tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post3179615205256200560..comments2024-02-06T07:57:54.467+00:00Comments on underdogs bite upwards: All those lives wasted.Leg-ironhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-78525829249981696502010-11-14T14:30:12.633+00:002010-11-14T14:30:12.633+00:00I'll likely be taking a Computer Science degre...I'll likely be taking a Computer Science degree (I like to think that that's a real subject :P) next year, and I can't actually see the problem with raising tuition fees - but I can't see the point either.<br /><br />The only reason we see these "John, 45, still has £silly of his student loan left" horror stories is simple - the loan is written off eventually, so nobody in their right mind will be paying it back in full.<br /><br />How exactly does funding universities out of government-backed loans that will never be repaid in full help the nation's finances?<br /><br />Personally, I think that degrees should be funded based on the employment rates of graduates. <br />Want to do medicine, dentistry, chemistry, engineering? Fees paid. Want to do media studies or history of art? Fucking pay for it yourself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-83892468060224483252010-11-13T18:34:15.721+00:002010-11-13T18:34:15.721+00:00Robert the Biker - I'm out of the ivory tower....Robert the Biker - I'm out of the ivory tower. I just rent lab space in there now.<br /><br />It's harder work but much more fun.Leg-ironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-27583415987807825032010-11-13T18:30:50.398+00:002010-11-13T18:30:50.398+00:00Anon 16:12 - You're describing Thoughtcrime.Anon 16:12 - You're describing Thoughtcrime.Leg-ironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-39909727432583547862010-11-13T18:30:14.502+00:002010-11-13T18:30:14.502+00:00Aha, so you're one of those ivory tower accade...Aha, so you're one of those ivory tower accademics we hear about then.:-)<br /><br />BSc in Engineering for me, which I found totally useless in my profession as a materials engineer in Petrochem; everything usefull I know I learned on the job.Robert the Bikernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-5593565201649703082010-11-13T18:16:25.247+00:002010-11-13T18:16:25.247+00:00Anon 11:53
In fact, your entire post smacks of a ...Anon 11:53<br /><br /><i>In fact, your entire post smacks of a complete lack of knowledge of FE & HE in general </i><br /><br />One B.Sc.<br />One stint as a research assistant.<br />One PhD.<br />Three postdoctoral positions in different universities.<br />Thirteen years as a lecturer and researcher before going self-employed. I've taught students at all levels from HND through to PhD.<br /><br />I fear my lack of knowledge is not as complete as you might hope.Leg-ironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-20132936388842798532010-11-13T16:12:29.452+00:002010-11-13T16:12:29.452+00:00Looking at things from a rather wider perspective,...Looking at things from a rather wider perspective, I was concerned to hear on Jeremy Vine’s show on Radio 2 the day after the demo that a member of one of the lecturers’ associations who had stated his support for the riots (didn’t hear it from the start, so didn’t catch his name or the exact organisation) had been invited in to the show, not, as one might expect, to have questions put to him as to the reasons for the demo or even to try and defend the actions of the rioters (being as he had stated his support for it) but, to offer a defence <i>for his reasons for supporting it at all.</i> There’s a big difference between the two. Vine’s approach was that, as a member of a university lecturers’ organisation, this chap had a <i>duty</i> to be opposed to it totally and to disapprove of it. <br /><br />Now, I personally think that the actions of the rioters were indeed disgraceful, and actually slightly embarrassing – a bunch of naïve teenagers trying to act like grown-up, politically-aware adults (and succeeding only in showing themselves up to be a bunch of, er, naïve teenagers), and I agree that any of them who have committed any kind of crime should be (a) brought to book about it and (b) slung off their university courses. So I don’t agree with this man for an instant. But surely one of the features of living in a so-called “free” country is for everyone to be able to hold their own opinions, even if they are in the minority and even if they are deeply unpopular, without having to defend themselves for doing so? <br /><br />I just thought it was rather indicative of the whole approach these days that if you are in a certain position, then you are <i>obliged</i> to hold certain views without exception (e.g. if you are a doctor then you have to be anti-smoking; if you are a teacher you have to be anti-corporal punishment; if you are a social worker you have to be pro-same-sex parent arrangements etc etc). Worrying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-15885871203221547422010-11-13T15:00:11.436+00:002010-11-13T15:00:11.436+00:00Top stuff Leggy.
