Robin Williams (1951-2014): In the Role of a Great Teacher

A pall of melancholy has descended over the nation, and perhaps the world, over actor Robin Williams’s death at the age of 63.

This irrepressible, gregarious yet lonely, man who made us laugh and cry and brought us in touch with our humanity through several memorable performances will be impossible to replace. He was truly a sui generis, and the heart is inconsolable at the way he left the earth. The comic who chased our blues away could not chase away his own demons.

Lost in the adulation and tributes is any reflection on the role a community college played in Williams’s formative years.

Robin Williams was a student at the College of Marin (COM), one of California’s 112 community colleges comprising 72 districts and serving over 2.6 million students.

From 1970-1973, he was active in the Drama Department at COM’s Kentfield campus.

Studying as a classical actor, he appeared in the college productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, the Wild West version of Taming of the Shrew and Oliver, among others.

He was a protégé of the celebrated director James Dunn, a COM graduate who founded the college’s drama department in 1964. As Mr. Dunn recalled on learning of Williams’s passing: “I first knew he was more talented than the other kids when he played Fagin in 'Oliver!' We were having light board issues and by midnight had only made it through half the musical. At one point he started talking to a baton he was carrying, and the baton talked back. It cut the tension and he had people laughing in hysterics. I remember calling my wife at 2 a.m. and telling her that this young man was going to be something special.”

While his brilliant, protean roles as an actor will be analyzed and cherished for decades to come, Williams’s insight into what constitutes effective teaching should be studied by teachers everywhere.

At a time when teachers are under siege by the education-industrial complex, Robin Williams taught teachers how to remain true to their calling through performances in movies such as Dead Poets Society (1989) and Good Will Hunting (1997).

As a floppy-haired English professor in Dead Poets Society, Williams pulled out all the stops to get his stuffy, boarding school students excited over the wonders of poetry, and of life. Anyone questioning the employable value of a degree in English poetry is bound to be swept away by the manic energy Williams infused into his character. “In my class you will learn to think for yourselves again,” bellows Williams to his class. “You will learn to savor words and language.”

What comes through with blinding clarity at the end of his performance is the awareness that poetry and literature, if properly taught, can transform us into questioning, civilized and empathetic human beings.

Note to English professors everywhere: Bring up Dead Poets Society on your laptop, savor it one more time and then face your students refreshed and rejuvenated.

In 1993, Alison King, an associate professor of education in the College of Education at California State University in San Marcos, wrote an influential article in the journal College Teaching titled “From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side.”

“In most college classrooms, the professor lectures and the students listen and take notes,” she began her article. “The professor is the central figure, the “sage on the stage,” the one who has the knowledge and transmits that knowledge to the students, who simply memorize the information and later reproduce it on an exam – often without even thinking about it.”

She proposed replacing this passive and useless model with one of “active learning” where students take charge of their own learning, thereby taking center stage while teachers become the “guide on the side.”

In many of his hyper-kinetic roles, Williams personified the “sage on the stage” model but in Good Will Hunting, he was the “guide on the side” par excellence, the kind we all dream for as we tried to grope our way toward a meaningful life.

Will Hunting is a janitor at MIT who also happens to have prodigious gifts in math and chemistry. He is unaware that his gifts can rescue from his rough upbringing in South Boston and his frequent brushes with the law. Until, that is, he meets his guide and soul mate, the therapist Sean Maguire.

The rest, as they say, is cinematic history.

Mainstream media will provide us with all the data we need of Robin Williams’s work in theatre, TV and film. What we need to discover on our own, as we revisit his various roles, is his humanity and his indelible model of a great teacher.

Wanted: "A Most Wanted Man" (Movie Review)

It is spooky how John le Carre’s portrayal of spies and spy agencies so unerringly plays out in real life. Beginning with “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1965), through the Smiley saga, including the incomparable “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” (1974), to “A Perfect Spy” (1986), “The Russia House” (1990), “The Tailor of Panama” (2001), and several more, le Carre (pen name of David Moore John Cornwall) explores with shattering effect the moral ambiguity and arrogance of those who set out “to make the world a safer place” but fail disastrously and, more ominously, with no accountability.

The movie adaptation of his 2008 novel, “A Most Wanted Man,” builds on le Carre’s reputation. It is as good as “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” the post-9/11 era replacing the cold war.

Shot in Hamburg, Germany, against the subtext of Mohammed Atta and his fellow conspirators who lived in the city while they plotted 9/11, director Anton Corbijn’s tense and demanding film faithfully conveys le Carre’s recurring theme, that those charged with protecting the innocent are the first to use them as pawns and then fatally betray them.

Seen in the light of Edward Snowden’s revelations of indiscriminate spying by NSA on citizens, lawmakers and heads of state, ‘A Most Wanted Man’ makes for a chilling movie experience.

Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) is a tortured and traumatized young Chechen Muslim with haunting eyes who enters Hamburg illegally by sea. He has no identification papers other than a cryptic letter entitling him to millions of dollars from an international bank. The money is an inheritance from his father, a Russian gangster “killed in action.”

What is the real reason for the bearded, stateless Chechen, whom Interpol has identified as an escaped militant jihadist, ending up at Hamburg? The Germans are particularly sensitive about preventing another 9/11 being masterminded from their gritty city.

There is only one way to find out, and that is to track Issa round the clock.

The responsibility falls on Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), chief of Hamburg’s counter-terrorism squad, the Foreign Acquisitions Unit. Bachmann is a relic, a gruff patriot who has no family ties, no real friends, only a single-minded obsession to nail any potential post-9/11 terrorist.

Annabel Richter, an altruistic immigration lawyer (Rachel McAdams) and head of an organization called Sanctuary North, takes up Issa’s case, determined to hold the law to its letter that anyone is innocent until proven guilty. Thomas Brue, the banker responsible for authenticating Issa’s claim to fortune (Willem Dafoe), bends to Bachmann’s pressure and wears a wire while interviewing Issa.

In this shadowy world where nuance is everything, there is little explicit violence but each scene – rain-soaked streets, trains, ferries, decadent diners, shipyards, the impersonal financial district, minority ghettos - is rife with suggestion of something about to go horribly awry. It is easy to imagine that Hamburg is a city where sinister plots can be hatched to bring the world to its knees.

