Sunday, December 30, 2012

The problem with tenure (by anon)


I have a problem with the way teachers with tenure get handled in school.  Maybe some schools handle this well, but I know my high school, as well as many of the other area schools have gotten themselves into real binds by giving a teacher tenure.  I know that tenure can sometimes be a good thing, but I also want to give some examples of how it can have disastrous results.

Specifically with my school, there have been two incidents regarding teachers who had tenure.  The first, my school was hiring a new third grade teacher, and one of the applicants was teaching at another nearby school, and the other school gave a very good recommendation for this teacher.  When my school hired this teacher, it did not take long to realize that she was an absolute nutcase, and the only reason the other school gave her a good recommendation was because she had tenure at the other school (they couldn't legally fire her.)  So my school got stuck with her, and I feel horrible for anyne who had to endure her classes (I only had her once a day, thank God.)  Along with this, my school couldn't get rid of her either, for she came to my school with the tenure as well.  I don't know how or why she eventually left, but she was in my school for a long time, and threatened to sue my school if she was let go.

The second example was a middle / high school science teacher who had been at my school for a while (up until last school year actually,) and everybody, even the principal, knew how terrible of a teacher she was, yet they couldn't get rid of her...she had tenure.  So how did my school eventually get rid of her?  They gave her a great recommendation to another school, which hired her!  I hate it when schools do this, because not only are they lying to each other, they are taking jobs away from potentially good teachers!  But at the same time, they need to get rid of the bad teacher in some way, but if that is the only way to remove a bad teacher, there is a serious problem.

Now I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on how tenure exactly works, but based on the horror stories I've heard of how it kept bad teachers in and good teachers out, I think it's a serious issue.  If an amazing teacher gets tenure, then it is a great thing!  But some people don't handle tenure very well; some may get lazy because of the new job security, and some may become downright assholes.  I don't think that a teacher should always have to be worried about getting fired, but if they don't continue doing their job effectively as soon as they get tenure, then tenure is one of the worst problems in schools today.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Whitewater police (by anon)

One issue that I find critically piss off worthy is the use of Whitewater cops at UWW.  The cops here are used as a flitering mechanism to balance out the universities overload of students.  Overall, I have heard stories of abuse, lying, paying off rats, ticketing off hearsay, and just a bunch of dirty cop work.  Even though cops are allowed to lie to students, the cops will lie about your rights, and morally that seems wrong to me.  They use rules such as "cannot be in the presence of alcohol", that rule alone could convict any student at some time.  The cops make up rules, and lie to kids that do not know their rights.  They search hallways as extra work which would go against the 3rd amendment, if the university wasn't on the side of the police.  The atmosphere of the entire campus is being put down and I believe if the cops do not change their ways Whitewater will start losing money because of a lack of students.  All of my freshman friends want to leave, leave every weekend, and consider the dorms to be a living hell, a jailcell.  The police are everywhere and have taken the fun out of everything.  I believe that in the living room with my parents I could have gotten away with more than here at Whitewater.  
College is supposed to be a time to discover who you are through social connects.  Honestly, how is anyone supposed to do that when everyone is getting tickets for harmless crimes that even parents would allow?  I understand that police are supposed to stop people from doing crimes, but this is a college campus, we are in the primes of our lives in the most fresh state of mind and physical health. What the hell are we supposed to do on weekends besides party and meet people?  The problem is the police are going nuts this year and its filtering system is working…but word of mouth will hit this school right across the face when word gets out that it feels like a concentration camp during weekends.  It's empty, no noise, police arresting all the time, everywhere, no emotion, no communication.  

