1 That is so well put, Ace. You are completely correct.

2 ...been waiting a week to do that. And, in before the Butter Jokes.

3 Wait, that's David Frum. David Brooks. Who the hell is David Brooks?

4 I have an inate distrust of anyone with a first name that begins and ends with the letter d surrounding the letter sequence avi who is associated with the NYT.

5 2 things:

Galaxian

&

Finely creased trousers = a very good president AND humility

6 Did they also hire Andi Sullivan to teach a course on the female reproductive system?

7 Was Obama too busy?

8 Next semester, Alex Baldwin will be offering a course entitled Emotional Restraint.

9 Maybe it'll be like drug classes.  Just say no to humility.

10 Brooks does have a lot to be humble about, so there's that.

11 Bhatkal told the interrogators that he had asked his Pakistan-based boss, Riyaz Bhatkal, over phone whether the latter could arrange a small "nuclear bomb". According to him, Riyaz responded, "Anything can be arranged in Pakistan".

12 Obama says he does humility better than Saint Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa combined.

13 Fall semester 2014 Sandra Fluke will be teaching a Yale workshop on keeping the labia moist and pliant. She will be followed by Ashley Judd's workshop on Puffiness Through the Ages - A Women's Badge of Beauty.

14 Warmists and their erstwhile rescuers icebound in a bay that was readily navigable three years in a row a hundred years ago. Now 'Creases' Brooks teaching a class on humility. The year's ending under a crushing load of irony.

15 Humility for official conservative David Brooks probably means always acknowledging the superiority of liberals. G.K. Chesterton said something about we should be humble about ourselves but proud of our convictions. Many today have precisely reversed that.

16 And Miley Cyrus will be teaching a class on keeping it classy.

17 Tommy Christopher will be teaching P90X.

18 I understand they've already got Miley Cyrus and Pink lined up to co-teach etiquette.

19 >>The Yale Herald‘s Bullblog noticed that every liberals’ “favorite conservative” will be teaching a class in the spring titled just plain “Humility. Should be teaching a course on Self-Loathing.

20 Ace you realize that this post actually has appeared under your video game walkthrough.

21 John McCain will be teaching the senior-level seminar, "How Not to be Seduced By Media Attention."

22 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a malignant traitor.

23 Humility means having the good taste to make sure your lip gloss matches your tie/hanky ensemble.

24 Dammit ace! I wanna play with the time machine, too!

25 Just as ridiculous and coming soon to an Ivy League university near you: John Kerry teaches foreign policy.

26 If you like your post order you can keep your post order...

27 They could let *me* teach a course on humility. Those students would be incredibly humbled by the time I was done.

28 Harry Reid teaches a class on character.

29 Are we SURE this isn't from "The Onion?"   Because first off, who the fuck teaches a CLASS about humility?  And secondly, who the fuck hires someone like David "I fuck trouser creases" Brooks to teach it?

30 I weep for mankind.

31 "Sure you can solve the 4th quadratic form in your head. Now make bread. Here, have some wheat." "Oh, you can quote all of Shakespear's sonnets in chronological (published) order? Fantastic, fix this car alignment."

32 20 Ace you realize that this post actually has appeared under your video game walkthrough. ____________ I think that's because of the time machine. He stamped that post 2:35 (instaead of 12:35, which is when i think he actually posted it)

33 Oh and nice things were said about you in the earlier posts, Ace, go check 'em out! Much nostalgia and cake to be had.

34 27 They could let *me* teach a course on humility. Those students would be incredibly humbled by the time I was done. The students will get a pretty good handle on humility when the hit the job market.

35 I weep for mankind. I think I'm nearly in the "laugh maniacally and throw matches" stage.

36 Dammit. This is going to conflict with my Tolerance and Understanding 320 course by Anwar al Awlaki.

37 Sandra Fluke will teach "The Virtues of Premarital Celibacy."

38 MWR's class on humility would be titled:  "Why Professor MWR makes more money than you do, why she deserves it, and why none of you are the Very Special Little Snowflake your parents, grandparents, teachers and coaches have been telling you you are since you were born 101."

39 I read it the first time as Mel  Brooks.   And I thought, what a hoot.

40 29 Are we SURE this isn't from "The Onion?" Because first off, who the fuck teaches a CLASS about humility? And secondly, who the fuck hires someone like David "I fuck trouser creases" Brooks to teach it?

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 01:41 PM (4df7R)

Apparently those that can't do humility, teach it.

41 Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.

42 The students will get a pretty good handle on humility when the hit the job market. If the current crop I've seen are any indication? Not so much.

43 Well, You know what they say..

Those who can.. do
And those who can't.. teach

And those who haven't done a single thing worthwhile in their entire lives... teach at Yale.

44 Fat fucker mayor in Canada will be teaching Gravitas 069.

45 35 I weep for mankind.

