Euro university reform?

[KvHagedorn]

When I saw Nicole Brown's parents interviewed, I remember her father saying that OJ asked permission to marry her, and him acquiescing. If he had really voted with his heart, would she still have been alive now? Did he feel less able to say no because he would be called a racist? He had no freedom whatsoever to say no.. OJ knew it and so does everyone else who has seen someone vilified for being a "racist" by people so quick to judge.

[Sasq]

KvH, it is time to step away from the kool-aid.
step back slowly, drink plenty of water, get some sunshine.

[KvHagedorn]

Well your parents should have had the backbone to complain to the school.

I never told my parents. They hailed from liberal la la land and would have blamed me.

[Jessterw]

When I saw Nicole Brown's parents interviewed, I remember her father saying that OJ asked permission to marry her, and him acquiescing. If he had really voted with his heart, would she still have been alive now? Did he feel less able to say no because he would be called a racist? He had no freedom whatsoever to say no.. OJ knew it and so does everyone else who has seen someone vilified for being a "racist" by people so quick to judge.

Dude, honestly, WTF? That's got to be one of the most illogical statements I've ever heard made. It truly sounds like something a racist would say in an attempt to justify being racist.

OJ didn't murder Nicole because he was black and she was white. He did it because he's a depraved f**ker. If her dad didn't approve of him, he should have had the gumption to say so, regardless of what the reason was. To say he had no freedom to say no is pure bullsh*t and you know it. You wouldn't even be mentioning it if OJ had been white.

[Dr Mordrid]

KvH has obviously never observed how things to in a really mixed area like here in SE Michigan. Race is only an issue for those that insist on making it so, on either/any side. Ex: my daughters prom date was half Puerto Rican and half black.



No problem since about 20% of the couples there were mixed. The only ones who gave a hoot were the older parents whose attitudes were stuck in the 50's, which were actually quite few in number.

[Brian Ellis]

To get back to the subject, the CNN report on Universities is only very partially true. Let's take the UK as an example. When I was a student, there were only two types of University: the traditional ones like Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St. Andrews etc. and the "redbrick" ones like Loughborough, Reading etc. I doubt whether there were more than 25 universities in the whole of England and 5 in Scotland. A degree, even a lowly BSc or MA, from any of these really meant something. A basic knowledge of Latin was required for entrance, as well as excellent English and maths, even for the Humanities. Speaking for the Scottish ones, a Scottish Higher Leaving Certificate was a minimum requirement and this was tough. IOW, only academically bright persons were admitted. There were, of course, hundreds of technical colleges and other specialised adult colleges, providing full time, sandwich or night courses for apprentices and trainees in industry, commerce and the arts, but these did not, as a rule, issue degrees. but diplomas and certificates.

In the meantime, little by little, nearly every adult teaching institution (even for the mentally handicapped) changed its name to University, but not its vocation and the certificates, etc. were renamed into degree, without an improvement in the level of teaching. There are no real educational standards needed to gain entrance to these. In the 1950s, I taught night school classes at the Cambridge Technical College, to apprentices in electronics. Today, that institution is the Cambridgeshire Technical University and the essential training given there is still at a technician, not engineer, level, but the technicians leave with a BSc or equivalent.

In other words, the meaning of University and Degree has become devalued, although the traditional (even most of the old redbrick) universities still try to maintain a high standard. A 1st class honours degree from Cambridge really means something, even today.

I can't cite the time scale, but successive UK Governments have wanted to push as many school-leavers, even those with virtually no academic qualifications, into higher education, mainly to keep the unemployment figures acceptable. So hundreds of thousands of youngsters were pushed into these new "universities" without any baggage to allow them to finish even the simplest courses, many of them being quasi-illiterate. So, yes, there is a large percentage of dropouts, but what do you expect under the circumstances?

Also, the learned institutions have dropped their entrance requirements. I'm an MIET (formerly MIEE) and a Chartered Engineer. To become such required a technical education to at least BSc 2nd class honours from a real university (or equivalent) plus 5 years experience in a responsible position in industry or academia plus proof of original thinking. Today, anyone can become MIET with almost no qualifications or experience, providing he pays his subscription (C.Eng. stil requires some academic qualification).

It is true that entrance to universities may be free or low-cost to students without the means to pay. Grants are fairly liberal, but have been cut enormously over the years. It would be pretty difficult today to get a decent degree without payment, often mortgaging ones body to bank loans. For this reason, many of the more prestigious universities welcome suitably qualified (after entrance exams) overseas students who pay their full tuition fees with no subsidies (unless from their own governments). This is essential to maintain the quality. Some universities also accept cash from industry by acting as consultants or undertaking appled research projects (a horrifying thought, in my days).

So, yes, there is some truth in the article but it does give a very distorted image. If you take the output from the real, traditional, universities that maintain high academic standards, then they are second-to-none compared to graduates from anywhere in the world. Similar situations exist to varying degrees elsewhere in Europe. A graduate from the Sorbonne or Heidelberg, for example, is still a top-class academic, simply because the "real" universities do maintain their standards against all odds.

And Dominique Strauss-Kahn is no longer a presidential hopeful, having been trounced by Ségolene Royale who, despite her name, leans more to the left and reform. She is what is needed to get France out its corrupt structure.

[NetSnake]

Trust me; this kind of crap is going on everywhere, and it's one part of our system the Europeans should avoid at all costs.

This has been going on in Greece since a long long time ago. Plus, a great part of the profs are retarded f*cks whose greatest work (if any great work) was 20-30 years ago. They are the ones that dont want private universities cause they think they can monopolize higher education. On top of that they dont even accept to be evaluated by external comitees (Universities are independent and self managed completely, the state has no authority on them except provide whatever funding is available)

Result:
Strong "Professor Brotherhoods" exist that protect eachother and promote their own
A lot of young ppl chose to study in other countries
Most of the departments hardly produces any knowledge (research)
that means no funding from european programs
and, of course, no private funding (they'd be crazy to give money to a department which does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING except provide textbook knowledge to the students)

Ok, this isnt true for all departments but it is true for the GREAT MAJORITY.

I am pro free knowledge but I'd rather have the american system than what I described above!