HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: elg@elgamy.jpunix.com (Eric Lee Green)
Date: 16 Dec 92 13:10:37 CDT
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa,misc.education
Subject: Re: Tough Tests
Distribution: world
Organization: Eric's Amiga 2000 @ Home

From article <1992Dec15.155709.26917@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, by J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger):
> I still think US university admission requirements are too lenient.

At the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1985, you could be admitted
to the university simply by taking a copy of your high school transcript
(with high school diploma award noted on it) to the admissions office,
filling out an application, and paying your $5 "application fee". If you
didn't have ACT scores, they would administer the ACT to you (for an
additional fee) before classes started. Based on those ACT scores,
approximately 60% of the entering freshman class was put into rugged
"remedial education" courses due to lack of basics like reading and
arithmetic. Remember, these are all kids with high school diplomas. So
obviously, either they slept through their school career, or they simply
got a bad education from the schools they attended.

Of the freshmen put into the remedial courses, only about 30% stayed at the
university past the freshman year. Most dropped out midway during the first
semester, when it became apparent that they did not have the detirmination
and native intelligence to learn this material at the accellerated pace
that it was being presented.

Of the 30% who survived the remedial courses, about 75% went on to get
their college degrees, as compared with around 45% for the "regular"
students who had not been put onto the remedial track. 432 "remedial"
students vs. 576 "regular" students eventually managed to graduate.

In other words, if the university had refused to admit those students
who were obviously not "college material" (as detirmined by ACT scores, a
very lenient measure), nearly half the graduating class would not have
graduated.

So I disagree strongly with the idea of "implement high standards and only
admit a few." We are throwing away perhaps half of our intellectual capital
when we do that. I'm more a proponent of the approach, "admit everyone, and
get rid of the students who don't have the detirmination or native
intelligence to make the grade." There are many youngsters out there who
suffered through inadequate public schooling or who simply took a while to
wake up to the fact that they'd need a good education to make a good life
for themselves, and if we toss all those kids out into the gutters, we're
wasting human potential. I say that if a kid has the brains and
detirmination, give him all the education that he's willing to work his
buns off for.

--
 Eric Lee Green  elg@elgamy.jpunix.com   Dodson Elementary
 (713) 664-6446                             Houston, TX
                "Kids are kids, no matter what"
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
From: schoinas@fox.cs.wisc.edu (Yannis Schoinas)
Subject: Re: SOMALIA INVASION?
Organization: U of Wisconsin Madison - Computer Sciences
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 03:22:49 GMT

irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine) writes:

>In article <1ggm10INN3tb@morrow.stanford.edu> silva@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Holly Silva) writes:
>>In article <1992Dec11.195215.1@nickel.laurentian.ca> s1400070@nickel.laurentian.ca writes:
>>>[stuff deleted about how Canadaian forces were ignored]

>>>like any other nation ie.discreetly.  What ticks me, though, is that the
>>>pentaggon gives shit to CNN for covering the "invasion" live when it
>>>was damn well in their power to stop them from doing so in the first place.
>>>Its just that this show of bravado may actually do more harm than good in that
>>>focus has shifted from the humanitarian issue to the military invasion.

>This is NOT a movie put on for your entertainment, the warlords have been 
>using force to interrupt food shipments and economically crippled tha nation.
>They have REAL GUNS and would not hesitate to KILL someone if there was
>1 penny profit to be made.  Against the overwhealming forces, the warlords
>would realize they do not have a single chance to do anything but get out
>of the way, and stop pirating and let the humanitarian mission continue.

>In this case, the military invasion is part of the humanitarian mission,
>and in fact, the main part of it :  the huge force is used to secure the
>supply lines to allow the food that was shipped there to be properly
>distributed!  

Any opinions on how long the USA troops are going to stay in Somalia
in order to secure the supply lines? One year? Two years? 10 years?

>Over 1,000,000 lives are at stake, and I am sure they don't give a 
>rat's a** how its done as long as they and their loved ones can
>SURVIVE this winter and start planting crops in the spring, and the
>warlord menace is stopped.

