Edmunson response

After reading the Edmunson article available in the "handouts" section, select a quotation from it. Respond to this post with at least two paragraphs explicating why you feel the quotation is important and how it fits into the work as a whole.

Response

The quote that I chose to respond to is where Edmunson states, "The Jeep ad that features hip, outdoorsy kids whipping a frisbee from mountaintop to mountaintop isn't so much about what Jeeps can do as it is about the kind of people who own them. Buy a Jeep and be one with them." I think this quote is important because it is true. Ads today hardly feature the product. They find the most beautiful people to use the product and make you want it just so you can be like them.
I think this article fits into the work because the work talks about how all of his students are almost the same. That is not surprising when we all see the same shows that show us how we should be. We are taught by our parents to stand out and be original, but the media teaches us to blend in and be like everyone else. That goes perfectly with this article.

Edmunson

It came as no surprise to me when I read that a college financial officer had told Edmunson, "Colleges don't have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments (5)." Even before my junior year in high school I was getting pamphlets and brochures that would make popular tourist destinations envious. This quote struck me in a way that made everything else Edmunson was saying clearer. It made me visualize the promotional material consisting of "photos of well-appointed dorms; of elaborate phys-ed facilities; of fine
dining rooms; of expertly kept sports fields…"

This quote also helped support and better explains how colleges are getting students to enroll. Students today are not influenced by just the universities prestige and the faculty's credentials. Universities need more to offer prospective students than just a first rate education. What college used to be about--higher education--is simply not enough. Today's generation needs to be "sold" on a decision.

Edmunson article

"You’re inhibited, except on ordained occasions, from showing emotion, stifled from trying to achieve anything original." This sentence stuck out when I read it. This is pretty true of most people today, as you never see someone walking down the street smiling for no reason other then to just smile, to be different. Most are just trying to be part of the larger body, to just "fit in" with the rest of society. Most people that deviate from the "norm" are the ones that usually create something new and exciting as they were able to break away from the monotony of everyday life. As he states later that we are used to being very laid-back and I believe that generally means that we don't care about anything other then what is affecting our immediate lives.

More people today need to get outside of the standard everyday pattern of life and need to do more. They should try to do things they haven't tried before, take more chances. We shouldn't just follow what everybody else is doing all the time, just everyonce in a while people just need to spice up their lives.

Liberal Education

As I was reading this essay, the one quote that stuck in my head was the one where Edmundson states, "Does a course look too challenging? No problem. Take it pass-fail. A happy consumer is, by definition, one with multiple options, and who can have whatever he wants." I find this quote striking because it is the key point in how our educational system is turning so liberal. Since we are paying for education, we must have the opportnity to have a say in how challenging our classes are right? That's what the educational instutitions have come to in the United States.

This quote fits into the work as a whole because it is the basis for how liberal our educational system has become. Who is able to say that classes are too challenging, or teachers are too stern? Is our educational system based on what our students and parents think? This statement tells us that our professional world is building itself with all of the students and parents who pay for the educational institutions that harvest the professionals of the world.

Edmunson

"In fact, as I began looking around, I came to see that more and more of what's going on in the university is customer driven. The consumer pressures that beset me on evaluation day are only a part of an overall trend."
Edmunson mentions that pressure from the students has made a more relaxed grading scale, easier programs, and more free time activities. These kinds of things are evident when looking at the advertising given to students. I have reviewed some of the literature given out by Purdue, and it mentions nothing about qualifications of any of the professors. It notes that we have wonderful buildings, and lots of clubs. It goes into all the things that make students happy, yet it mentions nothing about the quality of education.
The other problem with giving students so much power, is that they can change the way a professor teaches. I once had a professor that used to tell stories at the begninng of class, but then one day he gave his opinion on a political topic. At the start of the next class he announced that he was unable to tell stories anymore, because someone didn't his opinion. Political correctness has changed the way that some things are taught, the stories that are shared, and the overall education that is presented. The ability to have professors that speak their mind, and share interesting ideas is crucial to learning. It may not be purely for academics, but for social reasons, because students need to learn to get along with people of all different types of ideas, races, and backgrounds. Social learning is one of the largest parts of schooling.

Edmunson

The quote that struck me as quite hard hitting would have to be "Colleges don't have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments". I remember applying to about 5 universities or so and from the week i sent my applications i started receiving brochures and everything imagineable that was screaming "Look how great our campuses are, once you come here you'll have the time of your life and see how we want you to be part of our university". And if i should be honest then it did sort of work because whenever they sent these pamphlets and all, complete with a personalized letter, i was actually like wow, they would actually like me to join their university and this place looks so good and look at those students they seem to be having fun! After seeing that almost everyone who applied to the universities had gotten the same responses, i realised that this was just their way of advertising the product- which in this case is the university.
If someone ever tells me "All universities are just trying to attract more students which in turn would mean extra money in their pockets" i would say so what? It's not like all the other fields aren't doing the same thing. Look at other places, for example hospitals, i see them doing the exact same thing, just trying to get more patients by showing them how qualified their doctors are and they offer such and such services. Even if the universities may just be looking to make money out of it at least you are getting something in return for it, after all nothing in this world comes without a price.