Issa is a devout Muslim. (The prayer scenes are telling). He is not after his inheritance money for himself: He only wants to distribute it to legitimate charities to bring a modicum of happiness to oppressed, hapless Muslims.

Bachmann and his team want Issa to get his money, convinced that it will eventually lead them to the terror-leaders and arms-dealing groups operating in Hamburg. But Martha Sullivan, the CIA chief stationed in Germany (Robin Wright), and Bachmann’s heartless, Manichaean superiors in Germany’s intelligence service and the interior ministry have different ideas. They pretend to let Bachmann have his way, knowing that, in the end, they will be the ones calling the shots.

Bachmann entices the leader of Hamburg’s Muslim community, Dr. Faisal Abdullah (Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi) and a fundraiser for moderate Islam, into making a terrible mistake in the distribution of Issa’s inheritance money to Muslim charities. At the last minute, however, Bachmann’s superiors move in and derail his meticulously-planned course of action. You can feel the heat of le Carre’s moral anger emanating from the screen at the deception and treachery of those responsible for upholding the rule of law.

The movie is particularly poignant in that it was Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last full-length work: The gifted actor took his own life after succumbing to his inner demons a few months after the movie was completed. “There is something about that story that spoke to me about where I am now in my life, though it’s not something I could really put into words,” Hoffman said about le Carre’s novel. “I read it and saw myself in it somehow. It’s about being in the middle of your life. It’s as much a story about that, than all of the other things. It’s about a man really confronted with what he’s passionate about pursuing and what that’s done to him.”

We live in dangerous and uncertain times. ‘A Most Wanted Man’ captures the zeitgeist as only a master storyteller like John le Carre can. This taut thriller is a movie to see and to reflect on, and to realize that for people at the top, ideas of right and wrong are malleable and will always remain elusive.

Finding Purpose in Life

Nichole is a student at San Jose City College. She is also on-call in the OBGYN department at a Kaiser hospital. She hopes to transfer to UCLA in the Fall of 2014 to major as a family nurse practitioner.

All the classes she has been taking at City College have helped her in specific ways. “My psychology courses have enabled me to better understand the mind, rather just putting a label on someone with a problem. My math courses have broadened my knowledge and have allowed me to feel more confident with my calculations with medications. But more than the classes, it is the discipline of time management I have acquired as a student that has helped me the most. Students often complain that they don’t have time to do anything extra, like volunteering at a hospital, but developing a routine can help you do that. This is what has helped me continue with my studies and still find time to volunteer.”

But Nichole has gone further than volunteering at a local hospital. Between semesters at City College, she has been traveling to Peru as a medical volunteer. Currently she is part of two organizations – “International Volunteer Headquarters” and “Go Abroad.” She works in clinics and small hospitals, focused mostly on low-income families. Compared to hospitals in America, hospitals in Peru are run-down and their level of infection control is very poor. “I have been able to demonstrate to hospital staff better ways of controlling infection. I have also participated in an outreach program to provide healthcare to poor pregnant women. They face tremendous challenges, so offering them emotional support has also been a significant part of what I do.”

Nichole first began volunteering in Peru in December of 2013. She travels to Peru every 2-3 months and spends about 3-5 weeks at a time there. (She leaves for Peru at the end of the month after completing a summer statistics class at City College.) She uses her volunteer time to hone her expertise and prepare for state exams, while helping those who most desperately need medical help.

Peru is a poor country. 75% of the population would be labeled low-income or poor by U.S. standards. She mainly volunteers her time around Lima. Nichole is fluent in Spanish. In one of her first encounters, she worked with a pregnant woman who had been abused. At the time of her admittance, the clinic was very busy and she had to wait for an hour. “Just by listening to her, I was able to bring a smile to her face. I will never forget that. Being the medical field, we rush so much we fail to see the humanity of patients. Volunteering in Peru has definitely helped me see patients as people, not as checkmarks. Another experience I will never forget was waiting with a 4-year-old girl while her mother was delivering a boy. In the time I waited with this little girl, I was able to teach her to count from 1-10 and write her name!”

“But overall, the most life-changing experience for me has been in assisting children with cancer. These children would come to the clinic about 3 to 5 times a week to receive their treatments. You wouldn’t know by looking at them that they were facing death. They were filled with such joy at the most simple pleasures of life! If children so young could have such positive attitudes in what was often end-stage diagnoses, how could I, or for that matter, anyone, complain about the trivial stuffs of life? I learned perspective from these children that I would never have learned had I stayed in my own comfortable cocoon!”

As to why she does what she does in Peru, Nichole says a better question would be “why not?” “Like many 22-year-old college students, I rarely used to think about how our experiences shape us. We are busy with fun and friends and thinking beyond the following week is not a priority. So when I volunteered my time in Peru, I couldn’t imagine how the experience would shape my life. I would not be the person I am today had I not traveled to Peru to help poor women and kids with my medical know-how that I acquired here in California. I have learned how to be childlike by witnessing the resilience of street children in Lima. I have seen the joy and gratitude of people who have nothing in life. Being in Peru has made me realize how much impact I can have just by giving a few minutes of my time. I have become a better listener. I have found time for soul-searching. I have learned that when you truly give of yourself, you get infinitely more in return.”

Improbable Events, Statistics and World Cup 2014

Brazil will be hard-pressed to defeat Germany without Neymar, its star striker, in the World Cup semi-finals on June 8.

Improbable, however, doesn’t mean impossible. With Neymar, Brazil’s chances of winning was good. In his absence, the probability of winning has dipped significantly but it hasn’t become zero either.

Brazil will be looking for inspiration to 1962 when the World Cup was held in Chile. The team had lost its wunderkind, a brash young player named Pele, who had torn a thigh muscle midway through the first half of the Brazil's second game in Chile, a 0-0 draw with the Czechs. His replacement, a 22-year-old player named Amarildo, scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Spain in their next match and another in the final against Czechoslovakia that Brazil won 3-1.

Dribbling genius Garrincha was another who took up the slack, scoring four goals in the next three games as Brazil beat England, Chile and Czechoslovakia again to win their second World Cup in a row.

The question is: Is there anyone in the current Brazilian squad who can take up the roles of Amarildo and Garrincha?

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has hinted in training that midfielder Willian is his choice to replace Neymar against Germany. Other options include Ramires, Bernard and Hernanes. Brazil’s woes are compounded by the fact that captain Thiago Silva, the team’s defensive leader, collected his second yellow card against Colombia and will be forced to sit out the game against Germany.

