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then just go away
If everyone did what Travis says, this place would be empty.
We welcome all opinions in this forum which, at times, can make it very explosive in here.
We are hoping for the best. I wouldn't want him stressed out with problem children. Like I said someone has to do it, but I know I wouldn't be able to.
then just go away
If everyone did what Travis says, this place would be empty.
We welcome all opinions in this forum which, at times, can make it very explosive in here.
Well, NEISD has some excellent programs. They also have some not-so-good programs.
speaking of, you are wanted in the "koran abuse thread"
If everyone did what Travis says, this place would be empty.
We welcome all opinions in this forum which, at times, can make it very explosive in here.
Opinions I don't mind. Lies I do. But then again, you don't seem to mind lying either, so I'm not surprised.
If everyone did what Travis says, this place would be empty.
We welcome all opinions in this forum which, at times, can make it very explosive in here.
This forum welcomes all opinions and points of view.
Speak out!
And this is what it's about. Lowering the expectations of the American worker down to that of the 3rd world.
Some....very few. Most will make 30-35k/year. Read up about labor and the auto industry. It used to make big money.
And lets get this straight...it's auto 'assembling' these days. In the day they used to take raw steel at the plant and turn 'em into cars.
They don't do that any more.
Those guys are just thankful they have INSURANCE now. If their lucky, their pension won't get ripped off.
Brave new world out there. Before it's all over the unions will have to come back in force and heads will have to be busted....
Just hope it's not too late. So sad we turned America into a third world country. Toyota put that plant in SA because they know these people will take anything. It's sad really.
AND I will say this. I was talking to a guy from Detroit a few weeks ago that came in to SA to do PM to build this plant. He said a single truck may not roll out of that plant and it could be dead in the water. The truck market is in a slump because of the price of gas and Toyota could write the whole thing off and pack 'em up...
Take that for what it's worth....
Last edited by word; 05-27-2005 at 04:23 AM.
Well it teaches a person about 'pecking order' I suppose. Look, one of the things the NBA wants and the players union is against, is raising the minimum age to go to the draft to 20. Why ? Because of all the players out of highschool that enter the draft the vaste majority are not successful in the NBA, as are ALL the players that enter the draft, and they have no education to fall back on. We just hear about the ones who' have 'made it'. Same story is true in all of sports.
Bottom line is sports prepares you to PLAY SPORTS, little else. How does football teach you to write 'C' code. How does basketball teach you about chemistry ? How does baseball teach you about history ? How does soccer teach you about accounting ?
Answer: They don't.
In fact, sports CAN hurt you. It can hurt you if you have unrealistic dreams.
But, we all know that 19 year olds don't have unrealistic dreams, right ?
Those are called 'fantasies'. And many a 17 year old highschool player has 'em. Trust me. I was one of 'em. It's a BIG club.
Last edited by word; 05-27-2005 at 04:21 AM.
Yes, word, a lot of kids have unrealistic dreams of sports success. Hoop Dreams is a hard movie to watch. But I had good people whom I respected pushing me in ways that sitting in a classroom would never have duplicated. Because contrary to what others on this board may think, I was pretty good in school and never had to try very hard academically.
I never said (well, at least in a non-sarcastic tone) that other activities were over-funded. (The
probably should have tipped you people off that I wasn't serious, take a hint.)
If you don't like how your ISD is spending money on sports programs, go to a schoolboard meeting, start a pe ion, or mobilize like mindsets and GO VOTE IN A BOND ELECTION so that they don't spend your money on a new stadium.
I defend that sports are an important part of an education, an important part you can't learn from a book or classroom.
Intellegence and athletic ability are not mutually exclusive. Others may think so, perhaps to perpetuate their own stereotypes. Keep an open mind, and you might learn something valuable from everything you do, whether it be inside a classroom or not.
Nobody said they weren't. You seemed to think we said that.
All we said was they weren't the only important non-classroom activity out there.
I understand your point about allowing expectations for the American worker to slip, but how can anyone think that 30-35k/year is third world? Have you ever seen some of these third world countries? Makes you glad to be an American when you see someone living off of a yearly salary equivalent to what you make in a week or month.And this is what it's about. Lowering the expectations of the American worker down to that of the 3rd world...Most will make 30-35k/year...
I have to assume you meant like third world as it relates in the political sense (i.e., not involved in western capitalist/eastern socialist political spheres, like some of the more affluent South Amercian countries) and not the socio-economic sense of dirt poor countries struggling to make a living while fighting civil unrest and/or war.
We are lucky to be in South Texas.
Anyone who thinks 30-35K a year is third world is an idiot.
Understood. I just don't like people using sports as a poster child of what's wrong with the educational system. I am arguing that sports are a good deal of what's right about the educational system - teaching young men and women to be resilient in their lives, work hard, and depend on others and to earn enough respect so that others depend on you.
Go to Scotland, where a lot of sports programs were suspended by the "Nanny State" (their term, not mine) because they singled out kids who were more gifted than others... you'll see a bunch of punk little kids walking the streets after school hours. Before I get blasted as a political heathen, yes, I've seen it with my own eyes, and yes, I've heard the people there complain about it firsthand. I used to work there.
I think the point of saying that (because I don't think that 30-35k is third world, it's an exaggeration) is to make a point on how far 30-35k will go there versus here. 30-35k is a fortune in the third world, but here with a couple of kids you're pretty close to the poverty line. Money just doesn't go as far as we'd like it to.