I was wondering how cold does it get in Somalia during the winter,:-).
Any particular reason to suggest that the crops should be planted in 
the spring? What's the problem now?

Any particular scheme to stop the 'warlord menace'? What will happen
when the troops leave Somalia?

>It sickens me how some people are so stuck in the abstract that they
>fail to see the practical results.

Which are?

>[BTW- we can and should expect to see some resistance by a few warlords
>who are not aware what a well disciplined and well armed force can do,
>especially when they outnumber them!  It is for these people that
>28,000 troops are there]

Are you sure that the 'well disciplined and well armed force' is well
aware of what a small number of determined trained guerillas can do? 
Do you remember the cable of the US ambassador in Kenya? Sounded pretty 
reasonable to me.

Anyway, the problem is that a guerillas don't walk around with a sign
saying: 'Hi, I am going to kill you'. And it doesn't take much for the
situation to explode. And then the question becomes how many of these
28000 you are willing to sacrifice in Somalia. 10,100,1000,10000. 
Choose a number.

						 Bye,
						Yannis.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.usa:9176 misc.education:5225
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa,misc.education
Subject: Re: Education (was: Re: DOES AMERICA SAY YES TO JAPAN?)
Date: 14 Dec 92 03:18:21 GMT
 <justin.724223500@mik.uky.edu> 
 <1992Dec13.152427.29172@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>  
 <Bz7uxx.LC7@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0b1@newshost.dartmouth.edu

In article <Bz7uxx.LC7@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine) quotes me:

> >I also consider it an affront to my intelligence when you say "I would
                                                         ^^^
This refers to Justin Sullivan -- read my previous post.

> >put up any of their high-school graduates up against anu US college
> >graduate."  A lot of my friends, and many of the people I've met from
> >other schools through College Bowl are among the brightest people I've
> >ever met.
> 
> I did not say this, and would consider it equally insulting.
> I think that people have been deleting the credits again...:(

No, Brent, I didn't delete the credits -- I was quoting Justin
Sullivan.  I didn't mention your name anywhere in my post.

Sorry if you feel flamed!


--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have known it would be bad vodka when all the label said was
'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
From: ryyti@jyu.fi (Jarmo Ryyti)
Subject: The Swedenfinns seek official support from Finland
Organization: University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 11:20:20 GMT

[ Article crossposted from soc.culture.nordic ]
[ Author was Jarmo Ryyti ]
[ Posted on Thu, 17 Dec 1992 06:57:11 GMT ]

An other attempt with better english...)

: This is a translation of the latest issue of Ruotsinsuomalainen (Swedenfinn)
:  of the 10.12.1992.
: 
: FOR THE MINORITY STATuS IS SEEKED SUPPORT FROM FINLAND (was the headline)
: 
: For the aim of the Swedenfinns to attain an ethnic and lingual minority
: status is seeked now official support from Finland.
: 
: The issue is taken on the agenda of The Committee of the Immigration and
: Refugee issues set by Finland's cabinet, (Suomen valtioneuvoston asettama
: pakolais- ja siirtolaisasiain neuvosto), who gave the declaration of
: the minority status made by the swedenfinnish organisations for the Finnish
: governement last friday. (4.12.92) The Committee of the Immigration and
: Refugee issues for their part received the proclamation of the minority
  status during the  Roots in Finland-festivities last august. 
: 
: According to the committee, Finland shall include the Swedenfinnish
  aim for the minority status into  the issues in official  negotiations
  between Finland and Sweden.
: 
: On the communication made by the committee is reminded prime minister Carl
: Bildt charactrazing the situation of the swedenfinns. Bild has given
  a statement that due to a long common history of the countries,
   finnish settlements in Sweden and great numbers of swedenfinns give
  a right to give a special status for the swedenfinns.
: 
: 
: Ps.
: My comments,
: 
: Very difficult to translate, because of byreucratical text!
 You should notice that Carl Bildt is a concervative. During the social
  democratical time swedish
: governements aimed only to assimilate swedenfinns by all means.
: As the peak of all swedish faschism Ms. Anita Gradin declared publicly
: "Sweden is monolingual and remains monolingual". She is a prominent
: politician in Sweden, normally you heard such speeches in South-Africa
: and in Nazi-Germany but Sweden is no exeption. Her speeches however did
: not rise international publicity. Source for the latest statement is
: an issue of Etel{-Suomen Sanomat, a respectful newspaper in Finland,
: issue of 11.12.92
: 
: Down with swedish faschism and oppression of the finns in Sweden!
: regards,
: jarmo ryyti
: 
Xref: sparky soc.culture.usa:9308 misc.education:5455
From: hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa,misc.education
Subject: Re: Tough Tests
Date: 20 Dec 92 21:04:10 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department

