years.

 http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/07/college-reform.html



But now the geniuses running UH-Manoa is begging it's students to take 15 credits instead of just 12 credits per semester.


http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120720_UH_urges_its_students_to_boost_semester_credit_loads.html?id=163154506

Just one-third of full-time students at the University of Hawaii's four-year campuses take 15 credits a semester, putting them on track to actually graduate in four years.
That's a big concern for university officials, who point to research that shows the longer students take to pursue a degree, the less likely they are to finish.

So, as part of efforts to increase its graduation rate, UH is launching a new campaign to urge full-time students to take 15 credits each semester, rather than the minimum 12. Fifteen credits usually translate into five courses.

And more

Linda Johnsrud, UH executive vice president for academic affairs, said taking 12 credits has become the norm for full-time students locally and nationally — but it shouldn't be.

Why don't you MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS Ms Johnsrud?


Your students are not children, they're ADULTS!

And they have lives outside of the campus you know!

This is a time in their life that the students are becoming LESS dependent on their parents!  This is especially true for students who are NOT from the wealthy families! Most of the UH students are definitely NOT from the wealthy families!


That means they got to work to pay their daily expenses! After all, they can't just rely on mom&dad anymore!


And even if they are from wealthy families, students KNOW that employers WILL NOT HIRE ANYONE WITHOUT WORK EXPERIENCE, Not even those with college degrees!

So that's why students are working while in college!

And if that means they take less classes per semester, than over-managers like Ms Johnsrud should just BACK OFF AND MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS!

After all, even with work and school, students still need time to chill, sleep and eat! 

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This is why for-profit colleges are gaining momentum here! Students are tired of dealing with over-managers like Ms Johnsrud at state universities! For-profit colleges, even with their flaws, understand that students have lives outside of school, students have jobs and they are able to fit the student's schedule!

----

Here is a comment in response to that same Star Advertiser article

bobbob wrote: Additionally, if you are a freshman, you'll have a lot tougher time actually fitting courses into your schedule because the courses you can take are limited, and the upperclassmen have scheduling priority. When you look at the list of classes you need to take, all you see is "0 seats" right down the webpage.
on July 20,2012

and

bobbob wrote: It is not easy to graduate on time at UH because of all the crazy requirements being heaped upon students as the years pass. By the time I graduated in 2005, they were already increasing the load on students with additional required classes and "focuses". ------- In mainland schools, more students can graduate on time because the requirements are a lot fairer. At UH, they need high body counts to support the liberal arts programs, so it'll take students 3 years just to get into their major of choice. Then another 2 to complete the 10 course (or so) major. --------- The solution is simple, pare back on the prerequisites, then add to the major courses. Students would graduate faster and be better prepared in the major of their course. Example, foreign language is nice, but does everyone really need it? Current requirement is 4 semester courses. Cut out the foreign language requirement, make it an elective, then add 1-2 courses to the major. Same for history, does anyone outside a history major need 2 semesters of history? Etceter

on July 20,2012

08:26AM

and

bigislandkurt wrote: Encouraging them is one thing, but can UH deliver in offering the classes? Don't promise anything you can't deliver on.
on July 20,2012
07:46AM

--------
 
 
Yes, I'm in the process of applying to UH-Manoa, this time for graduate school! The above was referring to the undergraduate programs.  The staff member from my intended graduate major was more understanding about the student's outside priorites than that Ms Johnsrud that I mentioned earlier.
 
But yeah, I'll take how many (or few) classes I feel like taking per semester! If anyone got a problem with that, they can screw away and a get a real life to live!

Getting the facts right

Last night, there was a shooting at a Colorado theatre showing the latest Batman movie.

What led to the shooting, I don't know yet.

But already, people are spreading FALSE information on the issue.

The shooter was alleged to be named James Holmes.

A common English name!

You would think with a common English name like that, a journalist is supposed to be super-careful while revealing information connected to that name!