I think I'm nearly in the "laugh maniacally and throw matches" stage.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at December 30, 2013 01:43 PM (PYAXX)

I *knew* there was a checklist.

Next up was urinate in public with just a santa hat and a batman bra.

46 Lets do the TIME WARP AGAIN!!!! Just a jump to the Left....

47

Morning, Ace.  And congratulations.

 

What's next?  Hillary teaching a class on vajazzling?

48 hmm, perhaps His class on humility  will
focus on humble pie.
as in  'others' having to eating it.

49 Wibbly whimey timey whimey stuff?

50 We need to get the MSNBC team to teach Bible Studies.

51

"The students will get a pretty good handle on humility when the hit the job market. "

If the current crop I've seen are any indication? Not so much.

 

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at December 30, 2013 01:44 PM (PYAXX)

 

 

That's why they need a class to teach it.   Especially at Yale.  "But I graduated from YALE.  Of COURSE I deserve a job!"

52

If you maintain an extraordinary crease, you'll never have to humble...

Class dismissed.

53 David Brooks. Who the hell is David Brooks?

Posted by: garrett at December 30, 2013 01:17 PM (4dwhV)

**********

He has a brother and together they make suits.  He also likes butter, although not for the same reasons as Frum.

54 David Brooks Hired by Yale University to Teach a Class on... Humility Sounds about right ____________ You spelled hubris wrong.

55 47 Morning, Ace. And congratulations.

What's next? Hillary teaching aclass on vajazzling?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at December 30, 2013 01:45 PM (zF6Iw)

OMG.  quite possibly the worst mental image ever. 

But, could have been Sotomayor, so... there's that.

56 Will Mark Shields be there to nod approvingly?

57 That's why they need a class to teach it. Especially at Yale. "But I graduated from YALE. Of COURSE I deserve a job!" Egg Zachary. But the people who *need* to teach such a course are people Yale would never let on campus if they could avoid it. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, car mechanics...

58 But, could have been Sotomayor, so... there's that.
-
I see that Sotomayor will be joining Miley Cyrus to ring in the new year.  Class, baby!

59
Logic would dictate that by definition there can be no professor in a class on "humility".

60 i dunno i think our betters could use a class on reality and understanding their constituents.

61 If we could get Obama to teach a class on humility the universe would self destruct.

62 David Brooks teaching humility at Yale is like Yale's economics professors teaching economics at Yale.

63 OMG. quite possibly the worst mental image ever.


Arabic inscriptions in rhinestones can be quite beautiful.

64
Especially David Fuckin Brooks, hahahahahaha

*deep breath* Bwahahahahahaha

heehee hee heee

65 If we could get Obama to teach a class on humility the universe would self destruct. I like this plan! I'm glad to be a part of it!

66 I'm so old that I remember when they taught things like math and science in college and the humility part was learned when you got your grades. Gosh, we have progressed so far.

67 47 What's next? Hillary teaching aclass on vajazzling?

Maybe Honesty for Hill. For Bill a class on Honor.

68 David Brooks Top Five Ways to Demonstrate Humility While Attending Yale. 5. Drink tap water straight from the bubblah for a day. 4. Wear a Timex. 3. Be seen reading the NY Post 2. Rent a 2005 Chevy Impala from Rent-a-Wreck and drive it to the Hamptons for an entire weekend. 1. One night stand with a Boston University Student. -

69 We live in a bad movie.

70 I see that Sotomayor will be joining Miley Cyrus to ring in the new year. Class, baby!


This year adds a new tradition to the annual televised ball-drop.  It involves a giant foam finger. 

71 But the people who *need* to teach such a course are people Yale would never let on campus if they could avoid it. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, car mechanics...

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at December 30, 2013 01:48 PM (PYAXX)

 

I dunno.  I've met my fair share of   carpenters and car mechanics.   Humility     is not really their strong suit.   Of course, they have less reason to be humble than, say, a   guy with a PhD in Elizabethan Poetry who works down at Starbucks    because   there aren't a lot of openings for   scholars in Tudor literary styles in the job market.    At least the carpenter and mechanic   provide a valuable service.

72 Is this a prank? If so, who is the prankee? Brooks? Yale? Us? Philosophical humility. What a zero of a course. I notice Brooks was a visiting Prof at Duke on Public Policy. At least he can claim some expertise having been employed to analyze Public Policy for a legitimate magazine. Isn't Philosophy taught somewhat like a strict logic course? My Philosophy course at BYU was almost 100% logic. We did a lot of proofs using the ideas of the greats. Will Brooks' degree in History be useful here? Is a degree in History ever useful to anyone but the rare successful author or Professor?

73 Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at December 30, 2013 01:51 PM (8ZskC) Admit it. You'd hit that. The only question is which kind of bus you'd use: VW or Greyhound?

