More Money for my School

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rpayne88

Filing Flight Plan
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rpayne88
Someone explain this logic to me, please. Evidently, as an aviation major at a community college, I am required to complete a communications course. Okay, well, I've been talking (using grammatically correct English, is I might add) for the past 15 years. Judging by the fact I made it through honors, GT, and AP courses in high school, it is a safe to assume that I know how to speak and listen. Never mind the fact that aviation communication is fairly straight forward once you understand it. For example: "Cessna 1234 is 20 miles North of the Baltimore VOR, request clearance into the class bravo." Why do I need to learn/ care/ understand communication theories if I will never use them after I pass the class?

This class right after taking a class called ACDV 101: Transitioning to College last semester. I'm half tempted to drop out and find a school that doesn't try to nickle and dime me with these useless classes.
 
I needed to take Poetry as an architecture major.

Stop whining.
 
rpayne88 said:
I'm half tempted to drop out and find a school that doesn't try to nickle and dime me with these useless classes.
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:lol:
Good luck finding one. What you are experiencing is college education. Suck it buttercup, it is good brainwashing for sucking up worse in the real world.:rofl:
 
One of the big complaints about new engineers is that they can't write for ****. And, writing and presentations are a big part of most engineering jobs. This would suggest that they should be taking MORE English classes than they do now. I suspect that pilots are no better.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
One of the big complaints about new engineers is that they can't write for ****. And, writing and presentations are a big part of most engineering jobs. This would suggest that they should be taking MORE English classes than they do now. I suspect that pilots are no better.
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This is unfortunately true.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
One of the big complaints about new engineers is that they can't write for ****. And, writing and presentations are a big part of most engineering jobs. This would suggest that they should be taking MORE English classes than they do now. I suspect that pilots are no better.
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I suspect this doesn't have a lot to do with this country's school system.
 
Trade schools prepare a student for a specific trade. Colleges and universities (including community colleges) are supposed to prepare students for life. Communicating clearly is most definately a necessary life skill.

If you want to just learn how to fly for a living, drop out and go to ATP Inc.
 
I'm sure it'll be more than "Hi, how are you?". "I'm fine, how are you?". Take the class and learn something and be done with it.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
One of the big complaints about new engineers is that they can't write for ****. And, writing and presentations are a big part of most engineering jobs. This would suggest that they should be taking MORE English classes than they do now. I suspect that pilots are no better.
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It doesn't help if the managers can't read. :)
 
I had to take effective communication in college. I was also teaching an emt course for the college. The school wouldn't wave the requirement.
 
frfly172 said:
I had to take effective communication in college. I was also teaching an emt course for the college. The school wouldn't wave the requirement.
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I can see why. ;)

Did they at least make an acknowledging nod? :D
 
Only a truly arrogant individual thinks they cannot improve upon their communication skills. We can all do that.
 
rpayne88 said:
Someone explain this logic to me, please. Evidently, as an aviation major at a community college, I am required to complete a communications course. Okay, well, I've been talking (using grammatically correct English, is I might add) for the past 15 years. Judging by the fact I made it through honors, GT, and AP courses in high school, it is a safe to assume that I know how to speak and listen. Never mind the fact that aviation communication is fairly straight forward once you understand it. For example: "Cessna 1234 is 20 miles North of the Baltimore VOR, request clearance into the class bravo." Why do I need to learn/ care/ understand communication theories if I will never use them after I pass the class?

This class right after taking a class called ACDV 101: Transitioning to College last semester. I'm half tempted to drop out and find a school that doesn't try to nickle and dime me with these useless classes.
Click to expand...
You would be surprised where effective communications comes in handy. Like when you are applying for a new job, a mortgage, or writing a business proposal. It's all part of the tools we need in our toolbox for life's work.
Take it and try to learn something.
PS: I found myself the author of a weekly newspaper article. I was glad I took effective communications in college. So you never know.
 
Consider the number of people who post this site asking questions about this! They have trouble making basic calls to the tower, in the pattern, on and on. Good comunication skills are important in aviation, and in any endeavor.
 
rpayne88 said:
Judging by the fact I made it through honors, GT, and AP courses in high school, it is a safe to assume that I know how to speak and listen.
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Given the awkward wording of the sentence above, I wouldn't assume you can speak.

