本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛我敲中文很慢。胡乱写了一些。尽量看吧。以后我有时间再整理。
# The man sitting at the corner of coffee store
My friend and I walked into a Second Cup coffee store located on Yonge Street, the busy hub of the metro city. We decided to talk over coffee to catch up with each other. While my friend was waiting for two cups of coffee for us, I went to find an empty small desk for us. I find a desk at the wall side. While I was taking off my winter coat, I glimpsed over the book an old man was reading "The American trajectory". As a Chinese immigrant, I ask the old man reading the book, "what does 'trajectory' word means?". He replied "the word means history path. I am reading books and going to write a book about American history." This conversation broken the ice, and lead to more conversation with the old man to understand his personal stories.
The man is now 70 years old. He originated from India. He went to study in Oxford University. He got his PHD degree in Sociology and Philosophy field at age 23. He married a French woman. He selected to come to Canada because his wife is a French and he wanted to move a country which speaks both English and French.
He started to teach in Trend University in Pittersborough Ontario at age 24. He was assistant professor for 4 years, then associated professor for 12 years, then full professor till he retired at age 66. His total teaching experience is 43 years in a couple of universities.
I asked what criteria are used to decide a university professor promotion. he replied "some from teaching marks, another from academic research and conferences, the rest is something else.". This topic opened his conversation gate about today's university education system. he said "today's university education system is corrupted. because students pay high amount of tuitions, the professors income comes from students payment. Even though some student should not be allowed to be graduated because of their low grades, but some professors feel obligated to give easy marks to help them graduate with degrees. ". "Decades ago, university education was free. It was very competitive to get admitted into university. but today's university education is easy to get admitted, and easy to get graduated. ". Obviously, this veteran professor is grumpy about today's university education system... it is all about money business. He said "I never gave easy marks to those students who should fail. I gave high marks to a few top students, average marks to most average students, and just fail those few students who did poorly in courses. "
This is not the first time I heard a professor complain about the university education is a money business, and today's university students graduation quality.
I asked "why he prefers to read books and do work in coffee store, instead of at his own home". He replied "my home office is cluttered. There are piles of papers all over his work desk. there is no space for him to put down a book to read. Also he does not want to be distracted by the phone calls. ". He did not bring his cell phone when he came to read and work in coffee store.
When he got up to fill up his second cup of tea, I observed him. His is a plain looking, average built man. He does not stand out in the crowd. but when I start to talk to him face to face, I can see the wisdom and intelligent sparks naturally flow out of his face. His face is amicable, kind and happy. his eyes have sparks.
In the same coffee store, I noticed another ~70 years old man was doing reading and work at another side of desk. From the look, I guess the other man is perhaps another retired university professor. Both of them are definitely not a retired manager or director from management. Persons retired from academy research and from management has different after-retirement lives.
This is something I was impressed this weekend.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
# The man sitting at the corner of coffee store
My friend and I walked into a Second Cup coffee store located on Yonge Street, the busy hub of the metro city. We decided to talk over coffee to catch up with each other. While my friend was waiting for two cups of coffee for us, I went to find an empty small desk for us. I find a desk at the wall side. While I was taking off my winter coat, I glimpsed over the book an old man was reading "The American trajectory". As a Chinese immigrant, I ask the old man reading the book, "what does 'trajectory' word means?". He replied "the word means history path. I am reading books and going to write a book about American history." This conversation broken the ice, and lead to more conversation with the old man to understand his personal stories.
The man is now 70 years old. He originated from India. He went to study in Oxford University. He got his PHD degree in Sociology and Philosophy field at age 23. He married a French woman. He selected to come to Canada because his wife is a French and he wanted to move a country which speaks both English and French.
He started to teach in Trend University in Pittersborough Ontario at age 24. He was assistant professor for 4 years, then associated professor for 12 years, then full professor till he retired at age 66. His total teaching experience is 43 years in a couple of universities.
I asked what criteria are used to decide a university professor promotion. he replied "some from teaching marks, another from academic research and conferences, the rest is something else.". This topic opened his conversation gate about today's university education system. he said "today's university education system is corrupted. because students pay high amount of tuitions, the professors income comes from students payment. Even though some student should not be allowed to be graduated because of their low grades, but some professors feel obligated to give easy marks to help them graduate with degrees. ". "Decades ago, university education was free. It was very competitive to get admitted into university. but today's university education is easy to get admitted, and easy to get graduated. ". Obviously, this veteran professor is grumpy about today's university education system... it is all about money business. He said "I never gave easy marks to those students who should fail. I gave high marks to a few top students, average marks to most average students, and just fail those few students who did poorly in courses. "
This is not the first time I heard a professor complain about the university education is a money business, and today's university students graduation quality.
I asked "why he prefers to read books and do work in coffee store, instead of at his own home". He replied "my home office is cluttered. There are piles of papers all over his work desk. there is no space for him to put down a book to read. Also he does not want to be distracted by the phone calls. ". He did not bring his cell phone when he came to read and work in coffee store.
When he got up to fill up his second cup of tea, I observed him. His is a plain looking, average built man. He does not stand out in the crowd. but when I start to talk to him face to face, I can see the wisdom and intelligent sparks naturally flow out of his face. His face is amicable, kind and happy. his eyes have sparks.
In the same coffee store, I noticed another ~70 years old man was doing reading and work at another side of desk. From the look, I guess the other man is perhaps another retired university professor. Both of them are definitely not a retired manager or director from management. Persons retired from academy research and from management has different after-retirement lives.
This is something I was impressed this weekend.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net