College Reform

For millions of people, going to college is a rite of passage!

Part of it is continuing education after high school. Time to learn more about the world, time to explore various topics like sociology (my major), psychology, literature, art, business, chemistry or whatever else turns you on!

Part of it is getting qualified for certain jobs.

And let's be honest, part of it is to join a fun atmosphere of dorm parties and football games!

However, there has been a crisis the last few decades.

1) College expenses have been rising at a faster rate than inflation. Meaning, yeah, most stuff has been getting more expensive, but college expenses have been getting more expensive AT A FASTER RATE!

2) And in this economy, recent graduates have been having a harder time finding jobs than previous generations.

3) Both 1 and  3 have caused massive difficulties to recent graduates who have to pay back all those student loans!

The older generation didn't have to pay such high tuition, nor did they have to face a junk economy right after they graduated from college!   That makes it hard for the older generation to relate to the struggles of recent college graduates.  The older generation were lucky in that they didn't have the pay the high amounts of student loans like today's generation.




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Just like there was a tech-bust in the early 2000's and the even more devastating housing-bust of 2008, there has been a prediction that higher education is the next industry to face a sharp decline!

Greater expenses, a slow economy and more exposure to stories of recent grads struggling have been causing the next generation to be more reluctant to attend college!

Colleges can only raise tuition so much, otherwise less students will attend.

Loan agencies struggling to receive pay-backs from struggling graduates can easily lead them to bankruptcy! Once that happens, there will be less sources for college loans, less financial aid available!

And the next generation might think "college? too much humbug, why bother?"

All that will hit all the colleges hard!

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What to do if you're running those colleges?

There are no easy answers.

Facilities need to stay updated! That doesn't come cheap!

You need to hire professors and keep them around! That doesn't come cheap!

Students want activities on campus! That doesn't come cheap!

But you don't want tuition to be too expensive that you're accused of "denying opportunities to the less fortunate students!"

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Some things will have to change! None of the changes will solve every problem, but still.........something can be done!

Some had mentioned the idea of having different tuition rates for different majors! Meaning, it is likely that engineering students will have to pay more than those majoring in literature!

When that idea has been mentioned, the reaction is "that will cause students to just take the cheaper majors" or "it's impeding access to the less fortunate if certain majors pay more tuition".

Everything has a pro and a con! Those concerns mentioned are legit!

However, let's look at 2 groups of students

Group 1) those who majored in the "humanities" or the "liberal arts".

Group 2) those who majored in medicine, engineering, business


Obviously, those in Group 2 will have more lucrative careers! They're more likely to be able to pay back expensive student loans!

Is it Fair that Group 1 (who end up in less lucrative careers) pay the same high loan amounts as those in Group 2?

Now you see why it might be a good idea to charge different tuition rates to different majors!

Let's also face another reality ----- it's harder to find professors to teach business, science, engineering, or medicine. It's easier to find professors to teach literature, history and other humanities/liberal-art majors.

After all, those who majored in business, science, engineering and medicine have PLENTY of profitable opportunities. Why take a pay-cut to teach at a university when you can make more outside of the university.

So that means universities have to pay professors of those majors MORE than professors of humanities/liberal-art majors.

Dont tell me that's unfair. Look, LeBron James get paid a lot more than some bench-warmer on his team. It's a lot harder to replace someone of LeBron's talents, therefore he gets paid more than an easily replaceable bench-warmers. That's basic everyday economics. 

Whereas, those with PhDs in literature, history, and other humanities/liberal arts don't have as many profitable opportunities outside of academia. In fact,  there is such a surplus of PhDs in those majors that there's not enough jobs for them in the universities. 

Learn more at http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/02/21/academic_hypocrisy

Now, 50 years later, there is a long feature article in the February 17th issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education on the chronic over-supply of historians. Worse yet, leading university history departments are resisting demands that they keep track of what happens to their students after they get their Ph.D.s -- and inform prospective Ph.D.s of what the market is like. 

If any business operated this way, selling customers something that was very costly in time and money, and which the sellers knew in advance was almost certain to disappoint their expectations, academics would be bursting with indignation -- and demanding full disclosure to the customers, if not criminal prosecutions. 

