Collegiate Criticism

Reflection on Virginia Tech

2007-04-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

I know that just about every blogger on the internet has touched upon the topic of what occurred at Virginia Tech. I purposely waited for to post about the shootings so that I could reflect on what it was that I wanted to say with this post. I have seen a great deal of blogs that are talking about the political issues that surround this massacre, already having moved on from the loss of life that occurred and focusing on what people did wrong and how it could have been prevented. Being a student at a major university with a similar size to Virginia Tech, I can't help but dwell on the the actual event itself.

Four friends that I went to high school with attend Virginia Tech, and thankfully all were safe. I think that many adults are detached from this event because it didn't touch their age group. They don't have to face the reality of this event for the rest of their college years. Not only did the shootings affect Virginia Tech, but they touched every college student. When I attended classes on the afternoon of that Monday, I couldn't help but look survey the 700 person lecture hall I was in and wonder what would happen if someone pulled a gun and just started blasting. I consider all of the students my age to be my peers, and those who attend Penn State with me are like family. What happened at Virginia Tech is a BETRAYAL. It is a betrayal of the trust that us students place in one another. College is its own little community, we don't associate with many people over the age of 25, unless they are professors. When a member of our community turns against the rest of us, the sting will always be there.

You never really realize how interconnected each of lives are until something on the scale of 9/11 or Virginia Tech occurs. You hear stories from your friends about how their cousin is the best friend of the shooter's roommate, or how their friend went to highschool with the actual shooter. We had a discussion in my English class today about this very topic, and I couldn't help but watch the eyes of the girl sitting across from me as she struggled to keep from crying. While the media keeps looking for people to blame for this tragedy, I keep noticing that everyone is overlooking the ONLY person we can truly blame. The shooter. He may have been mentally disturbed, the system may have failed him, the college may not have acted enough on his warning signs, people may have teased him, he may have had a rough childhood, but HE is the one who made a CONSCIOUS DECISION that morning to strap himself with ammunition and open fire on a lecture halls of students who probably would have agreed that he was a part of the Hokie family regardless of how quiet he was.

The administrators at Penn State met Monday night to review emergency plans to stop this from happening here. To me, it seems pointless to think that security will prevent someone who intends to take human life from completing their goal. The only way we can concievably prevent something like this from happening is by creating a strong community and atmosphere at our universities, one that makes everyone feel as though they belong. You certainly can't stop violence by putting more guns on college campuses. The one good idea that came of this act of violence was the implementation of a system called PSUTXT on campus here. This is system is designed to send out text messages in cases of emergency in order to notify everyone in real time, rather than through the email as Virgnia Tech tried to do.

What happened at Virginia Tech will not be forgotton soon, but if left to the media and the bloggers, the victims will. We need to focus on the tragedy without making it into a political statement, at least for a little while. I know changes will come because of it, but can't we give the victims the respect of waiting more than two days?

Gen Ed Courses... are pointless!

2007-04-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Students in college these days usually have to take somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 credits in order to graduate with their degree. Today I was looking over my degree audit and checking to see what kind of courses I would need to tkae to complete my studies. It turns out that close to 50% of the courses I need to take for a degree in Finance are gen ed (general education) courses. A gen ed course is a course that does not tie in with your major, but yet the college deems it important for you to take at some point. Some of you might be sitting there nodding your head and saying "sure, there are certain skills that you should develop in college". I agree that writing skills and certain math courses might very well be necessary to succeed later in life, but where am I ever going to need the elective courses that I am forced to take. To date, I have taken astronomy, world religions, psychology, spanish, and a freshman seminar. Now the information in some of these course might very well be interesting, but what real purpose will it serve me later in life. I enjoy learning and I enjoyed these courses, but at what cost? Now my college education is costing me $30,000 dollars a year. That means I am going to start my professional life $120,000 dollars in debt. That figure doesn't even include law school which could add another 60 to 80k to my tab. Thanks college, do I tip you 15% too? Now those numbers include room and board, as well as meal plans and books, but if you look at what it is costing me per credit, I am looking at $1000 dollars for every credit I take. Now if you translate 50% of that total into the 50% of the credits I am taking that I won't need later in life, I am essentially paying the college $60,000 dollars more than I need to for my degree. Why do college's make us take electives? I hardly think it's because they want me to be a well-rounded individual. I am always reading about how Penn State is pushing for more funding, but where are they spending that extra 60k I am giving them? I mean, an english class doesn't really cost them the $3,000 dollars that I am paying to take it, especially when they stick a grad student as the instructor.

Let Introduce Myself

2007-04-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to the newly created Collegiate Criticism blog. First off, my name is Jason and I am a student at Penn State University. I love to write, and I love to have my say. The purpose for creating this blog is to provide a forum to people who like to question the world we live in. We criticize, disagree, argue, but at the same time listen to what others have to say as well. However, just because we listen, doesn't mean we actually agree. This blog will take on the role of providing my personal insight into a wide variety of daily events, news articles, politics, sports, things I think are just plain pointless, and anything else I deem important enough to write about. Readers to this site will play an important role in the success of the blog, as I am counting on debates stemming from my points of view. Anyone is welcome to voice their point of view here, and nothing will be censored (though I would like to try and keep the language relatively clean). I want conflicting points of view offered on this blog because that is what makes it fun! Eventually I plan to add a few more writers to the staff of Collegiate Criticism, all of whom are college students or provide an interesting counterpart to our views. If you would like to become a contributing author, simply let me know and I will make a decision based upon your past comments and activity on the site.