Thursday, December 11, 2008

Please Stop Enouraging Me...

... to vote for the Liberal Party at the next election.

Why would I, as someone who aspires to be socially progressive, who has little time for the radical conservatism of neoliberals and who sees well-funded public education as ideal, be starting to consider the Liberal Party?

Well, simply put, incompetence.

So there was the Education Revolution that isn't. Laptops in schools are a waste of money, especially if the schools don't even have the infrastructure to maintain and use them (mostly for the very productive purpose of watching videos and otherwise wasting time).

Not to mention the whole abolition of Domestic Undergraduate Full Fees which has taken $27 million straight out of the University of Melbourne.

And at a State level, we have a transport minister who isn't interested in transport. As someone who nearly got doored while riding my bike today I say, "Thanks for nothing Labor."

There was Rudd's rather silly response to the whole Henson affair.

And now there is this (via Hoyden About Town) rather sorry affair on how same-sex couples will get short-changed by Labor's attempts to end discrimination against them.

So, I'd rather have a competent government that I can occasionally win concessions from rather than an incompetent government that undermines progressive social causes through clumsiness.

Review your curriculum...

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

How About That

Yale Daily News - Peru Sues Yale Over Artifacts.

Review your curriculum...

Balanced Comparison

One of the University's 'Back for Seconds' bloggers, Suzanne, has an excellent post up comparing New Generation and Heritage/Continuing degrees. Her analysis is balanced and fair, pointing out both the advantages and disadvantages faced by students under both models.

The only point that causes me some confusion is her reference to scholarship money. The National Scholarship has, for a long time, funded both HECS and provided an allowance ($5000 for Victorians and $10,000 for interstate students). The maintenance of such an excellent scholarship program in the face of economic downturn and fickle governance and regulation is to be applauded.

Her last point was also quite amusing:

"Student centres! Whose brilliant idea was it to make Music share a student centre with Arts, and to put the whole thing ages away in Old Arts, replacing the perfectly functional administrative centre at the front office inside the Music building?"
The merger between Music and Arts Faculty Offices/Student Centres looks to be both a cost-cutting measure and a bureaucratic cleaning job. Considering how underresourced the Student Centre is, imagine if the same resources were split over two faculties?

Sometimes I wish I was a few years older or younger, so I could have done my degree(s) and gotten out before all of this or come in after the dust has settled.

Review your curriculum...