Graduation traditions

[Flatlandcoug]

I’m in Colorado for my future son-in-law’s graduation from the Colorado School of Mines. They’ve recently restarted a tradition where the graduates wear cowboy hats instead of mortarboards. The students can get custom branding for the hats based on their degree or whatever they want. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool.


https://www.minesnewsroom.com/sites...raduatecomm1-20250509-tm-08.jpg?itok=Q0DBNf8C

 

[Stretch 74]

I’m in Colorado for my future son-in-law’s graduation from the Colorado School of Mines. They’ve recently restarted a tradition where the graduates wear cowboy hats instead of mortarboards. The students can get custom branding for the hats based on their degree or whatever they want. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool.


https://www.minesnewsroom.com/sites...raduatecomm1-20250509-tm-08.jpg?itok=Q0DBNf8C

That's a good one. Us Construction Management grads were presented with a hard hat with our diploma, but we didn't wear them to the ceremony.

One of the PE/Recreation grads let loose with a blast from an officials whistle when their name was called. Got a good laugh.

 

[M-I-Coug]

Cool. I can see the folks at Go WYO will be envious.

 

[CougEd]

That's a good one. Us Construction Management grads were presented with a hard hat with our diploma, but we didn't wear them to the ceremony.

One of the PE/Recreation grads let loose with a blast from an officials whistle when their name was called. Got a good laugh.

My daughter just graduated in construction management and they wear their hard hats at the ceremony.

 

[kougkurt]

Down here in San Diego. Daughter graduates from SDSU tomorrow. Year off, then DPT school. Getting really expensive.
Cougs on campus for a three game tilt against SDSU and Mariners-Padres at Petco.

 

[Observer11]

Used to bus us up to Colfax Fairgrounds. Many brain cells destroyed. Just the weak ones.

 

[M-I-Coug]

Down here in San Diego. Daughter graduates from SDSU tomorrow. Year off, then DPT school. Getting really expensive.
Cougs on campus for a three game tilt against SDSU and Mariners-Padres at Petco.

Congrats on your daughter. Our daughter will be a senior at ASU this fall, heading in with a 4.2 GPA. 🌵

Doctor of Physical Therapy?!
Wow. Yes, someone is opening up their wallet!

Congrats on your daughter, not your wallet.

Wait. What are the chances that your daughter is graduating from SDSU, and the SAME EXACT GRADUATION WEEKEND, WSU plays at SDSU in baseball? That is crazy. Amazing, BUT... this isn't about you.

It's about her. Unless, she takes off with her friends. In that case....how many games are (you dragging your wife) going to?

Or are you dragging both your wife and daughter to the game(s) ?

 

[kougkurt]

Yes. Doctor of Physical Therapy Just dragging my wife to the games.

 

[Suudy]

Congrats on your daughter. Our daughter will be a senior at ASU this fall, heading in with a 4.2 GPA. 🌵

Congrats on your daughter! She sounds very sharp and hard working.

/soapbox
But a minor irritation--not against your or her!--about the 4.2GPA. This latest thing of giving 4.3 for A+ (or whatever the math is) has bothered me for some time. In HS, it seems they dumbed down the curricula to the point that anyone with an ounce of hard work and two brain cells can get an A, so they create this to help the harder workers differentiate themselves. I didn't know this has now progressed to the college level.

I remember a day (hear this in an old timer, grouchy voice) where folk were graded on a curve and the material was adjusted so that the normal distribution was centered around a C. Getting a A back in the day took real smarts and really hard work. This is why colleges like MIT were so revered--and so damn difficult--was because it was the elite of the elite that could get the A. Even WSU had some cajones (at least in EE) because getting an A was really, really hard. I got plenty of A's, but lots of A-'s as well because I wasn't the sharpest one in the class, but enough that it mattered when I graduated.

So I get why they are doing it. But it is too bad.
/end soapbox

 

[cr8zyncalif]

Congrats on your daughter! She sounds very sharp and hard working.