Edmunson

The quote I chose is "I think many of them imbibed their sense of self from consumer culture in general and from the tube in particular. They are the progeny of 100 cable channels and omnipresent Blockbuster outlets. TV, Marshall McLuhan famously said, is a cool medium. The reason I chose it is because it sums up the way our culture has become. How as a society we get most of our habits from what we see on TV or in movies. In a way it seems like we are living our lives the way we watch them on a screen.

Response

The quote I am going to use is "Colleges don't have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments." I am using this quote because I can relate to what that quote is saying. I fell that colleges try their hardest to get students here; however, when they are here they don’t go out of their way to help they let you try to find them if you need something.

I also think they always want to know new ways to attract high school students or ideas that will add an environment to the campus that is appealing. I think they should worry more about the education; however, they do need the marketing to get students to educate.

Response

''Universities need to attract the best (that is, the smartest and the richest) students in order to survive in an ever more competitive market.'' This is meaningful because it is more true today than it has been in quite a while. Colleges are looking for ways to have more and more prestige while still making as much profit as possible.
I believe Purdue is a good example of what I am trying to say. Purdue has reached its maximum capacity - so it's going to be more and more selective year after year. Soon, students with great grades but lacking in funds will not be a popular choice for the university to admit. I believe that universities such as Purdue will take students with less financial aid and worse grades just to make more profit. More profit towards the school turns in to a more prestgious establishment - which in turn will be able to recruit richer students that will pay for higher tuition costs. It seems to be a never-ending cycle of bettering profit and prestige for the university.

Edmunson response

“A happy consumer is, by definition, one with multiple options, one who can always have what he wants. And since a course is something the students and their parents bought and paid for, why can’t they do with it pretty much as they please?” This is the quotation that I felt was the most important. The university needs to give the students whatever they want. If the university fails to satisfy the students, they will lose money. This is the reality.
I think that this shows how universities are these days. Many students are unwilling to face challenges and always try to find easy ways to do things. The problem is that these challenges are supposed to help the students. But, since the students paid for it, universities made their environment less challenging and enjoyable. Some professors consider this to be a problem because they think that students won’t be able to learn and face the real challenges in life later on. However, everyone is happy. Students get their diplomas, and universities get their money. I think it would be hard to change anything when everyone is satisfied gets what he or she wants.

Edmunson

The Quote I choose was "Most of my students seem desperate to belnd in, to look right, not to make a spectacle of themselves". You see this mainly in high school situation but it is all around. Most people do not like stick out from the rest of the crowd. You wear what most others are wearing now, you dont speak your voice in class, and dont do any thing out of the ordinary. People feel that by doing something that is not considered "normal" will segerate them from the rest of the crowd.
This goes with the article by it tells how students are almost all the same. How people go with the media says is right or normal. We were brought up like that and our parents were also. Which explains how the article wanted to point out how no one does drastic things any more. How student dont speak their voice in class because they may upset their teacher who overall holds the power of them passing or failing.

Edmunson

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to try firing the counselors and sending half the deans back into their classrooms, dismantling the football team and making the stadium into a playground for local kids, emptying the fraternities, and boarding up the student activities office. Such measures would convey the message that American Colleges are not northern outposts of Club Med." This extreme quote says alot about the atmosphere that colleges bring today. The college life is not simply a set of classes working toward a degree, but a certain way of life.

College would not be the experience it is without all of these extra resources. These things bring about memories that will last a life time. These resources work together to create a well rounded individual. The college experience is meant to teach as well as mold young adults into a form ready for the real world.

It's his capacity for enthusiam that sets Jon apart from what I

"It's his capacity for enthusiam that sets Jon apart from what I've come to think of as the regning generational style."

This may seem kind of minor and maybe even irrelevant to the point, but I chose this beause I think its important. I see people everyday who are just in class and trying to learn because its the next step after high school and it is just the thing the do. College is no longer a place where people come thirsty for knowledge. I think that most of the demise of this comes from things like T.V. and video games. The thirst and hunger for knowledge just isn't what it used to be.

People like Jon are the people who truly make it in this world. He is excited about learning and his enthusiams not only impresses his teachers but people around him. Why is this quality so hard to find these days? People are just to concerned with the easy way out instead of doing it and doing it well. It's all about attitude.

I'm going to choose the

I'm going to choose the quote "Edmundson has done a fantastic job of presenting this difficult, important & Controversial material in an enjoyable and approachable way." The reason that I think that this quote is important is not only the words, but also the placement of it. What his saying here and through out the paper is how students now have lost there pasion for liberial arts and how they need a jump start to get them going.
The placement of the quote is also important. The fact that it is at the being sets the tone for the rest of the essay. He goes on to re-ederate the point that students need to more interested in what they are doing and need to be inspired.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.