It’s tremendously sickening. I can’t stand it, and I wish it would just end all together. Each day it scratches my nerves and makes my insides flip over. I simply cannot take any more. If I didn’t only have three months of school before my degree I might quit right now and never go back. I hate it.
Right now I am in Ethics class (3 hrs) and SQL and Relational Database Management Systems (9hrs). Ethics is okay. I am learning some things. It’s important to remember that an ethics class isn’t like a church sermon; they don’t tell you what is right or wrong. As a matter of fact, they almost tell you that nothing is right or wrong. The author of this text is pretty adamant about pointing out that she is not attempting to do that. http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Story-Introduction-Ethics/dp/0767429109
The discussions are also okay. They were really good early on. I got in a huge argument with someone (we’ll call him Cooper) over Andrew Carnegie. The discussion was about whether we thought he was an altruist or an egotist. Cooper had the notion that he was an egotist, but all he cited was Carnegie’s trouble with unions, specifically the Homestead Strike of 1892. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie#1892:_Homestead_Strike
The problem I had with his post wasn’t that he was necessarily wrong. He was simply stating what every other classmate was stating. Since the Homestead Strike (sometimes seen as a lockout and not a strike) was made against Carnegie’s business, and since strikers died in the incident, Carnegie must have been driven to succeed at the cost of others’ lives. I struck against Cooper with all I was worth because he made more sense of this slippery slope argument than anyone else. I had a very strong urge to show the class that not everyone who is rich is also evil.
I am good at arguing. Ask any one of my friends who have “had it up to here” with my stubbornness. Ask that guy at work who now knows that Carmello Anthony led the NBA in scoring when he wasn’t elected to the All-Star game, even though I don’t follow basketball.
So I struck against Cooper. And I won. Anytime I get someone to point out that Mussolini, Stalin, and Castro were doing something right, I win. I had some really good points that centered on the fact that Carnegie publicly supported unions, and that he was out of town (home in Scotland) when Homestead took place. http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~phall/05.%20Wealth.pdf They didn’t exactly have the modern rush back in a jet when you get an email saying something’s wrong ability back then.
After a brutal week 4, I have simply not been generating any responses to my posts in other discussions. It’s my own fault because of my arrogant slamming of Cooper in such an efficient manner. No responses make my respond once by Wednesday and twice more by Sunday requirement extremely difficult.
But that’s not why I hate school. I get sick of posting in every class by week 6 anyway.
No, the reason I hate school is my Database class. By Sunday I will have had to post on these topics 24 times. Please keep in mind that I have ZERO database management experience, and that in week one I posted ALL of my ideas about why good design is important, and bad/no design is bad. Enjoy:
Week 1: “…give us a short background of your experiences.”, “…post your thoughts about why database design is so important.”
Week 2: “How can better database design assure accurate information…?”
Week 3: “Please, share with us one or more of your experiences with bad database design (no normalization)...”
Week 4: “…give us an idea of what you believe to constitute good database design… Please, share a few personal experiences and/or observations...”
Week 5: “…please give us a short background of your experiences with normalization…, Please share a few real-life examples.”
Week 6: “Describe the importance of creating the physical database properly from the database design…”
Week 8: “…please elaborate on the pitfalls of creating a database or a system without a plan in place”, “…backing up your idea with real life examples when a plan was, or wasn’t used, and what happened to that project...”
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 4, 2007
The Rhinoceros and the Savanna
Recently I had to write a fable for Ethics class.
Here's the assignment: Project 1 requires you to develop and write your own fable. A fable is a short story that is used to teach a lesson about morals or values. The fable usually has animal characters that speak and act like humans.
The Rhinoceros and the Savanna
On a hot sunny day in the African savanna, a young white rhinoceros named Marie sat in the shade of a rustling tree. The breeze blowing from the East did little to cool her thick grey skin; it carried only hot air to her. Her belly grumbled with a great hunger, yet she had no desire to rise up and start grazing on the crunchy, dried grass. She glanced over toward the tree line. The family of wild dogs was stirring in the cool temperatures. Her friend Elizabeth was prancing around barking at her younger sister.
Suddenly Elizabeth caught Marie’s gaze. Her mood instantly changed and she sprinted over to the shade tree. “Oh great,” Marie muttered to herself. “Why aren’t you eating? The grass is long today, and the hot wind is blowing!” Elizabeth was obviously upset at Marie. A Great White Rhino had an obligation to the creatures of the savanna to keep the grass short. Without the rhino a fire would easily whip through and ignite the dry timbers of the woodlands.
“I’m too tired, and it’s so hot! I’d rather just lay here and sleep if it’s all the same. Besides, I’m not the only one who can keep the grass short. Why don’t you eat the grass?” Marie watched as a dejected Elizabeth wandered back toward the tree line. Sure enough she started eating grass along the way. Her sharp teeth were meant for eating meat. She didn’t have the wide mouth with large lips like Marie, an animal that was perfectly suited for grazing on the flowing grass.
Eventually Elizabeth drifted under another tree, a little closer to the woodlands. She lay down and crossed her paws, her stomach feeling horrible from all of the grass her poor body had consumed. After glancing over at Marie she laid her head on her paws and let out a little whimper. Her eyes settled on a small boy from a nearby human tribe that was playing with some branches in the grass next to the Rhino.
