Whining undergrads

[robinturner]

Since either I failed to post properly, or, like one of my other posts, it was deleted by the academics_anon moderator, I'm taking this to my own journal.

This is a response to my comment, which was a response to this girl throwing a hissy fit because she got a B- after "all i had done for this woman" ("this woman" being her professor, and "all i had done" being write a few extra essays for her portfolio at the professor's request).

1. for the average student, a B- is not a poor grade. for an academic, who enjoys achieving and carries a 3.8 GPA, a B- is absolutely a poor grade.

Now I may be hopelessly out of touch with contemporary American college culture, but I don't think getting a 3.8 GPA makes you an academic any more than getting a gold star from your kindergarten teacher does. What makes you an academic is doing original research and getting it published, which is why I don't call myself an academic outside certain contexts (e.g. academia vs. the so-called real world).

Comments

[subbes]

Did she also post to the feminist community looking for information on what to write her paper about?

[soliss.livejournal.com]

Maybe they meant an academic who also has a 3.8 GPA and enjoys achieving, rather than assuming those two things qualify you as an academic.

I'll admit it doesn't look that way from the placement of the comma, but she didn't even bother capitalizing her sentences, so maybe we shouldn't read too much into the punctuation.

[solri.livejournal.com]

True, but I still don't see how anyone who is still in the position of having a GPA of any kind can qualify as an academic.

[soliss.livejournal.com]

Grad student, perhaps? It could be argued.

[oblomova.livejournal.com]

My ex-boyfriend (who actually made a living as a visual artist and animator) always said he only called himself an artist when he needed a handy excuse for why he wasn't able to handle some mundane activity of adult life, like balancing his checkbook or paying bills on time.

It was one of the things I loved about him. I think I feel the same way about "artist" as you do about "academic." It's not really very useful at helping me figure out what you do and how you see yourself. Or rather, it too often makes me think that the person using the term "artist" is hungry for a sort of approbation that their work may not warrant.

[ironed_orchid]

I saw the hissy fit, but backed away from it.

I think that the student may have been doing the coursework part of a grad degree, from the "a B- counts as a fail" comments, but that was no where stated in the original whiny post. I fucking hate students who think they deserve anything as a matter of fact. I've mostly been an A student, but when I get a B (or lower, I got a pass for one essay) I've always worn it and recognized that the work I did was not up to standard.

[cibetky.livejournal.com]

I can't resist having a bite:
How many academics can actually afford doing "original" research (and getting it published)...? Given to your definition, academia should be reduced at least in half. ;-)

[solri.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll allow unoriginal research ;-) But I still draw the line at undergrads who manage to get a string of A's, especially given the current rampant grade inflation.

I remember getting an A- as an undergrad, with the comment "This is the best undergraduate essay I have read in several years." Feeling cheeky, I asked what the minus was for. My tutor rolled his eyes and replied, in shocked, camp tones: "I never give A's."

what makes somebody an academic?

[cf.livejournal.com]

my sister says faculty job in a university or persistant desire for same makes people academics. So, by her book Robin, you could be one...*

She points out that not all universities are research institutions and not all academics have succeeded in publishing ORIGINAL research or publishing is not relevant. (Art professors, etcetera)

It sounds from the excerpt in your post that the person should be bitch slapped.

* as sister is senior fellow at U of Mich, i tend to believe her when she opens her mouth on such matters.