TOO DUMB TO SPELL, SMART ENOUGH TO TEACH

 

 

 

Rudy Takala
February 15, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

To: Linda Hanson, President, Hamline University
CC: Fernando Delgado, Dean
CC: Preston Martin, Assistant Dean

Subject: FYSEM

I am writing with regard to FSEM 1010: The Rhetoric of Rap Music. I understand that it is customary for students of a certain demographic to take a FYSEM course, with the idea that it will acclimate them to the college experience. It should not be, however, customary to coerce them into taking courses pervaded by obscenity.

In one recent class session, I was told to expound on the role race played in Eminem’s song “White America.” The lyrics include some of the following: “[F]**k you Ms. Cheney, f**k you Tipper Gore, f**k you with the freest of speech this divided states of embarrassment will allow me to have, f**k you.”

I am surprised to find that this is what constitutes “higher education” in today’s world. The objective of education, it has been impressed upon me, is to teach people to become respectable citizens and productive members of society. I am uncertain how this course accomplishes that objective.

Further, due to the bias of the course instructor, I find myself unable to attain any grade higher than a low C. In one paper, for example, I asserted that a certain rap song offered a “hopeless vision of life.” The instructor wrote the comment, “Why? Add reasoning & evidence.” Fair enough. In the conclusion, however, I wrote a statement with which I disagreed, but which I knew patronized the teacher. “Such songs are interesting in that they represent American culture…. [T]hey are an insight… and the understanding they may provide to outsiders will always be useful.” Something far more insightful is the fact that, rather than telling me to provide illustrations and evidence for an obviously controversial statement (I disagree with it wholeheartedly), the instructor simply wrote, “Nice conclusion.”

In the same paper, I used the word “emblemize.” The instructor circled it, with the comment “Emblematize – [emblemize is] not a word.” Upon noting this comment, I returned the paper to the instructor and explained that she was mistaken. She looked the word up, and after verifying that I was correct, she responded roughly, “Oops, sorry.” She proceeded to cross the comment out. Unfortunately, my score remained unchanged at 74%.

Frankly, words fail to convey my dismay at the inability of Hamline University’s writing director to spell, and the apparent detachment that correct spelling has from the grading process. It is fairly obvious I did not receive a 74% because of objective mistakes in my writing; I received a 74% because I did not agree with the instructor, to whom proper usage of English seems to have no relevance.

I passed college composition at another college two years ago, and transferred it to Hamline this semester. I passed a course titled College Writing II last semester, and also transferred it to this institution. I have also taken Intro to Literature and Creative Writing. Currently, my transcript at Hamline shows I have 64 credits. Obviously this equates to junior status, with a good deal of my credits coming from courses in writing.

I consider it an oddity that, despite all of this, I find myself unable to transcend an average of 71% on papers in a course tailored to freshman who have never before taken college courses.

We’ll overlook the absurdity of forcing students to take a course focusing on a genre of “musicians” who have no absolutely no bearing on respectable society, and forcing them to “learn” about “ni**ers” and “pissing” on the lawn of the White House. I am willing to take this course nonetheless. The disgrace of this grotesquery falls on the institution of Hamline, not on me.

However, I am not willing to pay for a C in a course in which I had no role in selecting. I am willing to take it on a pass/fail basis. I am willing to substitute it with another course, such as one focusing on country music. (As Hamline offers a course talking about desecration of the flag and the White House, I’m sure it offers one that promotes patriotism as well.) I am also willing to have it dropped entirely. If that sounds unreasonable, let’s look at the context of the situation. At the end of this semester, after I have completed my courses at Hamline, and after I have finished transferring my credits from other institutions, I will have surpassed the 96 credit requirement of seniority. My completion of this course might satisfy a requirement of bureaucracy, but it does not satisfy the necessity of common sense.

The aforementioned options are just a few of those I am open to considering. It is not tolerable, however, to remain in and receive a C in a course about rap music. This is commensurate to forcing black students (or “ni**ers,” as a rapper would suggest I call them) to take a course studying why white pride can be insightful. It is commensurate to forcing Jewish students to take a course studying Nazism, and giving them poor grades because they are unable to relate to the subject matter. This is nothing more than blatant discrimination against a given demographic of students; namely, those who happen to adhere to any mainstream religious values.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I realize that responsibility for the issues outlined do not fall entirely on your shoulders, and I look forward to speaking with you about them.

Sincerely,

Rudy Takala

© 2007 Rudy Takala - All Rights Reserved