/soapbox
But a minor irritation--not against your or her!--about the 4.2GPA. This latest thing of giving 4.3 for A+ (or whatever the math is) has bothered me for some time. In HS, it seems they dumbed down the curricula to the point that anyone with an ounce of hard work and two brain cells can get an A, so they create this to help the harder workers differentiate themselves. I didn't know this has now progressed to the college level.

I remember a day (hear this in an old timer, grouchy voice) where folk were graded on a curve and the material was adjusted so that the normal distribution was centered around a C. Getting a A back in the day took real smarts and really hard work. This is why colleges like MIT were so revered--and so damn difficult--was because it was the elite of the elite that could get the A. Even WSU had some cajones (at least in EE) because getting an A was really, really hard. I got plenty of A's, but lots of A-'s as well because I wasn't the sharpest one in the class, but enough that it mattered when I graduated.

So I get why they are doing it. But it is too bad.
/end soapbox

My first three years at Wazzu (fall '76, '77, '78) were standard 1.0/2.0/3.0/4.0 for D/C/B/A. That changed in the fall of '79 & went to the +/- grade points. Helped my GPA that last year.

 

[Suudy]

My first three years at Wazzu (fall '76, '77, '78) were standard 1.0/2.0/3.0/4.0 for D/C/B/A. That changed in the fall of '79 & went to the +/- grade points. Helped my GPA that last year.

I wasn't aware of that. Interesting. When my father died, I was going through a whole box of old papers that included his report cards from high school (he graduated in '62). It has +/- grades so I assumed it had always been that way. Perhaps the same thing here. The A+ starts in the HS ranks, then progresses to the colleges. Same thing in the 60s/70s, where HS's introduce +/- grades and they propagate to the colleges.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Congrats on your daughter! She sounds very sharp and hard working.

/soapbox
But a minor irritation--not against your or her!--about the 4.2GPA. This latest thing of giving 4.3 for A+ (or whatever the math is) has bothered me for some time. In HS, it seems they dumbed down the curricula to the point that anyone with an ounce of hard work and two brain cells can get an A, so they create this to help the harder workers differentiate themselves. I didn't know this has now progressed to the college level.

I remember a day (hear this in an old timer, grouchy voice) where folk were graded on a curve and the material was adjusted so that the normal distribution was centered around a C. Getting a A back in the day took real smarts and really hard work. This is why colleges like MIT were so revered--and so damn difficult--was because it was the elite of the elite that could get the A. Even WSU had some cajones (at least in EE) because getting an A was really, really hard. I got plenty of A's, but lots of A-'s as well because I wasn't the sharpest one in the class, but enough that it mattered when I graduated.

So I get why they are doing it. But it is too bad.
/end soapbox

I thought the same thing. WTH is a 4.2 GPA?. What happened to 4.0 being a perfect GPA?

 

[95coug]

Congrats on your daughter! She sounds very sharp and hard working.

/soapbox
But a minor irritation--not against your or her!--about the 4.2GPA. This latest thing of giving 4.3 for A+ (or whatever the math is) has bothered me for some time. In HS, it seems they dumbed down the curricula to the point that anyone with an ounce of hard work and two brain cells can get an A, so they create this to help the harder workers differentiate themselves. I didn't know this has now progressed to the college level.

I remember a day (hear this in an old timer, grouchy voice) where folk were graded on a curve and the material was adjusted so that the normal distribution was centered around a C. Getting a A back in the day took real smarts and really hard work. This is why colleges like MIT were so revered--and so damn difficult--was because it was the elite of the elite that could get the A. Even WSU had some cajones (at least in EE) because getting an A was really, really hard. I got plenty of A's, but lots of A-'s as well because I wasn't the sharpest one in the class, but enough that it mattered when I graduated.

So I get why they are doing it. But it is too bad.
/end soapbox

I assumed that school was on a 5.0 scale. I’d never heard of A+ becoming an actual grade, and if it’s in use at WSU it’s brand new.
I could see some sense in more standardization of the grading scale though. When I was at WSU, the physics department was notorious for having ridiculous curves in the undergrad classes. Most of the faculty felt that teaching undergrads was beneath them, so blasted through lectures, didn’t take questions, and just referred to the text during office hours. I think it was my 201 class I got a 22% on the first exam, and that was a B. Class average was 18% and the high score was in the 40s. It’s one of the few classes I bothered to do course evaluations for, and I blasted it. If the average student is understanding less than 1/5 of the material…the problem is the teacher.

