🚀 go-pugleaf

I can't help but respond to David Johnston's recent post.  It describes what
could be a frightening scenario.  For a student to claim that they are
mathematically "disabled" is absurd!

David also describes the reaction of others to his being interested in math. I
must admit that I get tired of that kind of reaction, too.  You would think
that after more than 22 years of teaching mathematics I would get used to it.
Maybe someday ... .

Another scary aspect of this discussion is for universities such as ours that
have a mathematics requirement as part of the general education program.
EVERY student at our university must take at least one mathematics course, even
the poets.  A student who claims to suffer from this "disease" could ask to be
exempted from the requirement.

David makes an excellent point when he says

>It's 'cool' and 'politically correct' to be a bad math student.
>
If someone says that they can't READ, Americans immediately jump on the
bandwagon and push for literacy training.  We should do the same for
mathematical illiteracy!

It's like when I went into a local Burger King when their sign said that
Whoppers cost just  .99 cents .  When I explained to the manager that their
sign said that I could get a Whopper for one penny, he laughed and said,
"But that's not what it says."  I said it was, but still lost the argument.

It's a fight we must all continue to fight.

Herb Kasube
Department of Mathematics
Bradley University
Peoria, IL  61625
hkasube@bucc1.bradley.edu