You are what you're made to wear, yeah?

Much is being (has been, perhaps, because in Malta something is mentioned then it duly disappears) said regarding changes in school uniforms. It's a story that never dies: who gets the supplying contract, the ridiculous expense, what accessories must be worn; the list goes on and on. It's an extra burden on frustrated parents and a very stressful inconvenience for children who have to report back to their parents every time the headmistress reprimands them about their socks being a shade too dark or their hair ribbon being too thick. We're not joking - our school days are not that far behind us and we remember these sad incidents very vividly.

What we can't really understand is not quite why they are thinking of opting for "a generic uniform" - that is really beside our point. What we hated back then and still can't get our heads round is: why do children have to wear uniforms? OK, we know the cliché reasons given by everyone - but to be quite honest, we think they're lame.

Reason 1: It is convenient for children not to have to worry about what to wear for school in the morning. Yeah, that's exactly what's stressing children out nowadays - choosing outfits everyday. And before you say that it's extra work for the parents - allowing children to select their daily outfits may strengthen their decision-making skills and give them a sense of responsibility. Sometimes parents, especially Maltese ones, tend to be over-bearing. Our advice to these parents (lest we're accused of complaining without suggesting anything) would be: Back Off! (Well, if you then see that the outfit they have picked is not adequate, you could easily teach them a thing or two about what's good and not - or is that too much of a burden, too?)

Reason 2: Uniforms protect the unwealthy who can't afford 'cool' or designer clothing. Firstly, 'cool' clothing can be found at a very cheap price nowadays - no, not necessarily at the market (even though we hear that it's terribly improved, and technically, let's-buy-cool-clothes-for-a-song has become the latest trend!). Secondly, if it were to arise, this problem wouldn't surface before secondary school - at which age, if used to wearing regular clothes to school, adolescents will have learnt that clothing isn't quite everything - yes, the earlier you get accustomed to something the earlier you start to disregard it. Moreover, clothes is certainly not the first thing that sets the 'wealthy' and the 'not-so-wealthy' apart. Smartphones, tablets, handheld 'video' games... the list goes on and on. You get our drift.
                    Besides, this kind of reasoning that unfortunately plagues the island holds no water, really. In reality the same people that you dearly want to protect in schools (that's the pretext many use anyway) will eventually also see each other outside that very safe environment. Yes, they will meet outside - and there too can be discriminated against... but then, you know, the next day at school all of that will be forgotten. That wouldn't happen, though, if such a fuss wasn't made about clothing.

Reason 3: Wearing a uniform makes children more disciplined. We hate to burst your bubble, but forcing children and teens into a uniform won't make them more disciplined. That uniform isn't helping much against, say, bullying, is it? And that's merely to give an example. The reasons are two-fold:

A. It is education (and parenthood) that will instill a sense of discipline in children. Also, enforcing a dress-code may nudge children into being disciplined while they maintain their individuality. Forcing them into a uniform will only make them resent any type of conformity, which leads us to our next point;

B: Chances are that the more children are forced into doing things, the more rebellious they will turn out to be. Cases in point are Maltese children. Ever noticed their euphoric use of the trashiest clothes they can get their hands on when they get the chance to wear what they want? How about the Christmas parties that schools hold ever year? Or the so-called "Casual days"? You will probably have noticed that on such days children try to impress one another (usually with their parents' blessing), hence their dressing up to the nines for a 'casual' day. This, albeit you may laugh at it, is indicative of what will happen in the years to come. If you still think this is baloney, then we suggest you pay Paceville a visit. The more you ban something, the more they'll want it; crave it. The sooner people realise this, the better. Really.

So please, save everyone the hassle and do away with these awful uniforms. They're not helping in any way and making uniforms 'generic' across the board might - (we don't think so) - solve a couple of problems but will give rise to an array of new ones, too.

Better put some glasses on...

Having a quick coffee at Café Cuba turned out to be quite a nightmare. And it's not even because of the not-so-good coffee they served us.

