Search Results for 'Sl'

[Anonymous]

NR, the video your talking about went viral a few months ago. The original is slightly longer than the excerpt conservative blogs are spreading. He is talking about cutting spending on military expenditures that are NOT related to keeping America safe. He has absolutely no plans to disarm our military. Here is a wiki link to our military spending compared to the rest of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

He is referring to eliminating what he feels is wasteful and/or overspending in order to equip and maintain better what is important to the military. He actually wants our military to be better prepared than it is.

[JoB]

beachdrivegirl…

Senator Obama’s work ethic is not reflected in his voting record in the senate… while Senator Clinton’s clearly is.

Check out their voting records.

He was not known for his attendance in the Senate even prior to his campaign… and was not known to stay late and work long hours on the committees he was assigned to. In fact, he was known for heading home early every weekend and coming back late.

he also has not been known for his committee attendance …even prior to his campaign.. but especially while campaigning..

I believe that speaks more directly to his work ethic than his campaign…. which is managed by others… does.

I have never heard or read any comments about his desire to attend briefings and stay after to clarify any questions… while those comments are consistently made about Hillary.

On at least one occasion, since becoming a candidate, he was among the candidates who chose to leave directly after his briefing on the middle east and other military matters by past commanders.. not one of the two.. Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton who chose to stay and ask clarifying questions…

the positive remark made most often by those who have been associated with Senator Obama in the past is that he is charismatic…

the negative one is that he takes credit for the work of others.

and i believe you will find both referenced in wikipedia.

I believe you will find Senator Clinton’s record on legislation which benefits the poor.. and her record on working directly on issues that pertain to the wellbeing of women and children also referenced in wikipedia… and in the congressional record.

Senator Obama’s efforts can be found in the same two sources.

Senator Clinton’s record on those matters and her reputation speaks for itself.. while Senator Obama’s does not.

I did not imply that Senator Clinton’s campaign gets to decide who the working class voters are… in fact… i just read back to see if i even used that phrase.. and i didn’t.

but since you brought up the Oregon campaign… you might want to take a closer look at the demographics of that vote… which are consistent with the demographics of other primary votes… and clearly demonstrate a population that is not responding to senator Obama’s message…

A look at the statistics will show you that in spite of the repeated efforts to show that the primary is over… the Obama momentum stalled long ago. He is doing no better now… when everyone has called the race.. than he did on super tuesday.

that is not the pattern one would hope to see from a winning candidate who has delivered a clear message… he should be doing increasingly better in each primary… and he is not.

That should tell you that his message is missing a substantial number of democrats.

Perhaps there is a reason.

[rs261]

As far as him “disarming” our military, I’d like to ask in what regard?

The uncle/great uncle thing messing up the location, not that big of a deal in my opinion…what McCain slip up are you talking about?

[Caduceus]

I never claimed to know any inner-workings of the public school system, I do know however, how it effects us students and how it is perceived by us.

About my ESL comment, you can make a separate thread if you wish and we can discuss it there. But as a student who has shared 12 years with ESL students I can say yes, standards are often lowered for them and the classes they are in. You can argue that with your own optimism if you wish but I advise you to go school-to-school and “gain a little perspective”. -End of acknowledgment of any further ESL discussion in this thread.

College should be the goal for anyone, and half your paragraph is just repeating what I’ve already said. You would be a fool to argue the the great divide in this country is something other then our poverty line. How many people do you think are in poverty and of the lower class with a college degree compared to those without one? Is that merely naive coincidence?

It is unfortunate that this country caters to people with money and big businesses but that is how it is. Although gas is cheap here in America it is steadily rising, as is our real estate.

Also if you’re going to point out blanket statements in my replies at least refrain from making your own! :]

[JoB]

Walfredo…

“As far as Hillary in the news lately, she has to suggest her followers might assassinate Obama as a viable excuse to continue her campaign, just to get on TV these days.”

Hillary did not suggest that her followers assassinate Obama.

She stated that the primary campaign of Robert Kennedy was still in progress in June when he was assassinated.

This is a clear case of passing along slanderous implications as though they were truth.

