Sociology Paper

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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:58 am

Hey guys!
It's been a few months since I've baited, but I'd like your cooperation. You see, I'm doing a paper on the living status and economy of Ghana since 1995.
Since that's one of our favorite hot spots of scammers, I was wondering what information I should throw into the paper. It's for a crazy-old-bat-nun prof, and she probably won't know what's what, so I'm planning on enjoying myself a little bit. Twisted Evil

Your help would be much loved!

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:55 am

Don't know much about Ghana myself, but do check the websites of School of Oriental and African Studies, London ... they're likely to point you to a lot of resources on that.

Will there be a trophy pic of your professor ? Laughing

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:33 pm

Oh, I am so tempted Very Happy

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:37 pm

Firstly what sort of info are you looking for.

Aid agencies and other non governmental development organisations should prove useful. Governmental websites of African and donor countries will be able to direct you to the officials with information. Special interest groups involved in West Africa would be another avenue.

I can't remember any details of the organisations. So a good place to start digging would be a travel guide. Lonely Planet has a good 'responsible' travel section which will lead you on to other sources of information. Check their website.

As for the trophy pic of the professor, get him to hold a sign agreeing to give you top marks no matter what. Useful for further research, if you see what I mean.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:54 pm

I sense there may be some confusion; this is for a paper at my college. The professor really is a crazy old bat nun. The paper is an "update" from a movie we watched about how the World Bank and IMF screwed some countries over, one of them being Ghana. I think I'm going to focus a lot on scamming because that's basically what most people do there to get a decent "wage".

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:57 pm

Shpadoinkle wrote:

I think I'm going to focus a lot on scamming because that's basically what most people do there to get a decent "wage".

This statement would be hard to prove.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:02 pm

But a lot of sources focus on that these days, in the news especially. Plus, I could use first-hand accounts of mine Smile

I'll talk about how much their lives suck because of demand for their goods dropping, the debts they have to pay, and such. I just have more to say about scamming because I know more about that than other things. Also, I don't think there would be so many classmates talking about that in their papers, and it's nice to have something different to put you "above and beyond." I know that's not necessarily fair, but that's the way this prof works.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:17 pm

My favorite mugu is from Ghana... I know they like tattoos, safaris and weird photos.

I think putting the scamming aspect would be really cool to add into your paper.

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:19 pm

Perhaps your professor would fancy a tattoo executed in his honor??

Bruin

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:25 pm

I would love to have a mugu with a tattoo of my prof's name or some fun like that, but I'm little miss procrastinator, and the paper's due tomorrow. Embarassed

I'm sure if I dig through the pictures long enough, I'll find some piece of gold to throw in at the end of my paper.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:35 am

Quote:

his honor??

Quote:

crazy-old-bat-nun

I don't think the church has become that liberal. The last I heard nuns are female.

Nice to see Shpadoinkle has some respect for people who are trying to teach them something of value. I'm sure MacDonalds is hiring. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:51 am

I suggest you type it in all caps and hope that spelling and grammar don't matter.

It lends a certain authenticity.

Always,
B. A. Ware

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:57 am

B.A. - Hahaha, love it!

Dr. Who- I usually do have respect for my profs. But this woman teaches us nothing. She rambles on about subjects that don't have anything to do with the class, then literally calls us stupid. Our generation has no vision; all we think about is tattoos. She calls us all idiots for not knowing why people step down from public offices in Chicago. "IT'S YOUR WORLD!" she yells at us every day. I really tried to respect her. I really did. But six hours a week with her have driven me insane. Trust me, I've had the most patience with her out of the entirety of the two classes I'm in that she teaches.
Also, I'd rather work in a corn field than McDonald's. Besides, I'm aiming to be Indiana Jones for a career. There are more Nazis in corn fields.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:04 am

Shpadoinkle wrote:

She rambles on about subjects that don't have anything to do with the class, then literally calls us stupid. Our generation has no vision; all we think about is tattoos. She calls us all idiots for not knowing why people step down from public offices in Chicago. "IT'S YOUR WORLD!" she yells at us every day. .

Hmmmmm, I like the sound of this woman Cool

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:15 am

Shpadoinkle wrote:

... She ... calls us stupid ...

Listen to her. Wink

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:21 am

Gnasher- Great! You could fill my seat for me for the rest of the semester! I'm sure she wouldn't notice Razz

Kleindoofy- I'm not stupid. *sniff* At least, I don't think I am....*runs off crying*

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:37 am

I'd like to hear her side of it. I'm not discounting she may be like what you say, but I have learned that reality changes based on who is doing the viewing. And based on the fact that you put this off until the last day, then asked people here to do half the work for you, and made the erroneous assumption that the main source of income in Ghana is scamming, I am suspicious of your description.