Sentimental favorite Brazil should win against the machine-like and relentless Germans. If the claim is made that Brazil will win even in Neymar’s absence, the null hypothesis says, no, Brazil will lose. The alternative hypothesis, of course, is what the claim says: Brazil will win.

So here’s hoping that the Null will be rejected. Let’s hope p-value is less than 0.05 or even 0.01.

None of the players expected to take up the slack in Neymar’s absence – Willian, Ramires, Bernard or Hermanes – are anywhere close to the wizardry of Amarildo or Garrincha.

But Brazil is hosting the World Cup. It should come down to a question of mind over matter, or flair and finesse over physicality and stamina.

Let justice prevail: Brazil over Germany!

As for Argentina against Holland, this is a chance for Lionel to cement his legacy. If Messi can deliver and help Argentina win over Robben and company, he will be compared favorably with Maradona even in Argentina. The Dutch are relentless like the Germans but they also given to frequent dives and theatrics. Justice again please: Argentina over Holland!

Brazil against Argentina in the finals, now that's a match for the centuries!

Costa Rica Inspires at World Cup 2014

In football’s firmament, Costa Rica is considered a faint star, barely visible next to the supposedly glowing stars of Italy, Uruguay and England.

Someone clearly forgot to mention that to the plucky, never-give-up Costa Ricans in the 2014 World Cup, currently in progress in Brazil.

Whatever may happen in the next phase of the tournament for the team from the tiny nation, the Ticos (formally, Costarricenses) have shown that they can outrun, outfight and out-strategize the best teams in the world, and do it with verve and style.

A nation of about 5 million with a landmass of about 20,000 sq. mi, Costa Rica nurtures a well-deserved reputation for its progressive environmental policies, the only country in the world to meet all five criteria for measuring environmental sustainability. It constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949 and has consistently been among top-ranking countries in the Human Development Index.

Is it any wonder that out of a nation of enlightened government come a team of energetic Davids ready to vanquish football’s Goliaths?

Not so fast, you say. There is no proof of any correlation between good governance and football prowess. Besides, this is only the first stage of group games. Next is the knockout phase where anything can result from a maddening combination of luck, pluck, bad and good calls and that x-factor, the intestinal fire to win.

But that’s beside the point. The Ticos have already shown that they can take on the best by believing in themselves, working hard and seizing opportunities whenever they present themselves. They have no superstars, no Messis and Neymars, yet as a cohesive team they are as solid in the back and fluid in the front as any team in the world.

They were in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ and now they are the ones most alive in that group.

We are too focused on name brands and so lose sight of genuine wonders. Costa Rica has so far been the wonder of World Cup 2014. When they beat Uruguay (champions in 1930, 1950) 3-1 in Arena Castelao in Fortaleza and Italy (champions in 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) 1-0 in Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, they taught the world one thing: the unheralded can beat the celebrated through fearless, attacking football.

On June 24, the Ticos take on England, a mere formality, since England is already out, having lost both to Italy and Uruguay. If any team deserves pity and scorn in equal measures, it is England’s Three Lions, the most overrated and hyped team in history. To call these “lions” lambs would be to insult lambs. While Costa Rica should play to win on June 24, it should conserve its energy for the next phase and happily settle for a draw.

Costa Rica’s performance lends itself to academic lessons. If Brazil, Argentina, Holland and Germany represent Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley and, say, Caltech, Costa Rica represents a community college. Yet community college students need not feel inferior to students from these elite universities. Through grit, focus and faith in themselves, they can compete with the ivy-league educated students in any field.

On July 23, when two teams compete for football supremacy in the World Cup 2014 final, Costa Rica is unlikely to be one of those two.

But that will not in any way diminish what the tiny nation has already accomplished: They can compete with the best and win.

So, if you are a community college student and you are competing for a job with a Stanford or a Harvard graduate, don’t give up. Prepare for it, give it your best shot and the job can be yours.

Of Teachers and Footballers

Brazil is reeling from strikes, protest marches and simmering resentments over horrendous wealth and income inequality as it hosts teams from 32 countries and stages the planet’s largest sporting event: World Cup Football.

Brazil has so far spent an estimated $11 billion dollars to build stadiums and make ready the twelve cities where the matches will be played. Reports of outrageous bribery and corruption have left the population bitter and angry.

Among thousands of protesters throughout Brazil, one group stood out with its poignant chants and banners: About 200 striking school teachers who were demanding a 20 percent salary increase just to make ends meet. Their chant: "An educator is worth more than Neymar."

Neymar refers to Brazil’s 22-year-old star striker whose exceptional speed and dribbling ability have vaulted him into Football’s elite players. The Spanish Club Barcelona is reputed to have paid his Brazilian club Santos a staggering $138 million transfer fee to play in the Spanish league.

Forget, for a moment, Neymar’s transfer fee and just focus on his annual income. According to Forbes, Neymar pulled in a cool $20 million in the last 12 month through salary, bonus and endorsements.

Let’s put this in perspective.

Based on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and national statistics agencies, the average annual salary of a Brazilian teacher is estimated to be $18,550.

From a purely monetary point of view, a Brazilian school teacher will have to work for over one thousand years to equal Neymar’s earnings! Equivalently, assuming that his earning remains constant (in fact, bonuses and endorsements increase yearly as a player’s star rises), Neymar earns the combined salary of over a thousand school teachers every year.

So the chant, “An educator is worth more than Neymar,” can only be metaphorically true.

How so?

Teachers shape minds, fire imagination, unleash creativity. Who can predict what their students will create and explore and discover? The magic of their creations and discoveries can transform the world. At least the possibility is there, and it is this elusive possibility that inspires teachers to pursue their passion in spite of society’s indifference to their remuneration. They are held in high regards, for sure, as high as doctors and engineers perhaps, but any society that is comfortable with teachers earning a small fraction of what doctors and engineers earn is a society rife with hypocrisy.

So yes, an educator is worth more than Neymar any day of the year, even if that educator struggles to put food on the table for his family.

If Brazil can win the World Cup (although it won the Cup 5 times, more than any other country, its last victory came in 2002), it is likely that the seething discontent of its football-crazed people will dissipate and some genuine economic, social and political progress will emerge.

