I wouldn't argue that all degree holders are great teachers, nor would I argue that non degree holders are useless. Moreover, we seem to agree that those who can't cut the mustard or those whose behavior is questionable or downright disgusting should be weeded out.

It never fails to amaze me how patient administrators are with those who commit serious infractions. It's all about the money, though, isn't it? It's interesting to me that on the one hand they coddle students all the way to commencement, while on the other hand they show little concern for excellence. It's glaringly ambiguous in light of the fact that exam results are clearly there for employers to see. The CET4 for non English majors and the TEM 4 - 8 for English majors. A graduate that suddenly finds they are in an overcrowded job market must certainly start bemoaning the fact that the coddling they received did nothing but lessen their parents coffers. And of course they'll also be wishing they'd buckled down a little more and passed those exams, the results of which are suddenly far more value than their easily received degrees.

What I saw on CNN last night was pretty interesting. The report stated that more and more college graduates, those with just a BA, are now enrolling in vocational schools and taking specific training in one field or another. It seems employees like the combination of a BA and a vocational or technical degree. Their rationale is that the BA has given the employee critical thinking skills and the voc/tech degree has given them practical skills. The critical thinking aspect could definitely be argued against. I suppose, though, that a clear distinction needs to be made between those who have graduated from first tier colleges and those who have not. Well, I don't know where I'm going with this, but, nevertheless, I find it pretty interesting. This whole third and fourth tier college thing has got to be a big mistake. The degrees that students are being awarded from those colleges are generally not worth much more than the paper they're printed on; however, said colleges are quickly growing into big, fat money machines that are graduating students who, when it gets right down to it, can't pass the litmus test of excellence. And that's putting it kindly.

In my opinion, everyone is to blame from the top down. However, when it becomes more and more apparent that they've created a real problem with this system, it will be interesting to see how they deal with it.