But already, less than 24 hours after the incident, someone with a similar name has been smeared!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/20/abc-news-brian-ross-apologize-for-report-suggesting-shooting-suspect-tied-to/?cmpid=cmty_fb_ABC_News%2C_Brian_Ross_apologize_for_report_suggesting_shooting_suspect_tied_to_Tea_Party

As the name of the suspect, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, first emerged Friday morning, Ross reported on ABC News that he'd found a web page for a "Jim Holmes" on a Colorado Tea Party site.
"There is a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea Party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year," Ross reported.
He added: "Now we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colo."

That man is not the same Jim Holmes. The Colorado Tea Party Patriots, whose website Ross was looking at, put out a statement criticizing Ross for even floating the possibility -- noting the Jim Holmes with the Tea Party group is 52 years old and not the same person.

So ironic, since when many liberal outlets were so hesitant to state the motives  when Nidal Malik Hasan shoot a whole bunch of soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas. That hesitation continued even when it was revealed that Hasan had written stuff sympathizing with Radical Islamic terrorists.

The liberal media outlets were hesitant to reveal those facts because they feared an anti-Muslim, anti-Arab backlash!

But Brian Ross sure wasn't hesitant to reveal information (later to be proven false) that could EASILY spark an anti-Tea-Party, anti-conservative backlash!

This wasn't the first time something like that happened.

Back in early 2011,  Jared Loughner shot a Democrat congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a few other folks in Tucson, Arizona!

There was ZERO hesitation to connect that shooting with the Tea Party, Republicans, conservatives, and conservative pundits like Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin.

It turned out later that Jared Loughner's ideology matches left-leaning anarchism instead of Tea Party conservatism. And it turned Jared Loughner killed Gifford NOT because of politics but because in a previous encounter, Giffords laughed when he asked her a stupid question  "What is government if words have no meaning?"


So much for blaming the Tea Party for that!

---------

Look, I still don't know what motivated last night's theatre shooting.

But there all kinds of crazies, ranging from neo-Nazis, Islamic radicals, lefty-anarchists,  and just people who want revenge against the world!

Just like we shouldn't promote anti-Muslim bigotry over the 9/11 attacks or the Fort Hood shootings, we shouldn't just knee-jerk blame the Tea Party over last night's shooting!

And let's make sure the facts are right before revealing personal information!

Otherwise, innocent people can get killed over an incident they had nothing to do with!

abstinence ed

The conservative correctness crowd loves to preach against sex-ed in our schools. The only thing they want to teach our kids is "just stay abstinent, contraceptives fail".

Sounds so simple!

But what are the results?

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/27/why-young-christians-arent-waiting-anymore/

While the study’s primary report did not explore religion, some additional analysis focusing on sexual activity and religious identification yielded this result: 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults (18 to 29) said that they have had sex - slightly less than 88 percent of unmarried adults, according to the teen pregnancy prevention organization.
The article highlights what challenges abstinence movements face. Movements such as “True Love Waits,” encourage teens to wear purity rings, sign virginity pledges and pledge chastity during public ceremonies.
Yet many of these Christian youths eventually abandon their purity pledges, Relevant’s Tyler Charles concludes in the article. Tyler talked to people like “Maria,” an evangelical woman who said she wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.

But she said she started having sex with her college boyfriend when she turned 20 because nearly everyone, even most of her Christian friends, were having sex.

Remember, this is focusing on the religious young adults! NOT the gangsta crowd, NOT the punk rock crowd, NOT the atheist crowd!

That means all the abstinence preaching is NOT working!

This has been proven by the fact that highest teen pregnancies in the USA happen in the so-called conservative states in the South, instead of the liberal North.

And that the more liberal, more secular European nations have LOWER teen pregnancy rates than the more conservative USA!

Learn more at

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/06/10334156-sex-ed-less-effective-in-red-states-study-says?lite



The conservative correctness crowd will respond to this with "la la la, i can't hear you" but the facts are the facts.

And just a few more words on this topic, from the same article.

Yet the article also asks a question that rarely comes up in discussions about abstinence movement. Relevant notes that in biblical times, people married earlier. The average age for marriage has been increasing in the U.S for the last 40 years.
Today, it’s not unusual to meet a Christian who is single at 30 - or 40 or 50, for that matter. So what do you tell them? Keep waiting?

The politically incorrect reality is that once someone starts puberty, they will have sexual desires!

And once that person enters young adulthood, it is unrealistic to expect that person to not be in sexual situations.