Dude, are you from Texas? Do you realize the love this state has for High School sports? THEY HAVE A ING CABLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL REPORT!!!!
I swear, I don't understand why you keep trying to act as though there is this huge groundswell of people complaining about sports, especialy here. It's not happening.
Sports is no more and no less a "poster child" for the ills of the educational system as any other component. There are great teachers and sucky teachers. There are great band directors and sucky band directors. And there are great coaches and sucky coaches.
As with anything else, how the activity leaders (coaches, directors, sponsors, whatever) and the parents place the activity within the "big picture" of education determines whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
Money will go far if spent wisely and I know friends who have kids and make about that much and they are NOT close to the poverty line.
They live within their means and do just fine.
Sure their kids don't have cell phones and they don't drive an SUV but they are from being what I call "poor".
Just for s in giggles, lets take a look at things.
30,000 a year right?
Ok, divided by 12 months, it comes out to 2,500.
take away about 500 a month in taxes, you're left with 2,000.
take away about another 200 a month for medical insurance, down to 1,800.
Gotta live somewhere right? Lets say 800 dollars on the mortgage (oh, and I'm going really ing low a mortgage here), so we're down to 1000.
Lets say the couple only owns one car, and it's paid off. so, form 1000 we'll take away 100 dollars a month for liability insurance and 100 for gas. down to 800 dollars.
You gotta eat, so we'll say about another 300 (yeah right but i'm going to humor this ) a month in groceries.
500 dollars left. , forgot about THE BILLS! 100 for a CPS bill, 50 dollars for a phone bill. We're poor, we're not going to have cable. Down to 350 for the month.
Ok, so I'm down to only 350, and I still haven't accounted for so much . Oh, and the stuff I did account for I undercutted immensely.
Yeah, not pretty. Not pretty at ALL.
Read the overly passionate responses of people in this thread. There are also a LOT of people who complain that sports are overfunded and overemphasized. I even hear a PSA incessantly on the on-line stream of Ticket760 that says "what if people cheered as much about algebra as they do for sports?" Because solving series of equations and factoring polynomials isn't very exciting, perhaps? Probably wouldn't have a lot of season ticket holders.
They're advocating spending time with your child's schoolwork, but implicitly, enthusiasm about sports is villified. Not all "sports parents" are the washed-out, never was has beens who push their kids to excell in sports for the vicarious experience, but that stereotype is forming, and is probably held by some people in this forum.
And I realize that a lot of people still enjoy football and HS sports for what they are. I'm a 6th generation Texan.
Well said. Perhaps my reading comprehension is improving...
You act like it's all black and white. We're not complaining that they are funded, we're saying they are OVERfunded. There are other enriching programs that could use some of that money.
If you have an $800 month mortgage on 30K a year than you're already living outside your means. What's pretty for you isn't pretty to everyone else.Just for s in giggles, lets take a look at things.
30,000 a year right?
Ok, divided by 12 months, it comes out to 2,500.
take away about 500 a month in taxes, you're left with 2,000.
take away about another 200 a month for medical insurance, down to 1,800.
Gotta live somewhere right? Lets say 800 dollars on the mortgage (oh, and I'm going really ing low a mortgage here), so we're down to 1000.
Lets say the couple only owns one car, and it's paid off. so, form 1000 we'll take away 100 dollars a month for liability insurance and 100 for gas. down to 800 dollars.
You gotta eat, so we'll say about another 300 (
500 dollars left. , forgot about THE BILLS! 100 for a CPS bill, 50 dollars for a phone bill. We're poor, we're not going to have cable. Down to 350 for the month.
Ok, so I'm down to only 350, and I still haven't accounted for so much . Oh, and the stuff I did account for I undercutted immensely.
Yeah, not pretty. Not pretty at ALL.
They may not live on the upper North side but they have a "home", their kids are happy and they are happily married which to me is worth a lot more than making 60K a year. $50 for phone!?
$200 a month for medical insurance!? Are you crazy!? They have insurance from work.
You'd be surprised how many people live well making 30K a year.
And yet...you seem to be implicitly vilifying enthusiasm for schoolwork while you are complaining about implicit vilification of sports enthusiasm. If one is wrong, why not the other?
We can debate whether sports are overfunded or properly funded in relation to other things...but the fact remains that in absolute terms, more tax money goes to athletics than to other things. Sometimes a lot more, sometimes not. And there are complaints from the athletic "community" when they don't get all the money they'd like...and why does it go to all these other things anyway?
Because sports are funded higher in an absolute sense, they do get a higher level of scrutiny. And let's face it...there are some real wackos out there as coaches who draw lots of negative attention...negative attention that is magnified when their supporters actually praise some of the more egregious abuses.
You don't hear much about abuses in band/debate/choir/whatever because there isn't (relatively speaking) nearly as much there to abuse.
Dude, there are millions of people in this state, there are a lot of people that oppose EVERYTHING. But the support for HS sports is overwhelming and to think otherwise is simply wrong.
I sell insurance, I work in the insuranc business, and a 200 dollar employee contribution (trust me, it's more whne you pay it alone) for a policy covering the employee, spouse, and 2 children is LOW.
Phone lines cost about 50 dollars month.
800 dollars for a mortgage is LOW. And if you can't buy (and lets face it, at 30k a year, you probably can't) then your renting and paying at least that much for an apartment.
I'm not debating that you can live on 30k a year and support a family on it, my mother did. But to sit there and have you tell me that we lived well above the poverty level is idiocy. We didn't.
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