But The Chronicle of Higher Education reports "faculty resistance" to collecting and publishing information on what happens to a university's history Ph.D.s after they leave the ivy-covered walls with high hopes and low prospects.
At a number of big-name universities -- Northwestern, Brown and the University of North Carolina's flagship campus at Chapel Hill -- at least one-fourth of their 2010 history Ph.D.s are either unemployed or their fate is unknown.

In other words, universities aren't always upfront about how much opportunities are really out there for someone with PhDs in history (or other topics). 

Why would they, the universities just want the tuition money.

And this brings up another topic  ---- CORE REQUIREMENTS

I remember when I was an undergrad at UH-Manoa, the university kept adding more and more core requirements. Even if the core requirements have NOTHING TO DO with our majors or future career plans.

I wouldn't be surprised if this goes on at other universities too.

They say that the additional core requirements are there to "make us a smarter person", "understand the world", "understand diversity", blah, blah, blah!

Anyone who believes such PR stuff is NAIVE!

The real purpose of adding more and more core requirement is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!

After all, if you make the students take more core requirements, it becomes A LOT LESS REALISTIC for students to "graduate in 4 years". After all, you can't expect the students to be able to cram more classes per semester. The students also have to work to pay the bills, as well as get some time to rest and chill!  So the core requirements make the students stay in the university longer. And the university gets more money!

And students who have to pay more student loans because of this have to suffer, while the profs and admin count their cash!

If the students have to take more core requirements, then we need to stop talking all this crap about "2 year colleges" and "4 year colleges".   That's outdated stuff!

Why pressure students to "graduate in 2 (or 4) years, if they need more time to fulfill their core requirements as well as balance their school/non-school life!

And the NCAA rules on student-athletes have to have 80% of their degree done by senior year, has also caused problems when student-athletes have to switch out of their original preferred major just to stay eligible to play! The NCAA is still buying this OUTDATED FICTION of a "4-year degree" when some majors are now 5-7 year majors. If I was the NCAA president, I'll be like " just pass your classes, you can still finish your degree when you can"

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And this other controversy on colleges is now focused on "for-profit colleges" like University of Phoenix, DeVry, Remington College, Argosy, etc.

Some left-wing activists who hate corporations and hate the word "profits" are advocating placing restrictions on financial aid to for-profit colleges because some graduates are struggling to get/remain employed and pay off student-loans.

Those left-wing activists claim they're protecting those students.

But why are they railing against "for-profit colleges" WHEN THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM IS OCCURRING AT state universities and non-profit universities!

Those left-wing activists are more against capitalism,corporations and profits than protecting students. Plus, it's the left-wing professors at state universities who advocate adding more core requirements that adds to the student loan debt.

In other words those state university profs are just as guilty as "for-profit colleges" of adding debt burdens to their students.


Yeah, I did spend a few months at a for-profit college (University of Phoenix aka UPhx). I recently left that university and am planning to switch to a state university (UH-Manoa) for my master's.

(Learn more at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/change-in-direction.html

Yeah, I prefer UH-Manoa over UPhx.  That is my personal preference!

But you know what, let's not put out this BS about "UPhx leading all their students to doom & gloom while (gasp) profiting off them." I know a few UPhx alumni are doing just fine after getting their degree! And I think of most of my former UPhx classmates will do fine too when they get their teaching certificate and work in the school system! If UPhx works for them, then don't hate, congratulate!

My War against Clutter

I admit, I have been becoming a packrat!

I do like to keep stuff, though I'm definitely NOT one of those who keep old food wrappers for "sentimental value". I'm NOT that crazy!

However, back in the early 2000's, I have developed a hobby of collecting articles, whether it's from newspapers or from online.

And I would organize those articles into folders. I would have separate folders for different subjects like economics, foreign policy, immigration, etc.

The problem was that I was having less time to organize those articles into folders, yet those pieces of paper have been piling up.

I have been buying those HUGE grey containers to place those piles!

And those grey containers have been taking so much space in my small apartment!

Plus, those big grey containers have been cramping whatever social life already. Hard to invite friends (or groupies) in a small apartment with those containers taking up space!

And when my parents visited, they kept complaining about those containers and piles. Me being easily defensive, told them "you dont like it, I'll keep them just to show you I refuse to be controlled!"

I kept telling myself, one of these days, you'll have time to organize those piles!

Time to face reality --- I'll NEVER have time to organize those piles!


