Cory 1996-09-22

From Summa Bergania

Date: Sun, 22 Sep 1996 10:42:49 -0600 (MDT)

From: Cory Allen Heidelberger

To: David Bergan

Subject: Beowulf and Schwarzeneggar--Icons of Values as They *Are*, not as They *Should Be*

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Hi, David!

I don't suggest you change your worldview to emulate Beowulf. I agree with you that Beowulf is not the kind of guy I'd want for a roommate, let alone a model for my values. Beowulf and Schwarzeneggar (the characters in his action films and the rest of the genre, that is) do not necessarily offer us justifiable values or a guide to save our souls. They don't necessarily tell you and me how things ought to be. They do, however, represent the values of their (our) societies *as those values exist*. Whether or not those values are justifiable is another question.

You say your a-b-c trig-identity simplification method meets with ridicule? From whom? From the teacher? From other students? If possible, could you send me over the e-mail a couple of examples of your a-b-c method in action? As I said, I agree with you as to its validity. I would like to see just how you work it out and compare it with my solution method. I am glad to hear that, even as you have been using this a-b-c method, you have learned the identities as well. Ah, the joys of an ever-expanding mind!

Why just 12 years in school? Well, one could argue that society is now expecting 16 or more years from everyone. College is increasingly becoming a place where the majority automatically go, as if freshman year at college were just grade 13. Plus, more and more students, for reasons financial and otherwise, are taking five or more years to graduate from college (heck, I took nine semesters--of course, I came out with two majors, two minors, a teaching certificate, and 229 academic credits where only 128 were needed for graduation).

But yes, the standard assembly-line model of public education demands that all students be herded through the system in twelve years. Actually, you have surprised me, David. You are the first person I can recall who has expressed anything like a desire to stay and take more classes in high school rather a desire to get as soon as possible. Keep in mind--there are always opportunities to learn, either through formal classes or through first-hand experience, after high school. Perhaps the only significant difference is that the classes in high school are free (at least to you--the taxpayers pick up the tab, and they might not be willing to fund students taking a fifth year of high school classes. Heck, they are hardly willing to fund the regular four years!).

Alas, colleges contribute to the assembly-line mentality and the stress by demanding that you meet all sorts of requirements on paper while paying little if any attention to your actual self and your abilities. That's how colleges have decided to run things. In a society where thousands of students apply for the freshman class, few if any schools can take the time to really get to know who you are and what you can do. They thus let standardized application forms and the College Board (the SAT/ACT people) do the work for them. The College Board turns you into an easily graspible aggregate of numbers that a computer can use to make admission decisions, the colleges can spend less money on admissions interviews and pay their administrators hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and the College Board makes a ton of money off its tests and all the preparation materials it publishes. Grrr. I don't like the situation at all, but that's what you get in an enormous society that seeks to quantify and objectify every detail. (You are't the only one who likes to take out some frustration on society!)

I will say this: if you are concerned about college costs, you might want to take a look at Canadian schools. You pay twice the tuition of native students, but even so, at the University of Alberta, for example, you would be paying about the same as what in-state tuition at SDSU would cost you, if not **less**! And from what I have seen and heard, Canadidan universities offer a high-quality education. Wherever you go, you just have to keep an eye out for all the scholarships. Also, cost will depend on just what you want to get out of your diploma. I may have told you before that, in a way, a college diploma is like a permission slip to go play in the adults' world--or, more specifically, the professional adults' world. As you said, if you want to teach, knowing the subject isn't enough for the school board. They demand that you go through 4 years (at least) of higher education (during which you subsidize all sorts of old professors and other academics whose livelihood depends on the requirement that so many people get a diploma before they can go work in certain fields) and get that piece of paper. Now, to some extent it does matter where that piece of paper comes from. A Harvard or Stanford diploma has more impact and prestige than a diploma from SDSU (in most fields, maybe not in dairy microbiology). An Ivy League diploma may open a *few* more doors for you than one from a state college. However, you pay for that prestige, the same way that you pay for the label on designer jeans. A pair of Z Cavaricci jeans isn't any more durable than a pair of Wranglers. They don't have any more material or a stronger zipper. They simply have a little fancier design and a well-marketed name for which you pay four times as much than the $15 Wranglers at K-Mart. But basically, aside from the look, both pairs of pants get the same job done: they cover your behind and keep your legs warm. I look at diplomas the same way. If you want to pay $100 000+, you can get a "designer diploma," one that will wow people when they see it even before they know anything about you. However, for $25 000 (four years, rough estimate, current US dollars), you can get a diploma that will allow you to get out in the work world and start making you mark. And very soon, within five years, it's that work that employers will look at first over your diploma.

Oops! I'm over my time limit! Gotta go!

Your friend,

Cory!