And if you took an AP class in communication, why didn't you test out of it?
 
Van Johnston said:
And if you took an AP class in communication, why didn't you test out of it?
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When the time comes, I will advise my kids NOT to apply for credit by AP. Take the classes in HS for the knowledge, and and take the tests to burnish the college applications, but don't apply for credits by exam when (if?) they get to college. First, they propbably won't be getting enough credits to save any real money. Second, AP credits do not count for your undergrad GPA -- an easy "A" or three on the transcript, esp early on in your career when that is what employers may filter on for second-year internships or the like, is worth much more than not having to show up for one or two classes your first two semesters, and getting whatever grade you would have gotten in the more advanced courses that you won't exam out of by AP credit.

Anyway, that's what I would do. YMMV.
 
frfly172 said:
I had to take effective communication in college. I was also teaching an emt course for the college. The school wouldn't wave the requirement.
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similar here. I'm part-time faculty in one dept but when I took ground school i the aviation dept, all students were required to write papers and do a major presentation. no luck getting out of it. When I finished my presentation, the prof admitted they should never required me to do that. I dug up all the teddy bears I could find insome sort of aviation or space gear, including Spock in original Star Trek costume with the pointy ears. And a Klingon Bear, too.
 
A college course in Communications has almost zero to do with being able to read write and understand the English language. Take it from someone who's been in several of them.
 
No different from a business major taking art or music appreciation. It broadens your mind................and gives people with art and music degrees something to do, teach art and music. :D
It won't be the only class you don't see a point in while you're in college. My son took "grilling" his first semester, it was a 1 or 2 hour course for freshmen, easy A and he had fun. I think it was to get the students together and socialize as well as helping them not poison themselves at cook outs. :D
 
rpayne88 said:
Someone explain this logic to me, please. Evidently, as an aviation major at a community college, I am required to complete a communications course. Okay, well, I've been talking (using grammatically correct English, is I might add) for the past 15 years. Judging by the fact I made it through honors, GT, and AP courses in high school, it is a safe to assume that I know how to speak and listen. Never mind the fact that aviation communication is fairly straight forward once you understand it. For example: "Cessna 1234 is 20 miles North of the Baltimore VOR, request clearance into the class bravo." Why do I need to learn/ care/ understand communication theories if I will never use them after I pass the class?

This class right after taking a class called ACDV 101: Transitioning to College last semester. I'm half tempted to drop out and find a school that doesn't try to nickle and dime me with these useless classes.
Click to expand...


There's so much more to effective communication than brig able to talk to someone. If you simply want to learn the trade of being a pilot, go to an FBO and do a part 141 program. College is not for learning any one particular skill.

The communication skills I learned at a top engineering school have not only served me well practically, but allowed me to stand out from my peers. You are at a college learning life skills and focusing on aviation. There are many situations in life where effective communication will serve you well, and there are many jobs in aviation other than simply flying cargo and calling atc for a clearance where you might just be thankful you have a broader background than "trained pilot."
 
Gee 90% of my college courses were inappropriate for what I intended (or even ended up) doing in my career. Many universities eschew teaching practicalities.
 
flyingron said:
Gee 90% of my college courses were inappropriate for what I intended (or even ended up) doing in my career. Many universities eschew teaching practicalities.
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If'n ya want practical then go to Vo-Tech. If ya want an edjucation then attend University...
 
Brad Z said:
Trade schools prepare a student for a specific trade. Colleges and universities (including community colleges) are supposed to prepare students for life. Communicating clearly is most definately a necessary life skill.

If you want to just learn how to fly for a living, drop out and go to ATP Inc.
Click to expand...


Where/when did you go to school?

Some of the most useless people that I have come across have been fresh university grads.

Only thing that ever will or ever has prepared a person for life is experience.
 
