2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the Editor
In Response to Last Week's Article on Class Participation
Conor Tucker
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Commentary
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I guess I could have just sent him a text message to tell him he was correct. But, I had a horrible image of him interjecting ("hold on a moment, please") into his in-class conversation so that he might read my jocund "Point Made" before settling back into his (less valuable) intellectual venture. The teacher, realizing that her carefully crafted 75 minute class outline could be put on hold -- lets face it, the 10 minute conversation was just to "kill time" anyway -- gave a docile smile and twiddled her thumbs gaily while her students froze in an absurd pause so that our protagonist could type a quick T9 "Thanks" (842657) and hit "Send." I'm glad, in this Utopia I've just described, that we haven't been "brainwashed to participate from an early age." Life is a lot easier here in 1984.
Yet, here we have a problem. This situation is no more realistic than Moore's. Really, the only thing of value I took away from this article was the realization of the "idiocy" of Mr. Kiyabu's view on participation. This may seem harsh, but if participation is bad (Mr. Kiyabu, we're in Iraq because our kindergarteners learned to raise their hands, right?), then there is an internal hypocrisy in presenting this sentiment through an extra-curricular medium. I'm sure a nice Facebook note could have sufficed. Unless, of course, Mr. Kiyabu means this as a piece of satire intended to start conversation (and it has), which wouldn't be such a modest proposal after all. Perhaps, then, we should congratulate Colgate's Swift. If so, please excuse me, Mr. Kiyabu, for not understanding your premise and spelling out your satire for the lay of the University.
Fight or Flight. About a month ago, on August 27, I found myself at the mercy of a masochistic teacher (I won't mention his name for fear of my life) who demanded participation in exchange for ten percent of my grade. I quickly found myself besieged by Plato, Homer, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian -- in short, I was bombarded, blasted and barked into submission. What was I to do in this -- what were Mr. Kiyabu's words? -- "life or death situation"? I cowed. I participated. Luckily, I had four years of high school debate and was able to defend myself in a situation which drew stark parallels to Somalia, Darfur and Iraq. But this highlighted an aspect of my personality I had tried to hide: I like public speaking. Why did I come to college in an effort to broaden my horizons? Why didn't I just find a spouse?
Yet, here we have a problem. This situation is no more realistic than Moore's. Really, the only thing of value I took away from this article was the realization of the "idiocy" of Mr. Kiyabu's view on participation. This may seem harsh, but if participation is bad (Mr. Kiyabu, we're in Iraq because our kindergarteners learned to raise their hands, right?), then there is an internal hypocrisy in presenting this sentiment through an extra-curricular medium. I'm sure a nice Facebook note could have sufficed. Unless, of course, Mr. Kiyabu means this as a piece of satire intended to start conversation (and it has), which wouldn't be such a modest proposal after all. Perhaps, then, we should congratulate Colgate's Swift. If so, please excuse me, Mr. Kiyabu, for not understanding your premise and spelling out your satire for the lay of the University.
Fight or Flight. About a month ago, on August 27, I found myself at the mercy of a masochistic teacher (I won't mention his name for fear of my life) who demanded participation in exchange for ten percent of my grade. I quickly found myself besieged by Plato, Homer, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian -- in short, I was bombarded, blasted and barked into submission. What was I to do in this -- what were Mr. Kiyabu's words? -- "life or death situation"? I cowed. I participated. Luckily, I had four years of high school debate and was able to defend myself in a situation which drew stark parallels to Somalia, Darfur and Iraq. But this highlighted an aspect of my personality I had tried to hide: I like public speaking. Why did I come to college in an effort to broaden my horizons? Why didn't I just find a spouse?
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