B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies

Posted on | January 18, 2014 | 58 Comments

Instapundit wants to be lenient on Randye Hoder — “it’s not a ‘useless’ degree if in fact it teaches students ‘to think critically and analytically, read widely and write well’” — which means that I’m obliged to play bad cop with this overindulgent mother:

My oldest child, Emma, just returned to campus after a long holiday break to finish up her last semester of college.
But even before she has put the final period on her senior thesis, friends and family have been bombarding me with one question: What is she going to do after graduation?
The job market is, after all, awfully tough. Just this month the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a study showing that “recent graduates are increasingly working in low-wage jobs or working part-time,” if they’re lucky enough to find work at all.
The bright spot, according to the Fed analysis, students who majored in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — areas in which recent graduates “have tended to do relatively well, even in today’s challenging labor market.” But Emma is a student of the much-maligned humanities — an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food at a small liberal arts school. . . .

Whoa. Stop right there: “an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food at a small liberal arts school.”

First of all, that’s not “the humanities.” It just isn’t.

Second, if you’re going to study some ridiculous made-up gimmick of a major — “the politics and culture of food”? really? — why on earth would you study it “at a small liberal arts school,” i.e., an expensive college for overprivileged trust-fund babies?

[W]e are not immune to the high cost of college. Emma’s father and I have made sacrifices to give her, and her brother, the kind of education we value. There will be loans to pay when she graduates—and, yes, my husband and I will foot that bill.

Oh, now I see! Mommy and Daddy will pay the bill for their daughter’s luxurious four-year-vacation — “the kind of education we value” — because their Special Snowflake (a) didn’t have the scores to get into Berkeley, and (b) Cal State’s for losers.

See, this is the niche that “small liberal arts schools” fill: The offspring of permissive parents who will give their Special Snowflakes whatever their selfish hearts crave. The kid isn’t smart enough or hard-working enough to get into a genuinely elite school, but they’re just too doggone special to attend a state school (let alone community college), and so there’s always that trendy little campus that will charge them $35,000 a year to pretend that they’re better than those disgusting low-brow slobs at State U.

This is not about education, it’s about aspiration.

The “small liberal arts school” is a luxury that the rich can afford, but borrowing money to attend one? That’s just crazy.

Maybe Randye Hoder‘s daughter can apply her knowledge of “the politics and culture of food” at Burger King.

Category: Education

Comments

58 Responses to “B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies”

badanov
January 18th, 2014 @ 9:47 pm

Maybe Randye Hoder‘s daughter can apply her knowledge of “the politics and culture of food” at Burger King.

The good ship Hoder just took two amidships.

Just too funny…
ndmike12
January 18th, 2014 @ 9:59 pm

“The politics and culture of food” sounds like a potentially fascinating thesis topic. Then again, if it’s written by someone who would borrow $100K+ to major in the politics and culture of food, perhaps not so much.
The Daley Gator | Blogging Appreciation Post
January 18th, 2014 @ 9:59 pm

[…] Stacy McCain: Special Snowflake Syndrome strikes! […]
0bamasnought
January 18th, 2014 @ 10:04 pm

Wow, that kind of diploma should get her to the top of the list for Generals.
If food fights are ever taken to the Global level
B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies : The Other McCain | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
January 18th, 2014 @ 10:06 pm

[…] B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies : The Other McCain. […]
Bertibus
January 18th, 2014 @ 10:42 pm

$35,000? More like $50,000 after housing and other expenses.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:08 pm

They aspire much higher than that.

Starbucks Barista!
Evi L. Bloggerlady
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:09 pm

It might. Give the Obama Administration enough time.
Finrod Felagund
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:11 pm

My small liberal arts college is still all male.
Dianna Deeley
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:33 pm

I am simply appalled.
Julie Pascal
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:41 pm

OTOH, if mommy and daddy are paying for it and mommy and daddy are satisfied with what they paid for… it doesn’t matter if the kids get a low paying job because the kid wasn’t lied to and the kid is not in debt.

One *might* make the moral argument that every hip replacement for evey golden retriever in America could have been paid for with those funds, and wouldn’t that have been a greater societal good… but people really ought to get to decide how to waste their own money.

