Ahh, . . . The Perfect Education

"A faculty committee has proposed adding a three credit hours requirement in diversity to the general education curriculum at Wayne State University. It also recommended that WSU drop its university-wide requirement in mathematics, an idea that was carried out on June 13."
Ref: Michigan Capitol Confidential

At last the Education Community has achieved a most honorable goal. Students matriculating at Wayne State University are now empowered to obtain a Bachelors Degress without a single course in mathematics.

Ahh, . . . but there is a price: a mandatory course in "Diversity". Presumedly the diversity class will include a segment addressing the outstanding aptitude for mathematics demonstrated by their Chinese classmates through which they can attain superior lifetime earnings.

"In the last national math assessments, just 20 percent of eighth-graders from low-income families were proficient in math appropriate for their grade level. That means millions of kids aren’t on a path to gain access to the many job and life opportunities which require a solid math foundation, or learn the unique ways math can expand our critical thinking and problem solving skills."
Ref: The Huffington Post


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Find your self-respect now. Don't dumb yourselves down. Think of yourself as capable and worthy of finding a guy who is going to respect you, too. It's so important, I mean, and the confidence you get from feeling smart and tackling something like mathematics, which is a challenge, right? Math is hard.
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__Danica McKellar

My college forced me to take a class in religion despite my major being Computer Science. I think i would have preferred diversity.

The fact is the liberal arts, mandatory "math" class that is typically required of non-math majors is akin to a high-school algebra class. Thats really true of most 101 classes in most majors.

DonDiego's concern about falling behind Chinese classmates in math wont be addressed by forcing Theatre students to take Math 101....it will be addressed by getting more students to major in math and science..

The truth is most colleges force you to take all kinds of unnecessary classes to give you the base set of knowledge you are going to college for in the first place. You could probably consolidate most 4 year degrees into 2 years of classes geared toward the major a student is pursuing. But universitys make a lot more money if they can force you to take shit you dont want or need

Math should be required through out school. I catch errors at the check out line two or three times a week. Someone pushes the wrong key on the cash register and you wind up paying a lot more for your items. Most of the time, it's less than a dollar, but every once in awhile, it's $5 or $6 bucks. Will I ever use any of the math I learned past 9th or 10th grade???? I doubt it. But if I ever would need it, it's stored deep in what little bit of brain I have and with a little brushing up, I could pull it up and remember enough to get by.

Ray

Math is a good skill to have. It always came easy for me. For my sister; not so much. Sadly she dropped out of college because of her mandatory math requirements and her phobia about the subject. It's a shame because she is smarter than I with college degrees.

The best deal is an education from Trump University. There are no required courses as long as you can write a check you are good to go.

I don't know where you shop but most places items are scanned.
It's not the math that is screwed up, it's the programming of prices that's screwed up.

Simple math skills are easy to learn - as long as on is willing to put down the calculator, cell phone, make up, joint/snort. Those who are unwilling to learn addition/subtraction/dividing/multiplying are just too lazy and will always make lame excuses for their ignorance.

IMHO higher education forces you to spend a lot of money on subject matter you will never use. Basic reading and writing skills along with basic math are needed throughout your life but in order to keep the money flowing they require you take a whole lot of BS.

The guidance counselor I dealt with said it was because young people really don't know what they want to do with themselves so we want to give you a well rounded education / foundation.

Hey who needs math skills when the cash register tells you how much change to give back. [/sarcasm]

They are scanned and they still screw it up. I usually get the combo deals and the clerk rings them up as two single sales. It's usually on sales that the places have been running these deals for months. It's like they just started running the deal yesterday. Poorly trained, poorly educated workers are to blame. When I coached junior league bowling, I had a kid pull out a calculator to keep score. I about fainted. It's really sad to see how far we've fallen as a country.

Ray