OT: The Thread About Nothing CCX: Pet Emporium

[MadDevil]

Umm... you're in North Dakota?

So you're getting less snow than expected for this time of year?

Fair point.

The funny thing is the last time I moved it was in the middle of a blizzard too. I'm starting to think I should just move south next time.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

Fair point.

The funny thing is the last time I moved it was in the middle of a blizzard too. I'm starting to think I should just move south next time.

To Sioux Falls?

 

[None Shall Pass]

Going back to China for a second:

I'm currently working on my Master's in IT Risk Management and Security. This semester, I'm taking two business classes that are required for it.

My class last night was on global business - global management practices, specifically. (The other class is in linear programming, which I will never ever ever use, but alas)

The makeup of that class is 25 students from mainland China here on visas, a student from some Balkan country (I forget which), and myself and another American guy.

The NBA thing was brought up by my professor, and the Chinese students were basically split between "Who cares?" and "If you like making money, don't criticize China." They all said that it's absurd that this is happening, but "that's the government over there."

(The Balkan girl doesn't follow basketball and was confused by the whole situation. I glanced over and the other American guy was doing crossword puzzles. I was on HF reading the GDT.)

 

[Davegarri]

Going back to China for a second:

I'm currently working on my Master's in IT Risk Management and Security. This semester, I'm taking two business classes that are required for it.

My class last night was on global business - global management practices, specifically. (The other class is in linear programming, which I will never ever ever use, but alas)

The makeup of that class is 25 students from mainland China here on visas, a student from some Balkan country (I forget which), and myself and another American guy.

The NBA thing was brought up by my professor, and the Chinese students were basically split between "Who cares?" and "If you like making money, don't criticize China." They all said that it's absurd that this is happening, but "that's the government over there."

(The Balkan girl doesn't follow basketball and was confused by the whole situation. I glanced over and the other American guy was doing crossword puzzles. I was on HF reading the GDT.)

"Say it, 'f*** the Chinese government'"

- Towelie

 

[tr83]

So, Ive been looking to make my workouts more efficient. Time is not a luxury for me anymore.

Can anyone suggest some low impact exercises, Ive got bad knees, that work multiple muscle groups? I went from doing a sitting freeweight shoulder press to a standing press. Holy moly, what a difference. That works more muscle groups than I imagined.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The makeup of that class is 25 students from mainland China here on visas, a student from some Balkan country (I forget which), and myself and another American guy.

Re: options with China. The above is really staggering. A few weeks ago I read one nuclear option available to Trump would be to ban Chinese students from attending college in America on human rights grounds. Apparently there are some experts that think this could hurt the Chinese almost as much as economic tactics.

 

[Saugus]

Re: options with China. The above is really staggering. A few weeks ago I read one nuclear option available to Trump would be to ban Chinese students from attending college in America on human rights grounds. Apparently there are some experts that think this could hurt the Chinese almost as much as economic tactics.

It would hurt a lot of our universities too. Without Chinese students paying full freight, state schools can’t subsidize the local students as much, and a lot of programs would be basically empty.

2/3 of the students in my Masters of Business Analytics program were from India or China. If the Chinese students suddenly disappeared, they wouldn’t replace them with locals. The program would shrink or become even more Indian dominated.

Like it or not, with our economies so tightly bound together, everything we do to hurt China rebounds against us too. Unwinding the economies from each other may not be a bad idea (we’re seeing the censorious effects of being beholden to China right now), but this isn’t the way to do it.

 

[None Shall Pass]

It would hurt a lot of our universities too. Without Chinese students paying full freight, state schools can’t subsidize the local students as much, and a lot of programs would be basically empty.

2/3 of the students in my Masters of Business Analytics program were from India or China. If the Chinese students suddenly disappeared, they wouldn’t replace them with locals. The program would shrink or become even more Indian dominated.

Like it or not, with our economies so tightly bound together, everything we do to hurt China rebounds against us too. Unwinding the economies from each other may not be a bad idea (we’re seeing the censorious effects of being beholden to China right now), but this isn’t the way to do it.

Yeah, this. This class costs $8K for the semester (For other people - since I work there and it's technically job related, it's free for me babyyyy). Those Chinese students are $200K of tuition. Myself, the other American guy, and the Balkan chick are valued at about 1/10th of that - but literally less, because he and I both work for the University.

Also, I like the Chinese students. They're very friendly and it's easy to make the girls laugh.

 

[BenedictGomez]

It would hurt a lot of our universities too. Without Chinese students paying full freight, state schools can’t subsidize the local students as much, and a lot of programs would be basically empty.

