tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post1628367217590676413..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Friday Thirsty: Best Urban Legends? From Three Sigma.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34805757692761591502016-12-04T00:21:06.647-05:002016-12-04T00:21:06.647-05:00I've heard that one about at least three schoo...I've heard that one about at least three schools too.Three Sigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10822893039310439770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-2637234682566305932016-12-03T15:48:46.971-05:002016-12-03T15:48:46.971-05:00At some institutions I've seen the math requir...At some institutions I've seen the math requirement modified where a 1st year course has to be taken, but it need not necessarily be calculus (i.e. it could be algebra instead). I'm equally frustrated that I've seen 1st yr physics dropped at many unis as a requirement to complete a science degree.Prof Poopieheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997969128824319914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-26922961096639326242016-12-03T12:33:56.614-05:002016-12-03T12:33:56.614-05:00There was a pretty common one on the campuses of h...There was a pretty common one on the campuses of highly-competitive schools during my undergrad years (at least if the results of comparing notes with grad-school classmates can be trusted) that if your roommate committed suicide, you'd get all As than semester. That one always seemed a bit dangerous to me. <br /><br />It has presumably died out by now, if for no other reason than that mostContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-59176173058624131522016-12-03T12:30:46.310-05:002016-12-03T12:30:46.310-05:00Hah! I've never heard that one (not even on th...Hah! I've never heard that one (not even on the campus where the library is a memorial to a victim of the Titanic). Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8412853635796686792016-12-03T11:21:40.866-05:002016-12-03T11:21:40.866-05:00"at the time, taking calculus was a required ..."at the time, taking calculus was a required course for ANY science degree..." where is it not and for which science degree? Is this an American thing? Vog3lfr3ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07498874776211940606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-71333344093144793832016-12-02T19:47:12.960-05:002016-12-02T19:47:12.960-05:00Yup, we had it at Northwestern, too. That the libr...Yup, we had it at Northwestern, too. That the library was built on lakefill was a twist to the story: the "soft" lakebed was invariably mentioned. That the roof leaks near the ground-floor entrance was widely cited as evidence.<br /><br />Imagine my surprise when I visited U. of Illinois, and heard that their library was sinking, and for exactly the same reason! Hmmm, must've been Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-44542670665185223642016-12-02T19:44:11.490-05:002016-12-02T19:44:11.490-05:00An old favorite is why there is no Nobel prize in ...An old favorite is why there is no Nobel prize in mathematics: because Mrs. Nobel was sleeping with a mathematician, often said to be Gosta Mittag-Loeffler. This cannot possibly be true, because Nobel never married. He did have a girlfriend, a Viennese woman named Sophie Hess, who lived in Paris, but it is doubtful that she ever met Mittag-Loeffler, since he lived in Sweden, and travel was more Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-33737735978551353592016-12-02T19:01:06.902-05:002016-12-02T19:01:06.902-05:00Prof throws essays down the stairs. The highest on...Prof throws essays down the stairs. The highest ones get the As, and so on down. This is real. But he wasn't a total dick about it. If any student questioned the grade he would actually read it and grade accordingly. But this only happened five or so times a semester.<br /><br />Then there's the old multiple-page test that begins "Read the entire test before beginning," and Torquemada in Trainingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29572461475286616372016-12-02T15:33:34.825-05:002016-12-02T15:33:34.825-05:00Why? Why not? Or because
Why? Why not? Or because <br />TubaPlayingProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06524484569241433720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62507909247529562222016-12-02T15:24:38.825-05:002016-12-02T15:24:38.825-05:00First year calculus final exam (at the time, takin...First year calculus final exam (at the time, taking calculus was a required course for ANY science degree...), 1 or 2 hours in a student stands up on their chair and starts yelling "I'm an integral!" and with an arm and a leg makes an 'S' shape to their body, mimicking an integral. They keep doing this, yelling out "I'm an integral! I'm an integral!" Prof Poopieheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997969128824319914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9343161244325278732016-12-02T15:13:46.390-05:002016-12-02T15:13:46.390-05:00Professor is teaching behaviorism. The students p...Professor is teaching behaviorism. The students pick up on the lesson, and begin paying close attention to him when he stands on one side of the room, and staring at their phones or at the clock when he stands on another side. He begins teaching only on one side of the room. By the end of the term, they have trained him to stand in the wastebasket. Prof Chiltepinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-71860210281661198612016-12-02T15:08:31.808-05:002016-12-02T15:08:31.808-05:00The library was designed by the finest architects ...The library was designed by the finest architects in the world--who utterly neglected to account for the weight of books. When they moved all the books into the new building, it sank two inches!<br /><br />When I was in high school we heard this touring an Ivy and I was agog, until my dad told me they told the same story back in his day, at Syracuse.Curly Charlannoreply@blogger.com