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Generally, this book does not try to "sell" the schools, as all viewbooks directly from the colleges tend to do. The quotes from the students seem honest, from points of view on how challenging the workload is, to how diverse the student body is, to how much school spirit the kids have. Everything in the book is pretty candid, and I feel like the information is trust-worthy.
Overall, I feel much more informed about the colleges I plan to apply to after reading about them in Princeton's Guide. For another perspective, I'd also recommend "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges," which is written by college students. But overall, The Best 331 College is a good buy for anybody entering or in the middle of the college process, parents and students alike.
I have recently graduated from the college I found using this book. I probably never would have made the choices I did or attended the college I did, if it hadn't been for this book. I am completely happy with my college choice, and it has gotten me into Harvard for graduate school.
When I began my college search, I felt overwhelmed by all of my choices. After buying this book, I narrowed my search to only the colleges listed in this book. I figured 306 (a lot less in my day than the 331 of today) colleges provided enough choices, and if a school didn't make the cut for the book, it could be skipped in my search. From that point I began looking at schools that kept popping up in the lists for good things (students happy with financial aid, dorms like palaces, schools run like butter, happy students, etc). I never thought I'd attend a women's college, but after I saw all the wonderful things students had to say about their own women's colleges, I started to visit a few. In the end, I attended the school that first drew my interest in this book.
Again, with this book, you won't need any of the other books out there. This one will be the most valuable resource in your college search.
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The Amazon review already discusses the example of Tacitus, setting the tone for the mentality of the Race-Gender-Class critics and how their viewpoints are nothing new or original. As a complementary point to this, Ellis explains that questioning the Enlightenment and Western Culture by it's critics is a unique trait of the Enlightenment itself, since previous cultures never questioned the validity of the social, cultural, religious or class status in their own cultures. So the irony behind what the Race-Gender-Class critics think they are doing as unique is in fact a part of Western Civilization and the Enlightenment.
The same goes for the next point concerning the supposed "racism" that Race critics cry as isolated to Western Culture. This is true in the respect that "racism" was never questioned until the Enlightenment came along to challenge the notion of racial tribalism that historically pitted members of one racial community against another. When the Enlightenment came along it stressed the virtue of getting along with others for their ideas and achievements, and the result created the ideas that "racism" is itself immoral. The "Race" chapter also throws a little venom at the Post-colonial extremist Edward Said, targeting his hypocrisy of pretending to be a champion for values against racism but spits at the originators of the notion for supposed infractions of "Orientalism" and hegemony; a bogus notion undoubtedly.
Ellis reserves the bulk of the personal critique on Frederic Jameson-a lover of Marxism (this will come as no surprise as we will see later) who blindly and continuously espouses Marxist theory as a viable perception of literature and economics. Jameson deserves particular wrath by espousing these views in the face of the mounting evidence of against Marxism and the evils resulted, which Ellis expounds upon in detail.
'Literature Lost' doesn't preserve itself solely to de-bunking illegitimate literary theories but also to more effective methods of assessing literary studies; his utilization of quasi-scientific reasoning and logic for uncovering the meanings behind a literary work seem particularly intriguing, as well as the endorsement of Leo Spitzer's work "Linguistics and Literary History".
The second to last chapter "Is theory to Blame?" discusses yet another problem reaching both in and out of literary studies: revisionist history. Ellis provides the factors behind the recent trends of revisionist history, trends pertaining to either careless documentation (or lack thereof) of the facts, or the malicious manipulation and changing of the facts by the critics with both overt and covert political agendas. The perspectives offered here are causes for concern considering people like Said and Jameson have thousands of followers in academic departments spewing these theories of race and class oppression...
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If this is a turning point for the troubled priest, it is hard to say where it takes him. Confusion, irritability, conflicts about intimacy, a night of wild lovemaking with his housekeeper, terrible guilt, questions about his vocation, and finally his decision to renounce the priesthood.
It could have been a great story, but it left me disappointed. The characters seem to have been sent over from central casting, and--in spite of much introspection about their inner conflicts--they remain poorly developed. The troubled priest, the alcoholic priest, the alcoholic town doctor, the woman who fears commitment, the dying priest who is reputed to be a "saint" or at least to have great wisdom--all remain sketchy and hard to connect with. The story meanders to an inconclusive ending.
L'heureux writes well, and the book is an easy read. I found it entertaining. It could have been so much better.
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With many of the degree programs in Bear's book, the instructors are more dedicated to teaching rather than research and they tend to offer more feedback, on average. Perhaps most important, distance learning programs tend to offer greater options for individualizing a program to meet the student's needs. And of course, the best options such as Thomas Edison State College, allow the students to pick the best and best-suited courses from among the hundreds of institutions offering distance-based courses, rather than just the few that the local university happens to be offering that semester.