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Use your turn signals!! (by anon)

Probably my biggest pet peeve for drivers is people who don't use their turn signals.  Like when your cruising down the road and some guy suddenly slams on his breaks and makes a sudden turn into a side street.  Why the hell can’t you be courteous enough to let the other drivers on the road know your turning?  When you are cruising down the road between 60-80 mph why the hell do you think it’s ok to just slow down and make a turn, especially when there's no turn lane.  And to make it worse a lot of the times they can’t turn right away and you’re stuck behind this guy while traffic in the right lane flys past you.  And now you can’t merge like you could have if the person just let you know with their signal in advance.  It just pisses me off the fact that you have it and it’s so easy to use, it makes you and the people around you safer and you don't use it.  It’s just a little flick of your hand and it’s on.  Don’t endanger yourself and people around you. Use your signals people!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Two notes about religion (by anon)


My argument deals with religion. I believe from my own interpretations that the only similarity in religions all over the world is that it is was FIRST used to define what people considered to be sacred. TODAY religion is used to define people by which god or gods they choose to follow. Truly, what does that even mean? People should value what they feel is sacred, and find ways to appreciate and celebrate it. These sacred things could be nature, sight, hearing, touching, tasting, living, having sex, communicating, raising children, spending time with friends and family. Don't those things seem more important to finding what makes us people be who we are, more than fighting over whose religion is the best?

Furthermore a person who is being told what to believe isn't making their own thoughts.  Religion, if it exists at all, should be more about giving expression to certain values that are good for society, like the ten commandments but without the god talk.  Religion shouldn’t be about telling people what to believe about truth.  A person should find what is important to them and say individually what they believe is right.  If someone follows a god and is told that to not believe a small detail in that religion means big problems, that person should get the clue that something is seriously wrong there.  They should know that they are being tricked.  Whether religious or not, people should not fight over each other's values and we should define what is sacred.   

Friday, December 21, 2012

Do your job, damn professor (by anon)

I have a professor who seems to hate her life because she takes it out on everyone in her classes. For the first 15 minutes of every class she yells at us about the one or two freshmen who don’t know how to navigate D2L. She complains how those few students email her and because she has over 150 students she tells us not to email her because if everyone emailed her then she wouldn't have enough time to do anything else. Not only does she tell us not to email her but she discouraged us from going to her office claiming the same nonsense as the email charade. What kind of teacher discourages her students from getting extra help? 
What makes the matter even crazier is that I just found out she isn't even a full time teacher! I have friends who work full time while taking 18 credits of upper division courses and they don’t even complain as much as she does. If they had professors like her they would be doomed. She needs to get a clue to do her job right. This is what you are being paid for after all. Teachers should encourage their students to come to their office hours and recognize that their students want to learn and improve their grade. They should never push their students away from contacting them for help. I have had many excellent professors but the ones who don’t quite get what their job is or lost their passion need to get back on the college teaching level.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Suitcase College (by anon)


According to urbandictionary.com, a “suitcase college” is defined as “A college or university where many students go back home every weekend”. Unfortunately, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is considered by many as a suitcase college. I hate the fact that UW-W gets such a bad rep, because the city of Whitewater, though it may be boring, is a great place to live and an even better place to get an education.

The first reason a lot of people leave on the weekends, is Whitewater’s close proximity to nearby colleges such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the university of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University. All of the aforementioned schools have an enrollment of greater than 40,000 students, which is more than four times the size of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Also, all of the universities are located in cities with a much larger population. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is located in Madison, Wisconsin a city with a population of about 250,000 people which is about 16x times the size of Whitewater. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University are both located in Wisconsin’s biggest city, Milwaukee. Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a population of about 600,000 which is exactly 40 times bigger than Whitewater. With so much more to do in Madison and Milwaukee, people leave Whitewater on the weekends and go to those cities when they can be doing the same things in Whitewater, just on a smaller scale, obviously.

The second reason a lot of people go home on the weekend is because our school is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, so there is nothing to do. However, I find something to do every weekend and the year I’ve been at whitewater has been nothing short of epic. I love the people, the small town feel and the education I receive here. A lot of people who complain about there being nothing to do just sit on their ass in their room and play video games. So in essence, they drive themselves bored. There is always something to do, you just have to ponder out, make some new friends and find something fun to do.