[JanS]

JoB…you are entitled to feel however you want to feel.I have tried to stay middle of the road on all of this…and I see things on both sides, as in,I see it’s perfectly OK to bash Barack Obama, underhandedly get a dig in about whether he is Muslim or not, and the behavior is excused. You are angry about how Hillary Clinton has been treated. She’s a big girl, and I think she can handle it. She is not perfect, and has made mistakes, faux pas, if you will, and she has to live with that.Perfection is illusive at best.

Take each of these candidates and take away her gender, take away his color. Let’s say they are both gray non-gender candidates…how do we feel about it now? Yes, there are a lot of women out there who feel that they would like to see a woman president in their lifetime. Yes there are lots of people who would like to see a black president in tneir lifetime. But there is far more to this than gender and race…and there is always that “sexism” card, or that “racist” card to play…not fair on either side. Issues, issues, issues…we forget that when we take these things too personally. A lot about these campaigns is not “fair”…but , as you say, that’s politics, and we have to accept it. I don’t like it…and I see you don’t like it either.

What I find abominable is that there is a faction of women out there who aren’t looking at the big picture. They will cut off their nose to spite their face, and either withhold a vote, or vote for McCain…and that tells me that they could give a damn about the big picture, they only want to have their “woman candidate” no matter what. I disagree with that completely, and certainly don’t want to hear a peep from them in the next 4 to 8 years if the Republicans pull this off yet again because of it. You reap what you sow.

Yes, it stinks that your candidate may not be the nominee…but…there are two people who are running..they can’t both win. And it is up to us, the VOTING public, to not be so vindictive that our candidate lost, for whatever reason, that we hand this election to the other side on a platter.

All just my opinion, of course, but sometimes we need to take a step backward, and think about the underlying reasons for the anger…if it’s because we truly feel for our candidate, or because we have taken things too personally, or whatever reason it might be.

I haven’t seen the “venom” that you say has been directed at you personally, but…hey,maybe I wasn’t looking for it. I’m truly sorry you feel that way, and am sorry that you feel you won’t be back here. That’s your choice, I respect that. You have things to add to the conversation, and those things will be missed.

And…what, may I ask, is wrong with an anti-McCain campaign? We ARE anti-McCain, after all…but we are also pro whoever our candidate will be. And once the nominee is decided, the campaign will be some of both. My personal hope is that the mudslinging will cease, and the issues will be discussed more, because those are what’s important, more than ever…

OK…I’m rambling…must be the good drugs – lol.

[JoB]

What would all of you done for a campaign if you hadn’t had Hillary to bash?

I have had time to think about why i am so angry… and this is it in a nutshell.

I am angry because there is no Obama campaign.. at least not on this blog… just a dirty mudslinging Hate Hillary campaign… in which any kind of vilification is considered not only acceptable but justified… in which slander is accepted as truth…. And it just keeps getting worse.

It isn’t enough that Hillary doesn’t get the nomination… she has to be totally destroyed…

and even that is not enough…

those who would defend her in any way also have to be destroyed.

There is no tolerance at all for anything but the bleating of the choir…

I may have been a bit ruthless in refuting points on this blog.. but i certainly didn’t deserve the personal attack that was launched on me here…

In fact.. no-one deserves that kind of personal attack for merely presenting another point of view… not even republicans.

There is a complete lack of respect in this conversation… if it can be called a conversation… for either ideas or individuals.

I am appalled by the blatantly sexist attacks by the media.. by the portrayal of those with low income as backward idiots.. by the lack of sensitivity for personal tragedy…

but i am ashamed of members of my own party for righteously echoing that behavior when they thought it somehow enhanced their candidate.

There is a total disconnect between the message Senator Obama preaches… the rhetoric… and the campaign that has been waged.

Can anyone explain to me just what is inclusive about this?

Somehow, i wouldn’t think that alienating older women and poor working people … the traditional base of the democratic party… would be a good election strategy…. nor would alienating nearly half of your own party and then expecting them to work for you this fall to get your candidate elected.

That isn’t terribly inclusive. Nor is it effective.

It has lost the democratic party votes… people who won’t be as inclined to vote at all when they don’t see themselves benefiting any more than they have under republicans.

It has lost them loyal democratic workers who see clearly that they are not part of the current democratic agenda.

That combination may ultimately lose democrats the election. And although i am sure those who didn’t campaign or vote for Senator Obama will be blamed…

the real blame will lie with those who found the anger they generated irrational…

This intolerance has certainly lost this worker. I have decided that my health is far more important than this campaign this fall.. and for the first time in my life, while still able to show up, i am going to play the illness card and withdraw from a commitment i made.