74 60 i dunno i think our betters could use a class on reality and understanding their constituents. Posted by: willow at December 30, 2013 01:48 PM (nqBYe) Yeah.... a class taught to ALL politicians, and the Political Class... Entitled... TANSTAAFL (There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) is a Natural Law....

75 Of all my extraordinarily impressive qualities, humility is foremost.

76 What's next? Hillary teaching aclass on vajazzling? Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at December 30, 2013 01:45 PM (zF6Iw) Why do I have an image of a pierced elephant ear in my mind now.

77 Maybe Honesty for Hill. For Bill a class on Honor.

 

Posted by: Lester at December 30, 2013 01:50 PM (2UPXV)

 

Hey, I was on her and off her all night!  Hi-yo!

78 When you get an "A" in the course should you keep quiet about it?

79 I'm so old that I remember when they taught things like math and science in college and the humility part was learned when you got your grades.

Gosh, we have progressed so far.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 30, 2013 01:50 PM (g1DWB)

 

 

I remember when they used to teach math, science and reading in grade school, so      you didn't have to learn that remedial shit in college,   and you got humility from your parents.

80 His students will get mortar bored

81 Hillary has the biggest Wizards Sleeve ah have ever seen!

82 If I were not so humble, I would not be as perfect a human being as I am.

You're welcome.

83 Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 01:52 PM (4df7R) Yeah, that's kind of the point- mechanics and plumbers and electricians actually *do* things, they don't just pontificate about doing things. "Yeah, hoss, your grammar might be better'n mine, but yer gonna be the one calling me when the lights don't come on. The chances of me ever calling you for anything, ever? Zero and falling."

84 This would be like a former Enron advisor lecturing everyone on economics.

85 72 Is this a prank? If so, who is the prankee? Brooks? Yale? Us?


Will Brooks' degree in History be useful here? Is a degree in History ever useful to anyone but the rare successful author or Professor?

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 01:52 PM (WhJf

History books have a place.

In a pile next to my crapper for when I run out of comic books.

I mean, really:  humanity doesn't learn any lessons from it and repeats the same stupidity over and over, so what's the point?

86 Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at December 30, 2013 01:54 PM (PYAXX) LOL... yeah Mr. English Major... I'll call you next time I need a verb conjugated....

87 This would be like a former Enron advisor lecturing everyone on economics.

Posted by: Warden at December 30, 2013 01:55 PM (bmp0d)

 

 

Or a former music critic lecturing everyone on race relations.

88 The Goddess Irony just called. She said she's working on a new end zone dance for this one. It will have some twerking and walk like an Egyptian moves in it.

89  Of all my extraordinarily impressive qualities, humility is foremost.

Posted by: Warden at December 30, 2013 01:53 PM (bmp0d)

 

 

-------------------------------------------

 

 

Go ahead, ask me if I'm humble.  I'll tell you I'm  the most humble person you'll ever meet.

90 I'm so old that I remember when they taught things like math and science in college and the humility part was learned when you got your grades. Yale actually has decent schools of Math and Physics.

91 Go ahead, ask me if I'm humble. I'll tell you I'm the most humble person you'll ever meet.

Posted by: Soona at December 30, 2013 01:56 PM (v44X4)

Obama?  Is that you?

92 This would be like a community organizer bringing the country together.

93 Goodbye, Mr. Chaps

94 I'm so old that I remember when they taught things like math and science in college and the humility part was learned when you got your grades. I don't. Of course, I never finished college, so maybe those classes were 300 level or something.

95 Or a tax cheat running the Treasury Dept.

96 Brooks must be teaching just the theoretical part.

97 What does a gig like this pay?

98 You know who would make a great humility professor? Me!

99 This is akin to having a drug addled nicotine addict with severe malignant narcissistic disorder and daddy issues winning the Presidency twice.

100 RE the Philosophy of Humility. I wonder if one of the greatest teachers of humility will be cited? I mean, can you even say Jesus Christ on Yale campus? Swearing doesn't count.

101 I had a student who missed the final this semester.  Sent a pleading e-mail.

My reply?  tough cookies there speedy.  Welcome to "F"

You have no idea the overentitled outragey fit he went into.

Was funny as hell to watch.

102 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYKWch_MNY0

103 You have no idea the overentitled outragey fit he went into. Was funny as hell to watch. I hope his parents are rich alumni. Otherwise your next several weeks/months are going to suck.

104 Whoops. "aren't" not "are"

105 Humility means letting others call attention to your remarkably creased pants. 

106 I hope his parents are rich alumni. Otherwise your next several weeks/months are going to suck.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at December 30, 2013 02:01 PM (PYAXX)

Naw.  I have a good dept.  I could give out 120 A's or 120 F's and my chair wouldn't blink an eye.

