Posts I've been meaning to link to but have not had time:
"Teen Mom" the show, causing more teen pregnancy.
The INDISPENSABLE cook book for feminists.
The most idiotic, stupid, outlandish degrees, AND YOU STILL GET COMMENTERS ARGUING FOR THEM!
English majors get a cold cup of wake the fuck up from the labor market.
When I saw the blurb for "an indispensable cookbook for feminists", I thought for certain that it was a book full of blank pages (knowing how feminists despise cooking, cleaning, and any other housekeeping skills).
ReplyDeleteI can understand the bakery one although it should be a two-year degree. The rest are a joke.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong in principle with using microwave energy for cooking. When they first came out, people weren't as familiar with their capabilities and would use them in conjunction with other appliances to produce more elaborate meals rather than in a kind of minimum-effort method of applying heat to food.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can infer Ms. Allison is a feminist just because she wrote a cookbook. There is nothing wrong with being single, and it would be possible to adapt the portion sizes in any case.
Hell, Aaron, the viticulture is likely a good program. Do you think that professional winemakers come out of a bottle?!? Probably the bakery course is work-related too.
ReplyDeleteTHe son of a friend recently completed his course in brewing in German. Four years, I think - practicum + lab + classroom, demanding, carried out mainly in the oldest brewery in Bavaria. He is now a Diplom-Breumeister.
Of course you probably wouldn't find such a good course in the ZI.
The Finger Lakes region around Cornell is a big wine-growing area, too.
DeleteEven so, it still only makes sense as a continuing education course for people already working in the industry whose winery is paying for them to learn the latest in scientific viticulture.
The article, "English majors get a cold cup of wake the fuck up", provided some good laughs at the ENglish majors. They feel hurt! They've never heard of the old rule that the person who tries the hardest to get a job is probably the best man for the job.It sounds as though giving short notice sorts them out quickly.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, the ability to handle rapid changes, crises, etc. is always useful in life, even in the staid life of an academic.
No, Mr. Wallace.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a job as a baker, find work in a bakery, and let your manager know you are interested in being promoted, and will put your own time in to get trained there.
Networking into the job will beat spending $50 to $100k for a degree that will get you nowhere.
As for pro winemakers ... the top vintners in the US were all either self-trained, or trained by their family. Top Microbreweries in the US have their own on-the-job programs.
Unlike Europe, American students have to bear the entire cost of their education, and must pay the loans back, and are not allowed to default on them through bankruptcy.
Universities are damned expensive here in the US, Anon 9:56, and non-STEM degrees never pay off their costs.
I'll stay my judgement of Bakery Science & Management till I see the content. If it's application is industrial bakeries and processes, it could be useful, after all, twinkies and ding dongs are "stuff" people will pay you for and somebody has to setup up and manage the factory.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm very ashamed that my alma mater has floral design as a major. At the very least we have strong programs in useful things like engineering, ag, hard sciences, etc etc...
ReplyDeleteThe indispensable sex manual for feminists:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/0517886073
The mere sight of that microwave cookbook should make any self-respecting man recoil in horror.
ReplyDeleteWith some respect, three of these degrees are actually quite worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteteh viticulture and enology degree is for a field that is, yes, rather specialized but also chronically understaffed with trained professionals. I consulted in Napa years ago and one of the most in-demand skill sets was formal training in viticulture - they often brought in French and Italian graduates because there weren't enough Americans with formal training.
My work with Seborga led me to learn that the international floral industry is north of $100 Bn a year with an annual growth rate of 6% - and since that floral management degree is actually mainly about the logistics of the floriculture business I bet it would be relatively easy to find a job with one of the larger import/export firms or even strike out on your own in that field since the degree isn't about being a florist being being a distributor to florists.
And the bakery science degree is a bit personal - my family has owned multiple bakeries and ice cream retailers since the 1890's and I know personally how frackin' hard it is to find someone with a degree in bakery science - and I am just 'in the family' not directly involved in the business. My cousin Matt is a donor ro KSU just so he can get dibs on bakery science majors when he has new openings.
Am I defending these degrees? Heck, yeah, and I am surprised I need to on a blog about capitalism when they are each about training for specific business markets.
You want a real chuckle? My degree is in Catholic Systematic Theology.
Aquinas Dad:
ReplyDeleteShouldn't these be 2 year vocational degrees?
If they are larding these into 4 year BS degrees, then these colleges still need a bitchslapping.
Kristophr,
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know about the business specialty guys, but the science specialty guys from bakery have enough chemistry to be classified as industrial chemists (food specialty) and enough engineering to design the CAM devices in the bakeries, so....
I worked with a couple of guys who *had* AS degrees in viticulture - and they tended to work for guys who had MS degrees in viticulture. Tellingly, the guys with associates degrees wanted masters degrees to learn, not to get promoted.
I assume, based on the description, that the Floral management degree is really 'international business floriculture)', but beats me. Like I said, my exposure to floriculture is from a small semi-autonomous region that's GDP is selling cut flowers on the international market. Who knew?