Don't blame porn, reality shows or the liberal media for any of that! Just blame evolution and genetics for all of that!

As a friend once said --- "if God didn't want us to have sex so early, he would've delayed puberty until much later".

--------------------

PS: The critics will say that I am "encouraging people to make babies they're not prepared to take care of". Actually.............no!  This is why we have birth control and contraceptives.

The more educated folks make less kids than the uneducated folks. It's not that the educated are less horny, it's that too many of the uneducated have this "anything goes" mentality and are less likely to use contraceptives.

My apartment gets a make-over

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog post "My War Against Clutter", which mentions that I was starting to get rid of useless junk that has been taking up space in my apartment for too long.

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-war-against-clutter.html


 It's just about 3 weeks later, and I'm feeling like I'm living in a brand new place, even though it's the same studio apartment I've been living in for 9 years.

A lot of old outdated papers? Thrown out!
Big grey containers with piles of articles? Thrown out!
Old stuff that I haven't used in years? Thrown out!

Some stuff, I kept! Especially stuff I've been looking for that was hidden in a pile of useless papers!

But yeah, you'd be surprised what stuff is still in your house if you haven't had time to clean-out your stuff in YEARS!

But that's not all!

And what about the bed frame that had drawers under them? It was once a good deal since it WAS a good place to put a mattress on, and I can still reach down to get stuff out of the drawers.

The problem with that bed frame? It gave the bed bugs a good place to hide! I tried to eliminate the problem with sprays, chemicals and good old-fashion bug-smashing! But I LOST PATIENCE WITH DOING ALL THAT!

So I got rid of that bed-frame! Good riddance! It's now waiting outside for bulky item pick-up! 

No more bed frames for me. I will NEVER give bed-bugs a good place to hide again!  

(unless I end up so weak and disabled, hopefully by then, I'll be placed in a clean nursing home)

I just sleep on a matress placed directly on the floor instead of a bed-frame!

That will make home maintenance and cleanliness so much easier!

And my room has just been vaccumed and dusted!

My room is so much nicer and cleaner!

NOW, I have gotten my life back!

It's now much easier to invite relatives, friends (and even possible groupies) to my apartment!

:)    :)     :)


----------
So yeah, the fact that I'm currently on summer vacation from my DOE job, plus the fact that I'm not at UPhx (and still waiting for approval to enroll in grad school at  UH), gives me PLENTY of time to catch up on cleaning house!

I'm so loving my summer so far!
-----------

In that blog post I've mentioned earlier, I mentioned that I rebelled against my parents who complained too much in the past about my housekeeping! Look, back when I first moved to my studio apartment, my mom occasionally visited and was trying to instill her values in keeping a clean home.

But she was too much of a complainer when she visited, kept complaining about MINOR piles of papers, about MINOR imperfections, not realizing that I don't always have the time to make my home perfect.  It was so ironic that she used to tell me "think positive" when dealing with seriously negative issues, yet when she visited my studio, her "think positive" mentality DISAPPEARED and she was too negative.

I told her in a letter that "I'll just keep my stuff there, just to show you that I refuse to be controlled now that I'm an adult" She stopped visiting after that!

That was years ago. It's good that she stopped nagging. If she was still nagging, I would NOT have cleaned out my apartment! She backed off and minded her own business.  Years of being left alone was good for me, in that now I can come to my own conclusions about my housekeeping!

( I know, it's not politically correct to criticize my mother. She is a caring and loving person, but I just have to tell it like it is.)

So if you visit someone's home and you don't like their housekeeping, just don't say anything and don't go back! Silence and avoidance can do wonders!

-------------

Now, back on a positive note!  The stuff I decided to keep is a lot more organized, the floor is so much cleaner, it feels like you're in a brand new room.

And I did all by myself! No help from friends or family, I just did it all independently!

So if you're unemployed or if you're on vacation, just look at it as a blessing! You now got time to do what I did and give your home a makeover!

You'll be happy you did!

bus service cuts hurt the disabled!

In previous blog posts, I mentioned how unreasonable the bus service changes are, in regards to bus routes #2,3,4, and 9.