You are not mathematically wrong.

However, if "state schools" were forced to eliminate, Dance, Ancient Philosophy, Gender Studies, Photographic Arts, Drama, Art History, Music Therapy, Feminist Studies, African American Studies, Fashion Design, or 100 other useless degrees I could think of with more time, the world would be a better place. And these aforementioned useless degrees would precisely be the ones given the boot first. They exist to bilk students of their money & to enrich the college.

Frankly, if a bunch of CINO (Colleges In Name Only) went bankrupt the world would be a better place too - harsh though that sounds. Everyone doesn't need to go to college, and I believe we've reached a sort of apex in this country, we're the average college plucked from a hat is more of a glorified high school than a serious academic institution. Many are now financially worse-off for having attended and/or graduated college in America. This should be a wake-up moment.

 

[None Shall Pass]

When I'm not at work, I'm enjoying the products made by the people with those useless degrees. You can argue that they should be smaller and more selective (In fact, there's really great arguments for that stance), but eliminating them completely would just make life miserable. Culture, art, and entertainment are important.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Culture, art, and entertainment are important.

I'll take, "THINGS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE A COLLEGE DEGREE" for $800, Alex.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I'll take, "THINGS THAT DONT REQUIRE A COLLEGE DEGREE" for $800, Alex.

Waaaayyyyyyy off the mark here dude. Unless you're a prodigy, you need vigorous, formal training and guidance to be among the best in your field - that's what these art degrees are. The amount of work these kids go through is grueling. I've been close friends with people in these programs, and they're closer to full-time jobs than classes. Maybe it's different in smaller schools, but it is a ton of work. I could never do it.

I work at a university known for its arts school. Best believe that every time the Emmys, Tonys, etc. happen, we get an email reminding us which winners and nominees went here. It's not a short list.

Another thing about that - when alumni do make it big, they donate back to the school. A lot of the arts programs here are self-sustaining for that reason alone. My friend works for the photo department at our art school, and he's told me all about it. We're talking eight figures in donations per year.

 

[MartyOwns]

So, Ive been looking to make my workouts more efficient. Time is not a luxury for me anymore.

Can anyone suggest some low impact exercises, Ive got bad knees, that work multiple muscle groups? I went from doing a sitting freeweight shoulder press to a standing press. Holy moly, what a difference. That works more muscle groups than I imagined.

are you just trying to do cardio? is swimming an option?

 

[Davegarri]

Waaaayyyyyyy off the mark here dude. Unless you're a prodigy, you need vigorous, formal training and guidance to be among the best in your field - that's what these art degrees are. The amount of work these kids go through is grueling. I've been close friends with people in these programs, and they're closer to full-time jobs than classes. Maybe it's different in smaller schools, but it is a ton of work. I could never do it.

I work at a university known for its arts school. Best believe that every time the Emmys, Tonys, etc. happen, we get an email reminding us which winners and nominees went here. It's not a short list.

Another thing about that - when alumni do make it big, they donate back to the school. A lot of the arts programs here are self-sustaining for that reason alone. My friend works for the photo department at our art school, and he's told me all about it. We're talking eight figures in donations per year.

I think it's important to note, most NOT all of the degrees in those fields are useless.

There are definitely important arts degrees that become valuable in film and music production and more, but we shouldn't be allowing 18 year old kids to go into $100k+ of debt for f***ing basket weaving or pottery

 

[tr83]

are you just trying to do cardio? is swimming an option?

I hate the gym altogether. I'd rather do something productive to get my workout in. Gardening, pouring concrete, etc.

I jump between biking, rowing, and the elliptical when doing cardio. It's more of weight training tips I'm looking for. I also started to do pullup training. I just get into a pullup position and hold it, then slowly let myself down. It hits a bunch of back and arm muscles and my pathetic core in one exercise rather than do 4 separate muscle isolating exercises.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Waaaayyyyyyy off the mark here dude. Unless you're a prodigy, you need vigorous, formal training and guidance to be among the best in your field - that's what these art degrees are............................I work at a university known for its arts school. Best believe that every time the Emmys, Tonys, etc. happen, we get an email reminding us which winners and nominees went here. It's not a short list.

Not buying virtually any of this at all. Just from my experience living on this planet.

There is absolutely no requirement for an actor or actress to have a college degree. Hell, many of the best current paid actors were flippin' comedians. You will never convince me that acting is a highly skilled field when tons of the most famous people happened to be famous or got their "break" from other crap (comedians, models, writers, singers, discovered in line at Costco, etc...) rather than acting. Regardless, even having this discussion is very much burying-the-lead, which is the fact that for every one (literally) of your school's "Emmy, Tony" etc... winners they boast about, there are 200 kids who went into debt & now "boast" a theater degree for which they can do absolutely nothing with. It's not a short list.