In closing, I just want students who attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to know that just because the city of Whitewater doesn’t have a population to match Madison or Milwaukee, or just because the University doesn’t have an enrollment to match UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee or Marquette that you can’t have fun here. Get off your lazy ass and go mingle and meet people. Because at the end of the day, no matter what school you attend, YOU make your college experience what it is.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Anonymous vs. Westboro Baptist Church (by anon)


There is not much sicker than the Westboro Baptist Church bunch.  Located in Topeka, Kansas, WBC is headed by Fred Phelps and consists of about 40 members, many of whom are part of Phelps’ large family.  To get a sense of their heinous tactics, their church homepage is www.godhatesfags.com and they have picketed hundreds of funerals ranging from fallen soldiers to rape/murder victims to people who have succumbed to cancer.  They claim that these people deserved to die because of their sins and the sins of America.  Hiding behind the name of God and a phony veil of righteousness, the WBC people hate like no other.

The WBC has now sunk to a new low, and this has sparked something very interesting.  Not surprisingly (though still unthinkable), the WBC has claimed that the Sandy Hook children who were killed last Friday deserved to die.  They were going to protest the Sunday night vigil for the families who lost loved ones, and a spokeswoman for the group relayed that they were going to go to the vigil and sing songs in “praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.”  The WBC should be condemned, but their hatred and stupidity aren’t interesting anymore.  Alas, they are doing what they always do now.  What is interesting is that their recent atrocity has gotten the undivided attention of the underground vigilante group, Anonymous.  And these dudes don’t fool around.

Anonymous is a subversive “hactivist” group with mad internet tech skills.  There is no leader, but when a common goal is formed, they can do big damage by taking down sites, hacking into servers, and messing with code.  They have hacked into the Pentagon, other nation governments, and many businesses all in the name of upholding what they take to be decent morals.  They played a big role in organizing the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Ok, enough of that.  They are many, they are skilled, they should be feared if they target you.  In light of WBC’s response to the Sandy Hook shooting, they are now targeting WBC.  Here is their video (which I think is pretty cool! – especially the end):


I’m so rooting for them!

Glorifying the villain (by anon)


So last night I sat down with my father and step-mother and brought up the subject of the recent grade school shootings on the east coast. I was met with, “I don't want to hear about it,” from my step-mother. I said, “I just heard that somebody had shot a bunch of kids.” I was met with the equivalent of “shut up!” Then my step-mother went on to say that there would be media coverage all over the place glorifying the idiots that perpetrated this gruesome atrocity.
           
I was initially taken aback. I have a 5 year old in grade school so this subject hits close to home. I generally ignore these as fruitless fears because the world and it's many pitfalls are beyond my control. Emotionally, I simply need to process things and it's helpful if the madness in my cranial cavity is not left to its own ends, thus I speak to people. So, for the being pissed portion of this post, I'm a bit annoyed at people's lack of emotional sensitivity.
           
Yet, might my step-mother's point about the glorification of the villians have merit?  Should we try and delete these sort of things from the media, from our consciousness? The risks are apparent but the correct choice is not. In the case of deleting this sort of thing from the news or from historical record we risk mistakes like those made by Germany in the second world war. In recognizing them we risk providing motivation. Perhaps the motivation is not as obvious as I think it is so I will explain: People simply desire, in many cases, to be understood. They desire to communicate and be heard. They want the world to know that they exist. This is one motivation that can be seen as obvious (however undesirable the circumstance) in the case of the Connecticut incident. There may be other factors, but when we weight historical education against the glorification of villainy this is enough to get a start.
           
So, what if Adolf Hitler was forgotten? Are we really at risk of repeating the “Final Solution” situation? Is lack of this historical lesson likely to increase the instances of genocide? Contrarily, is the large scale attention that villains such as Hitler gain from their infamous acts a possible motivation for others to commit similar acts? While the more recent events are much smaller scale the concept is similar. Moreover, it is not unlikely that the ideas which led the shooters in these more isolated incidents were influenced by a desire for exposure and recognition no-matter the moral complications.
           
