From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Demise of honor programs in public high schools
Date: 18 Aug 92 23:07:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewse.1992Aug18.230739.16097
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Aug18.213734.13210@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> jlacey@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (james.w.lacey) writes:
>In article <1992Aug17.150702.10728@alliant.com> werme@alliant.com (Ric Werme) writes:
>>The latest public school bandwagon seems to be "heterogeneous grouping",
>>where kids of all abilities are mixed into a class.  The claim is that
>>with ability grouping, the slower students are put into the slow
>>group and never have a chance to reach their potential. ....
>
>This movement (to eliminate ability grouping) appears to be spreading 
>all over the country.  In my town, the high school principle explained
>that the smart kids can help the slower learners, so it is a win/win
>situation.  I dont buy it.  I remember in high school that there
>was a college track and general track, with higher college track
>levels (we didnt use the term honors) in math and science.
>

Cool.  Did the faster runners on the track team help the slower
runners?  I wonder if this win-win solution will help us at
the Olympics?

'Course, we all know that these silly "races" don't really measure
what we call "speed", but rather, what the designers of those races
perform well at.  Now, if, for instance, we had "races" that
incorporated more "human" abilities, like running while eating,
or running around in little figure eights and trying to shower and
dress in the morning, I might buy it.  But no.  Our current "races"
are obviously biased toward those that can run on a fixed course
very quickly.

We should boycott the Olympic races because they obviously reward those
that can perform a narrow range of activities and are not a 
predictor of how well they can do in Real Life Running.

Just once, I'd like to see all the runners in a race suddenly
stop and look at each other.  And then they would come together
and join hands.  And they would say to each other, "Hey!  Let's
stop this silliness and one-upsmanship and win-lose approach!
Hey!  Can't we just all be brothers?  Let's think, 'Win-Win'!"
And they'd all march, arm in arm, side-by-side, and cross
that darn finish tape Together!  Even people from the stands
who weren't even in that race because they came from Wyoming
or someplace where track and field wasn't so popular and the
only track they had had lots of holes in it so they would fall
a lot and break bones and never really get the aerobic activity
you needed to go to the Olympics.  But they had dreams.  And even 
fat people who didn't really like running, but wanted to be
in the Olympics anyway.  And that line was so wide that it was
wider than the whole track, but they crossed it together!  Even
those fat people!

Another thing that gets me is how narrow and selective my workplace
is.  We almost never get to sing or play a musical instrument to
improve our perfomance rating.  They expect everyone to do lots
of the same things.  And why?  Because they think that people
in science and engineering should all be good at "math" and "computers"
and "science".  They don't reward the very special, human, unique
qualities.  For instance, we have several people that are just so
full of love you couldn't believe it, but do they get judged on
this basis?  No!  Our management expects us to perform well on
what They, the Power Structure, thinks is our "Project"!  And
on top of all that, it's just money, money, money!  Keep it
in the black!  Why can't they go to shareholders and just ask
them for a break, to treat us like human beings, and not the
little money machines they'd have us be?

I bet those stockholders would just sit there and look at each
other.  "What fools we've been for the almighty dollar."

Well, just the other day, I saw these guys building a bridge
and I saw that one of the cables wasn't fastened to the other
side.  I figured, "Hey, I'll bet the worker is full of love, and
it's really not my place to judge another person by my narrow
range of expectations and behavior.  I'll just let it be.
Because we're all special."  And I drove on.

We've got to learn to appreciate each others' unique abilities
and realize that we can all be exceptional without anyone being
less than exceptional.  And that, regardless of our ability to
perform any task, gosh darn it, we should be allowed to do it.
Everyone can grow up to be President.  And in a better world,
everyone would.

Results aren't everything, as my doctor used to say.


G("This is my Special Dream")MS