Dr. B-A's Goodie Bag

Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander, Esq.

Terry College of Business University of Georgia

This is a hodgepodge of stuff you might find interesting. Check it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

For words of wisdom, click here.

For poems, click here.

For Women's History, click here. I liked my Women's History Month page so much I decided to keep it!

ForBlack History, click here.I liked my Black History Month page that I decided to keep it permanently. It is a GREAT resource page--esp. for my LEGL 4500/6500 class.

For miscellaneous items of fun and interest, click below.

Wanna see something funny? (yes, I was actually once young...) -Photos!

Making the grade

School newspaper controversy

English notices posted around the world

Student blunders

Figure these out!

Actual headlines

Kids say the darndest things

Girls: How to be a Proper Wife -1950's textbook excerpt (a definite must see)








To return to Dr. B-A's Goodie Bag, click here.

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia

The great end of life is not knowledge, but action. Thomas Huxley

Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. David Lloyd George

School is a building with four walls and tomorrow inside. Lon Waters

Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius. George Bernard Shaw
 

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help. Abraham Lincoln
 

The hours that make us happy, make us wise. John Maesfield

I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand. Chinese Proverb

I am concerned that we are on a rendevous with oblivion. Joe Clark, Principal who turned a NJ high school around
 

It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.
John Kenneth Galbraith
 

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

by Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
 

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia
 
 

Many students wheedle for a degree as if it were a freebie T shirt
 

NEWSWEEK June 17, 1996, p.16
 

BY KURT WIESENFELD

IT WAS A ROOKIE ERROR. AFTER 10 YEARS I SHOULD HAVE known better, but I went to my office the day after final grades were posted. There was a tentative knock on the door.. "Professor Wiesenfeld? I took your Physics 2121 class? I flunked it? I wonder if there's anything I can do to improve my grade? " I thought: "Why are you asking me? Isn't it too late to worry about it? Do you dislike making declarative statements?"

After the student gave his tale of woe and left, the phone rang. "I got a D in your class. Is there any way you can change it to 'Incomplete'?" Then the e-mail assault began: "I'm shy about coming in to talk to you, but I'm not shy about asking for a better grade. Anyway, it's worth a try." The next day I had three phone messages from students asking me to call them. I didn't.

Time was, when you received a grade, that was it. You might groanand moan, but you accepted it as the outcome of your efforts or lackthereof (and, yes, sometimes a tough grader). In the last few years, however, some students have developed a disgruntled consumer approach. If they don't like their grade, they go to the "return" counter to trade it in for something better.

What alarms me is their indifference toward grades as an indication of personal effort and performance. Many, when pressed about why they think they deserve a better grade, admit they don't deserve one but would like one anyway. Having been raised on gold stars for effort and smiley faces for self-esteem, they've learned that they can get by without hard work and real talent if they can talk the professor into giving them a break. This attitude is beyond cynicism. There's a weird innocence to the assumption that one expects (even deserves) a better grade simply by begging for it. With that outlook, I guess I shouldn't be as flabbergasted as I was that 12 students asked me to change their grades after final grades were posted.

That's 10 percent of my class who let three months of midterms, quizzes and lab reports slide until long past remedy. My graduate student calls it hyperrational thinking: if effort and intelligence don't matter, why should deadlines? What matters is getting a better grade through an unearned bonus, the academic equivalent of a freebie T shirt or toaster giveaway. Rewards are disconnected from the quality of one's work. An act and its consequences are unrelated, random events.

Their arguments for wheedling better grades often ignore academic performance . Perhaps they feel it's not relevant. "If my grade isn't raised to a D I'll lose my scholarship." "If you don't give me a C, I'll flunk out. "One sincerely overwrought student pleaded, "If I don't pass, my life is over." This is tough stuff to deal with. Apparently, I'm responsible for someone's losing a scholarship, flunking out or deciding whether life has meaning. Perhaps these students see me as a commodities broker with something they want--a grade. Though intrinsically worthless, grades, if properly manipulated, can be traded for what has value: a degree, which means a job, which means money. The one thing college actually offers--a chance to learn--is considered irrelevant, even less than worthless, because of the long hours and hard work required.

In a society saturated with surface values, love of knowledge for its own sake does sound eccentric. The benefits of fame and wealth are more obvious. So is it right to blame students for reflecting the superficial values saturating our society?

Yes, of course it's right. These guys had better take themselves seriously now, because our country will be forced to take them seriously later, when the stakes are much higher. They must recognize that their attitude is not only self-destructive, but socially destructive. The erosion of quality control--giving appropriate grades for actual accomplishments--is a major concern in my department. One colleague noted that a physics major could obtain a degree without ever answering a written exam question completely. How? By pulling in enough partial credit and extra credit. And by getting breaks on grades.

