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Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student Part V - Favorite profs and their delivery of knowledge: Cobbs; Brien; Galligan; and Neider
This entry was posted on 2/8/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
Without digging in to my transcripts or old "notes-to-self," I have been trying to remember some of my favorite instructors/professors and their delivery style. I want to remember them from off the cuff; those who will rise to the surface of fond memory. There was a time, I had considered teaching. I even applied for a couple of part-time college teacher positions. I keep some memories of some of the more influential people close at hand.
Straight away, the guy who taught my first Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class, a character of sorts, but a thoughful guy, named Glenn Cobbs was a good starting point in college. It was essentially my first college class in my endeavors to return to the higher education arena.
While lecturing on a given subject, Cobbs would say things like, "It would be wrong of me to mention that this idea will probably show up on the next exam."
Glenn Cobbs had served in 'Nam. He knew what a real emergency was. And, he had worked the trade he taught - on a couple different ambulance services over the years.
He had to wear a lot of hats as an EMT instructor. As I have noted before, EMT requires not only book work but also practical hands-on skills. One has to be mutli-task oriented to teach an occupation like that. It was definitely not all about a lecture as regular college frequently is famous for. He was well in tune with the anxieties involved in hands-on skill testing versus book exams. He was also ensconsed in the nuances of what sacrifices an EMT will face and nothing seemed to surprise him: crazy hours; crazy patients; danger; cold; heat; bad weather; weird injuries; weird illnesses; burn-out; fatigue; heart break; endless training; poor pay; and on and on...
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One of my first university level classes at tech school was an English class taught by a fellow named Bob Brien. He had a passion for "good taste" in writing. He choose his battles well, from time to time going after dangling modifiers and one of his pet peeves, "split infinitives." The most famous of which is: "To boldly go where no man has gone before."
Liking Mr. Brien's analysis of the written word, once I asked him if he had ever published anything. He paused for a moment and said, "No... never had anything to say." I think in my struggling ability to understand unwritten and colloquial communication, Mr. Brien had just thrown me the old caveat of, "If you ain't got nothing good to say, you might want to explore keeping your pie-whole shut."
What I remember most about Mr. Brien was poetically not in the class room. I had a conversation with Mr. Brien in the gym one day. He had an exercise regimen as I did as well. I noted to him my disappointment in my blood and heart condition episodes, especially after I went to so much trouble to keep an exercise regimen as an older adult. He paused for a second and said, "If you had not of kept in good shape, the setbacks might have killed you." Logical, and brilliant - no medical doctor had ever even come close to mentioning that obvious necessity of my condition.
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Also at tech school I had a university level Advanced Creative Writing teacher named John Galligan. He emphasized the "process" of getting to a story. The process of developing a project is often more interesting than the end results. I have since experienced what he means. The preparation for my trips to Viet Nam and Iraq took far longer than the actual in-country time.
Mr. Galligan also pointed out something else I have taken with me. He was a advocate of requiring us to present our writings in a round table setting. Another student would read our work out loud to the group. We as the writers, were not allowed to speak as we first heard our work in another voice other than our own. Then, we were also to remain silent as the class proceeded to deconstruct our little master pieces before us. Although Mr. Galligan insisted on us being respectful and polite to each others' work, after the first week the anxiety and complaints flew about ad nauseam about how painful the exercise was. Mr. Galligan just smiled and said, "Hey, would you guys rather have this painful criticism of your work done for the first time at your future employer, or would you prefer to get used to it now where the pain will most likely be forgotten shortly after this semester?"
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One of the first classes I took at UW-Whitewater after transferring in from tech school was Social Psychology. The professor of the class was Dr. Lanny Neider. He was the head of the Sociology Department - one of the perks of a small college is professors actually teach the classes (as opposed to teaching assistants) and as I found out the department heads do as well. He was salty, well traveled in academic politics, insisted on knowing why things ticked, insisted on knowing how real life applied to the "crap" (his words) we were studying, and probably should be described as old school.
Dr. Neider's attack of the subject of social psychology came from the perspective of Symbolic Interactionism. Basically in a nutshell - the assignment of meaning to things in life. I am mindful of a communication theory class I took in grad school that also discussed Symbolic Interactionism. It is poetic that both the fields of sociology and communication use the same dead theorists as their base. So sociology as an undergraduate pursuit and communication as a graduate endeavor was not all that big of a leap of faith after all.
This "meaning" theory would be invaluable to me later in Viet Nam and Iraq as other cultures frequently use symbols and innuendo in lieu of language to make a point. Useful realization to a traveler in a war zone.
I told Dr. Neider as he was teaching his last semester before retirement from the university that it was as shame a guy like him was leaving. He almost seemed to have a perturbed look on his face at the notion someone might think he should stay. "Look," he said. "I've been in college for 35 years, I'm headed up north to try some blue-collar stuff." Right you are Dr. Neider, life and change is inevitable, as I should well know from my own experiences.
There are countless other instructors and professors whose wisdom and style I also make a point of carrying in my back pocket if ever needed. It would be prudent to mention a few more in future postings.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Second Lieutenant Tracy Lynn Algers, 30, New Auburn, Wisconsin, died on Thursday, November 1st, 2007, in Shubayshen, Iraq. An improvised explosive device detonated near her vehicle. Algers was assigned to Company F, 626th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She was in a leadership position for supply convoys. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Tracy was a barrel racer in school. Algers grew up in New Auburn, Wisconsin and went to Chetek High School. During college she studied graphic design at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. After college, she worked as a graphic artist and then a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home before signing up for the National Guard. Algers spent many years barrel-racing, a rodeo event in which horse and rider are timed as they maneuver around large barrels. Her horse was named Tango and boarded at Algers mother's property. Tracy was on the rodeo team at UW-River Falls and prior to going to Iraq she was president of the Wisconsin Girls Barrel Racing Association. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Algers' sister Tanya had been in the Air Force, and her mother served in the National Guard. The Journal Sentinel went on to note Algers originally signed up for the National Guard after college and was the sixth woman from the Wisconsin military services to be killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
The Web site findagrave.com noted that Tracy was born on June 21, 1977. Algers graduated from Chetek Wisconsin High School in 1995. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in graphic design. She took her basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and attended officer candidate school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the United States Army Air Assault School. Algers had a goal of attending the United States Sapper School following her deployment to Iraq. She transferred to Fort Campbell Kentucky in 2006. Second Lieutenant Algers was deployed to Iraq two weeks before her death. She was a platoon leader in charge of convoys that transported supplies.
The Web site startribune.com via information from the Associated Press noted Algers was the 85th female military service person to die in Iraq. She At the time of her death, Second Lieutenant Tracy Algers was survived by her mom, Pauline Knutson; younger sister Tanya Leo; maternal grandmother Bernice Symbal; special friend Rick Hawkins; and her horse Tango. Second Lieutenant Tracy Algers was the 83rd Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,393 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,830 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,436 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1472 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
843 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,037 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,264 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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