Hillbilly Larning

Once again I'm amazed that some of my students feel prepared to take college algebra. I gave them a worksheet the first day and told them if they felt uncomfortable with it, they should move back to the previous class. I told them that almost all people who couldn't do that worksheet coming into class failed, while almost all those coming from the previous class passed without much trouble. Why set yourself up for failure? When someone can't do simple multiplication, they aren't going to succeed in college algebra. That's just reality. They don't listen of course.

The reason they refuse to listen is of course obvious. They came from a high school around here.

 

If your monitor is good enough, the above is a fascinating read. Okay, it's not high school level, it's 6th grade English, but the grade on this paper was 100%. That really tells you all you need to know about the school systems around here. All long as they can report good numbers and get federal monies, everyone is happy. The students know that you're not allowed to fail them and act accordingly. For some reason college comes as a real shock to them. All those F's that suddenly appear for formerly straight A students. Of course it never occurs to anyone to blame the high schools. They're under local control and giving out A's. A sure sign they know how to do their jobs.

They're Back

The other day or night, some piece of hill trash decided it would be a good idea to come over and randomly flip circuit breakers in my fuse box. I guess the no trespassing signs aren't working anymore. I'd ask Mr. 12 Gauge to help with the problem, but I work, and my welfare king neighbors and their horde of feral kids don't. That gives them a decided advantage when it comes to malicious behavior.

I went to the sheriff to report the issue. Stupid me. I had at least hoped for maybe an increased law enforcement presence in my neighborhood, but no. It is not to be. I did get told by the officer at the desk that if I got evidence, I should go to the county attorney, and he could get an arrest warrant for me. I always thought the police were supposed to do that, but I guess in this era of budget cuts, I need to do my own investigations, get my own evidence, and obtain my own warrants. Why do we even have a police force?

The best part came when I tried to fill out a report. They couldn't find any forms, so they had me fill out the information on a post it note. For some reason that does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about the professionalism of the Clinton County Sheriff's Department.

And people wonder why I have almost nothing good to say about Appalachia.

WTF?

The high school has a new principal. The fact that the police found marijuana in her fridge a decade ago is apparently no bar to employment in the educational system of Clinton County, Kentucky. Admittedly, she claimed the drugs were her husband's and she had no knowledge of them. But, honestly, if the police found drugs in your fridge, would you be able to claim that excuse? If she's that clueless, that her husband can hide drugs in her fridge without her knowledge, does she really need to be a high school principal? WTF people.

Why?

Last week the college held convocation. This is where faculty and staff get together to start the new year off on a common footing. This year when I arrived I found a book waiting for me. Apparently, we're supposed to use this book in our courses to help bridge the gap between the various departments. Of course, that's what I got from asking around. No one in charge had actually told anyone anything, which is kind of normal. If the book were by Hawking or even some worthy literature like Dickens, I'd support the idea. This book however, while probably a good and decent book, was a mass market, self help type book. Okay, not quite what I think of when I think of college level, but I guess we're supposed to teach to the lowest common denominator rather than expecting excellence from our students.

The why moment came before lunch, when the program finished 30 minutes early and the guest speaker hadn't arrived yet. Since the college has a distributed campus structure and a service area approximately the size of Connecticut, this is the only time many of us see our colleagues. You'd think this would be a golden opportunity to discuss professional issues. Alas, the powers that be hate not filling all time with something. They think it's inefficient, or they won't be able to fill out the block on their form that says they were performing professional development at that time,  or something like that. So they started to read the book to us. Now I liked people reading to me in the 3rd grade, but now, I find it a might insulting. Granted they'd only read a little bit and then ask us to discuss, but come on people, I wouldn't treat my students like that. If they do, I've found the reason why our enrollment keeps dropping.

The bright spot in all this was that most of the faculty just ignored them and kept discussing matters which were actually important. Still, to think you need to impose so much control in a room of college educators is just mind boggling.

Can you say corruption boys and girls....