If, on the other hand, Brazil makes an early exit from the joga bonito, riots and strikes can break out from the favelas and beyond and engulf the country. This will be particularly problematic considering that the summer 2016 Olympics is expected to be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 5-21.

It is against this frightening possibility that Neymar da Silva Santos Junior and company will have to fight as the green-and-yellow team embarks on its fateful journey on June 12. If the Brazilians can bring the Cup home, even the teachers, at least for the time being, may be inclined to overlook the inequality that has riven this fun-loving country.

Teachers Who Transform

What qualities mark a teacher exceptional, one who transforms the lives of students and whose influence students may recognize immediately or years later?

A great teacher knows that students are unable to understand everything he teaches. His lectures contain content that are beyond the grasp of even the smartest kids in the class.  But he knows that such content can fire the imagination.

Such a teacher has not only passion for his subject, he also has the skills to move fluently between disciplines, to give examples from literature when teaching math, say, or poetry when teaching physics. For him, cross-pollination of ideas is critical to making his content come alive. He can make connections. The possibility of serendipity propels him.

This teacher knows that her teaching is more about students than about herself, but while she is not ‘the sage on the stage,’ neither is she a mere ‘guide by the side.’ Whatever it takes to stretch the minds of her students, she does. If it means going against the conventional order of content, so be it. If it means touching lightly on a tangential topic, with fuller explanations to come later or maybe never, that’s the way it is. The transformational teacher is non-linear rather than linear.

A memorable teacher never relies on her reputation, however exalted it may be, for she knows that she has to earn her wings every time she enters a classroom. Each class is a fresh start, even if she has been teaching that class for decades. She has abiding respect for her students, and so she prepares her lectures carefully, always seeking new angles to old materials.

The great teacher takes to heart what the English historian Edward Gibbon said: "The power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous.” In other words, after listening to such a teacher, a student feels as if the content is the most natural and logical thing in the world and that he knew it all along. It is interesting to note that the legendary physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988) quoted Gibbon in his preface to “The Feynman Lectures on Physics.”

This teacher – among the rarest of breeds - can be serious without being solemn. There is an element of playfulness in his teaching and in the way he uses humor to leaven formulas and formalism and, most importantly, to put his students at ease so they can use the full power of their minds. Under his guidance, students find the inner resources to ask deep questions and experiment on their own.

“Education is not the filling of a pail,” said the poet William Butler Yeats, “but the lighting of a fire.” Students lucky enough to come in contact with a great teacher know exactly what Yeats meant. They develop new ways of seeing and thinking. They are open to surprises. They discover a more wondrous world beyond their smart gadgets. After graduation, they are more likely to solve problems that will make a difference in people’s lives than becoming rich through a corporate job or by managing other people’s money.

The great teacher rejects teaching fads seasonally served up by ‘experts’ who have never stepped into a class. Teaching to the test or teaching to the core or teaching to this or to that are meaningless phrases for her. She can ignore the fads and the buzzwords because she studies her students meticulously and intuitively, most of them anyway, and so knows how to put the spark in their minds, how to kindle their creativity and sense of wonder. Even with the inroads technology has made into education and all the ‘big data’ analysis of ‘effective teaching methodologies,’ she knows that teaching will remain an art and not a science.

An extraordinary teacher is also a radical, a revolutionary. He shakes things up. He challenges students to question accepted beliefs. He encourages them to cross intellectual boundaries. He disturbs their universe. He mixes relevance with danger. He is tough without being trying, supportive without being sentimental. His expectations are high, just as his tolerance for shoddy work and knuckleheads low. His greatest pleasure is in seeing students embark on intellectual journeys on their own. His focus is not exactly on knowledge - that can bud later - but on enduring curiosity. Because passivity is the killer of intellectual inquiry, he peppers his students with questions and then demands that they pepper him with questions. He helps them reinvent themselves as they discover hidden treasures of their minds. He shows the sky to students trapped in the bottom of a well.

A great teacher removes the fear of failure from his students. He inspires them to try things out as a beginner because that is the key to unlocking creativity. Whatever emotions a student may experience in his class, boredom is not one of them. Disturbed, agitated, uncertain, falling off the cliff maybe, but dull? Never!

Everyone should know a transformational teacher, someone who can light a fire and reveal a universe. It doesn’t happen, of course, but for those lucky students for whom it does, they should spread the word so that other well-meaning teachers can learn from them and emulate them. 

No amount of ‘educational reform to prepare our students for the 21^st century’ sloganeering will make a dent in our broken educational system. For the truly dedicated, teaching is a calling and it is these few who can show us the way.

Rescuing Abducted Nigerian Girls and Defeating Boko Haram

A Silicon Valley “Bring Back Our Girls” vigil for the missing girls in Nigeria was recently held at the Lytton Plaza in Palo Alto, in the vicinity of Stanford University. Organized by Sally Lieber, former California State Assemblywoman, and by Nigerian and American activists, the vigil drew over 100 participants, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In his opening remark, American-Nigerian Chike Nwoffiah, an educator and theater director who has lived in Silicon Valley for 25 years, condemned Boko Haram for abducting 276 school girls in Northern Nigeria. “We have to claim these girls who are our daughters, because indeed they are our daughters. This horrific event must serve as a community awakening for all of us.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson exhorted the gathering to work for the release of the girls but also pointed out that the issue had several dimensions. “The United States has to come up with an enlightened Africa policy,” he said. Because we lack a policy, “we missed Rwanda, Congo, Liberia, Egypt. One-eighth of the human race lives in Africa. They are not foreigners. They are our neighbors. Boko Haram has engaged in terrorism for years, resulting in the deaths of at least 8,000 Nigerians. Someone is supplying them with weapons and even uniforms. This has got to be stopped.” He urged his listeners not to underestimate their power. “I am big and I matter,” he repeated and the audience took up the refrain. “Boko Haram has perverted Islam,” said the Rev. “Muslim scholars have unconditionally condemned the group. The organization has no sanctity in Islam. The KKK claims that they are Christians. Are they Christians?”

Hon. LaDoris Cordell, Former Mayor of Palo Alto and Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge, reminded the rally that insecure, ignorant, sexist men of the world are afraid of educated girls. Boko Haram has a deep-seated fear of women with education. Forced and early marriage goes hand in hand with sex-trafficking. Worldwide, 27% of sex-traffic victims are children. There are over 1.2 million children trapped in sex-trafficking. There are 230 million children in the world without any birth certificates which makes them easy targets for sex enslavement.