But seeing as how you will be paying for my social security in the future, I can wish you good luck. Smile

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:44 am

I'm the average college student here. Most people think I'm an overachiever for putting it off the day before. Many wait until a few hours before it's due. Papers I'm actually worried about I start a few days beforehand (like two research papers for finals in a couple weeks; I'll be starting those Monday (over a week in advance Very Happy

)) I know the description sounds out there, but she has actually said all of those things. I'm not one to exaggerate or put words in people's mouths. Just reporting the facts Smile

And I'm not asking for you guys to do the work. I was just seeing if there was anything you guys could conjure up that I might not have. I'm working my behind looking up sources right now. Le sigh.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:56 am

And I didn't mean to type "most" people scam. That's a common mistake of mine. I meant many. Lo siento. My fingers type faster than my brain works sometimes.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:00 am

You have restored my faith in the "me" generation. Nice to see that you are working to produce a paper that is fully demonstrative of your abilities. Although, the fact the average student waits until the last hour to produce it makes me wonder. I don't doubt your professor may have said those things, but context is everything. Judging by fact that your fellow classmates wait until the last minute to do a report still makes me think she may be right.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:06 am

For a lot of my fellow students in her classes, she is correct. They don't read and then won't answer her 4th grade level questions over the readings when they do read. I find it truly frustrating. But what I find to be just as frustrating is that she mocks us individually, regardless of how well we do in her class. Since I do read every word assigned (even if I stay up to the wee hours of the morning) and answer most (and I mean it this time Razz

) of her questions, it really makes me angry when she mocks me for not knowing what's going on in [enter random U.S. city here].

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:29 am

Well I guess if she's a Sociology Prof then she expects her students to have some awareness of what's going on elsewhere in the US, let alone the rest of the world if the issues have relevance to the subject she teaches. It used to be called 'enquiring minds' in my day and involved reading or being more widely informed than set texts for specific classes. But I was educated in an environment where our teachers were allowed to express their true opinion of our abilities and performance (or lack thereof) instead of telling us we were wonderful at everything for fear of damaging our self-esteem Rolling Eyes

My nephew recently came home from uni virtually in tears because he was told to turn up for class, do some &^@%# work and hand in assignments on time or he would, shock!, FAIL. I think it's the first time anyone challenged his huge sense of entitlement and his extremely high opinion of his ability (reinforced by his parents.... don't start me).

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:36 am

You know - - YOUR experiences do NOT count in a term paper. When you get your Ph.D. - THEN your experiences count.

As for professors being boring - well you know professors are trying to talk about a subject and give examples so you can understand it - so they often give their own experiences to help students.

Then students think professors are old bats and boring - yada yada - Put that on www.ratemyprofessors.com as that's the vent forum for professors you hate.

PLEASE try to focus your paper on something that's serious. Are you using APA style or the sociology style? If you want someone to read over your paper before you turn it in, PM me. If I have time, I will. I know the styles really well.

Anyway - PLEASE try to be serious about this term paper and don't be a "joke star"

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:44 am

Thing is, the classroom sessions are pointless, rarely talking about what we're supposed to be. And I'm taking 19 credit hours. Being a history major, it's not light reading. I read around 100 pages a night (and when those involve Herodotus and Thucydides, it takes a good long time), plus study for tests, type weekly papers, and practice for band. I don't have much time to watch the television or for a life outside of school. I love watching the news and arguing with the TV. It's a favorite past time of mine. My other classes are much more challenging than hers, it's just the way that she goes about teaching that bugs me so much.

Eliza- I am always serious on my papers, unless they give me room for creative writing (like for my class on Dante's Comedia). It's in APA. I know my experiences don't count for research, it's just I'm pulling from what I already know a lot about. I think that scamming being an accepted occupation says a lot about a country, and it's going to be something different from the other papers about Ghana in my class. Thank you bunches for offering to read over it! I probably won't put you through that, I'd feel horrible for taking up your time. I have lazy friends here that are good at grammar and papers that I can bother. Smile

Sorry kids (term of endearment, don't be offended), I vent a lot. It keeps me from being so stressed on papers and such Smile

Thanks for joking, thanks for helping, and thanks for trying to keep me in line! Much appreciated.

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:53 am

Refresh my memory please, I'm getting old and feeble. Who was it that said " education is wasted on the youth"? Cool