Help Goshen College Pick a Pregame Song, or Something …

Aside from the general rudeness and the utter impossibility, to foist ones tastes on students is to give up on educating or teaching, and to take up training or indoctrination. There’s no point in my trying to teach students to disdain the Farelly brothers and to worship Ibsen, but there is some point in getting them to try on the viewpoint by which I get something out of Ibsen; they may find they want to take up some such viewpoint, or a related one, themselves. And to get them to try, there’s the usual arsenal of academic pressure, because it’s hard and not necessarily immediately fun and not possible to appreciate until you’ve already been through it, like a long backpacking trip, or boot camp, or raising a family, or many other worthwhile things that young people don’t necessarily take to naturally.

The job, always and eternally, is to make sure there is water, and pasturage, and to lead the horses to it. The great bulk of them will make of it what horses are known for, but some of them will find nourishment for surprising and memorable grace.

Not being an academic, I might be wrong about this, but I see value in some forms of popular culture that, based upon classics, might lead students into the classics they otherwise might have spurned. Examples abound: The Alicia Silverstone movie “Clueless” is Jane Austen’s “Emma” set in 1990s SoCal; “10 Things I Hate About You” is Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” in the modern-day Pacific Northwest, “Scarface” (both the original and the Pacino remake) is “Macbeth,” and on and on.

Given the fact that Hollywood is now so creatively devoid of ideas that they’re planning a “reboot” of the “Superman” franchise, I suspect that there’s both cultural benefit and a ton of money to be made by greater use (or, if you will, exploitation) of this source material, most of which has the added virtue, if you’re a producer, of being in the public domain.

Professor Piper’s response was such a thoughtful, nuanced, and carefully historicized bit of cultural commentary that I think she should replace Professor Wood as a CHE columnist.

Very well said. And short and clear.

Another great post from Rich “Keep it Simple and Misuse Data” Vedder. Ever since his book came out — where he concluded that faculty today are better off than when he started as a professor because he observed that they drive better cars — Rich has been playing fast and loose with data. The Chronicle should stop giving him a soapbox and let him retreat to his research “Center” to put out his missives.

I disagree about that being a purpose of college. It should be a purpose of the last couple of years of high school. If the high schools were doing their jobs properly, there wouldn’t be so much waste of far more expensive public resources (univ bldgs and staff cost more than high schools’) as students discover too late that college doesn’t “suit” them.

Someone at a meeting I recently attended asked the question, “Why isn’t Chicago State put out of business?” Well, for a lot of reasons. It is in one of the more dangerous areas of South Chicago (as is seen as highly benficial to the area), its student population is over 80% African-American and had a strong advocate in the leadership of the Illinois legislature. Chicago State has had its share of both dedicated and less-than-dedicated leadership.

As a faculty and former participant of search committees I will agree strongly with the idea that the hiring process in academia needs improvement. I have also been on the receiving end of this process and it is not fun waiting and waiting for notifications or progress reports on the hiring process. Giving these committee members some sympathy, let us be truthful; these are ancillary duties for faculty involved in these search committees. The process is very grueling, evaluating many packages, and assessing the most ideal candidate. If you talk with many who are out there seeking faculty positions, you will hear these stories: Most committees are very conscious of being fair and responsive but often all who have applied rarely receive final feedback. I disagree with the notion that faculty have to run these committees because if you have a well trained HR staff that is communicating with the client (faculty or department) these professionals will certainly do a better, timely and more efficient job. Let us admit that there is a notion of “not wanting to let go” of this process that has many institutions not wanting to allow to handle these duties. If you do not believe this can work, check the many examples of institutions that “out-source” the national search for senior executive positions to executive search firms. These firms are merely executive level HR firms that perform outstanding services at an attractive price.

How about America, the Beautiful?

I concur in recommending “America, the Beautiful.”  It is, after all a prayer: “God shed his grace on thee…”  And has in one of its verses a healthy confession: “God mend thine every flaw…”
     Certainly this fits in with Goshen’s mission and ideals.

Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” the best anthem ever recorded for an inclusive America. It’s political and subject to criticism, but not any more or less than others.

How about the 4th verse of the “Star-Spangled Banner?”

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Obviously:  ”Give Peace a Chance.”

I agree with sanamrcos8; besides, The Star Spangled Banner spans octaves out of the range of most people; whether you like the lyrics or not, it’s virtually unsingable. America the Beautiful is – well – beautiful – and highly singable.

I would recommend Edgar Winter’s White Trash “Give It Everything You’ve Got” or J.B.’s “Livin’ in America.” Why everyone has to suffer because some pseudo-patriotic religious nut insists on the painful tradition is beyond me.

I think this is an easy one — “This Is My Song,” a hymn sung to the tune of Finlandia. Wonderful words and melody, and very singable.

Freebird!

John Lennon’s “All we are saying, is give peace a chance.”

Ånd the winner is … ELECTRONICMUSE FOR “ONE NOTE SAMBA”! Electronic Muse gets a copy of “Crunch: A History of the Great American Potato Chip,” by Dirk Burhans. Thanks, everyone, for playing!

Absolutely agree, 11182967. Negatives and positives can co-exist in a single phenomenon. Take, for example, the looooong lines at the coffee shops once the students are back. Negative for me, the waiting coffee hog, positive for the coffee shops — from the national chains to the local independents. Lost my favorite hamburger place in part because they forgot to plan for lost revenue over the summer. The fact that my family went there two or three times a month all year just wasn’t enough for some reason.

It’s rarely either/or; most often it’s “and.”

Although the mention of “The Kids Are All Right” was only a lead-in, I wanted to point out that it is an inference that the college at which the move-in scene takes place is Stanford, because the college is never named.  And for what it’s worth, the scene was filmed at Occidental College.

Usually University students reside in large urban type cities where the majority of their activities whether its academic related such as volunteering in various community projects or for leisure activities such as seeing a movie with other university students, culturally these students have alot to offer as international students and in return can learn much about their neighboring community.