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College Students Lack Literacy
Frr writes to tell us that CNN has a rather disturbing confirmation of what many of us have already seen in practice. In a recent literacy study it was found that "more than half of students at four-year colleges -- and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges -- lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers." The literacy study took a look at three different type of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents, and having basic math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips.
Huzzah! I am currently returning to school in pursuit of my bachelor's degree. Thankfully, I am in pretty breezy courses so far this semester. (I start psych 101 on Monday - keeping my fingers crossed!) But, last time I was in school, I remember being constantly bogged down with all sorts of inane crao work that didn't demonstrate knowledge of the subject, and wasn't a useful practice. Petty busy work was one of the key things that has prevented me from finishing school already. I mean, I'm not a guy who goes out and parties. My spare time is usually taken up with projects like teaching myself Japanese, attending lectures, or writing a better terrain engine in OpenGL. Unless I'm in school. Then, my spare time is busy work, and complaining about it because I'm all stressed out about how stupid it is.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go practice the Russian alphabet. Despite the fact that I already know it, and the exercise doesn't have anything to do with correlating the letters to the sounds, which is the only significant part of learning the alphabet! (And, like I said, this semester has much less busy work than I remember previously having!)
Mods please mod this conspiracy freak down. APR never stood for "above the prime rate." Every single definition in every finance book refers to it as Annual Percentage Rate. Fed does not set prime rate:
"Prime load rate: Rate posted by a majority of top 25 (by assets in domestic offices) insured U.S.-chartered commercial banks. Prime is one of several base rates used by banks to price short-term business loans."
How can you take so seriously a post from someone who is so flagrantly anti-semetic?
I didn't say my sig had anything to do with banking. You did.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Just cut the bullshit link from your signature anyway.
Your sig IS anti-semetism. By referring to this media group as a "Jewish" Media group is blatantly racist. You are making implications about people who have *NOTHING* to do with this organization (yes, there are more Jews in the world than what is found in that media outlet). Anyone who can _think_ far back to, say WWII, cannot look at this sig and not think otherwise. At the very least rename the sig. I can deal with the article.
That used to be true, but I believe the Republicans rammed through a bill that makes credit card debt very hard to escape.
If you're going to try to vilify the Republicans for making it harder for people to welch on their debts, you're not going to gain the support of Democrats like me.