The Little Things
It's a peculiar time of year right now. For those of us who are attending university, we are virtually facing the end of life as we have known it for most of the year, in light of the more-imminent-than-we-would-have-ourselves-believe conclusion of exams. Not only that, but the seasonal cycle is sitting right on that eery cuff that lies between spring and summer. The weather's a somewhat disorienting mix of all seasons, even by Auckland's standards. With the General Election out of the way, the most significant current affairs events of the year have been and gone (not to belittle the other serious things that are occurring overseas as I write). Topping it all off, the relatively hollow and meaningless "holidays" of Halloween and Guy Fawkes are making their existence known around this time.
It is apparent that some significant debate has arisen in the past few days as to what the legal status of fireworks should be, in reflection of the fact that Guy Fawkes night is fast approaching and fireworks are now on sale. The government, however, has decided to pass on taking any action against retailers' selling of fireworks. The Herald article mentions that Parliament looked into the issue in 1994 and 1996 "but decided that a few irresponsible people should not prevent others using fireworks," and notes that last decade's discussions ultimately lead only to public firework sales being limited to those aged fourteen or over. Presumably this is also the point at which skyrockets were banned. The legislation does not take into account the potentially low maturity of people who are only fourteen years old. The lack of action that the government has asserted it will take is surprising considering the events of recent days.
Yesterday I had the supposedly positive task of getting the first of my four exams out of the way -- anthropology. Having done very little study I was sceptical that I was going to be able to achieve an adequate mark to put me over the threshold that I required to pass the course. I was preparing myself for the prospect of failure, which could well have resulted in my parents withdrawing me from university (as opposed to making me take on a student loan, they are paying for my education as I go along, with me putting a significant amount of money in myself as well; Mum could not have handled me failing a single paper). However, in recognition of a classmate's recommendation I checked my marks online, discovering that I had already scored 40.5% in the course. Thus, not much was required of me in the exam in order for me to pass the course.
Within thirty minutes I had answered most of what I could, and enough to ensure that I passed the course. My attention was then diverted periodically to the graffiti on the desk, which included such scribblings as Comfortably Numb. Under that was Run Like Hell, and on the far edge of the desk was Yessongs. In keeping with the apparent prog rock theme of the desk, I chose to contribute Supper's Ready to its entourage of classic song and album names -- between glances from the patrolling exam supervisors. That should effectively articulate the impression of just how academically vacant I was during that exam. I'm absolutely confident that I have passed, however. What's wrong with thinking ahead to a summer of listening to great music when I'm supposed to be writing about circumcisions being rites of passage?
Rodney's made some further great points about Wayne Mapp's apparent misinterpretation of what exactly political correctness entails. Wayne made it quite obvious that his idea of political correctness is the allowance of minority groups to have a say. The reality, of course, is that that is not political correctness at all -- it is in fact truly representative democracy. Personally, I would define accusations of political correctness as being expressions of concern that inappropriate amounts of attention are being paid to the aiding of minorities' progression from situations that the minorities themselves feel to be unjust. What would appear to be the case is that Wayne wants to neutralise the need for any accusations of political correctness, via the method of eliminating minority voices from the political field altogether. An allusion to sweeping things under the rug would be appropriate. Upon closer examination it would appear to me that Wayne has fallen into the defeatist trap; a situation in which he would seem to almost believe that "if there's no people, there's no problems."
It is apparent that some significant debate has arisen in the past few days as to what the legal status of fireworks should be, in reflection of the fact that Guy Fawkes night is fast approaching and fireworks are now on sale. The government, however, has decided to pass on taking any action against retailers' selling of fireworks. The Herald article mentions that Parliament looked into the issue in 1994 and 1996 "but decided that a few irresponsible people should not prevent others using fireworks," and notes that last decade's discussions ultimately lead only to public firework sales being limited to those aged fourteen or over. Presumably this is also the point at which skyrockets were banned. The legislation does not take into account the potentially low maturity of people who are only fourteen years old. The lack of action that the government has asserted it will take is surprising considering the events of recent days.
Yesterday I had the supposedly positive task of getting the first of my four exams out of the way -- anthropology. Having done very little study I was sceptical that I was going to be able to achieve an adequate mark to put me over the threshold that I required to pass the course. I was preparing myself for the prospect of failure, which could well have resulted in my parents withdrawing me from university (as opposed to making me take on a student loan, they are paying for my education as I go along, with me putting a significant amount of money in myself as well; Mum could not have handled me failing a single paper). However, in recognition of a classmate's recommendation I checked my marks online, discovering that I had already scored 40.5% in the course. Thus, not much was required of me in the exam in order for me to pass the course.
Within thirty minutes I had answered most of what I could, and enough to ensure that I passed the course. My attention was then diverted periodically to the graffiti on the desk, which included such scribblings as Comfortably Numb. Under that was Run Like Hell, and on the far edge of the desk was Yessongs. In keeping with the apparent prog rock theme of the desk, I chose to contribute Supper's Ready to its entourage of classic song and album names -- between glances from the patrolling exam supervisors. That should effectively articulate the impression of just how academically vacant I was during that exam. I'm absolutely confident that I have passed, however. What's wrong with thinking ahead to a summer of listening to great music when I'm supposed to be writing about circumcisions being rites of passage?Rodney's made some further great points about Wayne Mapp's apparent misinterpretation of what exactly political correctness entails. Wayne made it quite obvious that his idea of political correctness is the allowance of minority groups to have a say. The reality, of course, is that that is not political correctness at all -- it is in fact truly representative democracy. Personally, I would define accusations of political correctness as being expressions of concern that inappropriate amounts of attention are being paid to the aiding of minorities' progression from situations that the minorities themselves feel to be unjust. What would appear to be the case is that Wayne wants to neutralise the need for any accusations of political correctness, via the method of eliminating minority voices from the political field altogether. An allusion to sweeping things under the rug would be appropriate. Upon closer examination it would appear to me that Wayne has fallen into the defeatist trap; a situation in which he would seem to almost believe that "if there's no people, there's no problems."
posted by Gary at 3:34 pm
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