Posts Tagged rant

Finally made it to San Diego (after a stressful move and being robbed)

June 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

I don’t even know where to start.  Our move to San Diego was so exhausting I don’t have the energy to write it all out so I will try to summarize.  It all started with the moving company (Transamerica) consistently telling us they would call us back regarding the the status of our move and consistently breaking that promise.  We were forced to return our own phone calls only to get the message that the person we wanted to talk to had “stepped out of the office” or “was busy at the moment” when that same person told us hours before they would call us “right back.”  We were told our movers would show up on Wednesday (the 28th) but they didn’t show up until Thursday.  We were also told they would show up in the morning around 10 since we had plans for that evening (and my brother had plans to take his girlfriend out for their anniversary).  They didn’t show up until 4 o’clock which set everything back.  When the movers were finally almost done (they worked their butts off getting all the stuff in the truck) they couldn’t fit the washer and drier, the patio table, or the treadmill in the truck.  They claimed they hadn’t known about it.  However, a week before someone came out and documented all my brother’s belongings and gave him a weight estimate.  The movers had this list and the washer and drier, table, and treadmill were on it.  The movers informed me they were going to go weigh the truck and call my brother after the weigh (he and his g/f were already at dinner while I stayed back to keep an eye on the movers).  They left, but never called him.

The next morning I am going through a couple of my bags upstairs (I had flown out Thursday morning) and noticed an envelope full of money ($400 to be exact) missing from my backpack.  What was odd was another envelope full of checks in the same zipped pocket was still there.  I had just recently closed my bank account because I was moving and was going to deposit the checks and some of the cash that day at another bank.  Since it would take a while for me to receive my debit card, I needed the cash to spend on food.  What was also odd was that I had sealed the envelope with the checks in it and it had been slightly opened, just enough to see inside.  I looked and looked but couldn’t find the other envelope.  If it had fallen out (which I highly doubt, if you see the pocket you’d know why) then why didn’t the other envelope go with it?  I then look in the main pocket of my backpack and realize my green iPod nano is missing as well!  I had placed it in the main area of my backpack when my plane landed and we were getting off.  Realizing that the only people who had been in that room were the movers….

We contacted Transamerica and the police (as well as the Better Business Bureau and a lawyer), but nothing was going to come of it.  My stuff was gone, Transamerica didn’t care, and the movers weren’t going to confess.  Our main worry at that moment was the status of my brother’s stuff.  Everything my brother owned was in the truck that the alleged thieves were driving.  Had we been robbed entirely?? My brother called Transamerica to complain about the stuff the movers had left behind and they claim that there was someone else’s stuff on the truck and that the movers had dropped the stuff off at a storage unit about an hour away and were on their way back to pick up the rest of the stuff.

Upon their return my brother asks them about the stuff they unloaded.  Evidently, according to Carlos, one of the movers, they had unloaded my brother’s stuff, not someone else’s.  There wasn’t anyone else’s stuff on the truck besides his.  So my brother calls Transamerica back (gets a message machine) and complains once more about being lied to and wanting to know how they planned to get the rest of his stuff to San Diego by Sunday (it’s Tuesday now and the mover’s still aren’t here and Transamerica has yet to call back).  I also confronted them about my money and iPod which they denied taking (of course).  I gave them the opportunity to place it back with all the stuff so I could find it later.  I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but this situation was like seeing a mess in the kitchen that’s not yours and your roommate denying it’s his when it is only you two living together.  I ultimately called the cops and gave them as much information as I could about the two movers, the truck they were driving, etc. but I think the cops have better things to worry about than my lost $400 and iPod nano.

So we are now in San Diego.  The house isn’t ready yet and probably won’t be ready for another few weeks (it was supposed to be ready on Sunday).  We’ve had to bounce around from hotel to hotel with my brother’s dog and my cat (she probably hates me… I’m such a terrible owner for making her go through this).  It’s been one crazy, long weekend!  But the weather is great and we are finally in a stationary place where we will be for another week before moving into a temporary rental property (hopefully).  Our real estate agent Libby is amazing.  She’s been so helpful in getting us situated and making sure we don’t lose our heads.  She’s even trying to find me a place of my own on top of helping my brother and his g/f with their place.

I’m probably leaving out a bunch of details – so many things have gone wrong that I can’t even be angry.  It’s actually at the point where it’s amusing to see.  Such a “civilized” society with so many inefficiencies and errors.  Guess it helps keep me grounded.  Libby said something really enlightening yesterday.  She said she felt like when things keep going wrong it was God/the universe/higher power/whatever reminding you that you’re still on the planet, just in case you’d forgot.

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What makes a good exam?

April 18, 2008 at 9:57 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

What do you all think? I just finished taking a couple exams today and I noticed something: neither of them taught me anything (besides how to take tests and that there is always a correct answer). The common paradigm seems to assume that all learning takes place in the classroom before the exam and that test day is strictly for regurgitation of the material you learned before the exam; no learning should take place. You either know it or you don’t. And if you don’t, tough.

