Will someone please tell me the difference between Saddam trying to con the UN Weapons Inspectors and W refusing to delete the passages from the internal review of the 9/11/01 (2001!) intelligence received by the White House prior to 9/11/03? National Security? Think Richard M. Nixon invoking national security to conceal common crimes (breaking/entering and burglary). It gets worse. Now, Admiral John Poindexter (USN, Ret.), has created a stock market venture (to recoup the costs of Iraq?) to speculate on assassination and regime-change. Speculate? Make a few bucks on the murder of the brothers Hussein or their daddy? How are we different from the Iraqi regime? Excuse me. I have to go vomit. I am ashamed of the United States of America. If this is treason, make the most of it.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Mortimer J. Adler: No Pain, No Gain
Move over Lionel Basney, make room for Mortimer J. Adler. No pain, no gain. I knew it!
In an essay published in The Journal of Educational Sociology in 1941, Mortimer J. Adler argued that "the practices of educators, even if they are well-intentioned, who try to make learning less painful than it is, not only make it less exhilarating, but also weaken the will and minds of those upon whom this fraud is perpetrated." Adler, founder of the Great Books program, believed that all genuine learning involves some degree of suffering. "Unless we acknowledge that every invitation to learning can promise pleasure only as the result of pain," he argued, "... all of our invitations to learning ... will be as much buncombe as the worst patent medicine advertising."
Crimes Against Humanity
Today, I received the following e-mail message from a student in my summer class. This student holds an associate of science degree in nursing from Amarillo College. The student is in my history course because the student plans to pursue a bachelor of science degree in nursing from West Texas A&M University (25 miles south of Amarillo). Our vocationist, anti-intellectual academic leadership allows (encourages?) the nursing students at Amarillo College to take very few academic courses while completing the nearly 3-year regimen of study culminating in an RN certification. The objective of nursing students at Amarillo College is a passing score on the State licensure exam. This student had no library work within her nursing studies. Mortimer Adler would be horrified at the thought of a nurse whose mind was stuffed with information essential for passing the State Nursing Board Exam, not the ability to think critically. 80 academic hours and never set foot in a library: that is what I call a crime against humanity.
In message 55 on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 1:32am, a student in HIST 1302-004 writes:
Dear Dr Sapper, I would like to meet with you briefly about my debate after class tuesday. I have everything written out and need to make sure i am on the right track before I type it out. Yes I know I wont get the extra point I just need your expertise hahahah. You know in over 80 hours of college courses I havent had to write a report so it is a little scary for me, kinda sad but scary. So if I can visit with you briefly I would appreciate it. Thanks for time. A Student
See the WebCT Glossary on Crimes Against Humanity.
Here is the entry in the WebCT Glossary for HIST 1302-004:
Crimes Against Humanity: According to Dr. Sapper, many crimes against humanity are commited on college campuses. A teacher not requiring students to set foot in a library is one example of Sapper's crimes against humanity. Colleges creating gigantic classes ("monster sections") where students aren't given the chance to respond and think for themselves is another crime against humanity. Students also are guilty of crimes against humanity. Not following directions on a test is a crime against humanity, and will result in a student's induction into the Hall of Shame. See also working harder, working smarter, and pet peeves for other crimes against humanity. Submitted by Paul Lovell (HIST 1301-008/May Term 2001).