 

[Suudy]

I assumed that school was on a 5.0 scale. I’d never heard of A+ becoming an actual grade, and if it’s in use at WSU it’s brand new.
I could see some sense in more standardization of the grading scale though. When I was at WSU, the physics department was notorious for having ridiculous curves in the undergrad classes. Most of the faculty felt that teaching undergrads was beneath them, so blasted through lectures, didn’t take questions, and just referred to the text during office hours. I think it was my 201 class I got a 22% on the first exam, and that was a B. Class average was 18% and the high score was in the 40s. It’s one of the few classes I bothered to do course evaluations for, and I blasted it. If the average student is understanding less than 1/5 of the material…the problem is the teacher.

Same when the was there in the early ‘90s. I got and A in 201/202 never getting above about 60% on an exam. But same with Math 171/172/273—all brutally hard. Shockingly diffyeq was easier, but it was taught by a grad student.

But it wasn’t unusual at once I hit my major either. Lots of 50/60% for an A, especially in the first set of classes (EE 311/321/331/351).

Though there were two particularly tough professors: KC Wang and Teri Fiez. Both made it clear the first exam was the “weed out” exam. After that, they were pretty damn helpful in class, office hours, and forgiving on due dates. Got As there, but it was HARD work.

 

[95coug]

Same when the was there in the early ‘90s. I got and A in 201/202 never getting above about 60% on an exam. But same with Math 172/172/273—all brutally hard. Shockingly diffyeq was easier, but it was taught by a grad student.

But it wasn’t unusual at once I hit my major either. Lots of 50/60% for an A, especially in the first set of classes (EE 311/331/331/351).

Though there were two particularly tough professors: KC Wang and Teri Fiez. Both made it clear the first exam was the “weed out” exam. After that, they were pretty damn helpful in class, office hours, and forgiving on due dates. Got As there, but it was HARD work.

Same time I was there. Math 171 actually weeded me out of engineering. I couldn’t understand the professor in lecture due to his heavy accent and soft voice, and the grad TA in my help session was a moron who would consistently do sample problems on the board and then turn to the students and say “does that look right?”
Probably didn’t help that that semester was when I had my closest relationship with the Busch, Coors, and Daniels families.
Once I moved into my science classes (Bio, chem, micro, etc) the curves weren’t as brutal and the faculty were more helpful. And, I think those were more interesting than the math classes ever were. I finished my physics sequence and retook 171 and never looked at those sections of the catalog again.

 

[M-I-Coug]

I thought the same thing. WTH is a 4.2 GPA?. What happened to 4.0 being a perfect GPA?

I know, right?! It's extra credit and if you get an A+ out of the course.

 

[Suudy]

Same time I was there. Math 171 actually weeded me out of engineering. I couldn’t understand the professor in lecture due to his heavy accent and soft voice, and the grad TA in my help session was a moron who would consistently do sample problems on the board and then turn to the students and say “does that look right?”

Dr Manarajan. I remember him. I totally got lost in 171 when he kept pronouncing "integer" and "perimeter" and other words like this with a long "e". Inteeegr. Perimeeeter. Took me a good 2-3 weeks to figure out what he was saying. Interestingly, he appears to still be at WSU (see his page here). He was pretty young then. About 10 years out from his PhD, but only about 3 years out from what appears to be a post-doc. (Though clearly he was a lot older. Got his BS in 1977--I was a wee little tot then.)


Was that in the one building across from French Ad at the bottom of the road up to the cub? The building is gone now. But in that lecture hall right on the corner? There were about 20 sections of that class every semester (like chemistry, like physics) so they could have been just about anywhere.

He became chair of the match department right about when I was senior in college. I had an interaction with him that has bothered me to this day. I've told the story before and I can share it again, but it was an interesting intersection between WSU football and the math department.