I told him he's welcome to go see the dean.  If the dean wants to give him a physics III final, then, hey, go crazy.

I'm not signing anything.

107 I hope his parents aren't rich alumni. Otherwise your next several weeks/months are going to suck. Kid missed the final. Do rich parents overcome that deficit?

108  Did everyone just go to the older  post that's newer than this new post?

109 My days of not respecting Big Education are certainly coming to a middle.

110 Posted by: tangonine at December 30, 2013 02:04 PM (x3YFz) People say Liberals started taking over Higher Education when Conservatives were willing to go fight and die in Vietnam, and Liberals jumped into "education" to avoid the draft. *I* think Liberals started taking over Higher Ed when rich alumni realized that Little Johnnie wasn't going to get an easy A under a Conservative professor.

111

Will Brooks' degree in History be useful here? Is a degree in History ever useful to anyone but the rare successful author or Professor?

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 01:52 PM

 

As with just about all liberal arts degrees, I always say that a history (or English or    literature, etc) degree is useful because by their very nature they require a lot of critical analysis of dense textual    sources.   It's a lot of reading and then regurgitating what you read.  

 

When liberal arts colleges    used to actually accomplish   something worthwhile, what they'd do is pump out students who,  while not scientifically or mathematically inclined,     had the ability to read, think, and learn    independently,   which are all crucial elements to any career.    These days, unfortunately, most liberal arts degrees are just there for the kids who are too stupid or too disinterested to major in    something    like science, math or a technical field.     It's a shame.   We NEED liberal arts people, and they're    pool of fellow graduates are too often    the underperforming    dregs of the university system, which means that the whole spectrum of liberal arts degrees are diluted and meaningless.

112 Kid missed the final. Do rich parents overcome that deficit?

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 02:04 PM (WhJf

To this day, I have nightmares where I show up for class and the room is empty and I missed the final.

No kidding. Nightmares.

113 We have brand new syllabus you'll find interesting along with pamphlets on how to sign up for Obamacare. 

114 113 We have brand new syllabus you'll find interesting along with pamphlets on how to sign up for Obamacare.

Posted by: Yale's New Divinity School at December 30, 2013 02:06 PM (HsJeN)

You're poking irony with a stick, here, you know that? right?

115 Do rich parents overcome that deficit? Unfortunately, the answer to that (at least sometimes) is "yes." One of the brothers went to school with a kid (alumnus's kid) who missed a final in the last class they needed to graduate. The school decided (over the prof's & chair's objections) that the kid didn't even have to take the final, the grades would be averaged as though the final didn't even exist. Because extortion works even when you're not GLAAD or the NAACP.

116 Kid missed the final. Do rich parents overcome that deficit?

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 02:04 PM (WhJf

 

Depending on your administration?   Yes.

117 To this day, I have nightmares where I show up for class and the room is empty and I missed the final. No kidding. Nightmares. Took me about five years out of college. Now I have nightmares about missing big bugs in released software.

118 Now I have nightmares about missing big bugs in released software. "Wait... I removed that DB setup/tear-down code from Release, didn't I???"

119 Humility? I thought that hr'd be a shoo-in for teaching the course, "Ironing Your Pants and Slacks for Instant Success".

120 You're poking irony with a stick, here, you know that? right?

It's kind of fun and goes well with my painkillers. 

121 Depending on your administration? Yes. He spelled Yale with a 6. Yale could use an International Airport.

122 Yale actually has decent schools of Math and Physics.

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 01:57 PM (WhJf

Unfortunately, not many of their undergrads know where those buildings are

123 Posted by: President Power Pecs at December 30, 2013 01:59 PM (bmp0d) Vagazzling Shrillary and Sotomayor images, and now disturbing images of Obama shirtless? I hate you all. <3 *munches on Diablo cake while measuring out brain bleach*

124 Kid has a black buddy who got a reserved spot at West Point back in September without taking a single AP class, without taking the SAT and without completing the application process.

125 "Wait... I removed that DB setup/tear-down code from Release, didn't I???" Gah!

126 To this day, I have nightmares where I show up for class and the room is empty and I missed the final.


25+ years after graduating, I still have dreams of its the night before the final and I didn't realize I had the class.

127 Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 02:13 PM (WhJf "What do you mean 'all the tax rates are calculating as 5%?'"

128 I think it moved!

129 Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 02:13 PM (WhJf "Mr. Bonhomme? Would you care to explain why all the refunds we process are being credited to your bank account?" "Errr... it works on my machine?"

130 25+ years after graduating, I still have dreams of its the night before the final and I didn't realize I had the class.

Posted by: phreshone at December 30, 2013 02:13 PM (Pr6hk)

Exactly!

FU recurring dream!  FU!