I will not work in my local precinct this fall.

This has not been an easy decision. I have never withdrawn from a commitment because of the possible or even probable effects on my health.. even when that commitment cost me dearly.. months and sometimes years of being mainly bedridden.

I had no intention of doing so this fall.

And I am not doing so now because Hillary is unlikely to be the candidate.

I am doing so now because I can’t support waging the kind of campaign that you have all waged for Obama so far and the one you will wage this fall… the anti-McCain campaign… and i regret having been seduced into already doing so.

There is no hope in anti-anything…

just righteousness and revenge… everything i hate about the current republican administration.

and i can’t and won’t choose to be part of that.

and i think that means i won’t be part of this conversation any longer either.

[wspeeps]

Caduceus,

I admire your optimistic outlook and your call for changes in our educational system, I, however find your ideas bit naive and ignorant to the inner-workings of public school system.

First of all, in regards to standardized tests (i.e. the WASL) teachers have no choice but to teach to the tests. If our students preform poorly, not only do our schools risk funding, but we risk losing our jobs as well. We have no control over what information is tested and what format the test takes (multiple-choice, essay, ect…). Those decisions are federally mandated and the districts and teachers have NO CHOICE but to give them. As a teacher, I am very frustrated about the standardization of curriculum and being forced to teach to a test and I know that the large majority of us try our best balance our instruction between test material and real world skills.

In regards to ESL/ELL students, it is extremely ignorant to say that standards are lowered for these students. These students have different learning needs and their instructional programs reflect that. Our classrooms today are INCLUSIVE and there are a large variety of students who have different learning needs in every classroom. The ESL programs are designed to help support these students to be successful in school and so they have a chance to continue on to college. Would you rather our schools let these kids flounder and eventually frustrate them to the point where they drop out of school and they are spit out at the bottom of society? Or, perhaps, is it better that we give them the tools necessary to be active, contributing members of our society and give them the chance to go on to college. You did seem to point out the importance of a college education…

And in regards to your comment that college should be the goal of everyone, once again, your argument is completely naive. College is not the place for everyone and a 9-5 desk job is not everyone’s goal. Is there not value is people learning vocational trades? Just because someone does not have a college degree does not mean they are not a successful, contributing member of our society or that they do not have a strong earning potential. Success is measured in so many different ways and to make blanket statements like “college should be the goal for everyone” is irresponsible.

Your idealism is wonderful and I encourage you to go out and help make some of these changes happen in our world. We do need people motivated, strong people to help make a difference. However, I would also encourage you to go out and gain a little perspective and some real-world experience.

[Caduceus]

Wow, lots of responses!

I’m overjoyed to see teachers and parents are active on here! :]

I simply brought up the WASL because it is grossly apparent that most teachers teach so their students will pass the WASL and not necessarily teach their students anything they will be able to use later on.

And because of this, if the WASL was changed to include things we as students and young people would be able to use in what should be our college-oriented goals then I speculate we would be seeing our community grow more constructively.

Now I understand college isn’t the goal for everyone, but it should be.

In this country especially, education is entirely dependent on how you will fair in life. (granted there are some exceptions.)

I do believe it’s safe to say most people don’t enjoy living pay check to pay check or having to deal with stressful money issues frequently.

A college degree will greatly increase an individuals professional opportunities, and higher degrees will open even more doors.

Now not to say you’re screwed without a college degree a lot of people get by just fine and live comfortably, but a large majority of the people with financial troubles do not have a college degree or even a high school diploma.

I will not touch on the subject of ESL students simply because that is an entirely different basket, and may spark bad feelings as that is a testy subject. But I will say this, and bare with me. I think it is un-fair to lower the standards for the children of families who have lived in this country for generations and speak English as their first language, because we have heavy immigration and the people who have English as a second language have a difficult time keeping up. Yes, I am aware that that is not the only cause for lowered standards. I am conscious of the average teachers ludicrously poor pay (in comparison to what it should be, which needs to be changed immediately), the often restricted budgets for individual schools (in terms of where they are placed and the ethnicity of that neighborhood). Etc

But I do suppose it isn’t fair to put all the blame on the school district. The lack of a child’s drive can be blamed on the parents I guess. But in High School, if a young-adult wishes to act like a child and has similar goals to a child then that is his or hers conscious decision and hardly reflects directly on their parents or the school district.

