Education needs a proper roof over its head!

I just read an online article (in german about how shabby university buildings are in Germany and how german scientists and employees at out universities are embarrassed about this situation of people working in this environment are whenever international visitors come over), which in my opinion described the ultimate dilemma of my studying generation: We paid those temporary tuition fees and we also had the so called privilege to decide where those got spent at our university. Some books were bought, teacher’s assistants employed and usually the semesters coming after ours were the first beneficiaries. There were also strict guidelines on how to spend this precious money, which meant no construction repairs or work per se could be filed for. Rather absurd, since almost every seminar room or lecture hall is presently inhumanely scruffy.

Intelligent computers and color printers were bought. Thousands of books also, which became useless due to internet access. At least some provided more teacher assistants, who significantly improved the studying situation by downsizing their tutorials. But do you study well, when the room you are in makes you feel sick? Some guys might not care. There are those students that don’t care about their study environment. Those who can sit on the most crocked foldup chair and concentrate on a problem, since they are subconsciously using their knees and legs against their front rows to get stuck on the chair. It is a different story for me. My legs just reach the ground and if a foldup can stretch itself more than 90 degrees, I slide off immediately. I sometimes try up to seven chairs to find a bearable angle. This distracts me. It also distracts me, whenever a splinter jams itself through my clothes or skin, especially due to the unwilling sliding. Sitting on one leg sometimes solves this problem, but it falls asleep after a while and some people might understand that this is no long term solution. 

Having no trash bins due to them catching the rain that drips through the roof is also no acceptable long term solution. Even inside chemical training labs you have these stumbling blocks as soon as a little rain cloud appears. This relative humidity does also not work for the experiments that have to be without moistness or air per se. Crumbling walls are also no news to this concrete bunker – at least no one has gotten hit by falling pieces so far. Drafty windows and broken air systems result in me always carrying a jacket in any season. If the outside heat rises to over 100°F (40°C) in a tree’s shadow, I still need a jacket inside. Conversely I am peeling myself like an onion during an ice cold winter, because seminar rooms tend to imitate a terrarium during a hot summer in Hawaii.

But still, construction work bills were not allowed to be paid for by these fees, because they were supposed to only enhance educational situations. As a matter of principle I do understand these introduced limitations for the usage of the tuition fees. What I do not understand is why not even a small percentage can be appointed for construction work. New chairs and dry rooms are necessary for building a good studying atmosphere. The newest technical device does not help, if you can’t see something due to rain inside the building or sliding off your chair every now and then. Why can we tear down a thoroughly scruffy parking building but not fix small problems for study halls? My guess is we are waiting. Waiting for the planned fundamental reconstruction of the whole university. The one that is already running a couple years late and it will take another two to three studying generations walking this concrete labyrinth until it is done. Maybe it is really not feasible to fix anything right before that huge construction enterprise – unless the committee for deciding on any excellence initiative or elite program comes along. Then all possibly walked hallways are repainted and necessary work is done according to their viewing schedule each time they arrive here. A fake appearance of this place, since the areas remodeled or touched up are always the same.

Not until there was leftover money and no more books or tools to be bought as well as no more room for more tutorial sessions, there was the opportunity to pay our heating bill with these tuition fees. Sure, studying in a cold room in the midst of winter is not possible – seems that studying in humid accommodations providing splinters to your best parts is possible. Poisoning our future with asbestos and PCB should not go unmentioned – at least some areas are being reconstructed or cleaned. Sometimes though the warning stickers are simply painted over.

We are in the need of a system. Operated in a sustainable manner. Politicians have only partially understood that investments in our education is an investment in the country’s future. They are just beginning to realize that providing child care will enable us to use the potential of men and women. So universities are left to charge at this problem themselves. But how? Getting the tuition fee back? No thank you. Ask for more tax money? Socially unfair. Ask the ones who studied at the university with a lateron profit for a tribute? Why not. But how exactly?  UniSol35 is a proposition, about which I have written a column already (in german, sorry). A tribute paid by every graduated student, who earns more than 35.000€ brutto later in life: 0.1% of their income would be the monthly tribute to their alma mater for a maximum of 40 years. Especially highly educated students leave Germany to earn more money elsewhere in the world, which makes it socially unfair to the general taxpayer supporting the german system, whereas the ones leaving do not pay german taxes. Even if someone pays a 40 year running tribute every month, they do not cover all costs of their studies. But they do enlarge the tax money budget of a university and enables a good education long term. 