Is it realistic to think we can prevent small scale acts of destruction? We ought not worry about every little nook of human depravity, but it seems irresponsible to ignore the possibility of taking corrective or preventative action.The question seems to be, is the weight of the possibility of motivating future tragedies enough to justify the censorship of this sort of news? No, but in a world where it is increasingly difficult to stand out due to the sheer volume of availability creative expression it seems that the obsessive desire to be noticed might be an increasing problem. I am speculating a bit but it looks like there are large scale factors which might contribute to what I must simply call desperate acts of evil.
           
We all remember the Columbine shootings, yes? Could this massacre be cited as an instance which might have motivated the shooters in Connecticut? Yes. The earlier incident may have played a large role in influencing the decision process of the latter.  So can we say that there were incidents prior to Columbine that might have served to motivate or dissuade the Columbine shooters? Again, yes. There was a shooting on a college campus.  Indeed, people have killed each other needlessly for as long as written history. It seems that the information has little to do with motivating the killer. If one wishes to kill, they need no justification, if they desire justification they can make it up without looking to others for an example. It would seem now that there is no reason to hide the villainy.
           
So why is there a desire to stop this sort of thing from being aired? I would submit that it is the guilt felt by those who are not responsible. They feel that because the previous acts can be used as a motivation that the exposure these acts receive is somehow connected to those who condone it. In other words, they simply crave to be absolutely non-responsible for anything which might be connected to the gruesome acts. 

Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Sandy Hook Shooting: Time to Wake Up People!! (by anon)


Today is an extremely sad day for our country.

I would venture to say that this a sad era for our country. We now live in a time where we have to live everyday in fear of the violence. Gone are the days when people are afraid of dying in an airplane crash, car accident, or of natural causes.  No, now we must be afraid of being slaughtered while going shopping, enjoying ourselves at a movie, or going to school. We not only have to worry about our own lives being taken, but now we must fret over the lives of our children.  Parents should not have to think about these things when sending their precious children to school.  But yet they do, now we all do.  For if nothing is done, if no action is taken, our country will continue to wind down this path of death and violence.  

It is so disconcerting to see individuals on social media sites pledging their allegiance and support to the NRA when 20 children are now dead, 20 children who had everything to live for.  As President Obama reiterated, these children had their whole lives ahead of them, but now, nothing.  The parents and families of the teachers and school workers dead have nothing left but sorrow.  People are grieving and our country is in a state of mourning, and all that these ignorant activists want to do is politicize and tout their mantra “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” People with guns do in fact kill others, the proof is all around you.  So stop hiding underneath your ignorance and wake up!  All of these national shootings as of late were not done by hardened criminals who received their weapons illegally.  These shootings were done by deeply troubled individuals who were either able to purchase the weapons themselves or take them from people who they lived with.  This is truly disturbing.  One of the main arguments I hear from supporters of gun rights is that “criminals” who want guns will get them. Well, in this latest tragic incident, the shooter had NO prior criminal history.  

How do we deal with such cases? Do we just forget about them and move on.  It seems like this has been our strategy, and things are just escalating.  I call on my colleagues and friends to stand up against this violence.  This is not a Republican or Democrat ideal, this is a human ideal.  Put aside your blessed political opinions for one moment and unite to stand up against the evil that is overtaking our society.  Stand up against the hate, the bullying, and the intolerance that breeds such violence. Put aside your political affiliations for one moment and stand up to the weapons that fuel the violence.  It is deeply saddening that gun control needs to be a political game. These situations go beyond politics; they dig deep to the very root of life.  The families and the innocent people who have been victimized come from a variety of backgrounds.  They are Republicans and Democrats, religious and atheist, man and woman, child and adult, they are human.