131 Kid has a black buddy who got a reserved spot at West Point back in September without taking a single AP class, without taking the SAT and without completing the application process. Was his Dad a MoH winner? Otherwise, unacceptable. BYU has a very friendly relationship with Hawaiians. I knew a kid freshman year who chose not to declare his race on the entrance forms. He was from Hawaii and had a Hawaiian sounding last name. He probably wouldn't have got in if they had known he is white. But they figured he was Hawaiian and gave him a full-ride. Still pisses me off, though I should get over it.

132 The class is really called "Irony". If you figger that out, you pass.

133 Will MSDNC's Joy Reid be teaching a class in Scriptural Interpretation?

134 131 Negatory.

135 128 I think it moved!

Posted by: George Costanza at December 30, 2013 02:15 PM (4dwhV)

If the first thing that occurred to you after reading that was "shoot it again," raise your hand.

136

My poor sister    just started this year as a professor at a very small school in the midwest; her first official professorship since getting her PhD back in May.   So she's pretty new.    Anyway, she    had a bunch of kids this past semester in       who didn't come to class, or didn't do any of the homework, or didn't turn in any of the papers, or didn't take the exams, or -- in many cases --    didn't do some combination of any of the above, and almost every single one of them came to her in the two weeks at the end of the semester to ask what they had to    do to pass the class, "Because I need to pass."      One kid actually asked her, "What do we have to do so that I don't fail this class?"   WE.   As if my sister    were somehow responsible for their lack of basic academic skills.    SHe had one student actually ask her AFTER all the final grades had been submitted to the Dean's office if    it would be okay for her to turn in all of her late work to get her grade changed.  

 

I told my sister that this is why I could never be a teacher.   Because my response    to all of them    would have been, "Well, you can buckle down and invent a time machine so that you can go BACK in time to the start of this semester, kick your earlier   self in the head and tell him/her to    follow the syllabus,    do the    homework,    turn in the writing assignments,   show up for the exams,   take advantage of the class time devoted to doing the work, come see me during my regular office hours, ask questions,     take notes,   do the readings,   come to class on time and every day, and just generally put in some kind of effort.   Because short of that, there's no way in Hell your passing this class, kiddo.   See you next year."

137 Are you sure we're talking about the university and not the lock company?

138

 To this day, I have nightmares where I show up for class and the room is empty and I missed the final.

No kidding. Nightmares.

 

Took me about five years out of college. Now I have nightmares about missing big bugs in released software.

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 02:09 PM (WhJf

 

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

 

Spent twelve years in the military.  Still have nightmares about showing up for morning formation with a piece of my uniform missing.

139 Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:17 PM (4df7R) What did she do?

140 "Errr... it works on my machine?" I'm a software tester guy. My absolute favorite of two comments I get from Devs is this one. Easy response, "Well, we're not shipping your machine, are we?" The other one is when Devs ask me to explain HOW a bug could be happening, as they can't imagine a world in which it's possible. To which I respond, "I can send you the logs and point to the code segment that's failing, but I'm afraid it's up to you to figure out how it's happening. Here's a video of me reproducing the bug. Good luck."

141 Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:17 PM (4df7R) In one of my classes, my prof addressed that the first day. "WE do not do anything to pass this class. YOU do things to pass this class. Here are the things you do: turn in your work on time. Attend class. Take and pass the tests. If you fail to do these things, you will fail this class. Asking me two weeks before the semester is done what 'we' need to do for you to pass this class is *not* one of those things you can do to pass the class."

142 "What do we have to do so that I don't fail this class?" Register to take it next semester and try not to fuck up so bad in the future.

143 136 My poor sister just started this year as a professor at a very small school in the midwest; her first official professorship since getting her PhD back in May. So she's pretty new. Anyway, she had abunch of kids this past semester in who didn't come to class, or didn't do any of the homework, or didn't turn in any of the papers, or didn't take the exams, or -- in many cases -- didn't do some combination of any of the above, and almost every single one of them came to her in the two weeks at the end of the semester to ask what they had to do to pass the class, "Because I need to pass." One kid actually asked her, "What do we have to do so that I don't fail this class?" WE. As if my sister were somehow responsible for their lack of basic academic skills. SHe had one student actually ask her AFTER all the final grades had been submitted to the Dean's office if it would be okay for her to turn in all of her late work to get her grade changed.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:17 PM (4df7R)

Hah!  This happens to me constantly.  I've been teaching off and on at my university since 1998.  It never stops.  I've heard every excuse.  Tears.  Alligator tears, open sobbing.

I'm also a drill instructor.  I'm immune to their antics.  I just laugh. 

Tell your sister to just hammer them.  Be the troll under the bridge:  "none shall pass..."

144 Because short of that, there's no way in Hell your passing this class, kiddo. See you next year."

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:17 PM (4df7R)

Oh and thanks for paying my paycheck while I didn't even have to put up with you to earn it. 

