Stress!

[Racey Rider]

Wrong rat! You set off the trap intended for RR!

Phew! (wipes sweat from brow)

(Scurries away with the cheese.)

[scumdog]

Yeah, the rallies are good as is the ride too them, so to answer the question 'riding and water sking' and as I dont ride in winter or ski for that matter then its a long cold streach of the year

So my next rally will be the Magpie Madness (Winchester) in November will you be likely to be there??

And as for your last sentence......... we know that, just dont expect the flack to stop himmm is that bacon I smell

Yep, if I can get the time off I'll be there - along with Mrs S.D., wear a pink plastic pig so know it's you

[MikeL]

Alternative views? give a universal student allowance

Absolutely.
What's wrong with tertiary education in this country? Basically, as Posh Tourer said, it's just bums on seats. Half the people sitting bewildered in lecture theatres shouldn't be there. They've been conned into believing it's everyone's right to have a degree. When a B.A. or B.Sc is worth about as much as School Certificate used to be (which should happen, by my calculations, in about 10 years time at the present rate) perhaps we will come to our senses and put a stop to this nonsense. We might even start to think of radical new approaches to vocational training like apprenticeships, polytechnic courses and so on.
BTW if you think I'm joking about the devaluation of qualifications, let me just point out that in the 30-odd years that I have been involved in the education industry (oops, I was about to say "profession"), my considered opinion is that we have slipped behind by about 2 years: the level of rigour in most academic subjects now demanded at Form 7 level is equivalent to what was required 30 years ago in School Certificate.
If we reverted to the original and proper function of universities we could fund tuition fees (not necessarily living expenses) from taxation and student loans would be unnecessary.

[marty]

thanks mike. i know it will be hard work and expensive, and i also listened to the voices of 'reason' when i was doing my apprentiship, watching my mates learn to fly hueys and strikemasters.....i'm a bit behind them now, but i've got plenty of life experience, and i'm keen!

if anyone out there is struggling with trying to figure out what they want to do with their life, i can recommend the book 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho, a book about following your dreams

[Dr Bob]

Yeah, well maybe they wouldn't have to do that if the student loan debt wasn't such a weighty problem.
My eldest son is living at home, and even with no board, free food and clothes etc., AND working all weekend in a shitty supermarket job, he still has a horrendous debt - just for course fees!
I reckon that at the very least, tertiary students should receive a benefit to cover their fees, if not the same as the unemployed get for doing nothing.

But still, everything in balance. I did my entire undergraduate and post graduate degrees under the student loan system (although I did get a scholarship for some of my post grad stuff, I wasn't paying back anything for quite some time). I think that, yes, more money could be available to tertiary students, but on the other hand - the worst sin are the students who flitter away their study right by not completing papers.

Probably the biggest issue though, is where students choose to study. Personally, I could never have afforded to study in Auckland, nor did I really want to. I studied at Waikato, student flats, the Hilly and all that.. Although the grocery bill, electricity etc. wouldn't have been much different, the rent was cheaper, and the parking was free (and I lived just 2km from Uni).

[spudchucka]

The big stress in my job is dealing with people who tell huge lies.
Why do people have to lie---like its a habit

Sounds a lot like my job??

[jrandom]

When a B.A. or B.Sc is worth about as much as School Certificate used to be (which should happen, by my calculations, in about 10 years time at the present rate)

I'd argue that it's already happened. In my experience, only the top one or two percent of B.Sc's out of Auckland are worth giving jobs to. (That's only commenting on math and comp sci majors, though.)

Just having an undergrad degree is no longer a statement of qualification. An 'A' average is, but maybe one day even that will become watered down beyond meaning.

[Omega1]

I work on a IT helpdesk,I find the commut home through rush hour traffic on my Seven great stress relief,

[Milky]

thanks mike. i know it will be hard work and expensive, and i also listened to the voices of 'reason' when i was doing my apprentiship, watching my mates learn to fly hueys and strikemasters.....i'm a bit behind them now, but i've got plenty of life experience, and i'm keen!

if anyone out there is struggling with trying to figure out what they want to do with their life, i can recommend the book 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho, a book about following your dreams

I must say I quite enjoyed reading that when I did, many years ago... I was probably too young and devoid of stressful decisions to gain full benefit from it, but I can see that in the right situations it could be an uplifting book

[Milky]

I'd argue that it's already happened. In my experience, only the top one or two percent of B.Sc's out of Auckland are worth giving jobs to. (That's only commenting on math and comp sci majors, though.)