To those who can still sit in your ignorance and clutch your deadly weapon with such love and devotion, think of that weapon killing someone you love with all of your heart.  I guarantee you that the NRA will not be able to quench your grief.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

This professor's exams suck! (by anon)


I have a class were the final exam and mid term are 25 short answer questions based on the lectures with no study guides. So the professor just expects us to blindly read the notes and hope that what we read is on the final. This is total bullshit!  How do you expect us to get a good grade if we don't even have any idea what is on the test? I like this professor but I just don't like how he assembled the course. If he were to put at least some sort of aid on there, a list of possible questions, study guide, even just an outline, that would be great. I know my classmates feel the same way. The class average on the mid term was a 58%. 58%!  That’s failing!!  Now even if you knew how to study for that, it’s still a very hard way to take a test. Maybe throw some multiple choice in there. Maybe a few true and false. Anything other than a whole short answer test. Like I said, nothing against the professor. I just wish that he would re-evaluate how he put the test together and how he chooses to assess us.  Doesn’t he want us to do well in the course?  His exams suck!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Bad news Bears' fans (by a Packers' fan)


Due to the close proximity of the state of Illinois, there are a lot of Illinois natives and residents that attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Personally, I love everything about the sport of football. I appreciate all the players who put their personal health on the line every weekend to satisfy passionate fans like myself. However, as a Packer fan, there is one thing that I cannot stand. That is the Chicago Bears team and all their bone headed fans. 

There are 27527252 reasons why I cannot stand the punk ass Chicago Bears and their fans. The first of the many reasons is their quarterback, Jay Cutler. While I cannot take away the obvious talent that Jay Cutler has, I HATE him. You may think hate is a strong word, but I do truly. I hate Jay Cutler because he is an arrogant piece of shit that is known to throw more interceptions than touchdowns.

The second of the many reasons I cannot stand the bone headed fans is because they ALWAYS think that the Bears will always have a better team than the Packers. As a fan of a certain team, you’re always supposed to think your team is superior to any other team. However, Bears fans can in no way, shape or form think that they are better than my Packers when they have lost 8 out of the last 10 head to head matchups dating back to the 2008 NFL season.

In closing, I have a message to all Bears fans who attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: THE CHICAGO BEARS ARE NOT BETTER THAN THE GREEN BAY PACKERS. You have no reason to think that. So please stop doing so. We have had a better record the last couple years, have the most head to head wins in the recent years, have won a Super Bowl more recently and have more overall Super Bowl titles. Lastly, the Super Bowl winner every year gets awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Super Bowl trophy is named after a Packers former coach, not a punk ass Bears coach  =)

Sincerely,

Your Pissed Packer Fan

Friday, December 7, 2012

Give me my identity! (by Rachael)


To Fellow Twins:
To Those Like Me:

 
I apologize for using such a general term to address you, but I do not know your names so I had to default to such a lackluster definition. I truly am sorry for using this term when it is the very thing that makes my blood boil.
 
I am a twin, it is an aspect of me that has come to define and dominate my entire life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. When people ask us if it’s weird being a twin or stare at us because we’re two people who look exactly the same it genuinely confuses me. This is normal. This is what is natural (at least how I see it). Those of you without a twin cannot understand the depth and connection we share. So, no, it’s not weird being a twin. Honestly, those of you without a twin are the weird ones.
 
I am a twin, but “twin” is not my name, despite what most people seem to think. “Are the twins ready?” “Where are the twins?” “I thought the twins…” Blah, blah, blah, you get the idea.
 
Every time I hear this I involuntarily stop and grit my teeth, but usually just brush it off in the end. It’s not something that pisses me off to the point of going off on someone or round-house kicking them or something like that. I mean, my sister whose two years older than me addresses us as that, as well as my parents, and my friends. I know people don’t mean it to be offensive. I know that they don’t mean to shrewdly label us as one single being when in fact, low and behold, we’re two individuals. Two minds, two bodies, two separate people.
 
I mean, is that so hard to understand?
 
Now I know I don’t try to make a distinction between us either. She is my twin, my counterpart, the Yin to my Yang. Without her I’d be lost, broken, incomplete. There’s no way I could ever be someone other than a twin.
 
