Quote: sootyj @ November 7 2011, 12:37 PM GMTSothat's when £29 a month was a decent salary?
How long ago was that?
1964
University Level Education: Your Thoughts Page 4
Quote: DaButt @ November 7 2011, 1:03 PM GMTThe skills training is also superb and often leads to a lifelong career.
Regrettably, in the UK a significant percentage of the homeless are ex-services ; I've seen figures between 6 and 22%. Perhaps the US treats theirs a lot better (they certainly get a much better salary).
Quote: Oldrocker @ November 7 2011, 1:45 PM GMT1964
Flipping Nora inflations a beyatch!
Quote: DaButt @ November 7 2011, 1:03 PM GMTA couple of years in the military works wonders when it comes to teaching bratty teenagers how to behave like adults. I can't think of any other program which is so successful in training men and women to be responsible, confident and reliable. Even my most lefty university professors admitted that veterans needed less coddling than other students their age.
The skills training is also superb and often leads to a lifelong career.
Yup but the GI bill in the US is one of the few ways of getting your uni education paid for.
Quote: Nogget @ November 7 2011, 1:48 PM GMTRegrettably, in the UK a significant percentage of the homeless are ex-services ; I've seen figures between 6 and 22%.
Those figures vary by more than 350% so it's hard to draw any conclusion from them. I'd imagine that the veteran population of the UK approaches 10% so they could even be under represented if your lower range is correct.
I always recommend the OU to people because it doesn't stick you in a ton of debt, it free if you have no formal HE or you can prove it will help you in life and a career, and you can pick and choose your modules.
For those who say "But there is the social experience", I can tell you it's not all that great. Living with people who turn out to be crazy is no fun as I discovered in my first year and living with friends later on is eye opening. I was lucky after Uni to find a couple of great flatmates who I still miss but we still ended up with one lone nut who I met through uni.
My main memories of uni are as follows -
Insane flatmate who pissed on the doorstep, slept with anything that moved, drank cider, and tried to top herself.
Tutors who hated me and my best friends because we preferred to think for ourselves.
Freshers flu.
Stomach bugs brought on by undercooked food at events.
Dodgy boyfriend with gambling problem.
Writing the world's most pointless essays for a course based on physical work.
Liver damage brought on by cheap booze leading to blue vomit.
Serious rivalry between girls. Cue eating disorders and backstabbing.
Drinks being spiked.
Having f**k all money and people from well to do families who gave them £200 a month moaning about being so poor.
The shit jobs I had to take.
The big pro I had was I met two of my best friends through Uni but otherwise, mostly a bad experience. I am not saying everyone will hate uni. I'm sure a lot of people love it but I went for the wrong reasons (pushed into it) and I was very unhappy for three years.
PS National service is wrong. Why should you be forced to fight for a cause if you don't believe in it?
None military national service!
Do catch up.
Frankly if you could find someone to sign your chitties I'd say protesting at Trident bases could count as national service.
Quote: DaButt @ November 7 2011, 2:36 PM GMTThose figures vary by more than 350% so it's hard to draw any conclusion from them. I'd imagine that the veteran population of the UK approaches 10% so they could even be under represented if your lower range is correct.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/veterans.html
Would you like a sleeping bag DaButt?
"Roughly 56 percent of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic"
So it looks like not only will you end up on the streets, you'll turn African American or Hispanic, too.
Question is were they African American or Hispanic before they became homeless?
Quote: sootyj @ November 7 2011, 3:05 PM GMT
From that link:
33% of male homeless population are veterans
veterans comprise only 34% of the general adult male population
Sounds about right to me.
Quote: RubyMae - Glamourous Snowdrop @ November 7 2011, 2:44 PM GMTPS National service is wrong. Why should you be forced to fight for a cause if you don't believe in it?
The last thing the forces need is an influx of slackers with an attitude problem, and as Don says assault courses are not for everyone (though if physical education was taught properly in schools less of us would be wheezy wusses).
But there are other forms of national service. A German lad I know did his standing sentry over the nest site of a bird of prey.
The aim should be to experience different and challenging circumstances while contributing something useful to society.
Quote: RubyMae - Glamourous Snowdrop @ November 7 2011, 2:44 PM GMTMy main memories of uni are as follows -
Excellent except for a dodgy second year. The first year was most excellent. I had no interest in academia to be honest. I just went to college to get pissed and layed. That might sound a little selfish but I doubt I'd be alone in those thoughts. And I did get a job out of it.
Quote: RubyMae - Glamourous Snowdrop @ November 7 2011, 2:44 PM GMTmostly a bad experience
For me Uni was neither a particularly good experience nor a desperately bad one; it was mostly no experience at all. When I look back on Uni, it just feels like dead time.
My fault in part for not taking advantage of the opportunities, but I think I was just under prepared to make the most of it. I had not been taught how to study and I was to shy and gauche to benefit from the extracurricular activities. So I retreated into my shell and wallowed in self-pity (and alcohol).
Also being fully subsidised in those days, I was doubtless under incentivised to achieve academically - paying through the nose does at least bring home that education is an investment, in time as well as money.
Hey Roscoff how was job as a penguin monitor on an abandoned island a 1000 miles from decent society?
Quote: roscoff @ November 7 2011, 3:52 PM GMTExcellent except for a dodgy second year. The first year was most excellent. I had no interest in academia to be honest. I just went to get pissed and layed. That might sound a little selfish but I doubt I'd be alone in those thoughts. And I did get a job out of it.
So where did you get the booze?
Quote: DaButt @ November 7 2011, 3:25 PM GMTFrom that link:
33% of male homeless population are veterans
veterans comprise only 34% of the general adult male populationSounds about right to me.
I can see the recruitment ads now:
"Join the army! You're no more likely to end up on the streets than any other unfortunates!"
Join the world, see the world, mean new people and ask them for small change!