Our society as a whole needs a change of mentality, entirely.

We need to cease to be dependent on religion, entertainment, media (don’t even get me started on the news stations), traditional ideals, greed etc.

And begin to create a society based on co-existence and constructiveness.

Which seems to be a distant dream now-a-days which it probably is but it isn’t impossible.

And I believe a more useful education in a more constructive environment will help us get there that much faster.

[Jiggers]

Check out John Keawe(Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar Master) at Admiral Theater in July, he’s one of the best musicians around.

[vincent]

AFTER WORK, BY THE SWINGS, AND IF YOU TELL MOM, YOUR OUT OF THE CLUB FOREVER.

Serious dude, its one thing to rant about something like husky deli not being there for a late ice cream craving, or spd camping out on four hour breaks during the day. But about ONE SPECIFIC dude thats obviously doesn’t use the WSB? Call the waaaaabuluence to help you out.

Man up a bit and figure it out. Or change your name to lattemom.

[gambaru]

When I entered the teaching profession I was told this story and I have always kept it in my mind while teaching, “A group of teachers gathered in the auditorium for their annual pre-school year kick off motivational speech. The key note was a business man who was talking about setting goals and developing action plans to systematically achieve your goals and standards. At one point a teacher raised her hand and asked, “You seem to be very successful in your field. If you don’t mind me asking, what was your business?”

The speaker replied, “We processed blue berries for various foods which included them as ingredients.” The teacher continued, “Well, what did you do when you received a shipment of sub-par blueberries?” “Well, I would send them back to my supplier and raise hell.” In a soft voice the teacher asked, “Well, what am I supposed to do with my blue berries?”

Education is a very complex and unfortunately politically influenced issue. Unfortunately for our children, educators are typically not the ones who are making educational decisions for their students and are often blamed for the pitfalls in our educational system.

Ask ANY teacher what they think of standardized testing, and almost universally, you will open a door to a tirade about how inappropriate they are for our students. Simply put, STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE INAPPROPRIATE BECAUSE OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT STANDARDIZED HUMAN BEINGS. Don’t get me wrong, educators can utilize the over all data to pinpoint gaps in their curriculum and make changes in that way. However, educators do not need a standardized test to identify learning issues and disabilities in individual students.

Caduceus, I’m very glad for you that you have been very successful academically and have plans to go to college. However, not everyone is in the same boat as you are and simply increasing the difficulty of the WASL will not fix the problem you are seeing in your peers. The focus on standardized testing is a result on federally mandated No Child Left Behind. Most likely, there will not be a change until there is an administration change and education is made a priority.

changingtimes- so many factors play into why schools are different. Home support, demographics, funding, and quality instruction all affect a school. All we can do as teachers, is meet our students where they are when they come to us and take them as far as they can go in the short time we have them in our care.

Our education system is a Pandora’s Box of issues that will not be resolved by a quick fix. It will take a lot of nation and state-wide change and funding that will not offer a measurable monetary return…

Best of luck, Caduceus.

[beachdrivegirl]

Very good point GenHillOne

[GenHillOne]

Another downfall of the “one size fits all” testing comes to light in the reporting as well. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but as I recall, there is no breakdown of student populations when WASL scores are listed in a school’s annual report. For instance, our WS grade school was wonderfully diverse and included many ESL/ELL students. I even think it was even a magnet of sorts for 2-3 particular languages, which I thought they did throughout the district and was a good use of resources because the teachers could be specialized. I always cringed a bit at the kindergarten fairs because our school’s numbers, ESL/ELL scores included, were always compared (by prospective parents) to Lafayette’s numbers with Spectrum, another magnet of sorts, students’ scores included. Apples to oranges. There was no way to look at how the students who were neither ESL/ELL nor Spectrum were fairing at the various choices. On the flip side, it would be nice to be able to compare how the ESL/ELL and Spectrum students were testing at different schools to see how those programs are doing. Perhaps this has changed and I’ve missed it, but I do encourage friends and neighbors going through the process to take those scores with a grain of salt and to look deeper, because it is easy to place a lot of weight there when looking for a school.