 

[Coug90]

Dr Manarajan. I remember him. I totally got lost in 171 when he kept pronouncing "integer" and "perimeter" and other words like this with a long "e". Inteeegr. Perimeeeter. Took me a good 2-3 weeks to figure out what he was saying. Interestingly, he appears to still be at WSU (see his page here). He was pretty young then. About 10 years out from his PhD, but only about 3 years out from what appears to be a post-doc. (Though clearly he was a lot older. Got his BS in 1977--I was a wee little tot then.)


Was that in the one building across from French Ad at the bottom of the road up to the cub? The building is gone now. But in that lecture hall right on the corner? There were about 20 sections of that class every semester (like chemistry, like physics) so they could have been just about anywhere.

He became chair of the match department right about when I was senior in college. I had an interaction with him that has bothered me to this day. I've told the story before and I can share it again, but it was an interesting intersection between WSU football and the math department.

What’s the story?

I recognize the name too, I must have taken that class.

 

[95coug]

Dr Manarajan. I remember him. I totally got lost in 171 when he kept pronouncing "integer" and "perimeter" and other words like this with a long "e". Inteeegr. Perimeeeter. Took me a good 2-3 weeks to figure out what he was saying. Interestingly, he appears to still be at WSU (see his page here). He was pretty young then. About 10 years out from his PhD, but only about 3 years out from what appears to be a post-doc. (Though clearly he was a lot older. Got his BS in 1977--I was a wee little tot then.)


Was that in the one building across from French Ad at the bottom of the road up to the cub? The building is gone now. But in that lecture hall right on the corner? There were about 20 sections of that class every semester (like chemistry, like physics) so they could have been just about anywhere.

He became chair of the match department right about when I was senior in college. I had an interaction with him that has bothered me to this day. I've told the story before and I can share it again, but it was an interesting intersection between WSU football and the math department.

That’s the guy. In Johnson hall annex, I think. Never managed to interpret his lectures. My class right before was across campus - Sloan I think - so I always ended up in the back. Hard to hear, hard to understand. I think my TA session was in the bottom of Avery.

Never knew he became chair. I retook 171 the next semester from a different prof in Todd. Passed it and never took another math class.

 

[WillieThePimp]

I’m in Colorado for my future son-in-law’s graduation from the Colorado School of Mines. They’ve recently restarted a tradition where the graduates wear cowboy hats instead of mortarboards. The students can get custom branding for the hats based on their degree or whatever they want. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool.


https://www.minesnewsroom.com/sites...raduatecomm1-20250509-tm-08.jpg?itok=Q0DBNf8C

Gotta’ be hella smart to get into that school but having known legit cowboys and cowgirls when I was younger the hats make me chuckle.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Down here in San Diego. Daughter graduates from SDSU tomorrow. Year off, then DPT school. Getting really expensive.
Cougs on campus for a three game tilt against SDSU and Mariners-Padres at Petco.

Good for her. Mrs Pimp got her MPT @ Emory back when Masters programs in PT were just becoming a thing.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Same when the was there in the early ‘90s. I got and A in 201/202 never getting above about 60% on an exam. But same with Math 171/172/273—all brutally hard. Shockingly diffyeq was easier, but it was taught by a grad student.

But it wasn’t unusual at once I hit my major either. Lots of 50/60% for an A, especially in the first set of classes (EE 311/321/331/351).

Though there were two particularly tough professors: KC Wang and Teri Fiez. Both made it clear the first exam was the “weed out” exam. After that, they were pretty damn helpful in class, office hours, and forgiving on due dates. Got As there, but it was HARD work.

Junior year EE was utterly brutal grading wise ( graduated before you). I can attest to 60% averages and I think one exam the class average was closer to 40%. Also recall double bell grading curves when we had grad students in the classes.