Just having an undergrad degree is no longer a statement of qualification. An 'A' average is, but maybe one day even that will become watered down beyond meaning.

I concur... too many people getting into university waters down the value of a degree. A very large proportion of students simply go to Uni because they dont know anything else - school has been there for 13 years and it becomes a habit. Most of these peoplewould be so much better off just going out into the workforce, trying to find a job somewhere and then later on, if they need it to advance their career, heading back into uni. I would guess that a BA wouldnt be much use to someone who is going to work in clerical or reception type work.
Still, the time at Uni might make it possible for them to figure out what they want to do with their lives. I for one would rather see that happening in schools, with more of an emphasis on developing individuals than preparing them, production line style, for a stint in Uni after they leave. With the numbers of students going through BE this year it will only be a matter of time before that is in the same class as a BA/BSc, and a masters will become the accepted minimum qualification for an 'academic'

[Ms Piggy]

Don't think you could have offended me more. Wouldn't be having exams if I was doing one of those papers. Seems the only job you get with a degree like that is to teach what you learns, just goes round in circles, lol.

They have exams, sheesh.

[jrandom]

With the numbers of students going through BE this year it will only be a matter of time before that is in the same class as a BA/BSc, and a masters will become the accepted minimum qualification for an 'academic'

Uh huh. You got it.

The problem is that nobody leaves high school these days with any 'official' ability to do a job beyond labourer or filing clerk. So they all think they have to get a degree. And the fact is that the world really needs lots of people to do jobs that aren't very well related to your typical academic programme (B.A., B.Sc, etc). But nobody wants to do those jobs, because they believe the hype about the 'tech sector', or they want to be a doctor or lawyer, etc. And nobody wants to feel like the proletariat, we all want to be the upper-middle-class pseudo-elite...

And, of course, the university administration have to maintain the bell curve.

So now we have a huge glut of idiots with C-average LLBs, a huge glut of people with C-average B.Sc's who will never ever contribute to the research side of academia and probably should have gotten trade school diplomas, and the rest of the population goes and gets a C-average B.A. because all the other burger-flippers have them too, these days.

[James Deuce]

Career is bullshit. Career does not equal happiness. Degree does not equal happiness. Lots of money does not equal happiness. What you do for a job is the least impressive thing about you. Unless of course you are part of the lucky less than one percentage point who get a job that doesn't feel like work, and feel guilty getting paid to play for a living.

If getting a degree makes you happy get one. For heavens sake don't enter the tertiary education system with a job goal in mind. You'll be largely disappointed and prevent yourself from discovering a whole raft of alternatives.

I just want our education system to stop attempting to turn out mindless knowledge worker drones. I want parent, and family, and society, and the school system to stop asking 5 year olds what they want to be when they grow up. 10 and 15 year olds too. Because I'm nearly 40 and still have no idea what I will be when I grow up. Studying, writing, riding a motorcycle, playing with my kids, loving my wife, playing drums in a band (in no particular order) all mean more to me than what I do for a living.

A wave of despair washes over me whenever someone asks the inevitable, "What do you do?" as if that defines you entirely. Life is more important than that and you are more important than that.

[Eddieb]

Just having an undergrad degree is no longer a statement of qualification. An 'A' average is, but maybe one day even that will become watered down beyond meaning.

It's happened in other countries. I've worked with Indian contractors and according to them you now need a Ph'D or similiar to get a job as a receptionist or even cleaner in India as the educated population has such a high degree of education.

[jrandom]

Lots of money does not equal happiness.

But not enough money sure as hell equals misery.

Unless of course you are part of the lucky less than one percentage point who get a job that doesn't feel like work, and feel guilty getting paid to play for a living.

(slowly raises hand with guilty expression on face)

... I'm nearly 40 and still have no idea what I will be when I grow up

Some days I wake up and wonder whether the rest of the world has figured out yet that I haven't Bought In. I find it difficult not to occasionally burst into hysterical giggling at the feelings of silliness engendered by my attempts to be Mature and Businesslike on a daily basis.

A wave of despair washes over me whenever someone asks the inevitable, "What do you do?" as if that defines you entirely. Life is more important than that and you are more important than that.

Indeed. I flinch whenever I have to answer that question. I can HEAR the rattle as I land in their psyche's carefully labelled box of preconceptions.