[swimcat]

It’s great that you are concerned about the education system at such a young age- it is a mess in this area and I don’t see any way things can be fixed any time soon because it’s such a disaster (let’s just say that both the Bellevue and Seattle School Districts are a little top heavy on the administrative end).

When my family moved to Bellevue in 6th grade I could tell the schools weren’t that great- I coasted through high school barely doing much and I still got mostly A’s with some B’s. It wasn’t challenging at all, and I was glad I had started my education elsewhere (private school in Mississippi and So.Cal) so I had a good head start.

I’m sure the reason WASL has a lot of multiple choice is the cost of grading the test. I remember taking standardized tests but it wasn’t such a huge focus. WASL scores help set budgets for every school and that test is all they seem to focus on. It’s a shame- it all comes down to money and the children suffer for this. Another problem is uninvolved / too busy parents- I won’t even get started on that issue.

Needless to say, my children will likely be going to private school when the time comes. Just watching the ineptitude of the local school districts from afar is disgusting enough- I can’t imagine having my children personally involved.

[Shibaguyz]

Call 206-684-3000 and ask to speak to Mr. Marshall. I have personally called him a few times and I know my neighbors have as well about the sloppy garbage pick up in our neighborhood. They were even skipping our street for recycling some weeks!

Just tell whoever you get in garbage/recycling collection that you were told to speak directly to Mr. Marshall. We haven’t missed a recycling collection in a while now and the pick up men haven’t left our street strewn with garbage since we all called.

[j]

I’m a 5th grade teacher (in Bellevue) and I wish there where more multiple choice questions on the WASL. My poor kids struggle year after year because the Science WASL is practically all writing.

To find out about the types of questions, go to OSPI, not Wikipedia. You can see released questions for every grade. There are three types of questions on the WASL:

-Multiple Choice (1 point)

-Short Answer (2 points)

-Extended Response (4 points)

I could go on for days about the pros and cons so I’ll spare everyone.

[beachdrivegirl]

I think what you are forgetting is that although typically the WASL does have multiple choice answers the multiple choice is worth significantly less than the short answer and extended response questions. Furthermore, the WASL test high failure rate typically has to do with students who have english as a second language. The WASL test is a very inaccurate assessment of education level, IMO. My father is on the school board, my brother in law is a principal, and my mother and sister are teachers and they all share the opinion that the WASL is very inaccurate in its measurements. However, I do love hearing that you do care so much about your education not enough students do these days.

[Shibaguyz]

… other than Endoline Joe’s. I know… sacrilege to say that. But the slow, often abusive, service and mediocre food has just worn thin with me. Even their GREAT bloody mary can’t do it for me anymore. Time for find a new place to indulge our breakfast cravings.

Where oh where in WS do you like to go for breakfast. We LOVE Blackbird Bistro on the weekends but still want another option. And what about during the week? Holidays like today? Where do WS folk go when it’s just too much to drag out the egg poacher and fire up the toaster?

[charlabob]

Arts West is an amazing resource for West Seattle. I’m not a theater critic or an arts expert, so I can just say everything we’ve seen there is daring and professional and smart. And, it’s a very comfortable venue–walking distance to the growing array of west seattle restaurants!

Now, get out of your garden or off your couch and go to see I am My Own Wife, http://www.artswest.org/?q=node/12, playing through June 1. Actually, the first time you can see it is tomorrow night — 7:30, so you can finish weeding and vegging and still get there.

Excellent seats are still available (I recommend front row, because I like seeing actors sweat, but there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.)

We saw the lead (and only) actor, Nick DeSantis, in How I Got The Story last year (about a reporter in Vietnam) — it was exceptional and this is better.

“I Am My Own Wife” is the “true” (is it?) story of a transvestite who survived the Nazis and the Communists in Germany. That doesn’t begin to tell the story and to tell more gives it away. Seriously, this is powerful theater — we’d be lucky to see it anywhere and we just have to hop on a bus or a bike or even, for some of us, the necessary car.

Go. Now (5 more performances.) Be amazed that it isn’t sold out :-) And, most important, buy tickets for next season.