Terri Feiz went on to head up Oregon State’s College of EE and ultimately got railroaded out of there in a political power play. Complete travesty. IMO an outstanding and truly remarkable person who deserved better.

https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2013/12/oregon_state_created_crisis_by.html

 

[WillieThePimp]

Same time I was there. Math 171 actually weeded me out of engineering. I couldn’t understand the professor in lecture due to his heavy accent and soft voice, and the grad TA in my help session was a moron who would consistently do sample problems on the board and then turn to the students and say “does that look right?”
Probably didn’t help that that semester was when I had my closest relationship with the Busch, Coors, and Daniels families.
Once I moved into my science classes (Bio, chem, micro, etc) the curves weren’t as brutal and the faculty were more helpful. And, I think those were more interesting than the math classes ever were. I finished my physics sequence and retook 171 and never looked at those sections of the catalog again.

Reminds me of a Chinese professor with a heavy accent that I had at WSU who pronounced “vector” as “wector” (predictably lots of Elmer Phud impersonators that semester). I found that if I listened intently I could acclimate and understand him just fine. When I was in the Bay Area I worked with lots of internationals including tons of Indians. Only person I ever had a problem understanding was an Indian who grew up in England and had some sort of thick London accent that I couldn’t make out to save my life.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Down here in San Diego. Daughter graduates from SDSU tomorrow. Year off, then DPT school. Getting really expensive.
Cougs on campus for a three game tilt against SDSU and Mariners-Padres at Petco.

The "Vedder Cup".

Like most musicians I wish he'd keep his opinions to himself, but what's to be done. At least its for a good cause (allegedly).

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Same when the was there in the early ‘90s. I got and A in 201/202 never getting above about 60% on an exam. But same with Math 171/172/273—all brutally hard. Shockingly diffyeq was easier, but it was taught by a grad student.

But it wasn’t unusual at once I hit my major either. Lots of 50/60% for an A, especially in the first set of classes (EE 311/321/331/351).

Though there were two particularly tough professors: KC Wang and Teri Fiez. Both made it clear the first exam was the “weed out” exam. After that, they were pretty damn helpful in class, office hours, and forgiving on due dates. Got As there, but it was HARD work.

How do you feel about that?

I only had one class that I legitimately did not earn high marks on work and exams and it was a stats class, online, with a TA running it. Any questions the reply was "look on page XXX".

I got a solid C but was given an A, only because a majority of the class was failing and passed with a "C". Not sure who that helps in the long run except for the prof.

The shitty thing for me is that I found the class incredibly interesting because I'd never seen high level stats applied to business before and it was like the clouds had parted, but sadly I have little to no mastery of the concept despite getting an "A" out of the class.

 

[95coug]

Reminds me of a Chinese professor with a heavy accent that I had at WSU who pronounced “vector” as “wector” (predictably lots of Elmer Phud impersonators that semester). I found that if I listened intently I could acclimate and understand him just fine. When I was in the Bay Area I worked with lots of internationals including tons of Indians. Only person I ever had a problem understanding was an Indian who grew up in England and had some sort of thick London accent that I couldn’t make out to save my life.

I had a Chinese TA in a physics lab, and the hardest part of the course was figuring out what the hell he was talking about. We probably spent a good 20 minutes every week just trying to figure out what he was saying. We all wanted to complain and point out that it's pretty dumb to have an instructor who can't communicate with students. But it was the physics department, so we know that they wouldn't really care.

During one experiment he kept talking about "elif" and nobody had a clue. He took us all out in the hall and pointed at the elevator. Apparently he was trying to say "lift." Then he was talking about "eslup" and "eslup lie." We went to the next lab and got the other TA to tell us that he was saying "slope of line."

Probably not a coincidence that I used to go drink after that lab.

 

[95coug]

How do you feel about that?

I only had one class that I legitimately did not earn high marks on work and exams and it was a stats class, online, with a TA running it. Any questions the reply was "look on page XXX".

I got a solid C but was given an A, only because a majority of the class was failing and passed with a "C". Not sure who that helps in the long run except for the prof.

The shitty thing for me is that I found the class incredibly interesting because I'd never seen high level stats applied to business before and it was like the clouds had parted, but sadly I have little to no mastery of the concept despite getting an "A" out of the class.

Stats was horrible. I could never figure out which formula to apply to which situation. It's the only class I ever had where, when the report card came and I got a D+ I was happy...just because I wouldn't have to re-take it.

