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Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student Part VI - Collective Undergraduate Classroom Silence -
This entry was posted on 2/9/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
There is an odd little or maybe not so little, phenomena us "oldie" college students would often notice in our classroom experiences. The 20ish year old college students frequently seemed unable to participate in class discussions. They simply will not talk. I would hear the mantra over and over by old students - "Damn, I am getting so tired of being the only one answering the professor's questions in class discussion."
Students entering college nowadays seem unfamiliar with the ability to form a verbal question or for that matter...answer one either. They are collectively unaware of the art of rhetoric. It makes the current undergraduate classroom climate at times mundane and banal at best.
I tried to participate, but was constantly aware of the possible danger of me monopolizing class discussions; but, it was often uncomfortable to watch any given professor struggle and almost begging for people to participate.
You would think the first wave of the gaggled day-care generation, now college students, would have a better team-player demeanor. There were exceptions of course. The silence sometimes related to the class of course - there are always boring classes and boring lecturers. Yet the culture of closed pie holes seemed to transcend even into interesting classes.
What ever - I did the best I could to add my two cents to academia. I enjoyed college, and speaking up in class never bothered me, even if I was wrong; thinking back at some of the diologe in classes now helps me remember the college experience.
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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