[CMP]

I didn’t think the WASL was all essay. I had to grade them for a temp-agency after I had graduated college and couldn’t find a real job. Granted, that was ten years ago, but I do remember it rather well. It was rather disheartening to read some of these essays, knowing that this was the future of Washington…pretty pathetic. I remember with the math portion, kids would have to explain how they reached their answer, which I always found difficult, even from my own test-taking days pre-WASL. If the education system would focus on something other than standardized tests, you might have more time to teach these kids more important things to actually make them kinda smart. But most school children I encounter are lazy and have this misguided sense of entitlement which I’ll blame on their parents. I’ve concluded no kiddos for me unless I can afford to send them to private school. My parents work for the Bellevue School District and after hearing stories about how things work over there, moving across the lake isn’t the answer to your problems.

[Anonymous]

According to wiki it has 4 question styles *multiple-choice, short-answer, essay, and problem solving*

Caduceus, the Wikipedia entry comments on the controversial aspects of the test. Have you read it? Includes references and external links where some of your questions might be answered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Assessment_of_Student_Learning

[bertha]

Caduceus – I don’t understand your post. The WASL is NOT multiple choice and never has been. The test is all essay and you must explain and justify your answer. Perhaps you are thinking of a different test.

[changingtimes]

i think that this all depends, and also is very variable! I grew up going to private school all my life, yes i know im still a terrible speller! but our standards where very high! i remember starting to pull all nighters my sophmore year with 20 page papers due almost every month! at this minute i can not afford private school for my daughter so i researched the best public school. By the way we are talking grade school here. There was such a huge difference in the test scores!!! even in west seattle!!! i decided to send her over to John Hay on top of queen ann because the school is THAT good. My nephew goes to school here in west seattle and in the 3rd grade he still can not read anything but the most basic, and forget math! anyways point being in the 1st grade she started having trouble, and before i even knew the school had set up an intervention and now she has a tutor at school everyday to help her. and special one on one monitoring. I think this is fab! and yes this is PUBLIC school!!! but i dont understand why my nephew can not get the same kind of attention…my only theory is demographics but you would think a public school is a public school and all should be able to offer the same assistance……anyways sorry so long, but long story short if you really want your children to have a good education it takes some really good research on which schools to place your child in! this is my take…

[Caduceus]

Figured this would fit here, sorry if it would be better placed in Open Discussion :P

Is there anyway to change the WASL/WA school standards?

At the moment the WASL is mostly multiple choice, and really the questions aren’t difficult at all.

As a matter of fact I remember two questions specifically from when I took the WASL in the 5th grade, when I took them again sophomore year (Am now a senior).

I’m unable to find the statistics again, but I’ve read that quite a few students in WA failed the WASL miserably, if I remember correctly the % was of the large majority.

Now please don’t take this the wrong way and that I am not trying to be on a high horse. I am just awfully concerned. The standards for us students today are so grotesquely low, it just gives people an excuse to half-a** ( lack of a better word :/ ) their way through school because it isn’t difficult at all. The lack of challenge presents an opportunity to take an easy way out.

And even the Advanced Placement classes in public schools and honor rolls are still lower in standards then a regular private school program.

I.E. The standards are lower in West Seattle High School’s AP and H classes, then Bishop Blanchet’s average classes (non AP and H).

Public schools get a lighter work load and are generally father behind knowledge and comprehension wise then people of the same age and grade in private schools.

Math is obviously difficult for most people, as it isn’t engaging at all and most people can’t think of practical uses for Calculus, Algebra and Trigonometry in everyday life.

But when I see people who can’t read in high school, or have poor comprehension of what they are reading. That is just horribly, horribly, sad.

Again I’m not trying to be condescending on a high horse or anything like that at all. I just find it concerning that my generation specifically seems to be quite lack-luster when it comes to basic logic and comprehension.

I left High school specifically because the lack of a challenge and am now enrolled at a program at South Seattle Community College, and was in Running Start for a half-year. I find it HIGHLY unlikely that most people will have anything other then an extremely difficult time adapting from the easy-going, piece of cake, high school atmosphere to weekly college papers 5-10 pages in length, or advanced math review classes.

Not to mention the tests you get in most classes which are largely small/short essays. Rarely are you going to get Multiple Choice tests in College level classes. (100 and up)

How would we (myself and others I know who have like minds) go about attempting to change this?

And what are your thoughts?

Are you a student, parent of a student? What is your take?

P.S. Sorry for the lengthy wall-o-text! Got carried away :]