America, Great Britain and others ask for horrendous amounts in their tuition system, which unfortunately selects the auditorium previous to all studies. Australia showed how it can work: Everyone seeking university education can get it. Particularly interesting for those who have not intellectually peaked yet. You pay your tribute afterwards. Same is currently and successfully done in Germany at a private school in Witten. Our education is worth something and needs a good home to build our future. 

What are we waiting for?

A train ride isn't always fun (read this twice, second time with those footnotes)

Nowadays there is almost no general „clothing attire“ for all those different groups of our time. Emo lovers sometimes look like goths, women look like men, kids like adults, alternatives like hipsters, industrial goths like blue avatars out of the movies, normal people are called metros, some get called Nazi, if the black jeans are too tight. I only recognized two brown thinking people by listening to their conversation. This is a try of repeating this acquaintance – with footnotes.

I took the last train connection from Berlin to Bochum [1]. It is a silent and fast ICE [2], which is whooshing through the night. Again I am sitting on a seat facing backwards, because my luck just seems to reserve those. Why do I still reserve a seat when the prizes just doubled for that? Right, yeah, otherwise I would sit on the ground for almost four hours. Close to me there is a newly in love couple [3]. I can only see his arm, though I can hear them purring at each other very well. Cute, right?

When the conductor entered the scene it became clear that those two (let’s call them Max and Leni) did not have a ticket to ride this train, supposedly because they had no time to get one. They paid 240euros for their tickets to Dortmund without a twitch. I was a little astounded, since both did not look like they came from money or made much, but that’s none of my business. If they had gotten the tickets just before entering, it would have been 60euros cheaper [4]. 

The train emptied suddenly about two hours before Dortmund. Next to my seating, a table with four seats got available and before I could get myself to move, Max and Leni switched there. I decided to rest my ridiculously tired eyes and tried to sleep, since I also was not in the mood for watching a lovey dovey couple cuddle right then and there. Max looked like the typical punk person with shiny boots, whereas Leni was this usually shy and chocolate loving housewife in violet [5]. They had pretty soothing voices. The dog of my seating buddy did not think so, it periodically growled silently [6]. The love doves nestled down into each other and he started talking about how he believes that they will have a glorious future, because they have the same nationally thinking mind. I was startled and thought I misheard. Now completely awake I took my sunglasses down from my head and used them to shield my eyes from the glaring ICE lights – trying to sleep again [7].

He is gazing at her, she beams at him. Counterpointing, Leni talks now about how her ex-husband was abusing here and her family was on his side of the story not believing her. She had the worst childhood in this family and a weird band to them anyways. Then they are interchanging birthday information. Max is thrilled telling that his birthday is almost 100years later than the one of the Führer – Leni reasons they must be meant for each other since her birthday is the 8^th of August [8]. Further, she says that her father will not approve Max [9], since she was already called a Naziwhore on the phone. Max just laughs and replies that this always [10] happens to him.

Suddenly the conversation evolves to parenting. And, how the national sozialist in general present and fullfill great family politics. His children must grow up without the internet and without television They have to play in the woods. As a perfect example he talks from a family of alike-minded people, whose children may watch the news once a day and then discuss the content with their parents afterwards. He thinks it is genius for the children to decide themselves, whom to idolize and pretty amusing that the children are currently trying to convince the parents to only worship the Führer [11] – even though the parents prefer Heß [12]. In Max’ opinion, these children are growing up learning to be independent from other opinions. He would wish the same for his offspring. Leni nods to every word and does not even blink once being busy gazing at him. Also, tank sciences, survival trainings in the woods, reading stellar constellations and weapon knowledge became highly important for their future offspring [13].

