Excelsior

New Threats To Freedom

2011-03-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed hearing Michael Goodwin highlight a particularly damaging “birthright” in Western society – freedom from failure. No person enjoys failure, because self-exaltation is an innate human trait. Paradoxically, the only proven route to self-exaltation runs through failing. According to an anonymous proverb: “The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Inevitably, then, failure must precede success, since any sincere effort en route to success will involve failure.

I share Goodwin’s view that education provides one of the clearest arenas to observe misguided efforts to blunt failure. As a college student who needs to pay tuition, I know firsthand the effects of educational safety nets against failure. In my view, the concept of remedial college courses in English and math are ludicrous. By definition, if a freshman hasn’t acquired basic English and math skills, (s)he should not be in college, regardless of the reason for their lack of skill. This assessment might appear harsh, but its realization would benefit everyone involved in higher education, because tolerating mediocrity in one aspect of an enterprise inevitably lowers the quality of other areas of the enterprise. By way of analogy, the military recognizes this principle and rejects applicants who are physically unqualified.

Western education today has largely degenerated into a mere ritual required to obtain a comfortable job (which, ironically, is economically losing its worth).¹By contrast, in the past there was a more balanced emphasis on the formation of practical skills and a healthy intellect.² Making material benefits the goal of education is self-defeating, because it prioritizes pragmatism over diligence and undermines the formation of diligent work habits required to sustain material benefits. Unfortunately, falling academic standards³ in today’s universities reflect a shift in emphasis from mastering a subject to accessing a middle-class lifestyle through minimum academic effort. This shift diverts academic energy that could be invested elsewhere into remedial courses, frustrates diligent students by lowering class quality, and overall contradicts the mission of the university. In addition, widespread academic mediocrity eventually harms society as whole by producing unqualified college graduates to take over society’s vital functions. Humans are like matter: we are inclined to exert as little effort as possible unless an external force galvanizes us to further action. Since humans generally will not reform inadequate performances unless they suffer tangible consequences, only the metaphorical heat of failure is sufficient to correct inadequate performance and, in the long term, improve society.

Is it unfair to punish students for “failures” that that really lie with their educational background? I would contend that it is not, because accepting the consequences of failure is the most effective method to remedy it. In problem-solving, it is essential that the root of the problem be addressed and not just its symptoms. If inadequate learning environments are truly to blame for poor academic performances, acknowledging the failure of these environments by the raising of academic standards will likely provide a needed incentive to produce reform in these inadequate environments.

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1. Drea. “The Inflation of Higher Education.” Business Pundit, 16 September 2010. Web. 31 March 2009. < http://www.businesspundit.com/the-inflation-of-higher-education/>

2. Henrie, Mark. “Why Go To College?” The Canon. Spring 2008: 24-35. Web. 31 March 2009.

3. Williams, Walter. “Choosing the Right College.” The Canon. Spring 2008: 36-39. Web. 31 March 2009.

Spontaneous Cheese

2008-05-01T13:34:00.001-07:00

I promised I would be back. And now I am.

To tell a story about cheese. Yes, cheese.

But before I get into any cheesy details, let me apologize for my long absence (what else is new?) Spring has opened the floodgates of life, and it seems it has also opened the floodgates of new responsibilities and chores that smother a person and leave him with no time to breathe, let alone blog.

Speech season is over for the year. I'm staying home this time--but my little brother Eric is going to Alabama in June for the NCFCA Nationals in Team Policy Debate! This came after he won the award for Team Policy Debate Speaker Champion (1st place debate speaker) for the entire Northeast region, to boot. Why didn't he do this for me last year??? I smell a conspiracy...

...or maybe it's not a conspiracy. Maybe I'm smelling the vacuum cheese. Yes, I said vacuum cheese.

To make a long story short, last week a gallon of milk spilled onto the downstairs rug. After vacuuming it up with a wet/dry vacuum, I put the vacuum on the counter, walked away, and forgot the whole thing.

Until today, when my dad remembered the vacuum and told me to empty the milk from its tank. The only problem was, the stuff in the tank wasn't milk anymore.

Yum. (This is actually the same kind of stuff we put on pizza?)

The worse part is, these white globs actually smelled like cheese. (And felt like it, too).