145 124 Kid has a black buddy who got a reserved spot at West Point back in September without taking a single AP class, without taking the SAT and without completing the application process. Posted by: NCKate at December 30, 2013 02:12 PM (Auy5s) Ol' whitey and his oppression rears its ugly head.

146 I bet the syllabus leads us to the conclusion that America needs to be humble and we all need to travel around the world apologizing for its sins.

147 Will Brooks' degree in History be useful here? Is a degree in History ever useful to anyone but the rare successful author or Professor?

Posted by: bonhomme at December 30, 2013 01:52 PM (WhJf

-------------------

Well...I have TWO history degrees (from mere Midwestern land-grant schools) and I've built a decent-paying career and even use my education in my work. But yeah, not really a plan to wager on and go into massive debt over...

Will Trouser-Boy's history degree be useful? Probably not, but that's because he's a fool and a tool rather than there being anything wrong with historical knowledge.

148 Apropos of nothing, comment #57 reminded me of this:

David Brooks was very distraught at the fact that he had not had a date or any sex in quite some time.

He was afraid he might have something wrong with him, so he decided to seek the medical expertise of a sex therapist. His doctor recommended that he see Dr. Chang, the well-known Chinese sex therapist, so he went to see him.

Upon entering the examination room, Dr. Chang said, "OK, take off all you crose." The man did as she was told. "Now, get down and craw reery, reery fass to odder side of room." Again, the man did as he was instructed. Dr. Chang then said, "OK, now craw reery, reery fass back to me." So he did.

Dr. Chang shook his head slowly and said, "Your probrem vewy bad. You haf Ed Zachary Disease. Worse case I ever see. Dat why you not haf sex or dates."

Worried, Dvaid Brooks asked anxiously, "Oh my God, Dr. Chang, what is Ed Zachary Disease?"

Dr. Chang looked the man in the eye and replied, "Ed Zachary Disease is when your face rook Ed Zachary rike your ass."
==================

I denounce myself in advance.

149 Tell your sister to just hammer them. Be the troll under the bridge: "none shall pass..." Posted by: tangonine at December 30, 2013 02:21 PM (x3YFz) For shits and giggles dress up as Gandalf and yell "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"

150 What did she do?

Posted by: eman at December 30, 2013 02:19 PM (EWsrI)

 

She told the girl no,     and    told most of the other kids that they could turn their stuff in     to get feedback for later improvement,    but it wouldn't    improve    their grade.     

 

This was a remedial english comp class.    Most of their assignments were along the lines of, "Write    a paragraph that includes a thesis statement, three supporting statements, and a conclusion."  

151 >>25+ years after graduating, I still have dreams of its the night before the final and I didn't realize I had the class. I had a slightly different reality. I had to take a math course as part of my major. The course was unbelievably easy, so easy I attended the first class, the mid-term and the final and that was it. As the prof was handing out the final he looked at me and said "Do I know you?". I replied "I don't see how you would.". That was the entirety of our conversation for the semester.

152 Here are the things you do: turn in your work on time. Attend class. Take and pass the tests. If you fail to do these things, you will fail this class. I took issue with this for some of my college classes. In one (Physics), the tests mirrored information in the online practice exams, but was not covered, explained, mentioned, or alluded to in class. Blech. In the other (CS class), we covered C++ language features on the last day, that we needed to know in the second week to complete the homework. Other features we needed to complete later projects were never covered.

153 Welcome to the Ivy League: Attending a stupid, moralizing "class" taught by an uncredentialed celebrity that serves no useful purpose whatsoever. Why does Yale even bother with the pretense? Just accept people, make them pay a couple of hundred thou and then give them a diploma.

154 Well...I have TWO history degrees (from mere Midwestern land-grant schools) and I've built a decent-paying career and even use my education in my work. But yeah, not really a plan to wager on and go into massive debt over...
Will Trouser-Boy's history degree be useful? Probably not, but that's because he's a fool and a tool rather than there being anything wrong with historical knowledge.

Posted by: Stu-22 at December 30, 2013 02:22 PM (AiYlm)

Don't get me wrong.  I devoured the books by Daniel Pipes, Robert O'Connell, M. Stanton Evans... exceptional.

Just... no one really pays you to do it is the problem, and that fact where most people don't even bother to care about history.

155 Tell your sister to just hammer them. Be the troll under the bridge: "none shall pass..."

Posted by: tangonine at December 30, 2013 02:21 PM (x3YFz)

 

I have!   But she's such a sweetheart.   And since this was her first year teaching she didn't want to up and fail the WHOLE class.   She was definitely getting more jaded toward the end, though.  I think she'll    get stricter this spring semester.

