I got home from class late last night. The class just ran late in preparation for next week's test. So DSD was asleep and my son was in the living room. I made a little conversation with him while pretty much staring (brain dead) at the TV for 10 minutes or so. I was on the verge of getting up to go to bed when he mentioned that he did not understand how his English professor thought there was going to be enough time for him (my son*) to do his paper. His research paper. Rough draft? Due today! Final? Due Thursday! Done? Not even close.
Now, in my son's defense, he did have a good start on the actual paper. Several paragraphs were completed and they made sense and they were supported by actual research. Unfortunately, there were still several paragraphs to go and he did not have the research to support them. Did I mention the rough draft was due today?
So, I showed him how he could find sources on the 'net. Sources that aren't random websites created by hooligans. How can he not know that? I have no idea.
But one of the things he needed (because this paper is on the opinion of the masses on the GWOT) was information on where our politicians stand on the issue. No problemo! I have every issue of TIME printed for the last year. Issues that I have not had or taken the time to read. Issues that cover 12 months of campaigning, speeches, and general BS by those running for President. So, I felt certain we could find this information. And we did: for Barack and Hillary. Issue after issue after issue. John Edwards stance on the war? Nothing. Rudy Guiliani's vision of the future? Not so much. Fred Thompson joins the race? Nah.
Now, truthfully, I really don't possess every single issue for the past year. I did receive them in the mail, but some I did read, some I passed on, some I disposed of. Still, there was a LARGE stack of magazines. And I could tell you about Hillary's health care plan. I could tell you about Barack's beliefs. I could explan about Hillary's unusual (or unexpected, I was tired) spiritual advisor. But I couldn't tell you a damn thing about John McCain.
The media wanted a historic campaign. The media wanted to see the first viable black candidate run against the first viable woman candidate. It didn't matter who was the best person for the job. It really didn't matter what America wanted, because (let's be honest) Americans are sheep who do as they are told. So the media covered the 2 candidates they wanted to run. And the media has its historic campaign. And the American public? Possibly screwed again, but that doesn't make good headlines.
And when Hillary and Barack rip each other to shreds and things cool down and if John McCain wins the election, will the election still be historic? How is it historic when America gets screwed?
*Yes, I read him the riot act, but he is 19 (next week) and spoiled. I'm working on him, I swear!
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2 comments:
Having been a college instructor for eight years (my previous life), I cannot believe an instructor would have the rough and final drafts due the same week. How on earth is he supposed to get useful criticism/feedback and have time to thoughtfully incorporate that into the final draft? Sheesh...
LOL, well that wasn't REALLY the point of the post, but I do see your point and I agree. I don't think there will be any useful criticism/feedback. When I was reading the first few paragraphs Monday night, there were plenty of grammatical errors or things just worded slightly off. I asked about that, because my son had turned in the rough draft of the opening paragraph and he (son) said the professor was not looking for content/spelling/grammar just for the correct formatting of the Works Cited page. Seems stupid to me, because if you go to ezbib.com, they do the formatting for you!
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