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/05/bus-route-insanity.html

This morning Star Advertiser's mentions the harm done by the changes proposed to route #14.


The  #14 bus route takes the scenic route from St. Louis Heights to Waikiki to Diamond Head to Kahala to Kaimuki to Maunalani Heights.  The proposed changes will end to scenic route, and will just go directly from St Louis Heights to Maunalani Heights.

This route change will severely affect the most vulnerable population of all ------- the developmentally disabled, many of who rely on The Arc, a community service center which is located near Diamond Head, and will be cut off the #14 route if the changes take effect.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120715__Unpopular_cuts_could_swing_votes.html?id=162502916

The planned Route 14 changes have particularly alarmed officials at The Arc in Hawaii's Honolulu Center Day Program on Diamond Head Road, which relies on those buses to pick up Arc's disabled clients for shopping and other excursions.

The Arc program teaches clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities to become more self-sufficient. Becky Tyksinski, director of development, said teaching clients to navigate the bus system is an important part of the training.

Route 14 covers destinations that the Arc clients need to go without requiring transfers, including Kahala Mall, shopping areas along Kapahulu, the local libraries and Waikiki Beach, she said. The buses normally aren't crowded, which means they can accommodate two wheelchairs and a group of Arc clients.

Yoshioka said the city hopes to resolve the disagreement over the Arc and Route 14 "with a positive discussion." He said city officials are providing replacement service for the route that they believe will be just as effective as the old Route 14.

Tyksinski said those city proposals aren't workable because they would require clients to use stops that are more than a half-mile from the center. Many of the clients are in wheelchairs or walkers, or have vision problems.

"You have to really look at it from the health and safety point of view as well," she said. "We're taking away the access."

What also piss me off is that Mr Yoshioka, a transit official that was quoted above, had also said at a town-hall meeting, that the proposed bus route cuts will NOT be restored in the future, because "the long-term plan is rail".  Here is the link

http://honoluluweekly.com/letters/2012/07/railgate-2/ 

TheBus is taking a back seat to rail. At the May 3 Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting, an audience member asked City Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka when we could expect the bus route cancellations and changes to be reversed. Mr. Yoshioka replied that the long-term plan is rail, there is no plan to restore the service. Buses are overcrowded, seniors are relinquishing seats to seniors, riders are forced to transfer and wait time is extended. By the time rail arrives there won’t be any complaints about lack of seating, as riders will be used to not being able to sit on the buses.

Lynne Matusow
Honolulu, HI

And the rail wasn't going to serve the community around Diamond Head anyways, yet the city officials want to take away the #14 bus service away from The Arc that serves the developmentally disabled!

And the bus services are also hurting the elderly in Kaimuki (which faces cuts in #3 and #14 bus services), as was mentioned in another of today's Star Advertiser's articles!

http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120715__Rail_project_is_failing_to_win_approval_from_vital_kupuna.html

"That choo-choo train, that thing cannot come by my house. Cannot go up the street pick up my friends. That's only one track, that thing. Billions they spending on that thing and cannot go where I need it to go, but then they cut the bus service. I can make it to the end of my street catch bus but I cannot go more far than that. They need the money, raise the bus fare! People would pay! I cannot drive. I no need go Kapolei. No make sense, dat."

 The general well-being of our disabled and elderly of East Oahu are being sacrificed to fulfill the rail fantasies of Mayor Peter Carlisle and his transit director Wayne Yoshioka!

Yet, the rail project will eat up all our money that we need for buses, sanitation, roads and parks. The rail project isn't even accessible to many West Oahu residents who it was intended to serve! (As mentioned on the video at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7J7YZUTqNA&feature=share )

Ben Cayetano's ad says that "Ben's blood is boiling". Well, my blood is boiling too! I'm tired of our concerns being ignored! I'm tired of this rail BS! I'm tired of our bus services being cut!

And I'm tired of Peter Carlisle and Wayne Yoshioka!

The primary election is on August 11!  If none of the mayoral candidates get 50% (plus 1) of the votes, then the top 2 candidates will be on the ballot on November!

It's time to put an end to this madness!   It's time to put a stop to Peter Carlisle and Wayne Yoshioka! It's time to tell them YOU'RE FIRED!