I have spent much of my life evaluating higher education, and I would argue that all students--EVEN teenagers--would be VERY wise to consider colleges in this book.
Yes, I have a Ph.D. from Berkeley, but if I were to do it over again, knowing what I know now about traditional higher education, I would probably forgo any graduate degree, but if I did pursue one, it would likely be from an institution in Bear's book.
If you're a working adult considering your options for continuing your post-secondary education, you need this book. There are many ways to earn or complete a degree, and Bears' Guide attempts to show you the myriad paths and how best to select and pursue them.
Last, but not least, there are many "institutions" in the US and abroad that would love to have your money. In fact, many of them would be perfectly willing to sell you a degree that would serve you better as toilet paper than as a credential. This book helps you tell the difference between institutions that deserve your money/time and those that deserve to see your backside.
There are only a couple of high-quality general treatments of the topic of distance and nontraditional education, and this is one of them. The other is Marcie Thorson's Campus Free College Degrees. Peterson's guides get an honorable mention from me.
In closing: I own it; I love it; I highly recommend it. Now go buy a dozen copies!
But the book written by John and Mariah Bear turned out to be an extremely well-written and carefully researched work, offering valuable and practical assistance on completing a degree at any of a hundred-plus quality, regionally accredited schools. The schools, including some very high-profile ones, offer many different specialties. Some are State-affiliated, and several allow the industrious student with a lot of work and life experience to complete an accredited undergraduate degree in under a year for less than $3000!
The book also has great -- and amusing -- information on various "less-than-wonderful" institutions to stay away from, as well as an interesting and colorful historical section on past diploma mills.
All in all, an excellent resource, enjoyable to read, and very highly recommended.
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The authors astounding willingness to go on record denying that universities all over the U.S. have been taken hostage by the PC crowd is breathtaking. Sorry pal, but at the tender age of 30 I decided to go back to college and I SAW the ugly face of political correctness up close and personal. It has a lot in common with Mao's Cultural Revolution, and is just as repulsive.
I can't say it better than the review above: "Double Plus Good;' and if you'll excuse me I have to get to my 2-Minutes Hate session.
R. Easbey
It is one tought competition, with many people vying for the top spot. Here, our intrepid author has penned a serious attack on free speech and in defense of repression everywhere. For this, we are grateful to him in a way we proletarians will never be able to repay.
While not as good as some attack on free speech (Richard Feldman comes to mind), I have to give Mr. Wilson some credit for several areas:
Brazenness- that Mr. Wilson has the braveness and stoutheartedness of character to argue that political correctness doesn't exist in the same country that is sending Joe Rocker to a re-education camp for "insensivtivity" requires an ability to stare reality right in the face and deny it with hand on heart. I give Mr. Wilson my sincere admiration for his bravery in the face of annoying reality.
Our other reviewer pointed out that claiming that political correctness doesn't exist or is "distorted" is a thankless job. I agree. We must learn to thank people like Mr. Wilson for their tough job in trying to convince people of the dangers of believing in real things, and learn to see the importance of not believing in uncomfortable concepts that fly in the face of our ideological convictions and nostrums. I for one will never forget the dear lesson our brave teacher has given us: namely, that reality is no impediment to our well being and that freedom is terribly overrated.
What do I rate this book? Double Plus Good!
One component of the myth of political correctness is that all people on the left are entirely lacking in humor or any sense of proportion, particularly about themselves and their politics. According to the popular mythology, someone who is PC can be identified by his or her habitually grim expression and belief that saying "pet" rather than "animal companion" is a crime equal to, say, disemboweling live puppies. Wilson shows the irony of this, as the term "politically correct" originated on the left as humor, "used sarcastically among leftists to criticize themselves for taking radical doctrines to absurd extremes." In addition, The Myth of Political Correctness never takes itself too seriously and is at times very funny.
Wilson looks at many of the widely told stories about political correctness, countering them with the solid documentation of facts that tends to be missing from the internet forwards you've all been reading, and exposing distortions and outright lies in the versions you've probably heard told by people like Dinesh D'Souza, William Bennett, and George Will. The book also contains a great many valuable statistics disproving common beliefs, such as that, due to affirmative action, qualified white men can no longer get jobs.
In addition to retelling -- and refuting -- the standard repertoire of stories about leftist political correctness (my favorite is the one where it was reported that a professor had been driven from his department by politically correct colleagues for saying something they didn't like, but really the guy was still in his job and the only problems he had experienced as a result of what he said was that some people were annoyed with him and didn't talk to him in the hall anymore), Wilson gives (well documented) examples of much more grievous behavior by the Right. These are included throughout the book, though they are especially concentrated in the second chapter, "Conservative Correctness."