What I find offensive and vile, even, is when those little private colleges are taking in students who are bad students and have no money… my second oldest was accepted to one of these schools, very prestigious, with no high school diploma and no GED, and they did the financial aid stuff and said her award for loans would cover everything but the last 6K a year… Dad and I said no to the “parent loan” so that was the end of that… but they’d have let her do it! That’s repulsive. Beyond despicable. The administration of a school with any moral decency should not allow it. Our *government*, subsidizing those loans should not *ever* allow it.
Kirby McCain
January 18th, 2014 @ 11:50 pm

I’m reminded of a W.C. Fields axiom.
Rob Crawford
January 19th, 2014 @ 12:44 am

But it makes the Democrats happy, because it lines the pockets of “intellectuals” who will come up with intelligent-sounding rationalizations for whatever policy they want to impose!
Good Stuff
January 19th, 2014 @ 1:26 am

Just Googled politics and culture of food. It’s not underwater basket weaving…

Food has spurred political revolutions and has transformed our biological existence —in some cases for the worse and in others for the better. In the 21st century it is easy to take food for granted. Yet we spend 10 percent of each day, on average, consuming food and drink (…even more time earning enough to buy it).
concern00
January 19th, 2014 @ 1:28 am

Advancement in today’s military also requires adherence to a sexual perversion.
Adjoran
January 19th, 2014 @ 2:06 am

There was a period of time, for roughly four decades after WWII, where the labor market in the US was such that a college degree – in almost any major – was well worth the time and money because it led to higher lifetime earnings almost automatically. And the result was that every parent wanted every child to go to college.

Politics being what it is, government took steps to ensure this was possible: more subsidy money for education, expansion of public colleges, and a generalized “college track” in public schools that had previously been for the exceptional students only.

But you just cannot beat the market, and the more of something there is available, the less valuable it becomes. And so it is with college degrees, even Ph.D.s in areas not needed in private industry are a dime a dozen.

Meanwhile, the real need is for skilled labor and craftsmen – plumbers, mechanics, carpenters, and technicians of every sort. There is a shortage of people who can actually DO something and a surplus of people who KNOW things that have only ethereal value.
Adjoran
January 19th, 2014 @ 2:12 am

The sad part is that the Hoder girl would have probably had greater lifetime earnings if she eschewed full-time college, worked full time at Burger King while pursuing a 2-year degree in management at night or online, and spent her career managing them. She could have moved up the ladder on merit and results.

The sadder part is that if you had a conversation with Miss Hoder and Miss Hoder-AlterBK in 20 years, the latter would appear to you to be the more educated and interesting person. Unless, of course, you chose to discuss “the politics and culture of food” – but even then it is most likely the former Miss H would bore you to tears in minutes.
Adjoran
January 19th, 2014 @ 2:15 am

Miss Hoder will, however, be in high demand as a guest at dinner parties.

With her in-depth conversation, hosts can be sure everyone will go home early.
Bradoplata
January 19th, 2014 @ 2:59 am

I agree, unless I have to help support the parents because they blew their retirement on her.
badanov
January 19th, 2014 @ 3:28 am

BTW, Randye Hoder’s daughter’s name is Emma Wartzman, and the college she was graduated from is Scripps College.

Her brother’s field of studies includes smoking from a bong, while holding what appears to be a .40 S&W:

http://gawker.com/5879312/nathaniel-hoders-friends-are-smoking-weed
badanov
January 19th, 2014 @ 3:37 am

That’s probably not her son, BTW
Barack Goes With the Full Richard Simmons | Regular Right Guy
January 19th, 2014 @ 3:58 am

[…] B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies […]
DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies
January 19th, 2014 @ 7:45 am

[…] The Other McCain has some fun. […]
FredBeloit
January 19th, 2014 @ 9:01 am

Ah, but there were so many of them, and each was better than the others. I guess you are referring to: “Never give a sucker an even break.”