No, a driver decided to park his truck right in front of the café, next to the patrons, to unload (so far so good - they haven't got any other way to do it.) However, the stupid driver (for want of a better word) deemed fit to leave the truck's engine on - and this wasn't exactly the most eco-friendly truck, really.

As a consequence, everyone enjoying their drinks had to breathe and take in all those lovely fumes - for more than 10 minutes, please note.

Oh well, thank goodness they have an eye for detail...

How irritatingly inconsiderate! It can't be that difficult to switch the engine off for some minutes, or can it?

The Lecturer fires back

Try as we might, we can't quite comprehend how a seemingly esteemed University lecturer can allow himself to resort to playground name-calling to defend his position. 


These are the comments Dr Vella left beneath our previous post:

After explaining to him that he was judging us on a post which we hadn't written - (and redirecting him to the post we wrote as a response to the many articles written by others) - and that no name-calling was necessary, he decided to apologise...

Now, while we appreciate the fact that he has actually apologised for calling us 'twerps' (we don't mind that bit - many had already done that), we think it is hardly appropriate for a lecturer to publicly call his student 'cretin' and 'intellectually-challenged'. Well done, very mature. 


In fact, we would like to ask Ms Claire Bonello (and Tanja Cilia, as she seems to agree with the former), who in her patronising tone decided to hector the students and us, whether this would also qualify as rude; she seems to be very acquainted with what is and what is not. 

No laptops during lectures - the congregation agrees! But We Don't.

We couldn't have possibly foreseen what a stir the post one of our readers wrote would have caused. Firstly, The Times picked up on it and painted it as a much bigger picture than it actually is. Then, of course, other bloggers decided it was their turn to add the proverbial two cents' worth.

The story was therefore twisted in such a way (by everyone) that the gist of the student's post was lost before it could actually see the light of day.

So much so that no sooner had The Times published the story than a myriad of people felt the urge to chime in and make their concern public - irrespective of how irritatingly distorted that was.

Those who are not new to this blog know very well that if there's one view that we endorse, that would certainly be the fact that everybody has the right to air their views. Having said that, we do believe that some ideas being promulgated are pointless and, more often than not, totally extraneous to the real point.

What was the student thinking when he wrote that post? How very dare he claim the right to having the possibility of using a laptop during a lecture?

He might not have been in the cold light of day when he wrote it - possibly, with the privilege of hindsight, he might be regretting it now. That's for him to ponder on.

That notwithstanding, one can't help but notice that the "twerp" raised a valid point. Whether you agree that this is newsworthy or not is beside the point. That's why we approved of it and uploaded it - which, yes, translates in our support for his opinion.

In this post we would like to redirect you to the real essence of that blessed post. To those who clearly got the wrong end of the stick we say: this was NOT an attack on lecturers. Why and how some people thought it was is really beyond us. Saying that it was rude of us to publish that post is nonsensical. Really. We appreciate how tough a lecturer's job can be - as a matter of fact, back when the lecturing body had put forward a plea for a salary increase, we were two of the very few to support them publicly, sending a letter to The Times.

That said, as students we too have had our share of exceptionally erudite lecturers who, possibly, are second to none in their respective fields, yet are clueless when it comes to delivering a lecture. Alas, some of them believe that all you need is a thorough knowledge of the subject they are lecturing in. Little do they know that that's only half of the equation.

Many individuals stated that students should merely stay at home if they find a particular lecture uninteresting. Fair enough. Clearly, these people have never been University students. They cannot be blamed for not being acquainted with the fact that many faculties endorse the policy that a student must attend lectures in order to be able to sit for the respective exams. Therefore, no, they cannot just sit at home.

By no means are we saying that students should attend lectures only for that little signature next to their name. At times, however, you cannot totally blame students for preferring to skive lectures.

Why? Many lectures are known for leaving massive packs of notes at selected stationeries for students to buy; others simply send endless powerpoint presentations via e-mail for students to peruse (to those who do attend as well as those who choose not to). Consequently, students who are compelled to go to lectures feel they are wasting time in doing so, as often, nothing new is learnt during said lectures.

Is this the case with all lectures and lecturers? Certainly not.