Personally, I think this method is counter-productive. I’ve taken classes where, although you needed to study, the exam questions were worded in such a way as to reinforce further learning of the material. If you don’t know the “answer” immediately, there are enough hints in the question to conjure up those hard-to-retrieve memories which leads to further rehearsal and ultimately better learning. Oddly enough, these exams were often the “easiest,” but I feel like I learned the most from them. It seems like “typical” exams reinforce argumentation and competition – a definite reflection of American culture (it probably extends beyond this). Is this beneficial? If our current testing method does indeed prepare us for a cultural environment characterized by argumentation and competition then perhaps the current method is the best, from a preparatory standpoint.

But I argue that a more cooperative format is more beneficial in the long run. I had a good conversation the other day about cultural differences in debate. One of my professors was talking about his friends in Papua New Guinea favor a more cooperative style of discourse. The simplicity of his example was perfect. Among his friends, first of all, direct confrontation or the display of an individual opinion is uncommon. Indirection seems to be more common. For instance, if there is a situation of A vs. B, each letter representing a difference in opinion, and B wants A to come over to the B side, B will exercise indirection and slowly try to convince A to come over to B. The whole process is slow, cooperative, and consensual. In contrast, here in the United States, we tend to have our opinions and stick to them. Recently we’ve seen such a display on television with the presidential candidates. Little to no effort is made to come to a consensus. It is always “I am right, you are wrong.” I question what the impact is of such binary, competitive discourse on American culture. Would a more cooperative, consensual discourse be better? I’m not trying to say that fixing our testing methods will magically transform the nature of political discourse, or any other discourse for that matter. But I think it’s worth considering and elucidating the relationships between these things…. what do you all think?  Any thoughts about testing methods and how this influences/reflects American culture?  Any ideas for change?

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The state of higher education

March 31, 2008 at 10:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , ,

Ok, so I have to vent about this. Test grades were posted today for my cognitive psychology class. I didn’t do as well as expected. In fact, in terms of my own standards I did poorly. Considering I made a point to study for this test almost everyday (no there is no hyperbole there) for two weeks in advance to ensure my test grade would rise from the first exam, I am fairly upset. Not to get into specifics of my GPA and my academic performance, but I certainly take pride in my own academic achievement. I am by no means a genius. I have worked very heard to reach the upper echelon of my class and for the past 4 years my academic performance has reflected that. However, this semester I have encountered a situation where it seems no matter how hard I work, I cannot produce the same caliber performance as I have been able to produce many times in the past. I let the first exam slide, citing my own lack of preparation. But when I performed poorly on the second exam, an exam I tirelessly prepared for, I knew something was wrong.

I requested to speak with the professor. He and I discussed the exam (well actually it was me looking at my test in silence most the time while he showed me my answers on his computer with ostensible annoyance that I, a student, would challenge his authority as a teacher). A couple of the questions I got incorrect were obvious blunders and I recognized that. It happens. But the other questions I got wrong had such varying degrees of ambiguity that I was astonished he didn’t recognize it. I stopped to inform him that I was especially worried because I am usually a stellar student and my poor performance on his exams is very atypical. He responded with hardly a constructive comment. “You just over-thought the questions.” He proceeded to tell me that I might know too much and that my own intelligence was getting in the way of my performance on his exams.

Wait, what?

So you’re saying that because I’m too smart, that I am going to do poorly on your exams? Is that counter-intuitive to anyone else? Just to make a brief comment here: I don’t think I’m too smart at anything… but I will recognize that I enjoy school and believe that if you put all your effort into something, you will see results. The look of confusion on my face had to of been noticeable. I replied stating that if that was the case then something is wrong with the system (the “system,” I know I know… but you get my point). Exams are suppose to reflect the intelligence level of students to some degree with regard to the content being covered. I was totally unaware that knowing the content too well would be cause for a poor grade. Granted, I’m assuming he actually meant what he said and that his comment was authentic. He may have told me that to shut me up so he could get on with his day… I wouldn’t put that past him or many other professors (not all but most). Assuming that, his remark would be utterly patronizing. So either way it’s F-ed up. When I told him that I had set a goal of achieving academic honors and that I planned to apply to graduate schools in cultural anthropology he simply told me that graduate schools don’t really care about GPA or graduation honors and that I should focus on getting experience and doing well on the GRE! :::fuming::: Ok, I know GPA isn’t everything but this guy couldn’t even appreciate not only my personal goal but that I planned to go to graduate school in a field entirely different than his (and that the state of the economy in the US is increasing competition for applying to graduate programs).

Surely such broad generalizing doesn’t have a place in the scientific discipline of psychology. Although it appears that many psychologists seem to think their research with American college students generalizes to the entire world. So maybe it does.

Moreover, we came across a question that, in my opinion, was so ambiguous that he should have thrown it out. I stated my case to an expressionless face of pedagogical rigidity. He hardly entertained the idea and, despite my demonstrating that I obviously knew the material and could make inferences beyond the content given, refused to even consider awarding me the points for the question.

When I realized I wasn’t going to get anywhere with this guy, safe in his ivory tower of academia, I decided to leave. Not only was I pissed, but even more so, I was disappointed. Disappointed in the reality that this “teacher” wouldn’t even consider the opinions of his student. Wouldn’t consider making any exceptions or accept that multiple choice tests aren’t the best way to measure knowledge. His inflexibility with respect to his own pedagogy represents everything that is wrong with the state of higher education. The message is absolutely clear: listen, be quiet, obey.

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