But my personal favorite is: “Beelzebub, Beelzebub, Beelzebub.”
Quartermaster
January 19th, 2014 @ 9:07 am

You left the scare quotes of “know.”
CrustyB
January 19th, 2014 @ 9:14 am

What do you call it when a degree in Korean wedding gong music can’t land you a job as CEO of Xerox? Bush’s fault!
Cashing in on that hot “politics and culture of food” degree « Hot Air
January 19th, 2014 @ 9:30 am

[…] McCain found it all a bit rife with sniffing one’s own gaseous emissions, particularly after reading that the Hoders will be paying off their daughter’s college loans […]
SJ Reidhead
January 19th, 2014 @ 9:48 am

As someone who majored in the humanities, I’m not sure I consider the ‘politics and culture of food’ as humanities. If you are looking at it as an entry into writing, then it can prove to be a bit more lucrative. You morph this kind of absurd speciality into writing for a food pub, editing cookbooks, and using it as a entry into the extremely ‘hot’ cooking business as a whole. It reads to me more like a parent who doesn’t quite understand that the entire ‘food’ and ‘foodie’ field is becoming extremely popular. Just look at the Food Channel and the Cooking Channel. This is where you take a major like this. Last year, at Christmas, I gave my mother three different books, either cook books or food histories that would fall under that topic. It can also be used in conjunction with historical studies, archaeology, and even the restaurant industry. As a writer, who tries to concentrate on the history of the ‘Wild West’, I have at least a dozen books about specific food topics that I use as resource material. It reads to me like a parent is trying to explain himself to his peers, who have kids doing the STEM thing.

Thus said, my ‘brother’ who has a degree in food science, has spent his life working for the post office and recently retired from the Army as a LTC.
JeffS
January 19th, 2014 @ 10:09 am

In addition to understanding why one does not mix firearms and drugs, he needs to learn better trigger discipline.
Jeff Sulman
January 19th, 2014 @ 10:12 am

Something tells me she did not learn to think to think critically and analytically at this school. Plus, if that is the goal of a college education I can recommend a few books totaling about $50 that she can spend a year or two reading, while working, that would give her a better ability to think C & A than this $100+K education gave her. Most likely she came out pretty much what she went in as, an air headed liberal.

As far as being well read, I have two Bach(Math and Computer Science) and a Masters (Historical Theology) degree and I have done more good reading in the 20 years after graduation than I did in all of my time in college. In fact I probably did more in the first 5 years out of college than I did while there.
RS
January 19th, 2014 @ 10:21 am

The problem is not the study of the Humanities, i.e. Language, Literature, History, Philosophy etc. It is what the modern Academy has now defined as “Humanities.” As part and parcel of the Progressive desire to destroy education, the Humanities were the first front, shifting studies from the classics to crap such as “politics and culture of food,” not to mention the various majors in “Grievance Studies.” I agree with Reynolds in that a robust curriculum in Great Books can have a profoundly positive affect on a person and can provide skills with broad application. The problem is the modern Humanities faculty does not teach students to think on their own; it indoctrinates them to a position and makes all contrary thought or positions inconceivable. Stated differently, the modern Humanities do not educate; they destroy the ability to think and learn. It was quite intentional and we are the worse for it.

(Disclosure: I spent seven years studying literature and philosophy.)
scarymatt
January 19th, 2014 @ 10:30 am

But college is not vocational school. And promoting STEM subjects should not be society’s only answer to helping the next generation thrive in a competitive world.

Historically, there’s some truth here. But then college was more for the elite whose children were going to take over the family business, or at least were connected sufficiently to be able to have something set up and waiting for them. The parents are apparently well enough off that they can take on the payments, but it seems like they’re sending their kids off with worthless degrees to fend for themselves, so they’re missing a very important part of “college is not a vocational school.”
Cashing in on that hot “politics and culture of food” degree | Higher Education Guide
January 19th, 2014 @ 11:39 am

[…] McCain found it all a bit abundant with sniffing one’s possess gaseous emissions, quite after reading that a Hoders will be profitable off their daughter’s college loans and even […]
Federale
January 19th, 2014 @ 1:31 pm

You certainly played the bad cop here. She got the wood shampoo of reality. Treat mom like a hippie, which she probably was.
Quartermaster
January 19th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

My first 5 years out of college I learned just how much so called “liberal arts” instructors lied to me and my classmates. That they did was no surprise. The extent of it was.
Zeek
January 19th, 2014 @ 2:15 pm