 

 

For shits and giggles dress up as Gandalf and yell "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"

Posted by: RWC at December 30, 2013 02:23 PM (fWAjv)

 

HAH!  You laugh, and yet this is the kind of stuff I told her she should do, just     to   make life more bearable for herself.       It's not like she didn't get up in front of the class EVERY SINGLE DAY,  write it out on the board   EVERY SINGLE DAY,    and say,   "This, this and this are due, and if you don't turn them in, you will fail."   Because she did.  And they just never paid attention.   So if course it's HER fault that she's "giving" them a failing grade, instead of   it being THEIR fault for "earning" that failing grade.   Stupid, self-entitled brats.

156 As far as the subject, David Brooks is the perfect choice to teach a course on humility. He has a lot to be humble about.

157 That's ok. When I was at Harvard, we had Elliot Spitzer come and give the annual lecture at the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.

158 Tuition at Yale for undergrads is $42,300 per year plus $3,300 for books and fees. Let's assume a student get 24 hours of classes for the $46,600. Let's peg Humility as a 3 hour course, so for $5800, your Special Snowflake can learn about Humility OR he/she/? can work in a soup kitchen for free.

159 Has ANYTHING good come out of Yale in the last, oh, seventy-five years? Or more?

160 This isn't the first time he's taught a college course, by the way. His academic credentials: University of Chicago (A.B. 1983) Academia is a joke. It's time to kill the humanities. Kill 'em dead.

161 Tuition at Yale for undergrads is $42,300 per year plus $3,300 for books and fees. Let's assume a student get 24 hours of classes for the $46,600. Let's peg Humility as a 3 hour course, so for $5800, your Special Snowflake can learn about Humility OR he/she/? can work in a soup kitchen for free.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes C'est Magnifique at December 30, 2013 02:28 PM (1GtVi)

 

 

And probably eat at that same soup kitchen, because room and board    has got to be sky high    on and around the Yale campus.

162 EVERY SINGLE DAY, write it out on the board EVERY SINGLE DAY, and say, "This, this and this are due, and if you don't turn them in, you will fail." Because she did. And they just never paid attention. So if course it's HER fault that she's "giving" them a failing grade, instead of it being THEIR fault for "earning" that failing grade. Stupid, self-entitled brats.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:27 PM (4df7R)

Yup.

You learn that no matter how many times you throw them a rope, some idiot is going to make a noose out of it.
Natural selection in action.

163 Will Trouser-Boy's history degree be useful? Probably not, but that's because he's a fool and a tool rather than there being anything wrong with historical knowledge.

Posted by: Stu-22 at December 30, 2013 02:22 PM (AiYlm)

 

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

 

Had a discussion with some recently graduated HS students about the subjects they took.  They started talking  about their history classes and started asking themselves what their history will look like.  I told them to forget about it.   By the way it's being re-written or erased, no one will know any of you existed.

164 Academia is a joke. It's time to kill the humanities. Kill 'em dead.

Posted by: AmishDude at December 30, 2013 02:29 PM (xSegX)

 

No.    What it IS time to do is   stop making college the default post-high school destination for everyone's child and turn it BACK into a place where students interested in expanding their knowledge can go to do so.    And that includes the humanities.

165 An actual real time nood

166 that serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

On that, I disagree.  If anything, the problem with this class is that it's merely an elective.  It goes against the entire ethos of top schools nowadays.  It should be part of the core curriculum and assigned in the freshman year.

If this class doesn't have auditorium sized seating and doesn't include "The Best and the Brightest" as required reading, Yale is wasting its time.

167 No. What it IS time to do is stop making college the default post-high school destination for everyone's child and turn it BACK into a place where students interested in expanding their knowledge can go to do so. And that includes the humanities.

Posted by: MWR, Proud Tea(rrorist) Party Assault Hobbit at December 30, 2013 02:32 PM (4df7R)

I hate the humanities, but it's based on a Law and Literature class I took.  Jacked up my 4.0 and got a D because I didn't write about how gay Billy Budd was.

168 The comments above about teaching made me chuckle, as I've been an adjunct professor for more than 13 years at a local college and had to deal with self-entitled layabouts more than I care to remember. Once, I went to the dean because a student threatened me with legal action if I didn't "adjust" her grade. The dean asked me the following:

1) Did your syllabus clearly explain what was required of her?
2) Did you reiterate what your syllabus stated?
3) Did you grade and hand back assignments in a timely fashion?
4) How was the students attendance?
5) What was the quality of her work?

I keep good documentation and showed it to him. He simply laughed and said that the university would back me 100%.

One other time, I had a student call me at home the day after final grades went out.
Him: "I got a 'B' on the mid-term and an 'A' on the final. Why did I receive a 'C' in the class?"

