Quote :

"Dr. BruckRaleigh NC OK- enough is enough. I have 35 years tenure at a major university. You ask the majority of students "why are you here?" The response you get is- to get a degree and get and job and make lots of money- PERIOD. If that is what university education has come to (this NYTimes article surely affirms this) its time to check out of this business- sooner the better. I have filed my retirement papers. Best of luck to the rest of academia- a lucrative business for the 21st Century. Nov. 3, 2013 at 4:25 p.m.RECOMMENDED"

from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/education/universitynow-rides-a-low-cost-wave.html?pagewanted=3&_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1401286176-NZXh/baDixF92VjNaRiXoA

5/28/2014 12:23:53 PM

http://www.trianglelca.com/dr-robert-bruck/

5/28/2014 12:29:27 PM

irl ragequit

5/28/2014 12:50:52 PM

other than beer and related shenanigans... isn't that what college is for?

5/28/2014 1:15:44 PM

Nowadays it is.

Back in the days, it was like Dead Poets Society...

[Edited on May 28, 2014 at 1:17 PM. Reason : ]

5/28/2014 1:16:54 PM

maybe he was one of those rare professors at a research university who wasn't absolutely god awful at teaching

5/28/2014 1:18:12 PM

Blah Blah Blah, has he seen the cost of tuition,books,housing. The only reason to go to college is to get xyz job and make $exas, otherwise college would be free.

Also he handed out A's like no other professor.

5/28/2014 1:19:16 PM

For an engineering degree, the whole point is just to get a job and make money.

But for a non-engineering degree, which NCSU doesn't really value (and a lot of people sadly don't value), the value is more about the love of learning, and I believe this is what Bruck is complaining is being lost.

Life isn't about money, but we are now a society when making money must be the singular motivation for everything. Anything else is pointless, and this really is very sad.

5/28/2014 1:25:27 PM

Cost of Engineering Degree == Cost of xyz-humanities Degree

5/28/2014 1:27:43 PM

Quote :

"but we are now a society when making money must be the singular motivation for everything"

As opposed to when? When in the history of our shit species has resource gathering not being the primary motivation? Resources are what ensure your genes carry on most often.

5/28/2014 1:31:29 PM

I like where this is going. Please, carry on, Stu.

5/28/2014 1:48:32 PM

^^ resource gathering and valuing money above everything else are different things.

When you look at other countries, their public programs have no qualms about funding art and museum projects, things that have specific profit potential. In modern day America, it's pulling teeth to get public money to go into anything remotely artistic or cultural, even hiring an architect to make a new government building look good is frowned upon. The irony is that we were taught in school communism makes things boring and gray, but this is exactly how people expect our government to work.

This is a big problem for fundamental research projects in science as well. If a politician can't see the direct product outcomes, it's ignorantly mocked as wasteful.

The fact of the matter is that as humans, emotion, culture and art are just as important to our well beings as anything else, but these things are rarely profitable by themselves, but our society doesn't value this. We are becoming the things we hated most about the Communists (or at least what they used to teach when i was in school).

5/28/2014 1:58:27 PM

LOL when has America not been about making money and gaining material things. What is the American dream? "Get rich, have babies, big house, and a picket fence"

Dr. Bruck should be happy that students actually have a goal. I never met a Engineering student that said they had no idea what they wanted to do, go ask a humanities major (Anyone at UNC) and see what they say.

5/28/2014 2:07:21 PM

Remember back in the day when kids went to college to get shit jobs and be broke?
Me neither.

5/28/2014 2:08:12 PM

Wow, what? This guy taught the class that was known to be a guaranteed A as long as you either showed up, or paid attention to the deadlines for the online class.

5/28/2014 2:57:47 PM

I went to class once, and got a A+

5/28/2014 2:58:51 PM

Quote :

"Also he handed out A's like no other professor."

thats the point. weeds all the people that are just there for a grade out so class can actually be good.

he once asked us to sign up for one of his classes and said "this class grade is 100% attendance and I don't take attendance"

Everyone automatically gets an A+ so now we can move on and actually start learning. Students who only go to school for grades are missing out. As a teacher, its so refreshing to get grades out of the way.

5/28/2014 3:04:56 PM

ITT

- engineers and math types are pissed
- CHASS types are pissed

5/28/2014 3:06:23 PM

^^ Grades show you level of learning. By giving a A+ to everyone all he managed to do was duck doing any grading.

5/28/2014 3:21:15 PM

Also by giving A+ to everyone, i'm sure half the class didn't try to learn or even show up.

5/28/2014 3:25:32 PM

Yeah, there's gotta be a happy medium in there somewhere.

5/28/2014 3:29:57 PM

^^^
Thats only true if grades are accurate. Its really difficult for grades to show level of learning on non-quantitative topics. Sure it works well in Math based classes but usually grades just show level of cramming and memorization.

^^Thats what was so great about it, he used it as a filter so everyone in the class cared about the subject, contributed to discussions and was passionate about learning in general without having to worry about the nuances of grading. This made it the best class at state.

[Edited on May 29, 2014 at 11:42 AM. Reason : l]

5/29/2014 11:40:38 AM

The E Man = Dr. Bruck??? Exposed?

5/29/2014 3:22:19 PM

Lets be for real, people only took his environmental science course because it was a guaranteed A+. "Best Class at State" It was the easiest class at State. In 4 years I had 0 professors that I can say honestly gave a fuck about my well being.

5/29/2014 5:39:48 PM

You're such an acidic young lad.

5/29/2014 9:23:32 PM