HELLO ALL YOU ECC STUDENTS. Welcome to Tales From the Strictline. This is my attempt to enlighten people about things that they could care less about. Why would I waste my time? Because some of these things that are meaningless are very funny. So, if you would, please read on.
I just started here at ECC. I came from another fine learning institution known as William Rainey Harper College. It was so fine, I had to leave it. So why did I leave? Well there are a couple of answers to that question. An answer like I didn't like the fact the school is poising itself for a corporate takeover (that is just my opinion because of how the school brags about corporations). I didn't like the fact that most of the kids that go to the school have rich parents who are paying for every aspect of their life besides their education. So these kids thought that they were special. Well, the only thing that makes them special is possibly things they do behind closed doors. Yet that is an unrelated subject. I didn't like the fact that some of the faculty members lie to people. I didn't like their coffee spot. I didn't like their activities center.
Now, I can sit here and bitch about it all, but since I have been at ECC for some time now, I decided to compare and contrast between the two schools. At different levels. Now some of you may not care about any of this, but this is my column not yours, so shut up and listen.
First of all there is the cafeterias. Yes, both of them have food that seems to be alive in them, but ECC has a restaurant. That's right a restaurant inside campus. I guess little "we are so blessed with money" Harper can't compete with that. I guess anyone that goes to Harper is stuck with dancing tater tots and some dictator they call the cafeteria supervisor there. The staff here doesn't talk very much. I guess that can be good or bad.
Here is one of the most important things that is vastly different from Harper. Tuition. Tuition at ECC is much cheaper. Maybe it's because they don't have to charge an activity fee, a renovation fee and a technology fee. I think there is even a fee to get lights for the cafeteria so the tater tots don't feel left out. I am not sure but it was a rumor at one point. Whatever the case may be, tuition here is much more affordable. Then again, most Harper students don't pay their own tuition. Their parents do. They also pay their cell phone bills, car payments, etc.
Another thing is the support for the president. I can think of only a handful of people in faculty at Harper who have support for Robert Brueder, the Harper President. Here at ECC, I can only think of a handful of people who have seen Michael Shirley. I have heard his name come up and is spoken of highly though. I can say this college doesn't have a president dress like he is John Travolta in the middle of a middle-life crisis, and tries to intimidate everyone in his path.
Then of course there is the strike. The teachers at Harper are too cowardly to pull off what the Faculty Association did here at ECC. They are like hamsters running the wheel, and a few of them will speak up when in the wrong. The ECC teachers did the right thing. Although the students got the shaft out of this deal, most of us understand that the teachers did what they had to do. At least that is what I believe.
I guess if you add everything up, I am happy that I came here to ECC. I am sure if other Harper students came, they would be happy too. I think that the school here has dysfunctional happenings. But wouldn't you rather live in a world where chaos reigns, than feeling like you are just another victim of the system? That you do not have a voice or a say in anything? That is how it is at Harper, and that is why I am happy I am out of there. Well that about concludes this edition of Tales. If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to write letters to me about future topics you would like to see touched upon, please contact me at strictline@hotmail.com.
Hi ho steamroller,
THE STONED RANGER