I don't mean to suggest that the entire book is one anecdote after another. There are a lot of them in the book, but interspersed with excellent analysis of the ways that the myth of political correctness has been used specifically against higher education, reasons for the myth's acceptance, and reasons for the left's inability to answer accusations against itself. Wilson is not afraid to critique specific programs, such as affirmative action, or the left in general, and does so very sensibly.
The Myth of Political Correctness is worth reading cover to cover, but each chapter also stands on its own for those who are interested in a particular issue but don't have time to read the whole book (which, for the record, is not that long and goes pretty quickly). This book really should be required reading for all of you who want to declare yourselves rebels against political correctness. Chances are, you wouldn't want to spend time with most of the people who made sure you know about it and dislike it (unless of course you are a member of the Rick Santorum-Trent Lott fan club).
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I was in the Corps at A&M, two classes after the author, so I recognized his descriptions of those times as wholly accurate and illuminating.
I did not want to be in the Corps. I thought it was a bunch of puerile stupidity. My parents insisted I try, giving me permission in advance to quit, if I wanted to do so. After about a week, however, the challenge and the spirit captured me completely, and -- despite the extremely difficult, peculiar environment -- I determined that nothing could make me quit. An upperclassmen, one of Adams' contemporaries, advised one evening: "If you quit this, you will find that quitting is easy, and you will make it a habit. It's the worst habit you can form."
The habit of not quitting, for which I fully, wholly, completely credit the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, enabled me to complete the Army's Airborne and Ranger Schools while I was a cadet in the Corps, then later overcome numerous difficulties in my ensuing mainstream career.
Adams' book makes a fine gift for anyone thinking about going to Texas A&M, anyone presently attending A&M, anyone who ever went there, and all the folks who wish they had. The Corps of Cadets is the embodiment, the vanguard, the foundation of the Spirit of Aggieland, and is responsible for making Texas A&M a university worth attending.
If you go to Texas A&M and you don't join the Corps, you might as well have gone to Texas, TCU, San Marcos or any of the numerous other plain old vanilla fraternity/sorority schools in the state. The Corps of Cadets is what makes A&M the best college Texas has to offer. Period.
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A four sentence quotation will speak for itself. These are "growing instructions" for green onions on page 62: "Use .39 ounce (1 tablespoon + 1 1/4 teaspoon)of seed per 100 square feet (col. BB) or .0078 ounce (1/8 teaspoon)for 2 square feet (.39 ounce x 2 sq ft [divided by] 100=.0078 ounce. On 3 inch centers (col. CC), a 100-square-foot area will hold a maximum of 50 plants (2,507 plants x 2 sq ft [divided by] 100 sq ft=50.14 plants). To ensure 50 green onion seedlings to transplant, you will need to sow 72 green onion seeds (50 [divided by] .70 germination rate [col.AA]=71.43). The 72 seeds broadcast (col. FF) in a flat will take up approximately 1/10 of a flat 6 to 8 weeks (col. HH) before the scheduled planting date."
The same sort of homey advice is offered for corn, beans, etc.
This short book is a great introduction to organic vegetable growing, especially the 'biointensive' method. It is also a useful work for experienced gardeners who want to know about John Jeavons' highly successful methods, but don't have lots of time to study the weightier 'How to Grow More Vegetables'. That book is a real classic of organic gardening, and stands alongside Elliot Coleman's 'The New Organic Grower' as a 'must-have' reference book. However, 'The Sustainable Vegetable Garden' is more than just an abridged version of Jeavons' earlier book. It actually makes many of the key concepts easier to understand and put into practice. It is full of useful diagrams which will be invaluable to the novice and expert alike. You don't just read about how to 'double dig' a bed - there are step by step images to help you see exactly how it's done.
For beginners, just about everything you need to know is covered. Its rare to find a book that explains the details to clearly and concisely. For more experienced gardeners, you will almost certainly discover tools and methods you can use by reading this book. I found I could more or less skip the chapter on composting but was particularly interested in Coleman & Cox's approach to planning how much of each crop to plant in a season. A number of charts and plans are included for you to photocopy and use yourself. In fact, the approah to planning a vegetable garden outlined here is a particular strength of the book.
Here's what the book includes: 1. Thinking about raising food sustainably 2. Before you start 3. What do you want to eat? Choosing what to grow 4. Preparing a biointensive bed: Double-Digging 5. What to feed a biointensive bed: Compost 6. Seedlings 7. Planning and planting crops 8. Growing compost crops 9. Growing more calories 10. Arranging what goes into a bed: Companion planting 11. Keeping the garden healthy 12. Seeds for next year's garden Appendices on supplies and resources and additional tools for garden planning.
So what are you waiting for? Buy it and get growing!