Matching Pinot Noir Wine w/Dinner courses

[barnesy]

I dealt directly with some 400 history students the last 2 years. This includes ferriting out a couple of cheaters. I am very old fashioned about both my work and academic ethics. Also, as both a student and in a teaching compasity, I have done pretty extensive research (on history subjects) on the web. The point of this research was to discover that 95% or more of the stuff on the web is pure garbage. When you do find some good stuff on the web, the best thing you can do is look at the sources and go get the books from the library.

I attended a small lib. arts school that is consistently ranked as one of the highest in the West. I can rarely remember ever being assigned any significant amount of research that was to be done on the web. We used the web as a way to find quick numbers, basic facts, and "real" world research. These programs that are assigning extensive web research are cheating their programs and their students.

On a case by case basis, those students who have been upfront with us about homework have been directed in a friendly way on the best way to approach their homework without us doing it for them. These students are usually grateful and probably do well on their given assignments. Those that are jerks and want us to do their work for them, well, they seem to get dealt with accordingly. For a young guy, I am a fuddy duddy when it comes to hard work and the world of acadamia. Sorry to be long winded, but this sort of stuff is something that I am passionate about.

Here is a rough paraphrase from a quote that was hanging up in our English department:

"The internet has proven that one million monkey's pounding at one million typewriters will NOT reproduce the works of Shakespeare."

Barnesy