Decades later when I did my masters project and my chair told me I needed to apply some statistical analysis to my results to prove what factors were significant, I had a moment where I wondered if I wanted an MS bad enough to venture into stats again. Fortunately in the interim, Al Gore invented the internet so Google could make statistics easier.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I attended a high school graduation in a small Kansas town today. 8 of the 25 kids in the class had 4.0 GPA's......LOL

 

[95coug]

I attended a high school graduation in a small Kansas town today. 8 of the 25 kids in the class had 4.0 GPA's......LOL

That just means they all did their homework together. Probably every morning in the 30 minutes before the first bell.
I went to an even smaller school, and whenever we had homework we divided it between us, and shared answers the next morning. Worked better for math and history than for English and chemistry, but our class GPAs were not normally distributed.

 

[WillieThePimp]

I attended a high school graduation in a small Kansas town today. 8 of the 25 kids in the class had 4.0 GPA's......LOL

That is hilarious. And sad too as you have to wonder how well did their education prepare them for college (assuming that’s what they want). I can recall a couple of small town kids with 4.0 gpa’s that got a rude awakening when they got to college and the bar went up dramatically for them.

 

[95coug]

That is hilarious. And sad too as you have to wonder how well did their education prepare them for college (assuming that’s what they want). I can recall a couple of small town kids with 4.0 gpa’s that got a rude awakening when they got to college and the bar went up dramatically for them.

I don’t disagree, but in my experience there was an unexpected flip side. Those of us that came from the tiny towns actually adjusted better to the size of WSU than a lot of our counterparts from big high schools. I think it was because everywhere we went was bigger than us, so it wasn’t a big deal. It kind of negated the culture shock.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

I don’t disagree, but in my experience there was an unexpected flip side. Those of us that came from the tiny towns actually adjusted better to the size of WSU than a lot of our counterparts from big high schools. I think it was because everywhere we went was bigger than us, so it wasn’t a big deal. It kind of negated the culture shock.

Agree. I'll add that in general the smaller town folks socialized more effectively upon arrival at WSU. Over the next few years that tended to even out. STEM subjects tended to generally be tougher for the smaller town kids, because their high school often lacked someone who could teach precalc, calc or chemistry effectively.

 

[UberCougars]

Agree. I'll add that in general the smaller town folks socialized more effectively upon arrival at WSU. Over the next few years that tended to even out. STEM subjects tended to generally be tougher for the smaller town kids, because their high school often lacked someone who could teach precalc, calc or chemistry effectively.

Today, anyone with an internet connection can tune into the best live instruction on any topic from any textbook, from anywhere in the world.

Educational opportunities have evolved dramatically over the 40 years. Especially over the past 5.

 

[95coug]

Agree. I'll add that in general the smaller town folks socialized more effectively upon arrival at WSU. Over the next few years that tended to even out. STEM subjects tended to generally be tougher for the smaller town kids, because their high school often lacked someone who could teach precalc, calc or chemistry effectively.

I’d partially agree with that. I struggled with calculus, partially because of ineffective instructors at WSU but also because my HS math teacher couldn’t really teach calculus. But our HS chem teacher was really good. Chem 105 at WSU was 90% review for us, and even the first few weeks of 106 were familiar.
Comparing notes with other small school kids, most of us had either a good math teacher or a good science teacher. Few (if any) had both. The kids from big schools were much more likely to have had decent instruction across the board.

I think in general, we were better at figuring it out though

 

[95coug]

Today, anyone with an internet connection can tune into the best live instruction on any topic from any textbook, from anywhere in the world.

Educational opportunities have evolved dramatically over the 40 years. Especially over the past 5.

That’s true, but with the increase in opportunities has come a decrease in motivation. Kids can get effective instruction from a thousand different sources…but they don’t. They want either the shortest possible version from TikTok or YouTube, or they want someone to do it for them at ChatGTP. They don’t want to learn, they just want the answers.

And forget about problem solving. They can’t.

 

[WillieThePimp]

That’s true, but with the increase in opportunities has come a decrease in motivation. Kids can get effective instruction from a thousand different sources…but they don’t. They want either the shortest possible version from TikTok or YouTube, or they want someone to do it for them at ChatGTP. They don’t want to learn, they just want the answers.