Which leads us to our next point - Generalisation. This is something we utterly loathe. Words such as 'everyone' and 'body' end to rank rather high in our list of pet peeves. Hence, it is only natural that when we read utterances such as 'the typical student' or 'today's generation of students', our blood boils, quite literally. Because students nowadays "think[ing] that everything revolves around them and their needs." Yes we're sure that's quite the case, Ms Depares. Even though she introduced her blogpost by voicing her disapproval of generalisation, this blogger persisted in falling in the same trap - tarring everyone with the same brush. Indeed, she wasn't the only person doing this. Many people commenting randomly about this subject painted a rather disappointing picture of the students.

Now, back to the original issue - the banning of laptops and tablets in the lecture room. Why assume that all students making use of technology are doing so for reasons other than note-taking? Wouldn't that be as fallacious as chucking all lecturers in one basket and claiming they're all incapable of lecturing? Although it might come as a surprise to some, the literate students (as opposed to the plethora of illiterate ones that make it out of University with a degree, as Ms Depares generously pointed out) go beyond using the internet merely for Facebook and games (among others). While professors/lecturers would be explaining certain matters, many a student looks up keywords and any other related material on the net, and merely pastes the link next to their notes. This, we vouch, comes in really handy when one is revising. Much as we love our pens and notepads, the same cannot be done when using them.

In spite of this, one must take account of those people whose attention span is little longer than that of a - yeah, you guessed it - buzzing fly. (Thanks to J'accuse for the clever little illustration, by the way!) We're not saying that if you have a short attention span you can do whatever you please, lest we're misinterpreted again. Yet, why stop a student who doesn't want to pay attention from doing whatever they like, as long as they don't disrupt the lecture or distract other students?


Moreover, people out there can't possibly think that it is only now that students have started to be distracted. Having a laptop or an iPad is irrelevant, really. If it's not a laptop it will be scribbling on your notepad or chit-chatting to your neighbour. What do we do next? We ask our students not to bring pen and paper because students might end up doodling hearts with arrows running through them? No. We shall do nothing. It's the students' problem if they miss out. Full-stop.

Finally, the most irritating of recurring comments comes from those upset tax payers who seem to have one too many chips on their shoulders. They probably feel free education is unnecessary, or at best, that students benefitting from their tax-paying generosity should shut their gob and lump what they are given without so much as uttering a word. Beggars can't be choosers after all, can they?

The day students will be told not to complain because they get their education for free will be the day our education will fail. We are far from baffled when we see certain commentators say such things - but when it's the students themselves who claim this, well, you just can't help banging your head against the wall.

Laptops no longer allowed in lecture rooms, lecturer says.

We get many comments from followers, some send us messages on our Facebook page, others via email. Some send messages to insult us, whereas others send messages with substance. One particular follower sent in a very intriguing comment, and we asked him whether he was interested in elaborating a little further. We liked the end result and who knows? You might be seeing more of his writing in posts to come.

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 The UOM

           Our university. Our beloved University of Malta.

The long corridors, the lecture halls, the laboratories, the quad, the library, Student House. That establishment where most of us spend long days. Long days listening to lecturers speak about all the books they've written; all the research they've carried out and all the dragons they've battled. Of course, if you're a bit luckier (like I am) you will also get lecturers who mention their love for Dolly Parton, play Gloria Gaynor's music during their lectures or send e-mails such as this one:

                                                                    Dear students, 

I am convinced that 90% of those who had a laptop in the lecture-room this afternoon were paying no attention to what I was saying. It is clear the laptops are not helping you focus on the lecture but quite the contrary and they will therefore not be allowed for next Monday's lecture. 

You may take notes in any old-fashioned way: write on paper, cardboard or anything else you want - parchment, papyrus... even clay tablets if you wish. But not on computer. 

You might also want to note that the lecture-room is also not the right place for napping, flirting, snacking, gossiping and catching  up with the latest news. 

                                                                   Regards,

                                                                  (Lecturer's Name)

NB - I copied and pasted this e-mail straight from my university inbox. (No tampering with it, I shall promise!)