So last night, I started throwing a whole bunch of paper piles in the big trash can outside!

A feeling of relief has come to me!

I'm nowhere near done! I still have more big grey containers to empty!

But that's my new personal project ---- emptying out containers, and make more empty space in my small apartment available again!


Make it easier to invite relatives, friends (and groupies) again!


And start having new hobbies that don't involve clutter!

Plus, if an article is so important, I could easily preserve it by citing, quoting and linking them on my blog!

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PS: To anyone who tells me "see, your parents were right", if they still kept complaining, I would NOT have gotten rid of my piles! 

Just like when my oldest brother  used to nag me about "watching too much TV" back when I was about 10-14 years old!

After that, my oldest brother moved away to his own home!

It was only YEARS LATER that my TV watching had declined! It's now to the point where I could go a whole week without watching TV!

If my oldest brother was still nagging me about "watching too much TV", I still would've done it, just to piss him off!

So yeah, next time you feel like giving unsolicited advice to anyone, just back off!

My parents backed off, I came to my own conclusions, and now I'm ready to de-clutter!

How lenient is too lenient?

Imagine that one of your relatives went out to chill one night. Your relative wasn't bothering anyone.


Then that relative was confronted and attacked by a drunken person who is 6 inches taller and 130 pounds heavier. That drunken person continue hitting your relative's head, and had to be restrained by 2 other people.


Now your relative has sustained severe brain trauma. That brain trauma is so severe that your relative can't even do simple tasks like brushing teeth or opening a can of juice. That relatives need 24 hour care. That relative can't even remember the names of other relatives. That relative experiences tremors and sometimes can't even speak.

The person who attacked your relative claimed he can't even remember what happened. He probably said "I can't remember" because his real reason for attacking your relative might be something so trivial as "he looked at me the wrong way", "he accidentally bumped into me", "he's the wrong ethnicity" or "I just felt like fighting someone".

Now what kind of penalty do you want your relative's attacker to receive.

Many of you want that attacker to be executed! However, since Hawaii doesn't have the death penalty, you would want that attacker to get life in prison without parole.

However, it is possible that your relative's attacker might only get 18 months in prison and followed by 5 years of probation.

You might think that is way too lenient for a violent felon who committed an unprovoked assault that caused severe brain damage and left your relative unable to do simple tasks.


However, that has happened in real life.


On March 26, 2010, 57- year old Andy Ganigan was minding his own business after he left a lounge in Waipahu. He was then attacked by a much larger intoxicated man named Matthew Kupa! Kupa kept hitting Ganigan's head even after he could no longer fight back. Kupa then had to be restrained by 2 other people.


http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120329_andy_ganigan_fights_for_his_life.html?id=144853325



Matthew Kupa claimed that he couldn't remember what happened that night, even though there were multiple witnesses at the scene.

photo from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Matthew Kupa

Let's face it, if you hit some in order to defend yourself, you would say so to everyone, especially in court. If you hit someone who pushed you or threatened you, you would admit that in court. Even if you over-reacted to someone who was bullying you, you would just admit that in court. Those are all things you would remember for as long as your brain can function properly.


But Kupa claimed he doesn't remember what happened the night he attacked Ganigan, because if he stated the real reason for the attack, he would be in more trouble.

Meanwhile, Ganigan's brain was so damaged that he could no longer do simple tasks like brushing teeth or opening a can of juice. He was unable to remember names. He experienced tremors and needed 24 hour care.

photo from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Ganigan's daughter in tears while discussing her dad's deteriorated condition

The prosecutor asked that Kupa recieve 10 years in prison. The judge Glenn Kim went even lower than that, and just gave Kupa 18 months (not years) in prison and 5 years of probation.

photo from Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Andy Ganigan's family reacted to Judge Kim's LENIENT sentence to Ganigan's attacker

Even more disturbing was the judge's reasoning for such a lenient sentence. Judge Kim mentioned "Kupa's young age" and a lack of a previous criminal record as excuses for a light sentence.


It's one thing for a judge to take into account the defendant's young age if the defendant is 11 years old. At that age, the person may not have gained the skills to resist peer pressure nor understand the ramifications of a criminal act.

However, Kupa was 21 years old when he attacked Ganigan. That meant he was old enough to drive, vote, join the military, and buy alcohol which he drunk so much before his vicious assault. In other words, Kupa was old enough to know better.