Oh, well. Who ever said you couldn't learn science from your vacuum cleaner?

Lovely Mansion

2008-03-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Home of the Foundation for Economic Education...

I'm Back...For Five Minutes

2008-03-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Due to several loving prods of encouragement from certain bloggers I know (ahem...we don't point fingers here, so I will refrain myself...)...

...I AM BACK!

For a grand total of 5 minutes.

I am leaving to go to a three-day tournament at the Foundation for Economic Education in New York in three and a half hours, so I must move quickly. Let's see, what has happened since January?

Observation #1. Mike Huckabee is gone. Yeah, we broke our backs getting out to Londonderry to see him, and then what? The guy loses the nomination. I wanted to be able to brag to everybody that I saw the president!....Oh well, I'll give him a break--winning a nomination is not easy to do. And besides, John McCain is the Republican nominee now. If he wins, my bragging rights are still intact.

And hey, Huck might win the Vice-Presidency, anyway...

Observation #2. Philip is ridiculously good at Tic-Tac-Toe. You know it's bad day when you lose three games in a row to your six-year-old brother. The first time I was thinking "Hey, this'll be easy"....and two moves later, Philip is sticking the paper in my face and grinning without giving it to me. It took me three full seconds to see the ominous row of three straight O's scrawled vertically in the side column.

It happened again during the second game, and the third game.

(Confidential note: the second-game loss was not due to any Tic-Tac-Toe ineptness...rather, it was due to the loving bestowment of wise judgment on the part of an older brother...)

Observation #3. I have no more current observations.

But don't worry. I shall return!

(As Douglas McArthur said to the Phillippines...)

Us With Mike Huckabee

2008-01-05T14:46:00.001-08:00

2008...

2008-01-05T13:45:00.001-08:00

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." ~ Colossians 3:15

It's amazing when you finally begin to grasp the impact of certain Scriptures that you have read so many times before. The verse above is an example of this in my life. I don't know how many times I have read this passage before...but it was only during the last Sunday in 2007, as Pastor Eric led us carefully through Colossians 3, that the phrase in the beginning of the verse jumped out at me.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts..."

By the end of 2008, I want to be able say that I lived the year ruled not by frustrations, anger or anxiety...but by the peace of God.

If the past couple of days are any indication, 2008 should be an interesting year. Last night and today, part of my family got to hear two presidential candidates--John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Our church friends the Bradburys accompanied us on both trips.

I was especially glad to see Huckabee, who I have heard many good things about, but McCain isn't all that bad, either. From what I've gathered over the past couple of weeks, these two men are the best conservative options to take over the leadership of America.

Huckabee has gotten a lot of attention due his profession of faith in Christ (although he barely ever references Christ's name publicly) and his emphasis on its importance in his campaign. This article, although a month old, is a good overview on Huckabee:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/09/huckabees_campaign_faces_a_tipping_point/

(If someone wants to access it and can't, please let me know.)

Yeah, he likes to jam...he's pretty good at it, too...

Do I know this person?

If you move from right to left...it looks like support for Huckabee is SINKING...!!!

Young politicians

Disclaimer: this post does not mean we fully endorse Huckabee and all of his views. He just appears to be best option out of all the presidential candidates out there.

More pictures to come later, hopefully...

Interesting...

2007-12-26T06:30:00.001-08:00

I stumbled across this at Merriam-Webster.com...I thought Goombots and his friends would find it amusing...

http://www.m-w.com/info/07words.htm

(John, did you submit this?)

The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God...

2007-12-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

HUCKABEE!

2007-12-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

As the end of the year draws near, the biggest presidential race since 1928 is heating up. Check out the candidate who I posted a link for the side of this blog. Check out good coverage of his exploding campaign here.

One Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

2007-11-09T16:58:00.001-08:00

It might seem odd a post titled like this doesn't have a picture. But follow the link below and you'll see one:

http://gallery.michaelyon-online.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_10&products_id=14

I have rarely seen a more moving scene.

A Generous Offer

2007-10-29T15:20:00.001-07:00

Some things will forever be plain weird, no matter how economically, politically, or socially sensible they are.

For an example, go to...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=3778763

(copy this address and past it in the address bar)

P.S. Congratulations to the Red Sox for winning the 2007 World Series. Look forward to the Patriots getting to Arizona in February.