She identified four steps to defeat Boko Haram:

• Stick it to Boko Haram by contributing to the education of Nigerian girls. One website she singled out was http://www.camfed.org (campaign for female education).
• Use social media to generate pressure on the United Nations to declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization.
•  Encourage our Muslim friends and organizations to step up. (At this point I stood up and pointed out to the gathering that my wife and I, along with several Silicon valley Muslims, had left work early to join the rally, that we had voiced our condemnation of Boko Haram when the story broke, and that we were more outraged than most because Boko Haram was committing atrocities in the name of Islam when, in fact, they were nothing but criminals and murderers. After a few moments of silence, people broke into applause!)
• Organize rallies in every city as we are doing in Palo Alto. This will embolden activists worldwide.

Boko Haram consists of criminals who are mortally afraid of the light of education, particularly female education, because it threatens to drive away the darkness of ignorance in which they thrive. The group misses the irony of its name, for it is not western education that is forbidden but the group itself that is haram. The crude language used by its murderous leader, Abubaker Shekau, in the recently-released video - “Girls must give their hands in marriage because they are our slaves. We would marry them out at the age of 9. We would marry them out at the age of 12” - only underscores the evil nature of Boko Haram.

The death knell for Boko Haram has sounded. It is only a matter of time. But its demise must not stop us from working to rid the world of sex trafficking, from the glittering cities of Europe and America to the seedy alleys of Asia and Africa. Misogyny and sex enslavement, and the people who profit from them, are everywhere. Some are brazen, some more subtle and insidious. We cannot rest until we have brought all our girls back.

Feynman, Community College Students and Probability

(Students frequently rise to the challenge when teachers raise the bar. Give them something to stretch their minds with and students will embrace it with vigor and purpose.

Elementary statistics is a transfer course at California’s community colleges for the CSU/UC systems. A major part of this course is probability, the workhorse of statistics. What if community college students were asked to read Richard Feynman’s lecture on probability? What would they make of it? Richard Feynman (1918-1988) won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965 for his seminal contributions to quantum electrodynamics. He is celebrated for his physical insights and for his ability to clarify complex concepts for the general audience. His fame grew when he gave a series of lectures on physics at the California Institute of Technology for undergraduates from 1961-1963 that became the three-volume “The Feynman Lectures on Physics.” More than four decades later, the “Red Books” are still being read and still continue to inspire. The lectures are now available online. His lecture on probability challenged several community college students who found it fascinating and engrossing.)

Josh found the discussion on the uncertainty principle most interesting, Nature is probabilistic rather than deterministic, reasons enough for Josh to focus on mastering probability. Feynman says that “the ideas of probability are certainly useful in describing the behavior of the 10²² or so molecules in a sample of a gas, for it is clearly impractical even to attempt to write down the position or velocity of each molecule.” Hence his conclusion: “We now believe that the ideas of probability are essential to a description of atomic happenings,” and “our most precise description of nature must be in terms of probabilities.” Most statistics texts introduce probability through flipping coins or rolling dice that leaves students cold. For Josh, a connection between probability and nature at its most fundamental level is a compelling argument for understanding and working with probability.

Reese found the lecture interesting but hard to follow. He gets it, though, when Feynman says that probability can be used to make better guesses. Hilda agrees but found the deterministic/probabilistic contrast confusing. The random walk idea went over her head but she was pleased when Feynman acknowledged his own uncertainty “when he states that his theory can change with future knowledge.”

For Yikal, Feynman’s simple questions invoking probability were the lecture’s most memorable features.  “What is the chance of rain for today? This is basically asking, what is the probability that it will rain today? This helps us see whether we should take an umbrella or not. If the probability is too low, then umbrella won’t be necessary. Feynman’s conclusion: almost every choice we make is based on probability.” Also, “we can never be 100% certain that something will happen. And sometimes we know that something will happen but we just don’t know when it will happen. Every choice we make is based on the probability of the benefits and the chances that something good could come out of that system. For instance we are not 100% sure that we will get a good job based on our career but we go to school to be educated because there is a good chance of getting the job if we have degree.”

Kerlyn found Feynman’s focus on the connection between chance, different types of probability and nature most fascinating. She had vaguely heard about the Heisenberg uncertainty principle before but explained in the context of probability made the principle real for her. “If we try to ‘pin down’ a particle to a specific place, it will go faster. But if it is forced to go slow, it will spread out. Our most precise description of nature is in terms of probabilities.”

Kyle summarizes his understanding of Feynman’s lecture by quoting from it: “There are many different types of probability, such as independent, mutually exclusive, non-mutually exclusive, conditional probability and inverse probability. The uncertainty principle describes an inherent fuzziness that must exist in any attempt to describe nature. Our most precise description of nature must be in terms of probabilities. In the early days of the development of quantum mechanics, Einstein was quite worried about this problem. He used to shake his head and say, ‘But surely God does not throw dice in determining how electrons should go!’ He worried about that problem for a long time and he probably never really reconciled himself to the fact that this is the best description of nature that one can give. There are still one or two physicists who are working on the problem who have an intuitive conviction that it is possible somehow to describe the world in a different way and that all of this uncertainty about the way things are can be removed. No one has yet been successful.” For both Kerlyn and Kyle, this means that the last word on the subject is perhaps yet to be written, which is what makes the quest for knowledge so profoundly satisfying.

Jennifer found the connection between probability and chemistry in Feynman’s lecture compelling. She also made connection with she learned in her statistics class, that “regarding probability density, the area under the curve, known as the bell-curve, is equal to 1. Standard deviation is the variation from the mean.” To visually imagine standard deviation, Feynman illustrates the motion of a molecule. He describes an occurrence when ‘an organic compound’ is released from a bottle in a room. This organic compound then evaporates in the air, and the particles spread throughout, thus resulting in standard deviation.