But what happens once she or he graduates and gets a job? That's when the misfortunes of eroding academic standards multiply. We lament that schoolchildren get "kicked upstairs" until they graduate from high school despite being illiterate and mathematically inept, but we seem unconcerned with college graduates whose less blatant deficiencies are far more harmful if their accreditation exceeds their qualifications.

Most of my students are science and engineering majors. If they're good at getting partial credit but not at getting the answer right, then the new bridge breaks or the new drug doesn't work. One finds examples here in Atlanta. Last year a light tower in the Olympic Stadium collapsed, killing a worker. It collapsed because an engineer miscalculated how much weight it could hold. A new 12-story dormitory could develop dangerous cracks due to a foundation that's uneven by more than six inches. The error resulted from incorrect data being fed into a computer. I drive past that dorm daily on my way to work, wondering if a foundation crushed under kilotons of weight is repairable or if this structure will have to be demolished. Two 10,000-pound steel beams at the new natatorium collapsed in March, crashing into the student athletic complex. (Should we give partial credit since no one was hurt?) Those are real-world consequences of errors and lack of expertise.

But the lesson is lost on the grade-grousing 10 percent. Say that you won't (not can't, but won't) change the grade they deserve to what they want, and they're frequently bewildered or angry. They don't think it's fair that they're judged according to their performance, not their desires or "potential." They don't think it's fair that they should jeopardize their scholarships or be in danger of flunking out simply because they could not or did not do their work. But it's more than fair; it's necessary to help preserve a minimum standard of quality that our society needs to maintain safety and integrity. I don't know if the 13th-hour students will learn that lesson, but I've learned mine. From now on, after final grades are posted, I'll lie low until the next quarter starts.
 

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia
 
 

From: Andy Walters

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS 400 W. Colfax Avenue,Denver,CO,80204 (Fax 303-892-2568)(E-MAIL: letters@denver-rmn.com)

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS SERVES ITS PURPOSE AT A SCHOOL NEWSPAPER Column By KIM FRANKE The Good Christians were there. So were the Gay Dad and the Lesbian Minister. Several Liberal Thinkers, Concerned Parents and Indignant Taxpayers also turned up, but not so many Self-Righteous Students. They had gathered to talk about freedom of speech and of the press. More specifically, they wanted to decide how much freedom high school journalists in Colorado Springs' District 11 should be allowed, or, according to the Good Christians and Concerned Parents, how little. Their anger stemmed from a series of articles about gay teens that had appeared in the Palmer High School paper back in October. Articles that, according to the Self-Righteous Students, were meant only to reflect a lifestyle chosen by some of their peers, just like athletics or the debate team are chosen by others. The Good Christians, however, felt the stories promoted homosexuality, promiscuity and non-traditional marriage. And as they listened to the head Good Christian, Will Perkins, chairman of Colorado for Family Values, speak,the Indignant Taxpayers grunted their amens. How much freedom is too much? they asked. Because, these kids today, they'll push you as far as they can. The next thing you know, they'll be dying their hair, piercing their nipples ... having sex, for God's sake. And that, of course, will lead to other stuff we shouldn't even be talking about. Things like teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases - even AIDS. But they did talk about it. And a funny thing happened on the way through this forum: All the interested parties not only got a chance to have their say, but they also listened to the others. Quietly, politely and respectfully. The Gay Dad and the Lesbian Minister both managed to speak their piece without any jeers, sneers or walkouts. They were joined by the Liberal Thinkers, who received less applause but as much attention as the Good Christians and Concerned Parents had. The Self-Righteous Students also were allowed to stand and eloquently defend their school paper, as did the final speaker, the Much-Maligned Faculty Adviser, the man who had allowed the stories to run. And his statement was the most enlightening of all: More of a revelation than the words the Good Christians had invoked, more politically correct than the Liberal Thinkers. After all was said and done, the teacher pointed out, the student journalists' work had been rewarded by the very outrage they had created. Their stories had brought together folks with all sorts of different opinions for a healthy and educational dialogue. The Gay Dad and the Lesbian Minister heard about traditional values. The Good Christians heard about tolerance. And the Self-Righteous Students learned a little about dealing with controversy. It may only have changed a few minds one way or the other. After all, Liberal Thinkers and Indignant Taxpayers have been known to be rather bullheaded - not to mention your Concerned Parents. But the student paper had served its purpose. It had informed, and it had made everybody think. And that is what freedom of speech is all about. No matter how old you are. (Kim Franke is a columnist at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.)
 
 

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia
 
 

Dining

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today - no ice cream.