New Template

2007-10-11T15:25:00.001-07:00

A lot of my blogger buddies have been getting new templates, so I decided I might as well get one. Be warned, it may not be permanent.

Misplacing Calculators

2007-09-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Everyone has idiosyncrasies . Unfortunately, I have discovered one of my own over the past few school weeks. I am infamous for...

... misplacing calculators .

*GASP* *INSERT SCARY MUSIC*

You wouldn't believe I was capable of such a heinous crime, would you?

Yesterday, I was happily ready to tackle physics problems when I realized that I had no idea where my calculator was. Which would have been no problem except for the fact that tackling physics problems without a calculator is like going to the plate in the World Series without a bat.

The last place I had seen the calculator was in jeans I wore the previous day--but, alas, when I checked the pockets of the jeans (flung over the hamper), there was no calculator to be found.

The solution? The "confiscation" of one of Eric's calculators (which he uses for sports statistics. DON'T WORRY--HE HAS ANOTHER ONE!!!)

Half an hour later I was done with physics and wanted to check algebra. And then, like a light-bulb going off in my head, I was struck with a deep revelation:

I had no idea where Eric's calculator was.

The solution? The "confiscation" of Bethany's calculator. (She doesn't have an extra one).

Immediately I began trying to tidy up the shelves in the dining room (where I was standing), because I was in the process of looking for something else and I hate looking for stuff in cluttered places. (I'm a wannabe neat freak). Ten seconds into the search, I was struck by yet another startling realization:

I had no idea where Bethany's calculator was.

Good thing that I happened to look down and see it lying on the shelf two feet below me.

P.S. This morning I moved my hamper while stuffing clothes inside it. Guess what was behind the hamper? (And had apparently fallen out of the pocket of my flung-over-the-hamper jeans...)

My calculator.

WOOTZORZ! (That's John's phrase, but I confiscated two calculators. Why can't I confiscate a trademark exclamation of happiness?)

ARGH!

2007-09-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Eric beat me on his blog template...

(Click on the link to the right. I'm posting on the Mac computer and it doesn't have the mechanism to add a hyperlink).

Marigold

2007-09-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Summer 2007

2007-08-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

"...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This verse applies very well to the lessons I learned this summer, the most exciting one of my life. God blessed me beyond measure by allowing to me to embark on three trips--to Texas, Germany and Austria in June and Egypt in August.

These trips were completely unexpected. I went to Texas for the National Tournament in my speech/debate league. The next week I went to Europe on the gracious invitation of the Caudills (Corey's family), who were going with their aunt/sister, a German language teacher (I've studied German and love history, so they invited me). And finally, I went to Egypt on the gracious invitation of my grandfather, who wanted some family company after traveling internationally alone for several years.

Before this summer, I was like most people, just sitting at home, bored. This summer illustrated to me that God does grant us unexpected blessings when if we just ask and follow Him (Ephesians 3:20-21).

It came a price, of course. Between these three trips, going to camp in July (look at previous post), and finishing schoolwork, this year was nothing short of hectic. But it was worth it.

Here are the links to photos of my trips:

Salzburg, Austria (June 20-22, 2007)

Germany (Bavaria) (June 23-26, 2007)

Egypt (August 4-19, 2007)

NCFCA Nationals, Belton, Texas (June 11-16, 2007)

3 of my pics

Other Nationals pics (on my debate friend Silas Hathaway's blog. I'm too lazy to upload my own pics. Look for the June 17 post.)

High Point Photos

2007-08-02T07:28:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to photos from the Collinsville Teen Boys' trip to High Point Camp, 2007.

Summer Craziness

2007-07-20T14:16:00.002-07:00

That's the only thing I can think of to describe things right now. Talk about a hectic summer.

In my last post I wrote I would post about my trips earlier this summer, but I'm too busy to do it now. (Maybe I'll put up a long, comprehensive post reviewing summer at the end of it). Today was the last day of 5th Street Baptist Church's "Avalanche Ranch" VBS program. Eric and I helped out at it all week. It was a lot of fun. Eric had said beforehand that he wanted to get all the badly-behaved kids in his crew, and he got his wish. (It was a good illustration of "Be careful what you wish for--you just might get it." You'll have to ask Eric or comment on his blog if you want to hear any horror stories).