For Aisa, a clear, declarative sentence like, “There are good guesses and there are bad guesses. The theory of probability is a system for making better guesses,” is as powerful an introduction to probability as anyone can think of. She finds Feynman’s ability to place probability in a unique perspective the main draw of the lecture. “It makes readers think of probability not just as a sort of math problem but something that happens in the real world. Feynman puts thinking and logic into a different realm, and that applies to his lecture on probability as well. He shows how probability is subjective. The answer may not always be what you hope for or want. Still, it is better to be probabilistic and realize that probability is a game of chances. I think this type of mind frame will help people think of probability in a different way.”

Sabrina’s understanding of probability grew when she worked through Feynman’s explanation of the binomial probability by breaking down the outcomes of flipping a coin and identifying some of the rules of the binomial model, such as, the observations must be repeatable, and the repeated observations must be equivalent. “He makes it clear that the observations are estimates of what will occur. The same reasoning can be generalized to any situations where there are different, but equally likely possible results of an observation. This of course makes perfect sense especially keeping randomness in mind. Feynman includes a fascinating graph that represents the idea that with an increase of number of tosses, the closer ‘the tendency is for the fraction of heads to approach 0.5, as compared to a smaller number of tosses where the fluctuation of deviation might be greater.’ Feynman then connects the ideas of the coin toss to random walk and motions of atoms in a gas. This is what I found most fascinating: How Feynman can take a simple concept and connect it to something like the motions of atoms in a gas. We should see more connections in our studies, whether within disciplines or between disciplines. That will motivate students far more than treating subjects as if they were disconnected from each other.”

Transforming San Jose Sharks into a Winning Team

If courage is indeed grace under pressure, as Hemingway said, the San Jose Sharks are probably the greatest bunch of cowards in the National Hockey League (NHL) history. They led the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 and then blew the following 4 games to exit the 2014 conference quarterfinals. The Sharks share this ignominy (blowing a 3-0 lead) with just 3 other teams in NHL’s 97-year playoff history: Toronto defeated Detroit in the Cup finals in 1942, N.Y. Islanders defeated Pittsburgh in the 1975 Quarterfinals, Philadelphia defeated Boston in the Conference semifinals in 2010.

Ever since the Sharks began playing in 1991, the team has brought nothing but heartbreak for its loyal fans. In regular season, the team comes across as a legitimate contender for the ice hockey crown but when the playoffs are underway, something goes awry and the team folds. Any bite they may have exhibited before the playoffs degenerates into the kind of submission that can put a weasel to shame.

The question now is: How to rescue the City of San Jose from the pitiful clutch of the current team?

Here are some suggestions from a long-suffering fan:

First, Coach Todd McLellan has to go. The mediocrity of this man is breathtaking. Bereft of any insight and creativity, Mr. Todd has been coasting from day one of his term that began in 2008. He cannot inspire and he cannot lead and his understanding of the game and of other teams is subpar at best. Doug Wilson, the General Manager, must also be shown the door. As long as this Todd-Doug un-dynamic duo hangs around, the Sharks will falter and fall.

Next, Sharks must say adieu to Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. The best days of these veterans are far, far behind. Sure, there are occasional flashes of the brilliance of their yesteryears but now, at 34, both players have become a monumental burden for the franchise. In January this year, both Thornton ($6.75 million per season) and Marleau ($6.66 million per season) signed three-year contract extensions. The Sharks must find a way to dissolve these contracts. Otherwise, the franchise may forget about any Stanley Cup hope in the next three years.

There is a reason why these aging players want to continue with the Sharks: The franchise has made it too easy for them! They are coddled and treated like superstars when they are no longer even stars. As long as they continue with the Sharks, no younger player can bloom and take charge. It has become almost a cliché to say that the Sharks lack the killer instinct that is the hallmark of a championship club.

Players like Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture are not the players, good as they are, who can lead the Sharks to a Stanley Cup winner. That player isn’t playing for the Sharks yet but he is out there, a young and fierce contender who can energize his team to dominance. Sharks need a Mario Lemieux, a player who can single-handedly turn a game around and carry the burden of the entire team on his broad shoulders, shoulders that never sag under pressure.

Until that happens, San Jose will have to live with the pretensions of the current team. But San Jose doesn’t deserve this! It is the 10^th-largest city in the United States. Its population has just exceeded the 1-million mark, a milestone by any measure. It doesn’t live in the shadow of San Francisco. It is considered the heart of Silicon Valley. Why must this proud city put up with a second-rate hockey team when it has the resources to bring together the finest talents in the game?

The Sharks can with the Stanley Cup but only if the current team is dismantled and a younger and hungrier team is assembled with an eye toward the future. It may take 10 years but that’s the price people of San Jose must pay if they want the nucleus of a winning team to begin forming now. The alternative is too bleak and pitiful to imagine.

An American Ambassador Speaks of an Educational Revolution in Bangladesh

Dan Mozena, the American ambassador to Bangladesh, recently visited Silicon Valley in California to address the local diaspora on the importance of universal education in Bangladesh. The town-hall meeting was organized by Agami, a non-profit organization working to promote education for under-privileged children of Bangladesh.

“Lack of education is the biggest impediment to progress in Bangladesh,” said the ambassador to the gathering of over 100 Bangladeshi-Americans. “There has certainly been progress. Enrollment in primary schools is high. More girls than boys attend schools. The flip side is that by the third grade, 30% of the students drop out. At the grade 5 level, many students still cannot read, write or work with numbers.”

Dan Mozena, U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh,
addressing Bangladeshi-Americans in Silicon Valley, California, on March 23, 2014.
The event was organized by Agami, a Bay Area-based non-profit organization.

The ambassador emphasized the need for an educational revolution in Bangladesh, similar to the agricultural revolution that has made the country self-sufficient in rice and is expected to make Bangladesh self-sufficient in food within a decade. “Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world (160 million people in a land the size of Iowa), with the exception of city-state Singapore. For Bangladesh to become self-sufficient in food is nothing less than a miracle. Bangladeshis are among the most energetic, dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial and resilient people in the world. But it will take quality education to unleash all that potential,” observed the ambassador.

One of Bangladesh’s strength is its manpower, which the country exports to build other countries. “But this manpower is mostly unskilled labor, people carrying bricks on their head,” said the ambassador. What Bangladesh needs is to export skilled and semi-skilled labor. Bangladesh should send doctors and nurses and engineers to build the Middle East and South Asia, and, of course, use the talent of its people to build Bangladesh itself.”

