I have a piece of paper with several phrases on it. I just have a formula I memorize for generating a password (mixed capitalization, punctuation, and alphanumerics) from the phrase. If you were to find the paper, you couldn't distinguish it from a grocery list or a "favorite quotes" list in my pocket and it would do you little good without the formula.
The shooting in Colorado is a reflection of the skewed values in the United States. These values are magnified in the closed system of the high school. What can we expect when American society emphasizes career and sports but marginalizes cultural activities such as going to the museum, listening to classical music, or reading a book?
I work at a university which disallows towing illegally parked cars during football games. Sports teams have tons of money while departments such as english and anthropology are provided with little more than heating and air conditioning. These values are really messed up.
It doesn't have to be that way. My last two years of high school were spent at a public boarding school which emphasized education first and foremost above everything else (The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics). We still had jocks and rich kids, but the social structure was not as severe. All groups - sports, cheerleading, etc - were clubs. There were no try-outs. Everyone who wanted to join was allowed to do so with no exclusions. You could get a pin for your club to put on a letter jacket. Letter jackets were available for purchase by anyone from the student store.
Such a school is probably not the ideal solution for the US, but the over-emphasis on money and jocks has to end. The brief time I lived in Germany people had careers. Several played sports. But many people were equally interested in what books you read what art exhibitions you visited or what music you listened to.
I doubt scenes like this are going to end until the values of our society change.
Slashdot Mirror
I have a piece of paper with several phrases on it. I just have a formula I memorize for generating a password (mixed capitalization, punctuation, and alphanumerics) from the phrase. If you were to find the paper, you couldn't distinguish it from a grocery list or a "favorite quotes" list in my pocket and it would do you little good without the formula.
I work at a university which disallows towing illegally parked cars during football games. Sports teams have tons of money while departments such as english and anthropology are provided with little more than heating and air conditioning. These values are really messed up.
It doesn't have to be that way. My last two years of high school were spent at a public boarding school which emphasized education first and foremost above everything else (The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics). We still had jocks and rich kids, but the social structure was not as severe. All groups - sports, cheerleading, etc - were clubs. There were no try-outs. Everyone who wanted to join was allowed to do so with no exclusions. You could get a pin for your club to put on a letter jacket. Letter jackets were available for purchase by anyone from the student store.
Such a school is probably not the ideal solution for the US, but the over-emphasis on money and jocks has to end. The brief time I lived in Germany people had careers. Several played sports. But many people were equally interested in what books you read what art exhibitions you visited or what music you listened to.
I doubt scenes like this are going to end until the values of our society change.