The judge also mentioned Kupa's lack of a previous criminal record. It is hard to believe that was Kupa's first drunken fight or act of unprovoked violence. It's just that this time Kupa got caught.



But even if this was Kupa's first act of a drunken unprovoked assault, it still doesn't allow for an excessively lenient sentence of 18 months in jail.



Remember, Kupa wasn't being convicted of shoplifting, gambling, drug possession, littering, grafitti or tax evasion. Kupa did not just push or slap someone. Kupa was convicted of a drunken unprovoked attack that so was heinous that it left his victim brain damaged and no longer able to care for himself.


Kupa got his excessively lenient sentence on March 28, 2012. A few weeks later, Andy Ganigan passed away, due to effects of the brain trauma that Kupa gave him.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/149899015.html?id=149899015

photo from Midweek

Andy Ganigan

photo by Nadine Guevara

from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Andy Ganigan

when he used to box back in the 1970s/1980s

Yet, after 18 months in prison, Kupa will be released from prison. It will be party time for him. He can walk around with a swagger. He can breathe the fresh air of freedom, the freedom that he physically denied Ganigan.



Sure, Kupa's following 5 years of probation will come with some inconveniences.


However, that is nothing compared to the inconveniences suffered by Andy Ganigan, who suffered 2 years with severe brain damage and unable to do simple tasks.


Judge Glenn Kim should be ashamed of himself and should resign. If Kim won't resign, he must be impeached.


Public safety and justice requires nothing less.

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From the comments to http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120329_andy_ganigan_fights_for_his_life.html?id=144853325&id=144853325&c=n

kalanilee wrote: I was called to Jury once with this judge. I toldl him I wanted to be excused till a later date because I was my spouse's caregiver. He was in a wheelchair. He went o to say that I should find someone else to tend to him, so that I could do my civic duty. He never asked me about them the other times I willingly served and was willing to serve.....he reprimanded me in court in front of people I didn't know like I was some little kid, although I am older than him. He basically wanted me to re-arrange my whole life, inconvenience other family members, or possibly incur some expense for someone else to do caregiver duties... I thought this was not a very bright judge....it wasn't necessary to lecture me in court.
on March 29,2012
02:22PM

 
This just goes to show that Judge Glenn Kim has ZERO compassion for the disabled! He insulted a prospective juror for expressing concerns over his/her time to take care of a disabled relative.
 
And now Judge Glenn Kim gives EXCESSIVELY LENIENT sentences to someone who DAMAGED AN INNOCENT PERSON'S BRAIN!

What Judge Glenn Kim did was as EVIL as what Matthew Kupa did! It's as if Judge Kim is treating this like a joke, treating this like a prank! He's a judge for NOTHING!

Gender Double Standards

While it is silly to think there's no difference between an average male and an average female and it is silly to think that those differences are only the result of "society" (nevermind genetics, evolution, biology, etc)...... we also have to remember not everyone is average! And there's nothing sinister about not being average!


That being said, sexism and double standards make the world harder than it has to be! In too many cases, people aren't being treated as individuals because of gender stereotypes and double standards.

Anyone can write a whole book (or a set of books) about this issue.

But for now, I just I want to go over 2 different gender double standards, one for males, one for females.


PART 1) Can't Men Be Alone when there's kids around?

Let's pretend you are a grandfather.

You go to a bookstore (by yourself) to buy something for your grandkids?

Who would have a problem with that?

Well, this one woman  in Arizona  does!

Because  .....................omg .................noooooooooooooo.................... he was a man shopping in the children's section by himself .....................................omg...............................noooooooooooooooooooooooo!)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/05/arizona-doctor-ousted-from-barnes-and-noble-for-being-alone-in-children-section/?cmpid=cmty_fb_Arizona_doc_accepts_Barnes_%26_Noble's_apology_after_being_bounced_for_being_in_kid's_section

Dr. Omar Amin, 73, of Scottsdale, said he was shopping for books for his grandchildren at his neighborhood bookstore May 4 when he was bounced simply because he was not accompanied by a child. After initially defending its handling of the matter, the company issued a statement apologizing to Amin. Although Amin was still stinging from the incident, he told FoxNews.com he is closing the book on the matter.