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rpayne88 said:
Someone explain this logic to me, please. Evidently, as an aviation major at a community college, I am required to complete a communications course. Okay, well, I've been talking (using grammatically correct English, is I might add) for the past 15 years. Judging by the fact I made it through honors, GT, and AP courses in high school, it is a safe to assume that I know how to speak and listen. Never mind the fact that aviation communication is fairly straight forward once you understand it. For example: "Cessna 1234 is 20 miles North of the Baltimore VOR, request clearance into the class bravo." Why do I need to learn/ care/ understand communication theories if I will never use them after I pass the class?

This class right after taking a class called ACDV 101: Transitioning to College last semester. I'm half tempted to drop out and find a school that doesn't try to nickle and dime me with these useless classes.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they will teach you how to proofread.

Seriously, are you attending a trade school with a short-term goal of learning only what is needed to get an entry level job? Or, are you attending a school for the skills and the foundation you need for an informed and educated lifetime of learning?
 
Seeing the plethora of unemployed college graduates in the unemployment numbers, I would say all those requirements aren't helping job/career placement nearly as much as they are expanding the revenue taken from whomever is paying your tuition.
 
It's their major nothing else. Times change and today with a bogus degree your going to macdonalds. With a degree in science, math-computers, or maybe the NY culinary institute..... Your hired! With a good income and advancement! ( when JFK made his statement about taxes, the tax rates for corporations were over 5 times higher as were taxes for everyone else, up to 90 percent in many cases! To quote him today about current tax rates is absurd. ) same with Eisenhower. Corporations and the rich, today , with the loopholes they enjoy, usually pay 12-15 percent or in many cases, nothing. The middle class Carrys the load. To quote JFK in today's world shows a lack of understanding.
 
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Florida Cracker said:
Seeing the plethora of unemployed college graduates in the unemployment numbers, I would say all those requirements aren't helping job/career placement nearly as much as they are expanding the revenue taken from whomever is paying your tuition.
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Time was a small minority went to college and doing so was a near guarantee of a white color position. Most folks just went a got a job in America's burgeoning manufacturing sector. Now the manufacturing sector is not what it was, a majority go to college, and some degrees are indeed no longer worth the paper on which they're written. That said, a college degree continues to separate the have's from the have-nots to a large degree.

Still, University is not vocational school and isn't meant to be. I've had to tell that to some rather surly engineering students who thought Biology wasn't all that important to their future. And no, I am honestly not making this up.
 
The flood of other people's money (grants, scholarships and loans) plus the expectation that everyone should go to college has devalued the bachelors degree. It's almost what a High School diploma was when I graduated (1977-don't do the math, please): basically entry criteria for the employment market. By that I mean very many employers expect bachelors degrees for jobs which really don't require them. Insurance agent? Retail manager? Clerk? Office Manager? Degree? Really?

In addition, manufacturing jobs have been either replaced by machines or out-sourced to countries where people work for much less.

It's a double whammy for those seeking first jobs on a career path. Particularly those who are not college material. And before anybody jumps on me for implying that some are "lessor", I worked construction for a few years and in an machine assembly shop for a year. I have respect for those who have traditional blue collar skills and will not be abstract thinkers. They're fine folks and I wish there was a way for them to have continued success with solid middle class careers like their fathers (and mothers) had. But the machines are taking over those tasks. Given our avarice (what was solidly middle class when I was a child was a 2 or 3 bedroom 1 bath home with a single carport. Now that's not even a "starter home"), I don't think we'll be able to turn back the clock for them. :(

In the long run, I don't know what that means for our society, but I don't think it's good.

John
 
In the last 100 years, Colleges and university's are responsible for much of the advancements we have had in health care, computers, food, the list is endless! Much of it funded by that ole " govmint "that people seem to despise so much. The airplane advancement , put on a graph , would show that government funded almost every step forward, (WW2)really amazing improvements, hydraulics, jet engines, on and on. ( not to mention that the post office dept. was what got aviation ( airlines) "off the ground" originally in the U.S. also having to bail them out several times. ). The jobs held by those who lived in those houses described are gone, never to return. People in China do them now, 40 bucks a month, live in huge dormitories. Here in the U.S. It's a race to the bottom. Ross Perot went over this ad nauseum when he ran for president some years ago. Few listened. He also said G.M. Would never make it as it was run then and pulled his many millions out and went home.
 
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