Once again, I've heard someone say that it's common knowledge that my street is known as the go to place for your pharmaceutical needs. I used to think that this was odd, since one of the major churches in the area is right across the street. Well, I used to think that until one of their deacons got nabbed for giving an unnecessary narcotic prescription to an undercover officer. He's still allowed to practice until it's all sorted out, but he can't write prescriptions for narcotics. His office used to be full all the time. Now it's a ghost town. I guess the cops were right on this one.

But, back to my street...

Right before the recent election, a lot of signs went up on my street supporting Jim Guffey for sheriff of Clinton county. I thought this was odd because a lot of the houses with signs were the type of place you'd associate with the drug crowd. I didn't think much more about it until after the election in January 2015. Immediately, there were a large number of drug busts, and none since. Amazingly, none of the arrests were on this street. Also, amazingly, once the election and the drug busts occurred traffic and anti-social activity picked up on this street. Even more amazing, or maybe not, the new sheriff refuses to even put a presence into this area. It's almost like he eliminated the competition for his buddies. Is it just incompetence or is it time to use the c word.

Amusingly, the discussion threads about the sheriff that appear on Albany Topix also get pulled within 24 hours, just like those of the county clerk. It's nice to know they have the free time to police a discussion board to protect their good names.

Can you say corruption boys and girls...

No Gays or Discussion Allowed

Clinton County Kentucky is one of the 3 Kentucky counties refusing to give out marriage certificates since the Supreme Court okay'd gay marriage. In Rowan county, the county clerk has a lawsuit going. In Casey, the county government made a statement disagreeing with the county clerk's position. In Clinton county, no one has said anything and people are not allowed to discuss the issue. That's right, no discussion allowed. A guilty pleasure of many people in small towns is a site called topix, where people can gossip about things online. Clinton County's is here:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/albany-ky

Since the Supreme Court decision, obviously, people have been wanting to post their views, but the posts about our county clerk are usually pulled within 24 hours. It seems that the Republican party in Clinton county has no use for dissenting opinion. Well, why not. They've effectively run this place like a third world pesthole of the haves and have nots for the last couple of centuries, why should they change now?

The amusing part about this, is how the Christians are coming out of the woodwork with prophecies of doom if same sex marriage is allowed. Think of the children. I'd be on their side if they could show me that their belief system had practical advantages, but I still remember how shocked I was on first arriving here when the school paperwork for my children never mentioned, mother, father, or parent. Simply, guardian. The reason being, there were so many children who had no idea who their father was and who were abandoned to live with grandparents or some other relative, that the words mother, father, and parent were considered offensive. Way to practice what you preach Appalachian Christians. I doubt a homosexual couple could do worse if they actually tried.

If You Can Take It, It's Your's

Appalachia has a greater degree of freedom than other parts of America. Unfortunately, it's not the freedom of independent individuals respecting each others rights to coexist. Rather, it's a total lack of equitable law enforcement. I say equitable, because how the law will respond to you will depend on who you are. For the most part, law enforcement officials here just want to be left alone.

While driving down a local road, I can across the following:

Now, I'm all for roadside produce stands. I just find it odd when they're actually in the road. Bear in mind that this is an actual road with actual traffic. I doesn't matter to your average Appalachian however. If the road is more convenient for them, the road it will be. Everyone else will just have to make due. It gets even more interesting when they have customers, since being Appalachians themselves, they just stop their cars and conduct business. Can you say third world way of thinking?

I would blame local law enforcement, but one of the favorite speed traps for the Kentucky State Police is within 100 meters on this road. I guess no one in Appalachia cares.

It does remind me of another story where a road between 2 neighboring counties was privatized. In one of the neighboring counties, there was 1 road that ran to a neighboring county. Without that road you had to run a circle through other counties. Strangely, trees were allowed to fall and block the road a couple of decades ago. No one thought that the county had the obligation to remove them, even though it is a county road and still listed on maps. It must be nice for the families that own farms there. Free maintenance of a private driveway several miles long, along with free utility upkeep over the same length of road. The really amazing part is it's on a straight run to a local tourist attraction. I guess someone got tired of all the traffic and had a talk with their buddy in county government. Mexico has nothing on this place.