The boy was young for a human. She had seen him before, being scolded by his mother while throwing rocks at nearby wildebeests. Elizabeth thought to her self, are those branches on fire? Sure enough, the boy had managed to start a fire and now was trying to cook a snake. When he finished cooking it, he ran the snake – still skewered by a branch – into the woodland. Elizabeth noticed that his fire was still burning, but her stomach hurt, and she was still upset that Marie was not doing her job. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
With a hot East wind blowing, the fire didn’t just stay put. Eventually an ember ignited a blade of already dry grass. Quickly, the flames zipped up underneath the tree that Marie was resting under. They nipped at her heals, heating the armor that her thick skin provided. “Fire! Help!” Marie quickly hoped up and started stomping the grass with her massive, flat feet. The flames darted from underneath her and raced for the tree line, and the family of wild dogs.
Hearing cries for help, Elizabeth hoped up and started howling for her family. Seeing the white rhino stomping out the flames, she was encouraged. She raced toward Rose, an enormous African Elephant that was eating near the tree line. Seeing the flames, Rose reacted before Elizabeth could warn her. She sounded an alarm and raced to help stomp out the flames. More elephants and rhinos came upon hearing the great fuss. Together with the other, smaller animals, they managed to stomp out the fire before it touched the precious woodlands.
Elizabeth walked toward Marie, who was hanging her horned head in shame. “I’m sorry Elizabeth; I should have been working today.” Elizabeth licked Marie’s face. “It’s okay. We’re all safe now,” She reassured. Rose strolled up and laid her trunk on Marie’s back. “Remember,” she advised, “Never expect someone else to do a job happily when you are unwilling to do it yourself.”
From the Author
As this is an original work of fiction, there were no citations. However I drew inspiration from many sources. For more information on:
Rhinoceros Legends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Legends
White Rhino
http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/whiterhino/index.htm
Savannas and their neighboring woodlands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna
Wild Dogs
http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=511
African Elephants
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm#AfricaElephant
Here's the assignment: Project 1 requires you to develop and write your own fable. A fable is a short story that is used to teach a lesson about morals or values. The fable usually has animal characters that speak and act like humans.
The Rhinoceros and the Savanna
On a hot sunny day in the African savanna, a young white rhinoceros named Marie sat in the shade of a rustling tree. The breeze blowing from the East did little to cool her thick grey skin; it carried only hot air to her. Her belly grumbled with a great hunger, yet she had no desire to rise up and start grazing on the crunchy, dried grass. She glanced over toward the tree line. The family of wild dogs was stirring in the cool temperatures. Her friend Elizabeth was prancing around barking at her younger sister.
Suddenly Elizabeth caught Marie’s gaze. Her mood instantly changed and she sprinted over to the shade tree. “Oh great,” Marie muttered to herself. “Why aren’t you eating? The grass is long today, and the hot wind is blowing!” Elizabeth was obviously upset at Marie. A Great White Rhino had an obligation to the creatures of the savanna to keep the grass short. Without the rhino a fire would easily whip through and ignite the dry timbers of the woodlands.
“I’m too tired, and it’s so hot! I’d rather just lay here and sleep if it’s all the same. Besides, I’m not the only one who can keep the grass short. Why don’t you eat the grass?” Marie watched as a dejected Elizabeth wandered back toward the tree line. Sure enough she started eating grass along the way. Her sharp teeth were meant for eating meat. She didn’t have the wide mouth with large lips like Marie, an animal that was perfectly suited for grazing on the flowing grass.
Eventually Elizabeth drifted under another tree, a little closer to the woodlands. She lay down and crossed her paws, her stomach feeling horrible from all of the grass her poor body had consumed. After glancing over at Marie she laid her head on her paws and let out a little whimper. Her eyes settled on a small boy from a nearby human tribe that was playing with some branches in the grass next to the Rhino.
The boy was young for a human. She had seen him before, being scolded by his mother while throwing rocks at nearby wildebeests. Elizabeth thought to her self, are those branches on fire? Sure enough, the boy had managed to start a fire and now was trying to cook a snake. When he finished cooking it, he ran the snake – still skewered by a branch – into the woodland. Elizabeth noticed that his fire was still burning, but her stomach hurt, and she was still upset that Marie was not doing her job. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
With a hot East wind blowing, the fire didn’t just stay put. Eventually an ember ignited a blade of already dry grass. Quickly, the flames zipped up underneath the tree that Marie was resting under. They nipped at her heals, heating the armor that her thick skin provided. “Fire! Help!” Marie quickly hoped up and started stomping the grass with her massive, flat feet. The flames darted from underneath her and raced for the tree line, and the family of wild dogs.
Hearing cries for help, Elizabeth hoped up and started howling for her family. Seeing the white rhino stomping out the flames, she was encouraged. She raced toward Rose, an enormous African Elephant that was eating near the tree line. Seeing the flames, Rose reacted before Elizabeth could warn her. She sounded an alarm and raced to help stomp out the flames. More elephants and rhinos came upon hearing the great fuss. Together with the other, smaller animals, they managed to stomp out the fire before it touched the precious woodlands.
Elizabeth walked toward Marie, who was hanging her horned head in shame. “I’m sorry Elizabeth; I should have been working today.” Elizabeth licked Marie’s face. “It’s okay. We’re all safe now,” She reassured. Rose strolled up and laid her trunk on Marie’s back. “Remember,” she advised, “Never expect someone else to do a job happily when you are unwilling to do it yourself.”
From the Author
As this is an original work of fiction, there were no citations. However I drew inspiration from many sources. For more information on:
Rhinoceros Legends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros#Legends
White Rhino
http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/whiterhino/index.htm
Savannas and their neighboring woodlands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna
Wild Dogs
http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=511
African Elephants
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm#AfricaElephant
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