(skipped paragraphs)

Amin said he wound up in the reading area of the children's section after he received a call on his cellphone. He said the area appeared to be empty, and he went there to avoid disturbing other customers.

“This man approached me and asked if I was in the store by myself,” Amin explained. “He said ‘You cannot stay. This is not an area where men are allowed to be by themselves.’

“I did not break any rules,” he said, adding that he was “firmly escorted out” of the store. “If that is Barnes & Noble’s policy, they should put up a sign saying men are not allowed beyond this point unless they are with children.”

Amin, who emigrated from Egypt 45 years ago and is a U.S. citizen, said he was told a female customer had complained about his presence in the children’s section, and said the employee who threw him out cited reports of alleged child molestation in other bookstores. Amin told FoxNews.com he believes his civil rights were violated.

The Arizona Republic identified the Barnes & Noble employee as Todd Voris.
In a statement released to FoxNews.com on Tuesday, Barnes & Noble vice president Mark Bottini said, “We want to apologize to Dr. Amin for a situation in which Dr. Amin was asked to leave the children’s section of our Scottsdale, Ariz., store.”

“We should not have done so,” Bottini said. “It is not our policy to ask customers to leave any section of our stores without justification. We value Dr. Amin as a customer and look forward to welcoming him in any of our stores.”

The article identified that employee as Todd Varis, who ought to be ashamed of himself! Unfortunately, that woman was not identified in the news story. I wish she was identified so she could be publicly humiliated! After all, she PUBLICLY humiliated Dr. Amin in a public area! Someone could have video-recorded the whole thing without knowing the context. Dr Amin could have been a targeted for false accusations which can lead up to  vicious insults and assaults all because of a paranoid sexist sick-minded  slanderous woman!




That woman claim she was just on the look-out for molesters!  She thinks any male looking for children's books is sick minded (even if he's looking for gifts for grandkids......noooooo....) If there's anyone who is sick-minded, it is that paranoid sexist woman!


A female on my facebook list  took a stand for all the males out there......

I saw this on HLN. felt bad for the guy. What if this happened to my husband or my bro? This employee did not use her common sense. And of course, she was only reprimanded.

 AMEN - You go girl!

Yep, ladies, this kind of crap could happen to your brother, husband, father, grandfather, son, nephew, etc.

Think about that before you start getting all paranoid about a lone male in a library, bookstore, public park or anywhere else.

More stuff on anti-male paranoia

(from my earlier blog posts)


http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2011/06/omg-male-is-coming.html


(from Free-Range Queen Lenore Skenazy)
http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/help-an-old-man-is-giving-my-daughter-sea-shells/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703779704576073752925629440.html





PART  2) Can't a Girl just have some Fun once in a while?

 From  Casey Ishitani, someone on my facebook friend's list

There's still this weird stigma against pole dancers and strippers. "Keep my daughter off the Pole" (inserts Polanski joke, here). Look ... if your concern is that she's being objectified, she'd be objectified anywhere if not on stage. You want her to be leered at where no one can touch her and guys throw money at her and she doesn't have to do anything to them ... or you want her to be perved on while scanning things at the register and if she tells them to fuck off she can be fired by her boss? Again, old feminist principle -- you want less sorrow in the world, fix your MEN.

Thank you Casey!



Now obviously, like every job out there, there can be side effects to working at the strip club! Many quit after a few years, or even a few months!



But the same can be true about retail, food service, office work, labor jobs or any other job out there!


For some odd reason, it is seen as acceptable for people to try out bungee jumping, sky diving, rock climbing and other extreme sports at least once in their lifetime!


But omg ................ sound the alarms.............. sky is falling ............. if a young woman wants to experiment with working at a strip club!


Now, some of you reading feel like telling me "wait until you have kids, wait until you have a daughter"

Of course, fathers are biologically programmed to be nervous for their daughter's safety!


But when your offspring becames an adult, you just have to let it go! You only have a limited influence on your kids, no matter how much things you have done correctly.


The politically incorrect reality is that during young adulthood, males and females want to have fun in a sexual way! Parents will get nervous (and I probably will if I ever live to see my future offspring become young adults)!  But it doesn't erase the fact that young adulthood is a time for people to do all kinds of fun and silly things with their sexual nature!