As for other arts, like photography, no you dont "need" a college degree. Dance? Gimme a break. Art History? A complete waste of money. Most of these kids would make more $$$ as electricians or plumbers & spare themselves the 20+ years of crippling student loan debt.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Holy crap, just saw the Steve Kerr video; this NBA/China thing's going to get worse before it gets better. Which I didnt think possible. lol

 

[BenedictGomez]

October 2019 - commercialism finally jumped the shark.

 

[New Jersey]

I mean I literally majored in what I do (business/info systems) and I still feel like I didn't learn anything in college that I apply *directly* to my work. I'd say what I actually do was largely self-taught outside of the classroom f***ing around with computers.

Doesn't change that I *needed* my degree to get my position, and now I'm taking my employer to the cleaners with tuition reimbursement for a master's.

But yes the student loan crisis exists in a vacuum and all art majors are dumb.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I mean I literally majored in what I do (business/info systems) and I still feel like I didn't learn anything in college that I apply *directly* to my work. I'd say what I actually do was largely self-taught outside of the classroom ****ing around with computers.

The above helps prove my point better than anything I could write. This should not be.

Doesn't change that I *needed* my degree to get my position, and now I'm taking my employer to the cleaners with tuition reimbursement for a master's.

Ahhhh, yes, the oft spoke of, "magical scrap of paper" - is this what "higher education" has really become in America? Again, this furthers my point.

And if this is generally the case for a given basket of majors, then just go to an affordable community college for 2 years, then to the cheapest, crappiest state school you can find (if that's an option) for 2 years. It would help thousands of kids avoid (or at least mitigate) some serious student debt.

 

[New Jersey]

The above helps prove my point better than anything I could write. This should not be.

Ahhhh, yes, the oft spoke of, "magical scrap of paper" - is this what "higher education" has really become in America? Again, this furthers my point.

And if this is generally the case for a given basket of majors, then just go to an affordable community college for 2 years, then to the cheapest, crappiest state school you can find (if that's an option) for 2 years. It would help thousands of kids avoid (or at least mitigate) some serious student debt.

All valid points, but you realize how your prior posts could be interpreted as blaming/shaming the actual students more than the institutions?

Also, I'm speaking as one of the "lucky ones" with a manageable amount of student loan debt.

 

[Davegarri]

I mean I literally majored in what I do (business/info systems) and I still feel like I didn't learn anything in college that I apply *directly* to my work. I'd say what I actually do was largely self-taught outside of the classroom ****ing around with computers.

Doesn't change that I *needed* my degree to get my position, and now I'm taking my employer to the cleaners with tuition reimbursement for a master's.

But yes the student loan crisis exists in a vacuum and all art majors are dumb.

I tell people all the time I learned more from youtube videos and on job training than I did from my idiot professors in class.

The major problem I have with colleges is many professors stayed in academia their whole lives and never worked in the outside world. They dont have any real world experience to use in their teaching. The best college classes I ever had were taught by adjuncts with real world experience.

 

[New Jersey]

The major problem I have with colleges is many professors stayed in academia their whole lives and never worked in the outside world. They dont have any real world experience to use in their teaching. The best college classes I ever had were taught by adjuncts with real world experience.

I've found you experience this more if you're fortunate enough to take post-grad courses.

 

[Darkauron]

Yeah too many professors don't have any experience with the outside world and are stuck in a academia. Some of my favorite professors had worked on Wall Street and other jobs and could relate what was really important, or professors who do their own thing for their classes and go against the basic rules for classes.

My favorite teacher was a history professor that asked us what we wanted to learn about the most in a specific Era of history, and then molded the class to what we wanted to learn from it.

 

[BenedictGomez]

All valid points, but you realize how your prior posts could be interpreted as blaming/shaming the actual students more than the institutions?

You're not interpreting me wrong, I DO "blame" the students who get an Art History degree at Boston University to the tune of $176,000, then wonder with great perplexity how & why they're struggling financially at 40 years old. But I also "blame" the university for running this scam.

Who deserves more blame?

Surely the individual in Caveat Emptor sense, but I think Big College* deserves blame too. And the government, which is the key enabler to ALL of this nonsense, sure as hell deserves a lot of blame.


* I just invented that term. Anything you want to cast as evil you just put "Big" in front of, that's how it works.