In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are required not to have children in the bar.

On the menu of a Polish hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beet rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.
 

Shopping

Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance: English well talking. Here speaking American.

In a Tokyo shop: Our nylons cost more than common, but you'll find they are best in the long run.

Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.

Outside a Paris dress shop: Dresses for street walking.

In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.
 

Service

In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.

In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and sends them in all directions.

In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave you clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.

In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.
 

Driving

From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.
 

Medical

In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.

In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.
 

from Richard Wright

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia
 
 

In additon to worrying about what's crouched under the umbrella of the First Amendment, courts also have to keep a close eye on "changing social morays." Sounds like a dangerous job to me. South Texas College of Law
 

From the most recent memos (breach of implied warranty of fitness for human consumption, sushi with a parasite causing gnathostomiasis): "It has been determined that Robert will experience recurring swelling until the worm is able to leave his body, which is indeterminable." (I don't know what an indeterminable body is, but I don't want one, I'm sure.) John Marshall Law School
 

"With a blood alcohol content of .32, this case was worse than the Jackson case."
 

"He knew how upset she had become when her flowers were damaged by his tennis balls and the erection of his fence." Suffolk University Law School
 

"One thing that led Lucy to believe that Zehmer intended to be gound was the fact that Zehmer rewrote the contract to include his wife in the sale." (For sake: One wife, slightly used) U of Ala.
 

"Despite these counter arguments by the defense, there is still substantial evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Virginia Ryan was acting as a reasonable person." (Think she got all the legal standards in?) U Ala.
 

In a case involving allegations of sexual harassment: "Issue: Where an employer makes repeated advances toward an employee by holding his hand, looking into his eyes and inviting him to dinner, and where these jesters make the employee uncomfortable in the workplace, has the employer committed a statutory violation of sexual harassment?"

Later in the same memo: "(The plaintiff) must show that the employer's behavior was sufficiently severed or persuasive to alter the conditions of his employment." U Miami Law Sch.

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia
 

1. Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minific.

2. Members of an avian species of identical plumage congreate.

3. Surveillance should precede saltation.

4. Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.

5. It is fruitless to become lachrymose over precipately departed lacteal fluid.

6. Freedom from incrustations of grime is contiguous to rectitude.

7. The stylus is more potent than the claymore.

8. It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative manuvers.

9. Eschew the implement of correction and vitiate the scion.

10. The temperature of the aqueous content of an unremittingly ogled saucepan does not reach 212 degrees F.

11. All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.

12. Where there are visible vapors in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration.

13. Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted.

14. A plethora of individuals with expertise in culinary techniques vitiate the potable concoction produced by steeping certain comestibles.

15. Eleemosynary deeds have their incipience intramurally.

16. Male cadavers are incapable of yielding any testimony.

17. Individuals who make their abode in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting petrous projectiles.

18. Neophyte's serendipity.

19. Exclusive dedication to necessitous chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders John a hebetudinous fellow.

20. A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of a smlall green bryophitic plant.

21. The person presenting the ultimate cachination possesses thereby the optimal cachination.
 

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia

Something went wrong in jet crash, expert ays

Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers.

Iraqi head seeks arms.

Survivor of siamese twins joins parents.

Prostitutes appeal to Pope

Panda mating fails: Veterinarian takes over

Killer sentenced to die for second time in 10 years

War dims hope for peace

Red tape holds up new bridge

Typhoon rips through cemetery. Hundreds dead

Man struck by lightning faces battery charge

Astronaut takes blame for gas in space

Kids make nutritious snack

Man minus ear waives hearing

Prosecutor releases probe into undersheriff

Hospitals are sued by 7 foot doctors

Sex education delayed; teachers request training

Include your children when baking cookies

Stud Tires out

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia

The inhabitants of Moscow are Mosquitoes.

Define H2O and CO2. Answer: H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold water.

Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris

The people who followed Jesus were called the 12 opossums.

The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top and you sit on the bottom.

We do not raise silk worms in the United States, because we get our silk from rayon. He is a larger worm and gives more silk.

A scout obeys all to whom obedience is due and respects all duly constipated authorities.

One by-product of raising cattle is calves.

The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

The climate is hottest next to the Creator.

The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.

Syntax is all the money collected at the church from sinners.

In the middle of the 18th century, all the morons moved to Utah.

One of the main causes of dust is janitors.
 

Terry College of Business >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>University of Georgia

The following, sent to me by my friend Andy Walters at the University of San Francisco, is from a 1950's Home Economics textbook intended for High School girls, teaching how to prepare for married life.
 

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal - on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Some Don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

10. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

Geez, see what we missed by being born at the wrong time......?