In article <1992Dec17.171105.10067@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger) writes:
>But why the hell did these people need remedials in math and
>education?????

Because the sorry excuses for high schools do not teach much of 
anything.  Those remedials are usually not taught well, either;
they are not equivalent to what used to be the "standard" one
year of high school algebra and one year of geometry.  These
students have no idea of the use of symbols, or what a proof 
is, and it is not their fault in many cases; their teachers
usually did not.  Nor do they have any understanding of English
grammar; their teachers often did not, and it was not emphasized
even if they did.
-- 
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@snap.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)  
{purdue,pur-ee}!snap.stat!hrubin(UUCP)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
From: s1400070@nickel.laurentian.ca
Subject: SOMALIA INVASION?
Organization: Laurentian University
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 00:52:15 GMT

     Perhaps I should apologize for the quality of my earlier posting:
CANADIAN FORCES ARE BETTER.  I had some trouble with my mailer and much of
what I wrote was cut out somehow.  I hope that doesn't occur this time.
     What I wanted to say in that posting is that you Yanks, in general,
do not want to give any credit to any other nation in international 
affairs.  You conveniently leave out reference to the help provided to 
your army by several nations, Canada included.  
     My concern with the actions that you have taken in Somalia is the fact that
you are stressing the military side of the operation rather than the 
humanitarian side.  30,000 troops???  What the hell for.  And what is it 
with this bullshit storming the beach head.  Geeze, couldn't you arrive
like any other nation ie.discreetly.  What ticks me, though, is that the
pentaggon gives shit to CNN for covering the "invasion" live when it
was damn well in their power to stop them from doing so in the first place.
Its just that this show of bravado may actually do more harm than good in that
focus has shifted from the humanitarian issue to the military invasion.
     
                                         John
From: somme@muttley.cs.mcgill.ca (Olivier SOMME)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Subject: Where to find a hotel in the suburbs of NewYork with a car? - bis
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:18:23 GMT
Reply-To: somme@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca
Organization: SOCS, McGill University, Montreal, Canada


	
	This winter vacation, I'm going to drive to NewYork and hope to find
a cheap motel or hotel close to NY (Jersey City?) If you know this kind of 
place, please send me some information (name, @, tel) by E-mail to :

	******************************************
	*****   somme@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca   *****
	******************************************

	Thank you for helping a lost tourist...
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: The Swedenfinns seek official support from Finland
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:06:39 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0b1@newshost.dartmouth.edu

Jarmo, why don't you talk about something more exciting -- like Matti
Nykaenen's sex life?  :-)

--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have known it would be bad vodka when all the label said was
'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
From: cthorne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Charles E Thorne)
Subject: Re: SOMALIA INVASION?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 13:05:40 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.195215.1@nickel.laurentian.ca> s1400070@nickel.laurentian.ca writes:
>     Perhaps I should apologize for the quality of my earlier posting:
>CANADIAN FORCES ARE BETTER.  I had some trouble with my mailer and much of
>what I wrote was cut out somehow.  I hope that doesn't occur this time.
>     What I wanted to say in that posting is that you Yanks, in general,
>do not want to give any credit to any other nation in international 
>affairs.  You conveniently leave out reference to the help provided to 
>your army by several nations, Canada included.  
>     My concern with the actions that you have taken in Somalia is the fact that
>you are stressing the military side of the operation rather than the 
>humanitarian side.  30,000 troops???  What the hell for.  And what is it 
>with this bullshit storming the beach head.  Geeze, couldn't you arrive
>like any other nation ie.discreetly.  What ticks me, though, is that the
>pentaggon gives shit to CNN for covering the "invasion" live when it
>was damn well in their power to stop them from doing so in the first place.
>Its just that this show of bravado may actually do more harm than good in that
>focus has shifted from the humanitarian issue to the military invasion.