Unless you are Lefty Student Wun...Top stuff Leggy.<br /><br /><i>Unless you are Lefty Student Wunderkind.</i><br /><br />Timewasters high on the over-inflated legend of the soixante-retards, but no threat to the powers that be...<br /><br /><i>Revolution’s website states: ‘We are a group of young activists who are fed up with unemployment, war, poverty, cuts and capitalism. We want to bring down Cam and Clegg’s millionaire coalition and replace it with socialism.’</i><br /><br />What was that shorthand definition of insanity? Oh yes. Repeating actions and expecting a different result.Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-34326869139592342072010-11-13T12:49:53.823+00:002010-11-13T12:49:53.823+00:00I bet none of them watched the Channel 4 programme...I bet none of them watched the Channel 4 programme "Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story"<br /><br />It might (just might) have shut them up....<br /> <br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOsqBf5hDjImicrodavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-20547012609881630352010-11-13T11:53:26.015+00:002010-11-13T11:53:26.015+00:00There's a rather glaring nit here and I'm ...There's a rather glaring nit here and I'm going to pick it. Your criticise the degree choices of the alleged riotors, yet you're seemingly oblivious to the fact that Goldsmiths is one the most prestigious institutions in the country, as is the SCHOOL OF Oriental and African Studies or SOAS. Meanwhile, I fear your plan to eliminate PPE from state sponsorship will meet alot of flack from David Cameron and the Tory party, seeing as PPE is by far and away the most popular degree studied by those in Westminster and Whitehall, and the Civil Service. In fact, your entire post smacks of a complete lack of knowledge of FE & HE in general - had you actually attended one of the more reputable institutions then you would, like this computer science graduate from one of the best programmes in the country, realise that there's absolute no connection between the degree that you study and political activism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-42578060464213135582010-11-13T11:17:52.205+00:002010-11-13T11:17:52.205+00:00Fantastic post LI.Fantastic post LI.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08026665719613788427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-17849708493785396392010-11-13T07:25:00.096+00:002010-11-13T07:25:00.096+00:001. All financial subsidies are being withdrawn fro...1. All financial subsidies are being withdrawn from Arts and Humanities subjects, which will include such things as PPE, Anthropology and Dance.<br />2. Monday morning, across the country, disciplinary proceedings will start being cranked up against both staff and students involved in the criminal elements of the protest. While the UCU and the NUS may think they were acting legitimately, they will find that their university managers take a very dim view of bringing their individual institutions into disrepute.<br />3. Staff who acquire a criminal conviction while acting in their professional role will be disciplined, up to and including dismissal.<br />4. Students who acquire a criminal conviction for violence or property damage, if they are not thrown out, are subject to a monitoring process throughout the rest of their degrees by the university's security staff.<br /><br />By the by, I believe any academic who influenced or encouraged their students to act in a criminal manner should be sacked. And I used to be a university academic.PT Barnumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-44909746523066882012010-11-13T06:58:58.866+00:002010-11-13T06:58:58.866+00:00Bill, I was thinking the self-same thing today. Ma...Bill, I was thinking the self-same thing today. Maths, Physics, Chemistry too. The hard stuff. I would be a rotten bastard and say 'no' to Law for that matter - too many of them end up as politicians!Caratacusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-22109835709673362262010-11-13T05:01:52.434+00:002010-11-13T05:01:52.434+00:00Maybe its time that funding was only given to core...Maybe its time that funding was only given to core subjects such as Law, Engineering, Medicine, and the 'Hard' science subjects with a side curriculum for commercial of Business courses. <br /><br />The world won't come to an end if stuff like PPE, or Political and Social 'Science' courses have to come out of students own pockets.Bill Stickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05285528897339442436noreply@blogger.com