Ambassador Mozena’s passion for Bangladesh is palpable. He has launched a massive outreach program throughout the country to bring the gifts of reading and writing to millions of kids. There are “American Corners” in Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna and Chittagong, with similar centers also planned for Barisal and Mymensingh. These “Corners” provide basic reference materials on the United States, Internet terminals, video viewing facilities, and English-language tapes, as well as guidebooks for students wanting to study at American universities.
“Currently, only 3,348 Bangladeshi students study in America. But there are 10,000 Nepalese students in America now. (Nepal has a population of about 28 million!) This is ridiculous,” said the ambassador. “I want to increase the number ten-fold, to 33,480. That’s what it should be for Bangladesh.”

Under Mozena's watch, the number of Bangladeshi students admitted to American Universities has gone up by 15-17% in the last 2 years. But it can be more, much more. Many potential students fall under the clutches of so-called facilitators, scammers by any other name, who extort money from them in return for filling out application forms that they claim will guarantee visas. “But our staff can smell these fraudulent applications from two blocks away, as soon as the students get down from their rickshaws! Is it any wonder their applications are marked with a ‘Denied?’”, asked the ambassador. “The steps for what students need to do, and what not to do, to get visas are clearly explained in the American Corners. If they had been honest, instead of playing games, they would have gotten their visas. These facilitators, whose fraud is off the charts, have destroyed, and continue to destroy, many valid applicants.”

The ambassador touched on the Edward M. Kennedy (EMK) Center for Public Service and the Arts (formerly United States Information Services or USIS) in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, located in a neighborhood that is home to 70,000 students. The EMK Center is a non-partisan platform where the youth can come together for open dialogue, responsible activism, individual and artistic expression, and personal and professional development.

He also focused on the Water and Sanitation Hygiene Program (WASH) that his office has launched in Bangladesh to ensure that school students, particularly girls, have access to clean, separate and secure toilets. A terrible and tragic fact about Bangladesh is that many girls are forced to drop out of school only because they do not have access to clean bathrooms and toilets. This can take a heavy toll on their health, especially during their menses. “It costs no more than a couple of thousand dollars to provide sanitary and hygienic facilities in any school to enable girls to stay and complete their education. My staff and I are funding such projects in Barisal, Mymensingh and other divisions.” The ambassador lauded Agami for working tirelessly to promote and fund such projects throughout Bangladesh.

Professor Nasreen Rahim of Evergreen Valley College (EVC) in San Jose, CA, is working with the International Student Program to provide online General Education (GE) classes to students in Bangladesh. The idea is that if students can complete these low-cost online community college courses, they have an excellent chance of transferring to American universities. She is also developing an online Teacher-Certificate program that can potentially evolve into a Bachelor’s Degree in the future.

Ambassador Mozena vigorously approved of the idea. “Many Bangladeshis think only of Harvard when they consider studying in America. But there are many other excellent educational institutions in America. Besides, Harvard or other ivy-league schools may not be a good fit for many Bangladeshis. For them, community colleges may be the best choice!” He exhorted Professor Nasreen to pursue her project with passion and patience until she succeeds.

Dan Mozena was born and raised on a family dairy farm in northeast Iowa and spent the first two decades of his life milking cows and doing the daily chores of a typical family farm. He began his schooling in a one-room country school with a total student population of 12 spread over eight grades. He graduated from Iowa State University in Political Science and History and later from graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in Public Administration and Political Science. His diplomatic postings took him to New Delhi, Lusaka, Kinshasa, Angola and other parts of the world.

Mozena’s farm experience instilled in him the importance of straight talk and hard work. His early schooling taught him the value of quality education as the key to a meaningful life. His experience in Peace Corps and in developing countries as a diplomat convinced him that ordinary people are capable of performing extraordinary deeds.

He has brought all these qualities to bear on his role and responsibility as the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh, a post he has held since November of 2011. He believes in the strategic importance of Bangladesh as a moderate, tolerant and secular democracy. Although obstacles remain, such as corruption, violence, political instability and the tendency of the government to remain a prisoner of the past, allowing other nations to surge ahead while it stumbles and falls, ambassador Mozena is convinced that through hard work, innovation and creativity, combined with the impetus provided by America’s soft power, Bangladeshis can transform their country into a beacon for other nations to follow. He urged his audience to visit http://www.LiftBangla.org to see how they can combine their considerable experience, expertise and resources to launch innovative programs on nutrition, healthcare, education and other worthy projects in Bangladesh.


Ambassador Mozena’s message came through loud and clear for the Bangladeshi diaspora of California’s Silicon Valley. They were sufficiently energized by his inspiring words and example to commit to several educational and healthcare projects to empower the marginalized and the under-served segment of the Bangladeshi population.

Student Perspectives on Improving Education

(Every year, foundations, think tanks and various other organizations produce lengthy papers detailing what‘s wrong with the state of education in our public schools and colleges, and what can be done to improve it. Yet nothing happens. Billions of dollars are spent on technology but the scores don't budge, and the same (if not more) percentage of students continue to drop out of school or take forever to graduate. The tomes that the education experts and the educational-industrial complex produce to rectify public education have one thing in common: they rarely reflect what the students themselves think! It is as if they are convinced that students aren’t capable of analyzing what’s wrong with education, yet the pundits are full of suggestions as to how to foster critical thinking among them. The irony is obvious to everyone except to the tome producers! This is the second and final article in a series on what students think is wrong with our educational system and the meaningful and practical steps that can be taken to improve it. You can read the first part here.)

Jamie believes that what ails higher education in America is the high cost of tuition. If students can be stress-free and debt-free, their interest in mastering the subjects, and hence their scores and graduation rates, will rise. Tying learning outcomes to real-world standards and offering year-round classes will also help.

Deisy thinks that investing huge sums of money on educational technology has not matched the expectations of its proponents. Laying off teachers while installing the latest gadgets in classrooms to “improve and enhance” education has set education back. Online classes are not as effective as regular classes. In fact, for many students, online classes do not work at all. As Deisy sees it, we need to get back to the basics. While technology can help, schools should invest more on hiring good and inspiring teachers and less on hiring managers and administrators. We all lose if schools are treated as businesses. Education may have a business part to it but it can at best be secondary. As long as we focus on the true purpose of schools and colleges, which is to educate and help students develop critical thinking skills, they will do well. “If, instead, all we focus on is “innovation” through technology, there will hardly be any progress.”