That can mean wearing certain clothing, some freak dancing (which in reality, is usually a one-song stand on the dance floor, and nothing else  afterwards   ................ COMMON SENSE to anyone with experience in the nightclubs), and even experimenting with "the pole"


Most people will grow out of it and move on to other things anyways.


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And plus, some claim that wearing certain things, or just being alone at night will make a woman vulnerable to a rape! 


Nevermind that man are more likely to be victims of other violent crimes than women!


Plus, if a man has no proper respect for other people's boundaries, it would NOT matter what the woman is wearing,  if he has the opportunity to attack! 



The difference between a woman getting raped and not getting raped has NOTHING to do with her clothes or her walking alone at night. The only difference that matters is the presence of a rapist!



 
Like Casey Ishitani said, in this case, fix the man, not the woman!

A Change in Direction

Telling people that you are going to change your life plans can be very awkward.  

While some people are understanding, while others might feel betrayed and abandoned.

For example, last year, when I was working at Ala Moana Macy's, I decided to switch positions WITHIN THE SAME STORE!

While some were understanding, others acted as if I decided to work for a rival company. Nevermind that I Was Still Working In The Same Store!  Just doing a different job, that's all! Some people just can't handle other people moving on, no matter how minor the change.

Now my new announcement is a lot more life-changing than that!

It might shock some people, might disappoint some people!

I am changing some of my long-term goals! 

Some changes in my life will be made.

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First some background! I have been working as a substitute teacher since 2005. It's been 7 years. A good adventurous job where you can be teaching at different schools, different grade levels and different subject, sometimes all in the same week!

However, it is not the most profitable job (especially this time of year)

Because I have worked best with  upper elementary students (grades 3-5), I decided in 2010, that maybe I should pursue a degree in elementary education.

I contacted the University of Hawaii (where I got my bachelors in sociology) and also the University of Phoenix.  The UH College of Ed program was a more daytime oriented program, University of Phoenix was a night school program in which you take 1 class a week.  I decided on the University of Phoenix (UPhx).

I started the UPhx master's program last October. 

While I have been enjoying most of my classes, and did well academically, I began having second thoughts. With all this discussion about full-time teachers having to do countless hours of grading and lesson plans, and record keeping, I kept asking myself "Is This Something that I Really Want To Do?"

Being a substitute teacher, sure you have to deal with the kid's craziness, but once 3pm comes around I'm Done for the Day (special exceptions if something went really wrong today and the admin wants a meeting on the issue.  But that's rare)

But becoming a full-time teacher will mean  I'm Nowhere Near Done at 3pm!  Lesson plans (which you would have to modify for different students, some of whom need extra assistance that the system won't provide), grading papers, paper-work, IEP meetings, committee meetings, etc, etc.

Am I sure I want to do all that?

But the last straw was this UPhx class entitled RDG 530 wanted us (the students) to find a kid to tutor with LAS T MINUTE NOTICE, and have to do so many sessions with so little time to do so!

Couldn't they WAIT until we do Student Teaching for us to do that?


And now that I mentioned Student Teaching, do you know how that works? You do about 4 months in a class, you stay in the school ALL DAY WITHOUT GETTING PAID FOR IT! To add insult to injury, one of the UPhx upper-staff suggest we NOT have a paid job while we're doing Student Teaching! (because we also got to do lesson plans, grading, etc) And they only told us that a week before our first UPhx class! They should have told us before we officially enroll in their program!

Am I sure I want to do all that?

I told my academic advisor, Ray Chun, that I will drop the RDG 530 class for now, and I had concerns about UPhx giving us last minute notices on the class requirements, and my concerns about whether I'll be able to do the un-paid Student Teaching.  Mr Chun was like "you should've known, blah,blah, blah!" It was like being told "too bad, this is what we do, get with our program"

That was a month ago!

This month, I made it official --- I Am Withdrawing From The UPhx Masters in Elementary Education Program!

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I did contact the UH College of Education program earlier this year (while I was already enrolled at UPhx). They mentioned that their students are assigned to observe classrooms and student teach at certain schools.

You would think they assigned the students do observations and Student Teacher at schools near UH-Manoa!

