91–100 of 123 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I realized this list didn't include swimming and thought it was missing, until I remembered that MIT requires swimming prowess in order to graduate.
That seems rather ableist. As a trivial example, what happens to quadriplegics? Do they not get to go to MIT?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“It is a power enumerated in the Constitution of 1789” does not mean “It is a practice still relevant in the world of 2023”. The US hasn’t issued any Letters of Marque and Reprisal since 1815, and while it remains a Constitutional power of the US government that a couple Republican members of Congress keep trying to breathe active life into since 9/11, it seems well and truly dead in practice.
It does not need such letters anymore. The US got a better thing called "sanctions", which apparently allow US Navy to forcefully detain ships on the high seas and sell their stuff on the grounds of them being engaged in "illegal trade", despite the ship having nothing to do with the US.
True, its hard to imagine a situation where privateers would add any measurable capacity to the US Navy.
> The US got a better thing called “sanctions”, which apparently allow US Navy to forcefully detain ships on the high seas and sell their stuff on the grounds of them being engaged in “illegal trade”, despite the ship having nothing to do with the US.
That kind of sanctions, don’t replace letters of marque (letters of marque are a way of getting private ships to perform functions for which you would otherwise need to use a Navy, which can include commerce raiding or, I suppose, enforcing sanctions – though the era of privateering and the kind of sanctions at issue don’t really overlap), enforcing sanctions is something you do with ships you have. If anything, the “new thing” of sanctions would increase, not decrease, the appeal of letters of marque.
What decreases them is having a professional Navy that overmatches the rest of the world combined, making adding private combatant ships, for any purpose, not really attractive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because there are limited rooms and times of the day. I have seen the data at the Registrar's office at a couple of universities. Often, room utilization is above 90% with barely any time and space left over for talks and special events. And a university in the middle of a city (where universities should be) often don't have any land to make new buildings. Not to mention, the highest demand courses are always the eas…
Again, the number of classrooms leads me to ask, "Where is the tuition going?" It's not a good excuse. The students are paying plenty of tuition. Why shouldn't they get the courses they want?
The correct answer is to this is to cut that administrative staff and reduce tuition. Not to redirect money towards easy classes.
But there is a larger issue here.
> The students are paying plenty of tuition. Why shouldn't they get the courses they want?
Universities are institutions for providing credentials [1]. Students cannot be the party who should decide what courses are offered, because there is a clear conflict of interest. If you work at a universities, you will see that students naturally and constantly advocate for easier passing requirements and courses. The same way you don't want your trainee electrician at the vocational school to have a say in whether they get to take the safety courses or not,
* you don't want your trainee software engineers at the university to have a say in which math courses they will need, and * you don't want your English majors at the university to decide they would rather take the course on Twilight rather than the one on Shakespeare.
What courses should be offered should be decided by professors in collaboration with industry professionals. Not students who often don't know what is good for them long term. What should be provided to students before enrolling at the university is complete information about what courses are part of the program and why, and the students can decide up front whether the program is for them.
The above is not a blanket defense of universities in any way. I left academia because I think it is broken, but not for the reasons your comments postulate.
[1] Besides the necessary education of society. I also strongly believe there is space in society for educational institutions that don't provide test based credentials, but those cannot replace universities.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because there are limited rooms and times of the day. I have seen the data at the Registrar's office at a couple of universities. Often, room utilization is above 90% with barely any time and space left over for talks and special events. And a university in the middle of a city (where universities should be) often don't have any land to make new buildings. Not to mention, the highest demand courses are always the eas…
It's not about rooms. One of the required courses is sailing. Only so many little training sail boats can even fit on the Charles.
Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of opening. However, this being at MIT, I was never sure whether this was because of humans or bots.
I don't know why universities think the best way to decide enrollment is smashing the register button. My undergrad university had the sense to let everyone pick their first preferences within 24 hours of enrollment starting. Then for over-selected courses, people were enrolled randomly [1]. This was repeated once more, iirc, and then in the third round enrollment was instantaneous. This, thankfully, prevented virtua…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, in this case it is probably considered a net win, MIT is known for its culture of "hacks", and having to game your way into the required courses adds to the challenge!
Eh, I wouldn't want the MechEs to be left out.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because there are limited rooms and times of the day. I have seen the data at the Registrar's office at a couple of universities. Often, room utilization is above 90% with barely any time and space left over for talks and special events. And a university in the middle of a city (where universities should be) often don't have any land to make new buildings. Not to mention, the highest demand courses are always the eas…
It's not about rooms. One of the required courses is sailing. Only so many little training sail boats can even fit on the Charles.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disabled I can readily see and I would be surprised if exemptions weren't granted in some form. "Unusual" I'm far less sympathetic towards if it involves simply not getting into the water as a matter of principle or preference.
As I see it, this is a qualification entirely unrelated to the type of academic education being pursued. Even if this case is, subjectively, relatively minor, such arbitrary requirements serve only to exclude otherwise capable students. Furthermore, where is the line between disability, principle and preference? Do religious reasons count? What about cultural ones? A friend of mine who was a Navy officer told me that…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not about rooms. One of the required courses is sailing. Only so many little training sail boats can even fit on the Charles.
Why doesn’t MIT dredge a lake on campus then?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know why universities think the best way to decide enrollment is smashing the register button. My undergrad university had the sense to let everyone pick their first preferences within 24 hours of enrollment starting. Then for over-selected courses, people were enrolled randomly [1]. This was repeated once more, iirc, and then in the third round enrollment was instantaneous. This, thankfully, prevented virtua…
I mean, in this case it is probably considered a net win, MIT is known for its culture of "hacks", and having to game your way into the required courses adds to the challenge!
Still a fine university, but the days of 'hacker' culture are definitely dwindling. There are still pockets here and there, but like with old forms of communication (IRC, etc ) it becomes harder and harder to foster that culture when there are less and less spaces for it while simultaneously creating curated spaces that are so much easier to use.