Sound and Fury, Part Deux

I didn't intend to run another tirade, I'm in a pretty decent mood despite oversleeping so that I had no time to walk to work this morning. I've got me a new Built To Spill album, life ain't bad. But...

In the last week we have received two college business class papers that have been done about our company. I guess these business students just wanted to let us know how much they love us. The first one was a page and two lines (double spaced, large-ish font) that contained atrocious spelling and grammar errors. I had a mind to bust out a red pen, correct the pile of crap, and send it back.

The paper that came in today made me bemoan the educational system in this country. Was there random and uncalled for use of "quotes" around words or phrases for no reason at all? Sure, you bet there was. Were there large and ill-fitting words that hinted at the writer simply looking up larger words in the Microsoft Thesaurus? Uh-Huh. A bulk of this paper discussed the writers’ personal history with the product as well as how he and his wife have an agreement to never run out of said product.

Again this is a paper for a COLLEGE BUSINESS CLASS.

Oh, oh, said writer also inserted the word Plato where I can only assume he meant to type plateau. It's as if this was the closest Spellcheck could get to how he spelled the word and he just hit "Okay". While he is at least using Spellcheck, computers are not at the point where they can just think for you bright guy, I mean Plato is even capitalized there in the middle of the sentence.

I really should let it go, I mean I'm sure they're well meaning college students, and I certainly make my share of mistakes, but it depresses me to no end. I doubt that a college business professor is going to take the time to correct the English in a business paper, to sit the student down and assist them in writing something that doesn't make them look like a five year old drunkard. And why should this professor teach students something they should have learned years ago. I mean have things changed? Don't you have to write an essay with your entrance application?

It makes me feel like a friggin’ moron by proximity since I also went to college. I mean if these people without a basic knowledge of the language they speak can get into a university it doesn't make me feel like such hot shit. Am I wrong to think that universities should only admit students that put a little effort into the work they do? Am I so naive to think that colleges and universities take pride in education, in the sharing of knowledge and fostering of ideas, and that they're not just money hungry companies that take overblown tuition fees so that a person can put a degree on their resume and hopefully get a better job?

Okay, sorry, need to vent fulfilled. Tomorrow I will write about something happy…