And forget about problem solving. They can’t.

Generally less motivated and way more distracted.

I’m highly skeptical of online education courses and how rigorous they are. And I'm even more skeptical that it’s possible to effectively teach problem solving and critical thinking skills online.

 

[95coug]

Generally less motivated and way more distracted.

I’m highly skeptical of online education courses and how rigorous they are. And I'm even more skeptical that it’s possible to effectively teach problem solving and critical thinking skills online.

Online education has roughly the same level of academic rigor as old school correspondence classes. When there’s no supervision and no direction, there’s no real effort necessary.

Even synchronous online teaching is pretty useless. As evidence, how many of us have been on zoom meetings, and even if we’re on camera, we’re working on something else while the meeting is ongoing? I did an online history class during COVID, and I couldn’t even tell you which class it was, because during most lectures I was looking at my other screen - either browsing Amazon or posting here.

 

[Coug90]

I attended a high school graduation in a small Kansas town today. 8 of the 25 kids in the class had 4.0 GPA's......LOL

My kids get to turn in homework whenever they want and retake tests. None of that was a thing when I was in school. The score you got on a test was the score you got. If you turned in your homework late it you got 50% credit if that. Grades are a joke now.

 

[UberCougars]

My kids get to turn in homework whenever they want and retake tests. None of that was a thing when I was in school. The score you got on a test was the score you got. If you turned in your homework late it you got 50% credit if that. Grades are a joke now.

All that matters is “The Test”

 

[Suudy]

What’s the story?

I recognize the name too, I must have taken that class.

When I was a senior, I found out I could earn about $500/semester teaching Math 101/107. Math 101 was a 0 credit, remedial math class for those that failed the math placement test. Math 107 was basically Algebra 2 from high school.

Anyway, I'm teaching Math 101 and it's packed with athletes. Lots of football and basketball players. Our advising professor gave us everything--syllabus, schedule for materials, she wrote the quizzes and tests, all we did was teach the material, give office hours, and grade everything. Students were allowed a calculator, but no notes. We had a strict no cheating policy and were told to give 0's to those caught.

Along comes the first test, and this guy has stashed a cheat sheet in his calculator. I can see him in the back sliding it out of his calculator cover and secretly reading from it. I walk by, take his test, and tell him he can go. He laughed, shrugged, and walked out. I gave him a 0 on the test. Along comes the next quiz. He pulls out the same cheat sheet. I take his quiz, and tell him to stay after class. I tell him that he will get another 0, and that he's in danger of failing the class. He again laughs and says "Don't worry about it. My coaches will help me."

Then the 2nd test comes. Again, I catch him with his cheat sheet. I take his test, and tell him to leave. He laughs again, high-fives his teammates, and leaves. I tell the supervisor about this guy and she tells me to just go to the math department and file paperwork to have him removed from the class for academic dishonesty. When the form comes back tell him he's no longer welcome in the class.

Instead of getting the paperwork back, I get called into the assistant dean's office (the same guy mentioned above) along with the teaching supervisor. He asks me to explain the situation, and I do, just as above. He nods along and then says "Yes, he should be removed from the class. But here's the problem ....."

Turns out if he gets removed from the class, he will fall below the minimum number of credits necessary to remain eligible to practice/play. They ask me to just tell him not to come to class and just give him an F for the semester. No need to go through the paperwork. Then he can work with his tutor the remainder of the semester and over winter break to take it again in the spring. They said I would not be "required" to do this, but it was just a request from the coaching staff, and they would support me if I chose not to. Of course being a Coug football fan and a bit awed by the situation I was in, I agreed. And thinking on it 30 years later, I would probably have done the same thing now.

Fortunately, I didn't have him in my class the next spring. Not sure how that would have gone over.

But to bring it all home, about 3 years later I was in Dissmore's. Who's bagging my groceries? The same guy! He recognizes me, and was pretty nice about it. He said, "Hey! Your the professor that flunked me in math!" He laughed and said "Sorry I was such a dumbass punk then. I never did pass that class and eventually dropped out of school."