Today all the helpers celebrated with a big water fight, but they went too fast for me to get any camera recording of the action. Joe, one of the guys from 5th Street, persuaded my poor little brother Philip into buying a big yellow squirt gun from the prize table, which turned into an instrument of terror in the hands of a few rowdy teenagers several minutes later. (Again, ask Eric if you want details of the massacre). Poor little kids, they never know how manipulative older kids are with them.

I'm sure anyone even vaguely familiar with a teenage boy from Collinsville had heard the teen boys there are going to High Point Camp (they never update their website) next week. The 2007 theme is "Wild, Wild West." My friend Josh Bradbury has uploaded a preview from YouTube. Since German Dodge Ball is the classic game of Collinsville (and we're pros, as some people claim), all the boys from Collinsville are planning to challenge another team down in Pennsylvania to a GDB match. I have a feeling it's going to be a kamikaze mission (especially since you can win or lose points for one of two teams the entire camp is divided into). We already know that once we issue the challenge, the other team is going to form from the biggest, baddest opponents the rest of the camp can find. (i.e., the game won't be a piece of cake). But despite that ominous fact, Corey and Eric have said we won't think about losing unless it happens and that if it does, we'll walk around with sacks over our faces for the rest of the week.

Wonderful advice. Contact us for more horror stories next month.

The Aspiring Young Politician...

2007-07-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Mt. Monadnock

2007-07-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

Below are pictures from a trip to Mt. Monadnock on Thursday, July 5. Eric and I went with the Wakims, Mrs. Bourret, and a family from our homeschooling group, the Roberges.

This was the fun part...

On top of the world...(at least in my imagination...)

Are we dorky or what?

Soon I'll post about my trip to Europe.

P.S. For all of you who hate photography, I apologize. I am aware that the majority of my posts involve pictures. I'm a camera bug and I can't help it. If you know my dad, you probably know where I got it from.

God Bless America...

2007-07-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Start Of Pictorial Posts

2007-07-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

My debate friend Silas Hathaway often posts pictures with no words. I'm going to start practicing that meditative practice.

This was taken in April.

I guess this wasn't exactly a wordless post, was it? The next pictorial post will be, I promise...

P.S. Two posts in one day. Wow! A record!

Random Stuff

2007-07-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Random Post #1: I do not like home maintenance. Forgive me for saying that, all you mechanically-minded people, but I had to speak from my heart. I say that after the horrifying experience of changing our downstairs shower curtain (with my dad) on Saturday. It was originally supposed to take an hour, but...it didn't. (Didn't see that coming, huh.) Scraping several years worth of gunky caulk from the cracks of your shower is not my idea of Saturday morning fun. Oh, well. Life isn't a bed of roses. I guess I'll just have to live with it....

Random Post #2: I forgot what I was going to post.

Random Post #3: Part I of my Pictorial Documentary of my trip to Germany and Austria last week (and the week before.)

On June 20 we (the Caudills and I) arrived in Munich and drove to Salzburg (on our ACIS tour bus.) We spent the evening exploring the town.

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That dash represents the pictures I was supposed to post. I just realized they're on my dad's laptop and I can't upload them from there.

Oh, well. Check back for more updated (and better prepared) info later...

Picture Perfect Is A Pain...

2007-06-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

You probably noticed the new header for my blog. It took me close to an hour to crop and paste this thing, and it's still not the right dimensions!!! Who knew simple things could get so complicated?

Oh, yeah, and hello again, after 2 1/2 weeks of travel. Maybe I'll be able to update the blog a little bit more since it's summertime now.

Jumpstarting June

2007-06-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our homeschool group kicked off (literally) their 4th straight (I think) kickball season. Tori and I had the honors of being captains, and my team won, 19-11. We had a pretty good mix of older and younger kids as well as new people and...um...old people. (You know what I mean.) Eric scored the only homer (a two-run blast to deep center) and John Wakim racked up the play of the game by (accidentally) pegging Sophie just before she reached third base. (I think Sophie's face would have won the MSP [Most Surprised Person] of the Year award). For some reason the game was centered a lot more around defense than usual.