Me: "Did you hand in all of your assignments?" (For the record, he failed to hand in half of them and they counted for 30% of the final grade)

Him: "Umm, no, not really."

Me: "Well there you go. If you'd like, I will be glad to sit down with you and the dean to go over all of your graded work to recalculate your final grade."

--> Note: If I had wanted to be a dick, I could have given him a 'D', but I will admit to not wanting him back in the class so gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Him: "No, that's okay." (apparently, he could work a calculator just as well as I could)

169 #163...Room and board was $7150 and $5,850 respectively, bringing a year at Yale with no scholarships to $58,600

170 EVERY SINGLE DAY, write it out on the board EVERY SINGLE DAY, and say, "This, this and this are due, and if you don't turn them in, you will fail." Because she did. And they just never paid attention. One Prof told us that "10% would fail to put their name on the assignment. My observation is this number is consistent. Don't be part of the 10%. Put your name on your assignment. Don't wait, do it now." One week later: "As I warned you, 10% didn't put their name on the assignment."

171 It should be part of the core curriculum and assigned in the freshman year.

Oh wait, that's right, Yale hasn't had a core curriculum in decades.  That's part of the problem.

172 Don't get me wrong. I devoured the books by Daniel Pipes, Robert O'Connell, M. Stanton Evans... exceptional.

Just... no one really pays you to do it is the problem, and that fact where most people don't even bother to care about history.

Posted by: tangonine at December 30, 2013 02:27 PM (x3YFz)

-----------

Yep. Unless you join the Cult of Academia or are independently wealthy, writing historical masterpieces isn't really a livelihood. But there are ways in the world for a history major...again, outside of academia. Knowing how to think critically and do good research can have all sorts of applications.

173 Can I substitute 3 100-Level Courses in Philosophy and Political Science instead?  They are just as worthless.  I'm pretty sure. And where are my Pills?

174 As an undergrad, I was working two jobs and carrying a full academic load (18 credits, with 2 or 3 labs). I had a class in thermodynamics where the final was in two parts, each taking 3-4 hours.  The professor caught me after I finished the second half of the test, told me that he had been grading the first half  of the test and I had scored the highest in the class - "That's pretty good for someone who slept through he course".

He was an OK guy, and taught a pretty good course.

175 Yum. Arby's beef and cheddar paired with Sierra Nevada Torpedo.

176 Had a discussion with some recently graduated HS students about the subjects they took. They started talking about their history classes and started asking themselves what their history will look like. I told them to forget about it. By the way it's being re-written or erased, no one will know any of you existed.

Posted by: Soona at December 30, 2013 02:30 PM (v44X4)

------------------

In the future, only Common Core-approved histories will be published, all featuring Barack H. Obama as the wise, benevolent and all-knowing narrator, laying out the true People's History for the Common Good. All other historical writings and artifacts will be destroyed as accessories to hate-crime.

177
--> Note: If I had wanted to be a dick, I could have given him a 'D', but I will admit to not wanting him back in the class so gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Him: "No, that's okay." (apparently, he could work a calculator just as well as I could)

Posted by: physics geek at December 30, 2013 02:35 PM (MT22W)

Heh.  I don't hand out many Ds either.  Most of those students drop by mid semester.

178 Does this help the brown people at all?  No?  Then who cares?

179 A prof friend of mine said he would tell frantic students who just received their failing grade and were hysterical about "what they should do."  Accept your F with dignity, he would tell them.

180 Are you sure that prerequisite isn't Advanced Trouser Bulge appreciation 201?

181 17th century English poetry is fine. It's not necessarily useless to know it or teach it. If fact, if you read someone like George Herbert a person might learn a lot about humility. However, Herbert would not define sin as "being out of alignment with my values" . Furthermore, would Yale students even take a course where sin in mentioned if it wasn't the "sins" of not recycling or being a conservative?

182 "No. What it IS time to do is stop making college the default post-high school destination for everyone's child and turn it BACK into a place where students interested in expanding their knowledge can go to do so. And that includes the humanities."

183 Whoops; meant to quote MWR and say that is a great quote. I find the discussions about what is "useless: rather depressing. Knowing about literature has been a wonderful thing in my life. Throw humanities in the trash? Sounds more than a little extreme to me.

184 "I'm humble. I learned it at Yale." Words said and logic acquired by ... no one ever. And from Brooks? Doubly unsaid and unacquired.

185 I thought any class Mz. Brooks would teach would be more along the lines of "Playing Bottom To Celebrity Wimps You Worship" ...

186 Brooks is a bit of a shirt lifter, so I am sure he is quite giddy to play the rolley polley bottom to a young strapping Yale man-child or two.

187 They should let him teach a class on Dry Cleaning. He's an expert on pant creases.

188 If the last five years haven't taught Brooks some humility, he's hopeless. ...granted, the smart money's on "hopeless".