Tuesday's Most Active Threads

Leaving out threads that have already been discussed, the most active thread yesterday was titled, "Question for those opposed to legacy status" and posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. The poster poses several questions to those who oppose legacy preferences for college admissions. When I read this post I thought that the original poster must not understand the topic of legacy admissions because the poster seemed oblivious to what legacy preferences provide. The first poster to respond to the thread seemed to be thinking along the same lines, beginning the post, "Not rocket science." For the benefit of those who, like the original poster, may be confused about this topic, a legacy preference is a preference given to college applicants who have a parent that attended the institution. This is often seen as a type of affirmative action for the wealthy, white, and well-connected. While the original poster seems to believe that responses to legacy admissions would be complex and potentially unworkable, opponents of legacy preferences view the issue quite simply: just ignore legacy status. This thread is 10 pages long and I don't have time to read much of it. But, from what I have seen, most of those responding oppose legacy preferences. Many explanations are offered to explain what is wrong with the practice. The only defense of legacy admissions that I noticed was sort of half-hearted, just pointing out that universities rely on alumni for fundraising and wondering how that might be impacted. Essentially, it looks like the original poster lobbed a softball directly over the plate and posters couldn't wait to step up and hit it out of the park. Hence, lots of responses mostly saying the same thing.

One of the most active topics I discussed last week was one about things that posters can afford, but cheapen out on. A spin-off of that thread titled, "s/o on other thread...things you probably spend too much money on but think it's worth it" and posted in the "Money and Finances" forum was among the most active threads yesterday. The original poster lists groceries, workout clothes, appliances, baby gear, and subscriptions as things on which she enjoys splurging. Many of the responses mentioned travel and that led to discussion the type of travel and destinations that posters preferred. Other popular responses were cars and home renovations. As to be expected, a few of the answers provoked negative replies when posters didn't appreciate how others spent their money. The most nasty of these were in response to splurging on workout clothes. Some posters seem to believe that no amount of money will make the average person look good in such outfits.

The next thread was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "what 'good' college did you attend but would not necessarily recommend to your kids or others?", the original poster answers the question posed in the title by describing her experience at Case Western Reserve University and John Hopkins University. She found that both universities lacked a sense of community and were isolated from their surrounding communities. As a result, she wouldn't recommend either institution to her own kids. This thread was started back on January 5 and has reached 36 pages. I have no idea why it gained so much interest yesterday and I'm not going to read it to find out. Given the number of posts in this thread, I would assume that almost every university gets a least one mention.

The last thread at which I'll look was originally posted in the "General Parenting Discussion" forum but I've just moved it to the "Elementary School-Aged Kids" forum for which it is more appropriate. Titled, "10 yo DS too shy to be polite", the original poster is seeking advice in regard to her son who, while able to say "please", and "thank you", does not look up and speaks so quietly that he cannot be heard. Unfortunately, the first response was from one of DCUM's "perfect moms" who have never made a mistake and have overcome all obstacles in the course of raising flawless children. Sadly, the one thing such posters were not able to achieve was as sense of empathy. Often the first response in a thread colors the tone of the thread thereafter and a rude response will lead to most of the thread also being rude. In this case, the post was so over the top that it had the opposite impact and spurred a backlash. Sadly, this poster is particularly difficult and continued to double down throughout the thread. Despite that poster's best efforts, there are a number of thoughtful and helpful responses with posters making a number of recommendations and suggestions that might positively address the situation.