So I don’t blame people for using this generic (yet still slightly offensive) term. Still, every time I hear “Oh, the twins…”I freeze and have to bite my tongue to resist snapping at someone or hold back a glare. Maybe I should start calling people by things that define them instead? “Hey, Redhead?” “What’s up, lazy eye?” 
 
No, I would never do that, but maybe people can take that idea into consideration next time they think about addressing a twin as “twin.” Do ya have to label people like us by one sole idea, and nothing else? Being a twin is not what solely encompasses who I am as a whole person, it is a big part of my life, but not the whole thing. Maybe you other people who are like me can understand how this makes me feel? Only you can really comprehend where I am coming from, I guess.
 
I even subconsciously use “we” instead of “I” more often than not throughout this entire rant and throughout my entire life, but it’s just become that natural to me.
 
So yes, I am a twin.
 
Yes, I would never, ever change that fact.
 
But my name is not “twin.”
 
It’s Rachael.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Stop pretending (by anon)


Something I have realized recently, that bothers me to the extreme, is when people pretend to be someone they are not, pretend they actually care when I know they don’t or try to act like a friend or they are concerned when they could really care less. I know the only reason you pretend to care is to seem like a good person or you have some ulterior motive that will essentially benefit you. You don’t do things to help me or because you are interested in my life so stop pretending; I know you don’t care, just leave me alone if you don’t really mean it. It annoys me even more if you go out of your way to sound sincere and concerned than if you wouldn’t say anything at all.

I know a person like this who will do or say things, make reasons to get on my good side or seem like they truly want to know about my life or what I have to say. However, I know the only reason you ever acknowledge me is because either the person you like is talking to me so of course you either have to insert yourself into our conversation or redirect his attention to you somehow. You have to be the last one to be seen by him or you have to get the last word in, you’re on his heels whether he is going near or far distances, you will create any excuse to have to go to the same place he is. If he starts a sentence with I need someone to… you say I can before he can barely finish the thought.

You’re not his mom, you’re certainly not his girlfriend; therefore, you do not have any rights to basically claim him to yourself, as of right now you are merely a friend which I know is hard to swallow but you need to back off! Gain some independence and with the ounce of individualism you may have, just think for yourself. He has friends, you’re not the only one in his life and believe it or not your charade gets old. It is pitiful watching you go out of you way to do everything for him; you are degrading and losing all sense of dignity and morals that you may possess.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Damn Canadians! (by anon)


My neighbors have been demoted to just being referred to as “The Canadians.” What little relationship we may have had, whatever ounce of liking I had of them was all washed away with their meaningless decision to build a two story, 2500 square foot “garage.” Every time I see them, their little project, their faces, their kids I just get so annoyed and think to myself… Goddamn Canadians. They are referred to this by my whole family because one of them has a Canadian heritage so it is a family joke that it must be a Canadian thing or, damn Canadians, things of that nature.

Our relationship was never the best with them but it was slowly developing and at least we could tolerate them or have a simple conversation. Then they started this project- the construction of this two level garage which is bigger than the size of my house, right on the lot line. They got allowance to have it right on the lot line because we are in a zone commercial area; therefore, they did not legally have to be six feet or any other amount away if it was not by their choice. The board also said they can “Build to the sky” giving my family an awesome view of a wall when we used to see across to the street or what used to be beautiful morning’s. Because it is a two story building you can imagine the amount sunshine that we are no longer able to see because of it and its close proximity to us.

They started by tearing down their old garage which I already considered to be pretty big- not only was it able to fit two cars but it also had another area for the lawn mower, kids toys, tools and other objects they needed to store. But I guess that was not good enough, so they started preparations for their new addition. Week by week their project slowly rose from the ground and recently they basically finished the frame of building- and it is huge. It just seems like a massive waste of money when they only have two cars and their kids are both under the age of eight, not to mention the fact that their driveway could also fit six cars so it is not like they did not have the room. Not only is this building and eyesore to my family and me because of its enormous structure, but I feel that it also deemphasizes the neighborhood feel to our block because what they have built looks like it is a part of some business. Maybe instead of building this monstrosity they could invest and save their money for something more important.