Noooooooooooooo! Those who are enrolling in the next cohort are required to do observations and Student Teaching in West Oahu school complexes (ie Pearl City, Waipahu, Nanakuli, Waianae)

But UH-Manoa is in East Oahu!  As far as I'm concerned, providing Student Teachers for West Oahu schools should be UH-West Oahu's responsibility! Otherwise, why have a West Oahu campus if they're going to force East Oahu residents attending UH-Manoa to do observations and student teaching in West Oahu!
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So what to do, what to do, what to do?

Maybe I should become a librarian!

I did some work as a student helper at various libraries during my under-graduate years at UH-Manoa! I worked 1 semester ( my 1st college semester Fall 1999)  at McCully Library, 2 semesters at UH Hamilton Library(Fall 2000, Spring 2001) , and 2 FULL YEARS at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (June 2002-August 2004) and I did one semester as the student-librarian for the UH Marine Option Program  (my last undergrad semester - Fall 2004)]

That was all student-helper work!

To become a full-time librarian, you need a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science.

When I got my bachelor's degree from UH in Dec. 2004, I wanted to take a break from being a student. I didn't want to go straight into graduate school!

But now, I think it's time to go back!

Time to go back to UH-Manoa, a campus I loved so much!

Time to go back to UH-Manoa, which unlike UPhx,  has a REAL College Atmosphere with big libraries, eating places, athletic facilities (and teams), a BIG Campus Center, green lawns, ponds, bike paths, and all this cool stuff that UPhx doesn't have (Being that UPhx is just a few floors in a corporate building in downtown)

Time to go back to UH-Manoa, where I can just walk to school!

And  Time to go back to work in the libraries.

I loved visiting libraries as a kid, I loved working as a student helper at the libraries, and I still love visiting libraries.

It's time for me to pursue a full-time library career!
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I have talked to one of the higher ranking staff members at UH-Manoa's Library and Information Science (LIS) program about enrolling in their program.

The earliest I can enroll is in Spring 2013.

Nothing is official yet!  I still have to complete forms, get recommendations, etc.

But I am planning to work towards becoming a librarian!  :)

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I still plan on sub-teaching for a while more. I'm definitely planning to do so for Fall 2012 and am planning to do some of that on the side as I'm pursuing my LIS degree.

But I AM DONE with pursuing a career as a full-time teacher!

I am DONE with University of Phoenix.

That might hurt the feelings of those who invested in me at UPhx. I did enjoy many class discussions there! I enjoyed using their computer room. I did learn many new things! I was finally able to learn power-points and adding graphics to my blog because of UPHX.

And do I have to give a shout-out to the Tech Queen Jade Shiroma and the Security King William Uepa!  Good people, and I do feel bad if they feel abandoned by my change of direction.

I hope the staff and the students don't take it all personal!

But it's time for me to move on!

 It's time for me to re-adjust my goals and start working towards my new goals.

Coming soon

I have some changes in mind about my academic and career goals. I will mention it in a future blog post later this week!

excessive forgiveness can damage you (and others)

Earlier this year, I wrote the blog post "Exposed to the Light" where I answered back to the critics in my life with comebacks I wish I had in my mind when I was personally able to deal with them.

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/03/exposed-to-light.html

But no matter how tough, sharp-wit, take-no-stuff person you believe yourself to be...........
 No matter how tough, sharp-wit, take-no-stuff person you want your public image to be .......

you WILL end up in situations where you are either 1) to caught off guard or 2) in such a severe power imbalance,  that you won't have a response to someone who is hurting you physically, emotionally, whatever!

You got people preaching forgiveness when forgiveness isn't deserved! You got people preaching nonsense like "let it go" as if they don't care how much it hurts.

Well, I wrote about it in the blog post "Pick a side, Mediate or Get out of the way".

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/03/either-pick-side-mediate-or-get-out-of.html


That "preacher of forgiveness"  gave me UNSOLICITED ADVICE when I wrote that "Exposed to the Light". I did NOT write that blog post to get a response, I just wrote it because YOU CAN ONLY HOLD IT IN FOR SO LONG!

He wants me to surrender to my enemies.
He doesn't want me to stand up to the troublemakers.
He thinks it's healthy to hold it in forever!
He thinks you shouldn't hold others accountable for hurting you!
He thinks you should just be a doormat when others hurt you! 

He just preaches this "let it go" manure!

All that does is make me more angry!


Forgiveness is fine, but it has to be earned! 


You don't just give out forgiveness for free!