If this was strictly a humanitarian issue then why hasn't the food been
getting through?  The food has been going to the country for several years,
but not getting through.  That, unfortunately, is a military problem.

Charlie
From: gerard@caliban.soest.hawaii.edu (Gerard Fryer)
Subject: Re: (LONG)JAPAN IS GAINING!
Organization: Scum Of the Earth and Senile Tenured
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 20:17:44 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.142251.12681@sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>, y41@aix320c.urz.uni-heidelberg.de (Jeffrey Hazelwood) writes:
|> READ THIS ARTICLE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR JOB!

[...]

|> NOTE: This is a rather long but fascinating paper on how Japan Inc. functions. 
|> For a former free-trader like myself, it has shaken some of my beliefs to the
|> very core. It will open your eyes a little, it will disturb you, and it will
|> quite possibly lead you to ask some serious questions about the future of the
|> United States of America as a world-leader. Reading this, IMHO, is well worth
|> the effort.

[Article deleted]

I find it curious that you describe yourself as a "former
free-trader."  The article describes Japanese trade practices, which
are far from free but which exploit the relative freedom of foreign (to
them) markets.  It is one thing to throw up trade barriers and invite
all-out international economic war.  It is quite another to impose
restrictions with the clear and stated intention of removing those
restrictions when unfair trade practices are ended.  Who can blame
Japan for behaving as it has if nobody ever seriously takes them to
task?  The US, indeed NAFTA if it ever exists, should establish a
policy of absolutely free trade with any country which will
reciprocate, and impose matching restrictions on those that will not.
Strange that we apply this logic (more or less) to the EC but not to
Japan.

Anyway, that's my $0.02, and I describe myself as a died-in-the-wool
free trader.

A related topic not addressed in the article demonstrates that there is
more than one way to skin a cat.  There are abundant compelling
environmental reasons to demand that all automobiles should be
recyclable and to require that that recycling be performed by the
manufacturer (indeed, the same could be said of all consumer
durables).  Impose that as law and Japan would have to meld its economy
more completely with that of the US (in particular, pour capital into
the US and move much of its manufacturing here - the Americanization of
Toyota) if it wants to retain access to US markets.  Perhaps the EPA
can push us into correcting our trade imbalance with Japan even if a
bumbling presidency and a bumbling congress cannot.

-- 
Gerard Fryer                                  |  g.fryer@soest.hawaii.edu
Department of Geology & Geophysics            |
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology  | <-punctuate that if you can
University of Hawaii at Manoa                 |
Honolulu, HI 96822-2285                       |
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
From: Michael F. Kamprath <kamprath@space-grant.sprl.umich.edu>
Subject: American made products, was Re: bonehead???
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 21:11:47 EST
Organization: University of Michigan, Aerospace Engineering
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A7594113A302C4FC@sprl-mac2016.sprl.umich.edu>
X-Xxdate: Sat, 19 Dec 92 03:13:55 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.210732.18865@cirrus.com> Dave Lambino,
lambino@cirrus.com writes:
>	What is it in our nature that allows us to let things happen
>when we all know it isn't the right thing to do?
>

Could it be . . . . Satan?

>	I was looking through the Business section of the local
>newspaper and what do I see? Another semiconductor shutting down and
>moving its work overseas. Four thousand people will be affected by the
>move. 
>	Somewhere, somehow a movement has to get started to put a halt
>to all this crap. If one is already in the motion would someone please
>sign me up. This bonehead mentality of acceptance has to be put to
>rest.
>
>	Ideas anyone????

Capitalism responds to market demands.  If the market demands cheaper semiconductors,
the the suppliers will do everything possible to make them cheaper.  On the
other hand, if the market demands American made products, then the suppliers
will make them in America.  Legislating laws that dictate wher a product must
be made is the wrong approach (but that is a different thread).  The UAW (I
believe) has a real good advertising spot encouraging people to buy American
made products.  And how does Toyota respond?  They come up with another ad
imforming people that even though parent company is Japanese, most of the vehicles
they sell in the US are actually _assembled_ in the US (I am not talking parts
though).  So, IMHO, the proper approach is to create a market demand for American
made products (both here and abroad).