Better check that. Last I heard, Starbucks required applicants for the position of barista to have had experience as a barista.
Cashing in on that hot “politics and culture of food” degree | topedublog.com
January 19th, 2014 @ 3:04 pm

[…] McCain found it all a bit abundant with sniffing one’s possess gaseous emissions, quite after reading that a Hoders will be profitable off their daughter’s college loans and even […]
Julie Pascal
January 19th, 2014 @ 3:55 pm

Except that the reason Obama wants us all to go to college is so that everyone can get good jobs. That is *absolutely* vocational school. And other than the fact that Obama is delusional and getting a degree in nothing in particular is no longer any sort of guarantee of higher earnings, this is, in fact, why most people go to school… so they can get a better job.

You’re absolutely right.

The self-improvement learning-to-be-a-better-person study of the classics or humanities, Latin and languages, philosophy and whatnot, fraternities and secret societies… that really was about getting to know the other children of wealthy, influential parents, who would also be working in the family business and would be those you needed to know for the rest of your life and once you took over as the boss. Also, meeting the “right” people to meet your future spouse and make connections to the right families.

That’s just not part of normal people’s realities.
FOAF
January 19th, 2014 @ 4:35 pm

To be fair to Reynolds he did not specifically defend the “food studies” (or whatevs) degree. And ended by saying, “But, of course, most humanities programs don’t do that any more.” I. e. teach critical thinking.
Bob Belvedere
January 19th, 2014 @ 4:41 pm

Watching Red Eye last night, I was slightly shocked* to hear writer / businessman Gavin McInnes report that he’s has Millennial job seekers show-up at interviews with their parents.

We’re doomed.

_____________________
*It takes an awful lot to
really shock me in this
Funhouse Mirror Age.
Bob Belvedere
January 19th, 2014 @ 4:47 pm

‘Ahh…the Countess de Pussy?’
Bob Belvedere
January 19th, 2014 @ 4:50 pm

That is why I support Mike Rowe’s efforts…

http://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/
News of the Week (Januardy 19th, 2014) | The Political Hat
January 19th, 2014 @ 7:02 pm

[…] B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies Instapundit wants to be lenient on Randye Hoder — “it’s not a ‘useless’ degree if in fact it teaches students ‘to think critically and analytically, read widely and write well’” — which means that I’m obliged to play bad cop with this overindulgent mother […]
Cashing in on that hot “politics and culture of food” degree | News Online Find
January 19th, 2014 @ 7:11 pm

[…] McCain found it all a bit abundant with sniffing one’s possess gaseous emissions, quite after reading that a Hoders will be profitable off their daughter’s college loans and even […]
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January 19th, 2014 @ 7:47 pm

[…] Other McCain has many good blog posts up including this one by Stacy on “B.A. in Special Snowflake Studies”. It’s a must […]
Paul Armstong
January 19th, 2014 @ 8:06 pm

dont need real work cause daddy got a trust fund fer the precious
neil schnurr
January 19th, 2014 @ 8:08 pm

Randye and Emma should have read this book:
“Worthless” by Aaron Clarey
http://www.amazon.com/Worthless-Aaron-Clarey-ebook/dp/B006N0THIM

while Emma was still in high school.
drkennethnoisewater
January 19th, 2014 @ 11:19 pm

“Her father and me?”

Divorced/unmarried liberal SWPL.

GOD pinkos are SO predictable..
The Daley Gator | Your daughter got a degree in The Politics and Culture of Food?
January 20th, 2014 @ 12:16 am

[…] of Food, surely no parent would ever pay for such a colossal waste of energy and brain cells right? WRONG! As Stacy McCain […]
Dan Lavatan
January 20th, 2014 @ 12:18 am

I could see her making a lot as a lobbyist arguing which foods should or should not be banned in NY. It is unfortunate that it has come to this but vending machine owners, soda companies, etc. are all going to need multi-million dollar full time political hacks if they want to stay in business.
Heck, just this year the trans fat ban is probably going to cost the industry and American consumer billions, just because nobody put enough cash into the FDA head’s freezer.