Where is balance? -- Re: Academic priorities
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From: Brian Inglis on 4 May 2005 10:38 On Wed, 04 May 2005 09:19:31 +0200 in alt.folklore.computers, David <david.nospam(a)westcontrol.removethis.com> wrote: >On Tue, 03 May 2005 20:22:11 -0500, Larry Elmore wrote: > >> Del Cecchi wrote: >>> "rpl" <plinnane3REMOVE(a)NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message >>> news:l4-dnSlZ2LV7MOvfRVn-3g(a)rogers.com... >>> >>>>Kevin G. Rhoads wrote: >>>> >>>>>>BTW, the original justification for schools was to have a sufficiently >>>>>>educated electorate to vote intelligently on the issues. In this they >>>>>>have failed miserably. >>>>> >>>>>I think it is much worse than that. Public schools these days are not >>>>>just failing to help solve the problem, they are active contributing to >>>>>it. (One example: "zero tolerance") >>>> >>>>zero tolerance of what? bringing fully automatic weapons onto school >>>>grounds ? >>>> >>> Zero Tolerance of anything "resembling" a weapon. Search on it. Children >>> have been suspended for small (inches) plastic toy GI Joe guns, knives >>> suitable for peeling a peach, drawing pictures of guns, having bb guns in >>> their cars, having any kind of pocket knives. >>> >>> Perhaps you should learn something before speaking. >> >> Most recently a large burrito was the grave danger. >> >> http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-04-29-burrito_x.htm > >Recently the US president (and vice-president, I believe) were sent >running to their underground bunker by a suspicious looking cloud... They thought it was an omen of a Burning Bush? -- Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis(a)CSi.com (Brian[dot]Inglis{at}SystematicSW[dot]ab[dot]ca) fake address use address above to reply
From: Herman Rubin on 4 May 2005 10:45 In article <IIydneqywLiqMerfRVn-iA(a)rogers.com>, rpl <plinnane3REMOVE(a)NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote: >jmfbahciv(a)aol.com wrote: >> In article <LO6dnb-vyozPmerfRVn-tA(a)rogers.com>, >> rpl <plinnane3REMOVE(a)NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote: >>>Marco S Hyman wrote: >>>>rpl <plinnane3REMOVE(a)NOSPAMyahoo.com> writes: <snip> >>>>Or do you >>>>think there is a valid lesson in getting kicked out of school because >>>>you carry a pocket knife? >>>nope; don't see any reason why a student should carry one on school >>>grounds, either. When I was in elementary school in Chicago, it was common for boys to carry pocket knives. -- This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University. Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University hrubin(a)stat.purdue.edu Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
From: CBFalconer on 4 May 2005 11:34 Andrew Swallow wrote: > Larry Elmore wrote: >> Casper H.S. Dik wrote: > > [snip] > >>> And a butter knife isn't even a knife; it has "knife" in its >>> name but that doesn't make it a knife in the sense of "dangerous >>> object with sharp edge or point". >> >> A high court in rapidly self-emasculating England has ruled that >> a butter-knife is indeed a dangerous offensive weapon... > > A butter knife can take an eye out. Sharpen it, as happened in > the legal case, and you can stab between the ribs damaging the > vital organs. So carry around a 3/8 inch bolt, a file, and a whetstone. This search for absolute safety is ridiculous. What was that Williamson novel about the humanoids back in the '40s? BTW a ball point pen can do much more damage than a butter knife. -- "If you want to post a followup via groups.google.com, don't use the broken "Reply" link at the bottom of the article. Click on "show options" at the top of the article, then click on the "Reply" at the bottom of the article headers." - Keith Thompson
From: K Williams on 4 May 2005 12:23 In article <d5a5rr$tms$1(a)osl016lin.hda.hydro.com>, terje.mathisen(a)hda.hydro.com says... > Casper H.S. Dik wrote: > > =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jan_Vorbr=FCggen?= <jvorbrueggen-not(a)mediasec.de> writes: > > > > > >>>A butter knife can take an eye out. > > > > > >>So can my fingers. How do I leave those at the reception desk? > > > > > > And spoons and forks can too. > > > > It's that I don't have much of an inclination to mess > > with airport security, but whenever I fly KLM I get > > a metal knife/fork/spoon. I wonder what would happen if > > I take one out of the plane and then try to take it back > > on the return trip. > > Stainless steel cutlery on all international flights to/from the US is > of course nice, however it really doesn't matter at all when you > consider that all airlines gladly sell you firebomb-making gear while > onboard: > > High-proof Jamaica Rum, plus a regular (linen or cotton) napkin plus a > match == Molotov cocktail, right? Matches are now banned on US flights. > > Besides, who needs a sharp knife when a broken whiskey bottle is handy? > > Terje > > PS. Here in Norway they've also made it illegal to carry knifes around > downtown, unless they are part of some form of uniform. > > I.e. when wearing my traditional Telemark costume, the richly decorated > knife is OK, and all my scouts can wear their knives as long as they > also wear at least the scout's scarf. :-) Amazing. > > The strange part here is that traditionally, Norway has been so > dependent upon hunting & fishing (only 2.6% of the country is even > potentially arable, according to the CIA Fact book), that we never even > considered stuff like this to be weapons: > > Shotguns were unregistered and available to anyone over 16, while all > Home Guard members, plus all reserve officers in all service branches > would keep their full basic kit, including their AG3 (Heckler & Koch ?) > full auto rifle at home. It made Norway to most heavily armed country in > the world, alongside Switzerland. > > About 10-15 years ago several military storage bunkers were broken into > and rifles, machine guns and hand grenades etc stolen from them. The > knee-jerk reaction was to force almost all Home Guard/Reserve Officer > personell to hand over their rifles & ammo, even though theft of > military weapons from private residences had never been a problem. :-( So you hand them over to the authorities so they can lock them up in the military storage bunkers that were broken into? Some plan that! -- Keith
From: Patrick Scheible on 4 May 2005 12:46
Kelly Hall <khall(a)acm.org> writes: > Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > > (I hope I've got the attribution right. If not, I apologize in advance) > > > >>>Sander Vesik wrote: > >>> > >>>>In comp.arch Marco S Hyman <marc(a)snafu.org> wrote: > >>> > >>>>>It wasn't that long ago when it was not uncommon for children from about > >>>>>10 years old and up to bring weapons to school, rifles shotguns that were > >>>>>stored in the school gun rack or cloak room during school hours. The > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>I'm really glad I never have lived and am never going to live anywhere > >>>>where such could happen, never mind be considered the norm. > > Why? Because the kids were trusted? Because firearms were regarded > > as being like any other implement? > > I remember spending a week in 7th grade being lectured firearm > safety. On Friday, we all went to the gyms to fire a few rounds of .22 > to demonstrate what we'd learned. All students were required to > attend and pass. Frankly, we were all eager to learn - it was a lot > more fun (and useful) than diagramming sentences. > > That would have been fall 1976 or spring 1977 and I would have been 11 > or 12. Has the world changed so much since then? It clearly depends where you are. I got not a single word about firearm safety in school, and I am a couple of years older than you are. But I was living in Palo Alto where there is no hunting culture. I don't even remember if there was a policy specifically about firearms in school because it never came up. We did get to do archery for a while in P.E. That was a lot of fun. -- Patrick |