Michael sees textbooks as a barrier to higher education, both in costs and content. “I have compared our community college books to texts used at San Jose State University, and they are very different in rigor and complexity. I believe community colleges don't prepare you enough for state universities. For example, most community college students don't realize how much harder universities are,  that they will have to adjust so rapidly. This leads to students failing and wasting money on units that are not completed.”

Danilo Guasticci Rahim 1. I believe that there are many things about the educational system that are very beneficial and helpful to the learning experience. However, there are many things that could be changed about it. A big thing that I have noticed that

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Keenan is reluctant to blame teachers alone for what is wrong with our education. Most teachers are dedicated, selfless souls who contribute much to shaping minds but are poorly compensated in return. Unless students take responsibility for their own learning and motivate themselves, not much will change. “I take responsibility for my life. It saddens me to see that many of my friends look for excuses when their results do not match their expectations. Hard work and good study habits are critical.”

Eduardo doesn’t agree with the pessimistic view many hold about the American education system. “I believe our education system is outstanding compared to other countries because it gives us a lot of opportunities and a lot of financial help if we need it. There’s always a way or another in which you could receive a decent education. I have had access to good education and have received help when I needed it. Thanks to our system, I am well on my way to becoming the first person in my family to go to college and have a good carrier.”

Krithika feels that more money should be spent to increase the number of certain classes offered per semester. “Almost every semester of my community college career, I have been faced with the dilemma of filled classes, and have had to delay taking the classes until the following semester. Important classes such as the biology, physics and chemistry classes are offered every semester but each is offered only one class per semester. This is frustrating because the classes get quickly filled and there is a restriction of only about 35 students, so those who did not get the classes that semester need to wait to take it in the future. Lack of more classes forces students to extend their education at community colleges to more than two years. This creates a cyclical effect where students who have more units in a college get priority during registration and often fill up classes so that incoming students are forced to wait.”

For Gurleen, the real problem is that schools have become a chore for many, a boring place where nothing of importance happens and time and money are wasted. She is baffled by this mindset. “School is where you get to expand your mind, where you are inspired to become life-long learners. After all, education is a journey, not a destination. If we can encourage kids at a young age to love school, then they will be more willing to go to college. In community colleges, things are a little different. Students have many choices but they also are beginning to confront the harsh realities of life. The coursework itself is not challenging, but balancing work and school is. I know that over the years I’ve had to put school on the back-burner because medical expenses, bills, work, family life had gotten to be too much. I know this is the case with many of my peers. Unfortunately, not all teachers and colleges are accepting of that. Instead of making life easier for students, who have to juggle responsibilities, they make it harder. In 2011 I was rear-ended driving to school. The accident left me out of school for 3 weeks. I was given Fs for all my classes that semester because it was too late to drop the classes. Instead of helping me and allowing me to get Ws, the college ruined my academic history. After I recovered, I went to talk to a counselor who told me my major, nursing, was too impacted and that I should just drop out of school for a while. It is never acceptable to tell students to drop out of school, particularly when they have to miss classes due to medical reasons. Counselors nowadays are asked to see 600 students or so per semester. Because of this, they can only see students for no more than 15 minutes. If teachers, counselors and administrators become more understanding of what students have to go through day in and day out, things will improve. The graduation rate will go up significantly.”

For Garcia, the real problem lies with parents who force their children to enroll in colleges even when they are not ready, either emotionally or intellectually. “Success in community colleges is largely based on independence and determination. Students with these skills tend to be the most successful. If a student doesn’t have these traits, he or she should do something else, either a job or some kind of internship, where these skills can be developed.”

Maybelle believes that peer-to-peer transfer of knowledge is the key to success for community college students. “Students who are good with a subject should help those lagging behind. Teachers can help set up blogs or social media to facilitate these types of interaction for their classes. In this age of social media, learning from peers can really advance education and increase graduation rates.”

As Emily sees it, one of the most frustrating things in college is trying to get the classes you need. “One of the best things colleges could do would be to cut down general ed requirements. Many of these requirements are unnecessary and pre-historic. They have no relevance in the lives of students. That way we could get our degrees in two years and move on with our lives. The other thing that must be addressed is student loans. Student loans are out of control. The cost of tuition has gotten so high that many students cannot even think of attending college. My parents are well-off, but since they had to put my sister, and now me, through college, they are just about broke. College education should not be so expensive.”

For Courtney, education will improve only if the attitude of people in charge of education – teachers, counselors, deans, administrators – changes for the better. The number of caring and competent teachers and counselors are too few. Unless they learn how to address the needs of students in a caring and professional way, as opposed to indulging in favoritism and carelessness, very little in education will improve.

Danilo finds the whole system of teacher evaluation deeply flawed. “Some of my teachers in high school were flat out horrendous because they were not evaluated properly or often enough. I would end up getting discouraged because I believed my teachers were not doing a good job teaching and I wasn't learning as much as I should. It was very frustrating.” Danilo wants a more rigorous system of teacher evaluation. Even more, he wants colleges to act on the evaluations. He feels that the evaluations are only for show, just going through the motion, that colleges are not sincere about removing teachers who aren’t doing their job. “We have to remove incompetent teachers from our schools and colleges and hire the best possible teachers, irrespective of age, experience or gender. If we do that, education will progress by leaps and bounds.”

Ares believes that if teachers become more active with students, education will become more meaningful. This includes more group work assignments and informing students about their progress every week, so that remedial actions can be taken when necessary. Teachers should walk around the classroom after assigning problems and see how the students are doing, helping where help is required. Teachers should also encourage students who are ahead help struggling students. This empowers students and promotes learning. Unfortunately far too few teachers do this. They just lecture and then leave. Teachers need to become more conscientious about their responsibilities and keep up with all the new tools and techniques of teaching that have proven to work.

Christy thinks that technology can be a good educational tool but the way it is used now does more harm than good. “Everything has become so internet-based that professors have lost touch with their students and their academic goals. Teachers have started viewing their actions in the classroom as a “job”\ rather than a passion. They no longer interact or connect with their pupils. However, learning is a two-way street between the teacher and the student. Great teachers make learning a joy but unfortunately there are too few of them. Colleges should hire the best teachers because a single bad teacher can easily ruin lives. Perhaps when colleges are hiring teachers, they should include one or two student representatives to interview the teacher as well.”