This e-mail was sent after an excruciatingly boring two-hour lecture, where the lecturer in question just sat at a desk and read the power-point presentation from his laptop.

              #nowonder

The problem with this lecturer is that they cannot understand how incredibly boring it is to just sit there and look at someone poorly presenting something they know (or something they read in some old book.) In my opinion, it is irrelevant how interesting the information is. The aim of a lecturer is to keep the students engaged by being dynamic and active. A good lecturer would get you interested in the most boring of subjects. Yes, been there, done that.

             A lecturer like the one who sent such an e-mail simply can't blame their students. The presentation of this particular lecture made a buzzing fly look more interesting. And Facebook, Tumblr, Miniclip.com also were. Even though many don't seem to grasp this fact, students are human beings. And you and I both know that these come with a baggage. If you're totally boring and lost in your own little bubble, you just can't ask the students to be there with you. It's logical.

            That's why this e-mail is beyond pathetic. You get to realise what sort of person this lecturer actually is. You get to realise how dedicated this person is. Yes, a mind-numbing lecture allows you to ponder on many things. And what really stands out is the fact s/he really doesn't seem to be keen on  improving their lecturing skills. I'm sorry, but if you see that your audience are bored out of their wits and are finding every other excuse to distract themselves, despite the fact that they know they might be examined on what you are blabbing away about, then it must hit you that you must be doing something wrong, very wrong.

Then there's that other issue. Allow me to lay it out please.

           It is not the era of clay tablets and papyrus anymore. If you don't get that, then you shouldn't be lecturing... In this modern day and age, most of us use some sort of portable device at university, namely iPads and laptops.

           Now I don't know about yours, but my laptop needs its battery charged regularly and even if didn't, at some point throughout the day a laptop needs to be re-charged. That's exactly why I want the UOM to explain why there are only 1 or 2 electricity outlets in several classrooms. And if I have to be brutally honest, with all the millions of Euros being spent, something like this should be thoroughly looked into. I mean, putting some more electricity outlets in the lecture rooms wouldn't cost that much, would it?

I don't want to say that everything's wrong. That's not the idea I want to convey. In fact I simply love the new IT services building, to name one. I think it's awesome and it really has enough electricity outlets. But that's not enough, is it? ...unless professors started lecturing via Skype and we could all stay there, comfortably, that is.

         

The worms in us.

Among many other things, we love reading. We read voraciously.

All sorts of books - we've our favourite ones; but that won't stop us from laying our hands on others only because they're not really our cup of tea. Which respectable reader would not?

We've piles and piles of books. It's actually astonishing that we manage to find enough room where to stash them.

It's not that we're hoarders, really. It's just that throwing books away would probably feel terrible. And, in all honesty, giving books to people who won't truly appreciate them just doesn't feel right... If it were up to us, people who don't appreciate books would be put behind bars. Yeah, that's how much we like those little wonders.

Leafing through those pages is yet another experience a good reader cherishes deeply. And if they're those older books it's even better - the musty smell just drives you insane (pretty much in the same way as some of you out there are in ecstasy when they smell fuel at petrol stations (we like that one too!) Quite an uncanny comparison we know, but you see, it renders the idea well.)

By now you all know that we're also in love with all the latests gadgets. (Really, that doesn't translate in "we're very tech savvy" - we unfortunately aren't!)

Logically you'll tell us: "why on earth don't you just buy ebooks? It'd save you money and space."

Technically you'd be right. Actually we know that you're right.

That withstanding, reading is all about sitting there, detaching yourself from the real world and building a completely new one - one that you cherish better and have complete power over.

And however hard we try, we just can't manage to do that when reading a book on an iPad or an iPhone. It's alright to read an article or an email, but that's a different thing altogether, isn't it?

You may say we're a chip off the old block, but the sheer pleasure you get when grabbing that book and devouring it in a day or two, reading all through the night unaware that so much time would have passed, is something these very cool gadgets cannot ever quite match.

So yeah, we won't be giving up our scores of books anytime soon. Our moaning and squeaking shelves over-laden with those yellowed paperbacks won't be relieved of their burden. Ever.