Oh, buying only American made products doesn't necessarily mean you are "Japan-bashing"
or xenophobic (as some contend).  But, if a person advocates not buying Japanese
products yet feels nothing is wrong with buying German products, I think that
person is biased.


======================================================================
|Michael F. Kamprath                   | The University of Michigan  |
|  kamprath@space-grant.sprl.umich.edu |      Aerospace Engineering  |
|  kamprath@engin.umich.edu            |      Graduate Student       |
======================================================================
Xref: sparky soc.culture.usa:9212 misc.education:5291
From: dtokarew@tokafew.Doc.Provo.Novell.COM (Deb Tokarewich)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: University of Utah (Logan) Address??
Date: 14 Dec 92 20:06:51 GMT
Organization: Novell, Inc.

In article <1992Dec14.094129.12756@waikato.ac.nz> rel@waikato.ac.nz  
writes:
> I was wondering if someone could pleeze post me the e-mail address for  
the
> University of Utah in Logan. I'm trying to contact a friend who is  
presently
> doing his PhD there.
> 
> Any information greatly appreciated....

OK, do you want the University of Utah? That's in Salt Lake City.
Or do you want Utah State University? That's in Logan.

Either way, I don't have their e-mail addresses handy, but if you specify  
which one you *really* want, maybe someone else could help you with the  
address.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.usa:9155 soc.culture.croatia:49
From: pavlovic-milan@yale.edu (Milan Pavlovic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.croatia
Subject: Re: Old newspaper from the wall
Date: 12 Dec 1992 20:47:31 -0500
Organization: Yale University Science & Engineering UNIX(tm), New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: minerva.cis.yale.edu

In article <1gdnibINNluo@GOLEM.MATH.YALE.EDU> wickerhauser-victor@math.yale.edu (Victor Wickerhauser) writes:
>
<stuff deleted>
>A similar wise and forward-looking policy toward the convulsed
>nations of Africa and Europe, the orphans of the Cold War, will save
>even more lives and preserve even more peace and dignity today.
>Angola, Armenia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Ethiopia,
>Slovenia, Somalia, Sudan---it is time to study geography in our
>ethics classes.
>

  Maybe you should stick to your wavelet research for now, Dr. Wickerhauser.
How's good old pops Milan doing?  Give him my regards, won't you?

>Regards,
>-- 
>Prof. M. Victor Wickerhauser                      <victor@kirk.wustl.edu>
>Department of Mathematics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130 USA
>Telephone:  USA(314)935-6771, USA(314)727-0749;     FAX: USA(314)727-4963
>Sto se ljuckim trudom uzdignulo, Ljuckim znojem jopet se ponavlja. --Medo Pucic

Regards,
Milan
===============================================================================
		M A C E D O N I A  =  H E L L A S
===============================================================================
Xref: sparky soc.culture.usa:9213 misc.education:5292
From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa,misc.education
Subject: Re: US education (was: D O E S   A M E R I C A   S A Y   Y E S
Date: 15 Dec 92 16:01:38 GMT
 <1992Dec9.185154.14428@mtu.edu> <Bz0D9J.4x2@fc.sde.hp.com>  
 <00724380488@elgamy.jpunix.com>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0b1@newshost.dartmouth.edu

In article <00724380488@elgamy.jpunix.com>
elg@elgamy.jpunix.com (Eric Lee Green) writes:

> From article <1992Dec12.141132.5673@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, by J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger):
> > Perot had the right idea when he said that teachers should be tested as
> > well as students.
> 
> The problem is -- what test are you going to give that isn't bullsh*t?

It's no more BS than the standardized tests students take.  And most
teachers seem to be in favor of standardized tests for students.

I remember being given one standardized reading test in two different
grades -- the stupid reading passages were so easy to remember.


--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have known it would be bad vodka when all the label said was
'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa