My first encounter with John Trentacoste ’08 was in the classroom. As two of the only freshmen in our introductory Spanish class, “Juan” and “Roberto” as our samba-wearing pony-tailed professor, Pedro, called us — we were seated next to one another, often flanking the object of our mutual affection, a senior named Jackie, who, as Cornell’s student-elected trustee, tried to prevail on our agitated debates on anything from abortion to school policy (these did not take place in Spanish).
Some time later in the semester, I began to receive nightly text messages from my girlfriend at the time, complaining of a certain loud-mouthed presence haunting High Rise 5, who had set up a full water slide throughout the dormitory, a watering hole for raucous freshman behavior.
The ringleader of these charades? You guessed it … none other than John Trentacoste.
In the twilight of our college years, John is still an inspiration for my column’s moniker, never without a qualm or criticism. Just two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from him entitled, “Today’s article,” which read:
“I was sitting at The Palms writing a letter to the editor Re: your column, when my computer mysteriously froze and I lost my response. Oh well!”
Technical malfunctions aside, I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and in the spirit of “Agree to Disagree,” invite John to respond to some of my articles from this semester. His responses are printed below:
• On interviewing skills
RF: “Whereas University administrators might have pointed out that we’d rather our students know how to construct a Boeing jet than be able to guesstimate how many ping pong balls one can store in its fuselage, they instead pandered to their critics, and promised to increase production at our newly-minted finance factory.”
JT: While this might be a shock to those who tend to dorm in Club Duffield, the ability to communicate efficiently and effectively is a highly sought after skill. The inability of a Cornell student to clearly articulate why he or she is right for a position puts all Cornell students at a marked disadvantage. The ping-pong ball example shows another glaring misconception: for the former example shows one’s ability to follow a blueprint, the latter shows one’s ability to think critically.
In my opinion, critical thinking skills are far more important than the mere regurgitation of information. If thought patterns the likes of a D SOC 101 prelim sound inviting, then by all means discount the ping-pong balls question as useless charade propagated by the “finance factory.” Yet, if the ability to actively apply knowledge sounds appealing, then applaud the administration for actually giving a damn about the education it provides.
Like the slightly-husky person who puts down a cupcake after someone tells him that his pants look tight, Cornell must respond adeptly to outside concerns that could encumber a student’s experience. I doubt President Skorton bows to a portrait of Abby Joseph Cohen ’73 and Provost Biddy Martin texts Dick Fuld daily to see if he approves of the steps she’s taking. Rather, Skorton and the administration — who, most likely, got their jobs through a series of interviews — sat down and said, “We should look into what we can do better to prepare our students for a career.”
• On technology
RF: “For my generation, technology has had a distinctively quieting effect. In nearly every walk of life, technological advancements have instilled this generation with a deep sense of inevitability that encourages us to look inward. In a sense, [Thomas] Friedman has it backwards: we don’t lazily hide behind technology, so much as technology inspires us to stay quiet.”
JT: I saw a commercial this weekend that really ground my gears. In an ad for Radio Shack’s latest holiday sale, a crotchety old woman is surprised when she opens her door to find a video iPod atop a remote control car. When she kneels down to look at this, a video begins to play of children singing a Christmas carol. The old lady, all teary-eyed with emotion, looks across the street to see the same children from the video waving to her from their living room window.
After the commercial ended, I thought to myself, “Why the hell couldn’t these kids just go over and sing to her instead of concocting this chimerical ruse?” I then paused and looked around. I was watching television on a unseasonably warm Thanksgiving day, eating Christmas colored M&Ms, while my cell phone constantly vibrated with the same stock “<3 Happy Thanksgiving <3” text message. It then hit me — technology has made us all complacently lazy.
• On a core curriculum
RF: “The Achilles’ heel of the Cornell experience is our lack of a core curriculum. This emerging truth is being confirmed and reconfirmed from inside and outside the University by a flurry of evidence that can no longer be ignored.”
JT: I too agree that Cornell should mandate a core curriculum; however, it should not focus on the classics, but rather the requisite knowledge for life after Cornell. Instead, Cornell narrowly focuses on pumping out newly minted scholars and does not prepare them for a world where classes do not start at 10:10 a.m. and where iPods cannot be bursared.
An ideal core curriculum would include some form of a personal finance course. According to Young Money Magazine, the average college student accumulates $2,700 of credit card debt upon graduating. While some of this debt can be attributed to spendthrift attitudes of college students, most should be attributed to the lack of knowledge about how to manage money. Sadly, the only good that the works of Plato, Aristotle and Descartes will do for a student is provide some funds back during textbook buyback.
A core curriculum assumes that there is a unified body of knowledge that one should know. Now, I certainly agree that it is a travesty that many Americans cannot identify the United States on a map; however, if a school is to provide a core curriculum, it must also include courses in communication, writing and money management skills. The importance of personal finance has become all too familiar given the recent sub-prime crisis and people are taking note. A lack of knowing how to balance a checkbook is certainly more of an Achilles’ heel than not knowing the stages of mitosis.
• On poetry
RF: “And most of all, no thanks to the pesky columnist here named
In every article he writes, it seems that someone’s defamed
Doesn’t he know you can’t lampoon everyone you wish, man?
No thanks to you — screw you, Rob Fishman!”
JT: Thank You for “Agree to Disagree” this Semester,
And for answering subsequent e-mails that sought to pester.
I hope Cornell answers your call for a core,
And evil financiers don’t bother students anymore
You’ve kept us thinking the semester through,
Perhaps next term I’ll have a column next to you.
Rob Fishman is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at rbfishman@cornellsun.com [1]. Agree to Disagree usually appears Tuesdays.
Links:
[1] mailto:rbfishman@cornellsun.com