Politically they met each other at autocracy [14] being the one and only choice and needing a new leader for all. Humans need rules without doubts or backfire. Today’s brown concept of the “right” movement would be anyways the coolest overall concept [15]. At this point they both claimed to be loyal to the NPD [16], even though a brown minded clan was trying to pull Leni in [17]. Now I realized that this day there was a demonstration of the NPD downtown, killing all traffic. A short conversation pause was filled with a song for Adolf. I think the BDM [18] could not have sung it better. The melody was not horrible – almost an ear worm [19]. The lyrics however were turning my stomach upside down [20] and I do not feel comfortable writing them down here. Accompanied by music I looked outside the window. Everyone has been awfully quiet since Max and Leni took the entertainment lead, looking as far away as everyone can.

Stopping in Dortmund changed the scenery completely. Max and Leni left the field and the ICE travelers all came back to life. When I got off one stop later it was almost one in the morning and the empty city of Bochum was covered in orange fog. A friend of mine would have commented this picture saying that horror movies have started like this before.

[1] Incredible 200km/h you are transported as if sitting in a plane. Usually runs every hour and is pretty comfortable, if you are willing to spend the money… that day I almost missed my connection, since there was a demonstration downtown

[2] Inter City Express

[3] If the described couple recognizes themselves, please do not take it personal!

[4] But maybe my southern german habits are breaking through, always wanting to plan ahead and find the cheapest prizes.

[5] Colors have meanings, right? Some might state violet is the color of sexually frustrated women

[6] The dog’s name is Nora. She is getting cozy with my shoe. Come to think of it, this was the cutest thing happening on that train. Cuter than that lovey dovey couple.

[7] To my fascination, the inner lights of an ICE train can really be as if you were a deer in the front beams of a BMW. Plus it helps watching the couple if they cannot see where your eyes go, true.

[8] Adolf Hitler lived 1889-1945. The eighth letter in the alphabet is H. 88 was THE code for HH = Heil Hitler, which was the greeting during the Führer’s reign.

[9] I’m on the father’s side for being skeptical of this young fellow who is wearing ripped camouflage clothing and neon green as well as neon pink shoelaces in his polished boots. Polishing something sometimes does not take the bad aftertaste away.

[10] ALWAYS?

[11] I am sitting there guessing that you JUST met. So children is your first serious topic. Interesting. And it also makes me speechless. What I wrote down here is just a fragment of detail that you put into those hours of talking and you basically planned every step of your offspring’s childhood up to becoming an adult. What if they fall in love with Marx? Or what if they find Judaism interesting? What if they would want to convert to anything you disapprove of? What if they have your ideology? What if they like different veggies than you?

[14] Autocracy identifies forms of governments, where all power is in the hand of one leader (the autocrat), being solely used by him. Source: Schubert, Klaus/Martina Klein: Das Politiklexikon. 4. aktualisierte Auflage Bonn: Dietz 2006.

[15/16] google NPD and see for yourself. Their concept is close to the NSDAP – putting family, work and the own country to a highlight. Like all programs, it does have valid points, but there are passages, which deals with having foreigners enter our country and destroying the germans existence. They avoid using the word “race”, because THAT would be just like the NSDAP. Supposedly all those foreigners were invited to Germany without the approval of all germans. The aim of many germans to move to another country is completely ignored and I am left wondering if some only love the idea of the perfect family and their own country as opposed to a world of peace!? Globally speaking, a family is a part of a country, a country a part of one world!? I stopped researching this party since it made me feel sick. If you want to know more, go ahead!

[17] She mentioned their homepage, but my try to verify this got crushed by internet censors, which speaks for itself.

[18] Bund Deutscher Mädels was the pendant to the Hitlerjugend (HJ), both being the youth organizations (female BDM, male HJ) of Adolf Hitler

[19] These Ohrwurm things (ear worms?) are typical for hymns. The just seem to be stuck inside your head and you can hear them all the time. Like a worm eating itself into your ear. This can also be appointed to soccer hymns, which usually change in lyrics very often. Sung text has been proven to be stuck in your head easier than read text, since music is saved in a different spot of your brain than text itself. This has often been used to manipulate people – here as well.

[20] These lyrics were worshipping big shot Nazis and called for the fight at the front…