"Nobody teaches assembly language"

From: Fred Cisin <cisin_at_xenosoft.com>
Date: Wed Jun 23 21:17:02 2004

> It was thus said that the Great Fred once stated:
> > A few years ago, they dumpstered most of Monte's collection two
> > weeks BEFORE the deadline that they had given him to remove it.
> > I had to get my VT100 back from their dumpster.
> > I was able to negotiate keeping a single 4 foot wide shelf
> > of artifacts. But they threatened Monte with criminal
> > prosecution if he went near the dumpsters.

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004, Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner wrote:
> Um ... who's Monte, and why did they do such a horrible thing to him?
"Rescue in Castro Valley", where he took stuff from the school
dumpster (against administrative orders) but then got overwhelmed
with other problems, and left it to a fate that was only slightly
better than the dumpster.


> > Wanna know WHY I'm grumpy?
> I want to know why they're taking stuff away from you. That's insane!

"Wouldn't showing your class a picture be just as good as showing
them the real computer?"
"It looks unprofessional to have all that junk
[a single 5150 on a table at the side of the room]
lying around."
[a stack of 4 5150s] "is a fire hazard"
[3 IBM mono monitors] "are toxic waste"
[locked cabinets] "are a safety hazard"
[a stack of 3 boxes of printer paper] "is a fire hazard"
We are now not allowed to have more than 2 reams of paper
in the room.
"Doesn't the lab look so much better now, without all that junk,
and with all of the machines the same?"

They wouldn't let me put numbers on the workstations
(so that a student could be a little more clear than
"I'm at the machine that is kinda near the clock.")
"The lab will look better without numbers cluttering
it up."

It wasn't just computers. One of the administrators
has taken a WHOLE DAY fire safety class, and has
declared that "ANY door that has a window with chicken wire
in the window is a FIRE DOOR, and must be kept closed
at all times.", and had the door stops removed from every door.
In spite of the fact that we are talking about WOODEN
doors, and none of the rooms have enough ventilation
without propping the door open.

They hired an incompetent consultant to decide what computers to get.
He had an AA degree with a C average.
They refused to let any of the instructors, all of whom
have BAs, and most MAs, have any input.

> Unless there's a concerted effort to remove education from "the great
> unwashed masses" without "the great unwashed masses" from knowing ...
No, but an apparent antipathy towards anybody who knows more than they do.

> -spc (There seem to be plenty of trade schools left, but are there any
> real universities?)
We're a community college, but the answer is no.
Received on Wed Jun 23 2004 - 21:17:02 BST