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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2004)
Educational system can lead to deception, 'hollow credentialism' In '"Book smarts' remain most valid in evaluating stu dents" (July 20, ODE), Scheid argues against critics of the present grading system and in favor of the construction of grades as a measurement of "book smarts." Scheid's primary error is that he argues against a straw-person critic of the pres ent grading system. The main problem of grading as it cur rently stands is not that book smarts are inapplicable to the so-called real world (which is all too often thought of as the professional world) but that current evaluative methods do ration specifically for standardized tests and talent for filling in the proper bubbles while under pressure rather than any sort of conceptual mastery. Scheid goes on to argue against the notion that our current grading system encourages cheating, explaining that those who cheat truly will not prosper because their methods will be ineffective in their roles as employees. While it may be the case that employers place their workers under a great deal of scrutiny, lest their profits be siphoned, we still cannot main tain the notion that this sort of social pressure has largely eliminated cheating in the professional world. Put simply, cheaters do prosper. This is especially evident if we look to not give an accurate picture of even book smarts. Multi ple choice tests, the most in (X) M iVl P,NTA RY ^amous being standardized tests such as the SAT, are a more apt measure of prepa the epidemic of white-collar crime. In The Rich Get Richer, The Poor Get Prison, Jeffrey Reiman estimates the monetary and social costs of white collar crime, as are measured in US dollars, human injuries and deaths, respectively, to far eclipse those of street crime. Indeed, crime does pay, and we leam this first in pursuit of grades rather than currency. Scheid finally argues that the present grading system is effective in teaching youth to "follow directions and re spect authority." Future white-collar criminals aside, I have to concede this point to Scheid, but I ask, is this really a good thing? While obedience would be a virtue if authori ty were infallible and the status quo were the best possible societal arrangement, history has shown this not to be the case; rather, we have seen some of the worst atrocities com mitted in the name of authority with the justification that one was "just following orders." If we are to transform soci ety into a form that is more humane and more just, we must begin with a critical analytic mindset so that present social structures may be judged, refined, and creatively re placed. If such a mindset is to be cultivated on a wide scale, we need to begin in our educational system. The present regimented system of grades based largely on standardized tests cultivates not this critical mindset but rather hollow credentialism, on one hand, and opportunistic deception, i.e. cheating, on the other. Andy Kohnen graduated from the University in 2004 In physician-assisted suicide issue, Oregon law gives doctors power Freedom is so little understood in this "land of the free" that it is often confused with its opposite. Case in point: Oregon's 1994 Death With Dig nity Act, which a federal appeals court recently shielded from attack by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The law permits what has come to be known as physician-assisted sui cide. It and the appellate ruling have been hailed as victories for patient au tonomy and the right to commit sui cide. Indeed, the New York Times edi torialized. "The voters of Oregon they decided to allow terminally ill people to determine when they have suffered enough." But did the voters really do that? A closer look at the law shows they did not. The law only allows a patient who is expected to die within six months to ask his doctor for lethal drugs. The doc tor can say no, as he has every right to do. But since a patient cannot end his own life without the doctor's consent, the law is no milestone for freedom. What happens when a patient makes such a request of his doctor? The state's COMMENTARY GUEST acted with great h u - mani t y when requirements are "stringent," according to Dr. Peter Goodwin, a long-time fam ily physician and an emeritus associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Sci ence University. They include, Good win writes, "the attending physician's diagnosis/prognosis and determina tion that the patient is informed, capa ble and acting voluntarily." Note that the attending physician must be convinced that the patient knows what he's doing. Whether or not you think doctors have a special ability to see the absence of volition in an action (I don't), this requirement is hardly consistent with "allow(ing) ter minally ill people to determine when they have suffered enough." The law also states, "A consulting physician must examine the patient and the medical records and concur with the attending physician's diagnosis/progno sis and assessment of the patient." Dr. Goodwin comments: "If the at tending physician or the consulting physician thinks the patient may suf fer from a psychological disorder causing impaired judgment, the physician must refer the patient for evaluation and counseling. No med ication may be prescribed unless it is certain the patient's judgment is not impaired" (emphasis added). What terminally ill patient in great pain could not be said to have impaired judgment? What's the difference be tween a judgment that's impaired and one that clashes with the doctor's? In a conflict between a patient and a physi cian, who prevails? The doctor, of course. How can there be "death with dignity" when the patient must humbly petition the doctors, then meekly wait for a unanimous ruling? Whatever one thinks of the legal mer its of Attorney General Ashcroft's at tempt to use federal anti-drug laws to thwart Oregon's voters, physician-assist ed suicide is a fraud. As Dr. Thomas Sza sz writes in his book Fatal Freedom: The Ethics and Politics of Suicide, "The term 'physician-assisted suicide' (PAS) is in trinsically mendacious. The physician is the principal, not the assistant. He de termines who qualifies for the treat ment and prescribes the drug for it." The Oregon law is about giving pow er to doctors. If individual freedom were the concern, we would simply re peal the drug laws and recognize each adult's right to buy any kind of drugs. Why empower doctors? Suicide is n't a medical issue. It's a moral issue. Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, author of Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State, and editor of The Freeman magazine, srich man @conwaycorp. net Kentucky Fried Chicken should improve treatment of chickens People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' recent under cover investigation of a Kentucky Fried Chicken slaughter house run by the second-largest chicken company in the U.S. has opened my eyes to the reality of the chicken industry. Workers were filmed GUEST COMMENTARY stomping on birds, kicking them, and slamming them against floors and walls. They also ripped off chickens' beaks, twisted off their heads, spat tobacco into their eyes and mouths, spray-painted their faces, and tied their legs together for laughs — all while still fully conscious. The investigation was conducted at this location because it was the site of a KFC "Supplier of the Year" award ceremony. Chickens are probably the most abused animals on the planet. They have their sensitive beaks seared off with hot blades and are crammed into tiny cages with the decom posing remains of other birds. Hundreds of thousands are left to starve to death, and huge numbers die as a re sult of long journeys in extreme weather conditions. Basi cally, any and all abuse is allowable when it comes to chickens, who are, in fact, remarkable animals with dis tinct personalities and intelligence that, if allowed to de velop, is as advanced as that of cats and dogs. Most im portantly, they feel pain, just as we do. The video is almost beyond description — workers at a KFC slaughterhouse stomp, kick, and slam birds against walls. How bad does it have to get before KFC changes the way it treats chickens? For more information and to see the video for yourself, please visit http://www.KFCCruelty.com. 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