Forgiveness is earned by a VERY  LONG-TERM RECORD of CONSISTENTLY improved behavior!


However, to those forgiveness preachers that believe "forgiveness should be given out for free or for cheap"  YOU ARE PUTTING PEOPLE IN DANGER!

You wonder why people are reluctant to leave abusive relationships? You wonder why kids hang out with "friends" who bully them? You wonder why people are reluctant to quit jobs in which they have abusive bosses/co-workers? You wonder why people still put up with emotionally abusive parents decades after they are able to provide for themselves!

It's because they heard forgiveness preachers all their lives!

It's hard to turn that message off in your head after so many years of hearing it!


Now, this is just one of many examples of a person who "forgave" her abusive husband for too long!

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/08/08/i-can-handle-it-on-relationship-violence-independence-and-capability/

In early 2001, a group of friends who had introduced me to my then-boyfriend sat me down at a kitchen table. “We’re worried about you,” one said. “Has he hit you?” The answer, at the time, was no.
Ten months later, I stumble into the emergency room, blood dripping from my nose onto my ripped pajama top, barefoot in the November chill. The receptionist says words to me that make no sense. The only words that make sense are the ones that spill out of my mouth over and over again, the only words that will let the receptionist and the nurses and my friends and my parents know that this isn’t what it looks like, that I’m not one of those women, those women in abusive relationships, those women who can’t help themselves enough to get out: I went to college, I went to college, I went to college.

(skipped paragraphs)

I called in sick to work a lot, or would drag myself in after sleepless nights spent in various states of frenzy that, thankfully, I cannot now recall. I forgot the most basic of things: why I’d walked into the grocery store, how much my rent was, my own phone number. It was depression, sure, but I’d been depressed before, and this was different. This was a fog of having no idea who I was, where I’d gone, or if I might return. This was a fog of having my life completely rearranged to center upon the eye of the storm—an eye that seemed to be the only point of clarity, however distorted it was. This, as it turns out, may have been biological: Abuse, even without resultant PTSD (which I didn’t have), can change brain structures; couple abuse with PTSD and you’ve got increased cortisol levels and other hormone fluctuations.
Which is to say: I was in many ways incapable of helping myself—which, even years later, pains me to say. But there it is: The fog of abuse ensured that my emotions, instincts, and principles were muted; every ounce of energy I had went into my relationship and keeping up the general appearance of sanity. Had you somehow been able to land my healthy, normal status-quo self smack-dab into the worst of my relationship, I’d have gotten out immediately. That’s not how abuse works, of course. Abuse is gradual; abuse is systemic. Abuse changes you; abuse reduces you. Abuse took the me out of me.
I needed the people around me to be more alert than I was capable of being. I needed them to not rely on my cues; I needed them to not take me at my word; I needed them to not treat me as though I were functioning at my best, fullest, most autonomous self. There’s a sentiment within the abuse-prevention community—and the feminist community—that we must respect victims’ autonomy, and it’s a necessary point when coupled with a solid understanding of abuse. But without that fuller understanding, respecting autonomy can too easily lapse into a hands-off approach. Which, when you’re concerned for someone who is in the fog of abuse, can lapse into the realm of danger.

And the comments in response to that blog mentioned the same things. They were from other people who were in abusive relationships, people who thought "it could never happened to me" but it did happen to them, and people who basically FORGIVED their abusers after all the verbal AND physical abuse FOR YEARS, then they finally figured out they forgive too easily and that "forgiveness" MADE THE PROBLEM WORSE!

Sometimes the problems end up with a spouse getting severely injured or EVEN KILLED!

All that happened because people kept demanding unearned forgiveness instead of standing up to the abuser!

While this type of thing has been written about in many articles about domestic abuse, these things are also common in the workplace, among groups of friends, and in other phases of life!  People are expected to forgive those who didn't earn their forgiveness!  The attitude is "dont make waves, suck it up"



Dating columnist Shelley McMurty said it best in one of her daily e-mail  - "Forgiveness can drive you  BatS--- Bonkers!"

And just like money Forgiveness is supposed to be earned!

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Yeah, I know, I'm not perfect either. I have said things that hurt others feelings. But I dont demand forgiveness from those I have hurt!  I dont expect them to forgive me!

I just lead by example, behave in a better way consistently for long periods of time!

That's the only way to earn forgiveness!