25 years old and deep in debt

[crazy canuck]

That is all great and desireable, but I cannot accept that the definition or "rape" is essentially "sex where ideally clear and concise communication has not occurred".

Welcome to our brave new world.

The advice to my boys will be get the consent in writing, notorized and keep the reciept for the box of condoms she bought for you.

She could still claim to have changed her mind at the last minute.  Best video it with her saying "I consent" at key moments.

Good idea, having her say Yes, Yes, Yesssss! into the camera should do it.

[crazy canuck]

Welcome to our brave new world.

The advice to my boys will be get the consent in writing, notorized and keep the reciept for the box of condoms she bought for you.

I wonder if your advice would be any different if you had daughters as well as sons...

I mean, yeah, the consequences of being falsely accused of rape/ sexual assault are not pleasant to contemplate either. Do we have any idea - anecdotes or data - of the frequency that people are falsely accused of rape and/or sexual assault?

Personally, I don't know of anyone to whom that has happened - but then again, I don't think it's the kind of thing that people would tell everyone either.

EDIT: that said, if your advice boils down to "make sure that she's definitely willing rather than just assume that she is" then I think that's actually good advice, especially for young people who are just learning the ropes, so to speak. Being attentive to your partner's desires is a good thing when it comes to sex, and making sure that everything is a go is a good foundation for that, even if it's awkward when you're just getting your feet (or whatever) wet.

I havent been away that long - has Languish really lost its sense of humour this quickly?

[derspiess]

Thanks for telling me how your 18 year old son would handle a completely fictional scenario better than someone I just made up to illustrate a point about whether behavior rises to the level of criminal rape. What a great guy he is I guess?

Seriously, wtf Meri?

  I can't imagine my mom asking me that when I was 18 (or any age really).  I'd be all like, "Seriously, mom-- get off the damned internet!"

[Phillip V]

The Economist: 'American universities represent declining value to their students'

'In 1962 one cent of every dollar spent in America went on higher education; today this figure has tripled. Yet despite spending a greater proportion of its GDP on universities than any other country, America has only the 15th-largest proportion of young people with a university education. Wherever the money is coming from, and however it is being spent, the root of the crisis in higher education (and the evidence that investment in universities may amount to a bubble) comes down to the fact that additional value has not been created to match this extra spending. Indeed, evidence from declines in the quality of students and graduates suggests that a degree may now mean less than it once did.'

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21567373-american-universities-represent-declining-value-money-their-students-not-what-it

For example, a federal survey showed that the literacy of college-educated citizens declined between 1992 and 2003. Only a quarter were deemed proficient, defined as "using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals and to develop one's knowledge and potential". Almost a third of students these days do not take any courses that involve more than 40 pages of reading over an entire term. Moreover, students are spending measurably less time studying and more on recreation. "Workload management", however, is studied with enthusiasm—students share online tips about "blow off" classes (those which can be avoided with no damage to grades) and which teachers are the easiest-going.

Yet neither the lack of investment in teaching nor the deficit of attention appears to have had a negative impact on grades. A remarkable 43% of all grades at four-year universities are As, an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960. Grade point averages rose from about 2.52 in the 1950s to 3.11 in 2006.

At this point a sceptic could argue that none of this matters much, since students are paid a handsome premium for their degree and on the whole earn back their investment over a lifetime. While this is still broadly true, there are a number of important caveats. One is that it is easily possible to overspend on one's education: just ask the hundreds of thousands of law graduates who have not found work as lawyers. And this premium is of little comfort to the 9.1% of borrowers who in 2011 had defaulted on their federal student loans within two years of graduating. There are 200 colleges and universities where the three-year default rate is 30% or more.

Another issue is that the salary gap between those with only a high-school diploma and those with a university degree is created by the plummeting value of the diploma, rather than by soaring graduate salaries. After adjusting for inflation, graduates earned no more in 2007 than they did in 1979. Young graduates facing a decline in earnings over the past decade (16% for women, 19% for men), and a lot more debt, are unlikely to feel particularly cheered by the argument that, over a lifetime, they would be even worse off without a degree than with one.

[jimmy olsen]

The Economist: 'American universities represent declining value to their students'

'In 1962 one cent of every dollar spent in America went on higher education; today this figure has tripled. Yet despite spending a greater proportion of its GDP on universities than any other country, America has only the 15th-largest proportion of young people with a university education. Wherever the money is coming from, and however it is being spent, the root of the crisis in higher education (and the evidence that investment in universities may amount to a bubble) comes down to the fact that additional value has not been created to match this extra spending. Indeed, evidence from declines in the quality of students and graduates suggests that a degree may now mean less than it once did.'