A special treat was seeing the Genelles, a family that came to Collinsville but left a long time ago. (The Lareaus invited them out). John Genelle was on my team--the cool kid with the shades, no?

Some photos....

No! Hey, come back here! Bad ball!

Maybe that was a little too high...(Somebody, please alert NASA)

Wait for me! (Background: Oh, yeah, baby!!!)

Hey, I thought the bus was supposed to be here by now.

I'm off to see the wizard (OHH...PLAGARISM!!! See John's Blog)

Bogey Dance At 3rd (bad shot, too far away)

Welcome home, bro! (You gotta be kidding me...!)

Amoskeag Fishways

2007-05-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

This past Monday our homeschool group took a field trip to the Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester, New Hampshire. It's fascinating place! We learned about the ecology, biology and history of the Merrimack River, especially the destruction of the native fish population ("Amoskeag" means "great fishing place") due to man-made dams built in the 1800s and 1900s (for textile and hydroelectric power) and the huge, ongoing restoration effort to restore these native fish populations. It was fish season (the time of year when anadromous fish return to fresh water from the ocean to spawn) and we saw migrating salmon in the Amoskeag fish ladder. They were HUGE! I never knew those fish were that big. We had a really good time.

This is the fish ladder. You can't see the fish, but they're in the water.

An Atlantic salmon! (The people here cheated. The fish didn't really swim all the way from the Atlantic, they were trucked to Amoskeag from Massachusetts and placed in the river).

This is an external view of the fish ladder. One of the old Amoskeag (textile) mills is in the background.

Duh...

2007-04-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

That's what I feel like right now. I have a ton of school to catch up on.

Debate is done for the year (half-thankfully!) Eric and I just missed a chance to advance to Nationals, but Eric and I had a good year anyway and I was tired of preparing for and dragging through tournaments.

Tomorrow our church teen group is holding a pine car derby-i.e., a race between cars we carved from blocks of pine wood. Neat, huh? My car is rounded and ugly, but it's supposed to look like that. Mr. Fearon (my Sunday school teacher) helped me to shape it like the Virginia, the Confederate ironclad in the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Civil War. (The pine ship/car has a US flag on it, though-there's only so much historical accuracy you can achieve!).

April Has Come!

2007-04-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

April has come. 2007 is one-quarter of the way over!

The first quarter of the year was fast-paced but good. Eric and I just returned from a debate tournament near Syracuse, NY. We went 4-2 and got eliminated in the Semi-Finals. The Regional Speech/Debate Tournament for the entire Northeast is April 19-21.

We traveled to NY with a NCFCA family we met last year, the Hathaways. Near the end of the journey we stopped at Chittenango Falls, a 167-cascade of thundering water. It was magnificent!

Here is Chittenango Falls

Silas and Peter Hathaway (Silas taking pic)
Aidan Hathaway and Eric admiring falls

To the right is the bridge that was upstream from the falls.

Here is Aidan again, under the bridge. There was no rail blocking us from the water! Does anyone want to go swimming?

Two Months Later...

2007-03-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

My life has been so busy, I haven't had time to breathe, much less post on a blog. February and March have been filled with...stuff. February started off ominously as New England's worst fear came true--Colts won the Super Bowl. But I could not dwell on that for long (besides, Peyton Manning deserved to win).

February and March are competition months in NCFCA. At the end of February Eric and I competed in the SUN speech/debate tournament in Gardner, MA. We went 2-4 in debate. But just last week we went to another tournament in PA and this time we went 6-0. Funny how things change. Now tomorrow we're off to NY for our last tournament before Regionals (and, hopefully, a return to a normal school schedule).

Oh, I just thought it would be cool to post some pictures from a scavenger hunt we took with our homeschool group in Lowell on Monday.

2007-01-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures from our homeschool group's ice-skating trip to Janas Rink in Lowell on January 22.

I know they're bad, but my camera wasn't working well.

2007-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

WOW...it's been almost two months since I posted. You know why? I forgot my username! Good thing computer services have trouble-shooting devices these days.

The Birth Of My Blog

2006-12-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

This day, December 4, 2006 will be remembered as the birthday of The Official Blog of Aaron Cooper. May this be the start of a very profitable online journal! (Sorry, I couldn't think of anything better).