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21567373-american-universities-represent-declining-value-money-their-students-not-what-it

Almost a third of students these days do not take any courses that involve more than 40 pages of reading over an entire term.

How is that even possible!?

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, that makes sense.

My sister's in her 3rd semester teaching a basic biology course, a level 100 course with a lab, that a lot of non-science majors take because a science course with a lab are Gen Ed requirements, such as nursing and psych students.
She called me the other day asking me what she's gotten into;  apparently, one of her students couldn't find the lab quiz because she didn't bring her calculator.

The problem was a basic conversion problem, something like:  3,615 X  .1 =

Reason she couldn't finish without a calculator?  She stated she "didn't know which way the decimal went." 

She wants to fail her on general principle, but there are a lot of internal machinations involved in that.  The only ones she can really fail are the ones that don't show up at all, and even then, there's a lot of whining, crying and pleading to administration for second chances, etc. 

I think she's going to get the fuck out of teaching and go into research.

[PDH]

I assign a text with 500 pages and a reader with 300 for my first semester class (this is the Western Civ that gets some sort of special magical letter next to it that meets some cultural requirement), a class that is always filled with new freshmen and other types.

While I know they don't actually read this all in 15 weeks (I have been told on evaluations that NOBODY could read this much), it is needed to get a good grade.

Oh, I also assign 2 short papers, 3 essays tests, and they must discuss the reader every week to get good grades (of course, I have 2 GAs to do most of the grading, I am lazy).

It is college, and I find most of the students respond and do put out some effort instead of simply whining.  They want to move beyond 12th grade?  They better learn at least a bit about thinking.

[mongers]

I assign a text with 500 pages and a reader with 300 for my first semester class (this is the Western Civ that gets some sort of special magical letter next to it that meets some cultural requirement), a class that is always filled with new freshmen and other types.

While I know they don't actually read this all in 15 weeks (I have been told on evaluations that NOBODY could read this much), it is needed to get a good grade.

Oh, I also assign 2 short papers, 3 essays tests, and they must discuss the reader every week to get good grades (of course, I have 2 GAs to do most of the grading, I am lazy).

It is college, and I find most of the students respond and do put out some effort instead of simply whining.  They want to move beyond 12th grade?  They better learn at least a bit about thinking.

Western civilisation will not falter whilst you are at the helm. 

[Maladict]

One of my old professors told me the other day that they stopped handing out texts in French and German because students were protesting too much. They just wouldn't do it. If universities are lowering their standards (and I think they are), it's at least partly because students are demanding it.

[garbon]

One of my old professors told me the other day that they stopped handing out texts in French and German because students were protesting too much. They just wouldn't do it. If universities are lowering their standards (and I think they are), it's at least partly because students are demanding it.

Hmm, well over here it makes sense. I mean if you're shelling out 60k a year for education - gods be damned if you're going to do poorly.

[Maladict]

Hmm, well over here it makes sense. I mean if you're shelling out 60k a year for education - gods be damned if you're going to do poorly.

Maybe, it's also a sign of taking the easy way out and expecting to be pampered. When I chose my thesis subject and found most of the source material was only available in Italian, I bought a dictionary and pushed on, even if it meant adding another 6 months of tuition. And then another year because I didn't think I'd read enough. I certainly wasn't alone in this.

Of course, in today's circumstances you'd think twice about that, but still.

[garbon]

Well yes, now one wouldn't really be able to afford all that extra tuition.

[merithyn]

Well yes, now one wouldn't really be able to afford all that extra tuition.

And that's the problem in all of this. Something's gotta' give, and one would hope that it's tuition. I'm just not sure how to make that happen.

[Maladict]

Well yes, now one wouldn't really be able to afford all that extra tuition.

Because we have communism that's not even such a big risk. If you can't afford to pay back your loans the payments are postponed at next to no interest until you can (comfortably) do so. And any amount still remaining after 15 years is cancelled.

[garbon]

Well yes, now one wouldn't really be able to afford all that extra tuition.

Because we have communism that's not even such a big risk. If you can't afford to pay back your loans the payments are postponed at next to no interest until you can (comfortably) do so. And any amount still remaining after 15 years is cancelled.

How do they assess your ability to pay?