This woman's dying wish is ruined...

[ghostman]

I agree with the dean here. School is all about meeting certain predetermined standards. To go back and make exceptions to that standard, to put it bluntly, out of pity means those standards are worthless. If another student was in an accident and had to miss his final for his major, does he get awarded a diploma out of pity? Nope. Should he get an honorary diploma? Nope. No one would question it. What if he died in the accident? Still, nothing. This case isn't any different.

I would be surprised if she would want a "pity" diploma. After all that work, she's will to accept a statement that she's completed the requirements to graduate, fully knowing she did not?

 

[johnjohn320]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: miniMUNCH

Originally posted by: daniel1113

Originally posted by: Allen Iverson

Originally posted by: nonameo
Honorary degree?

yep they should give her that. if bill gates can have one, she should.

Not really... even though I am against honorary altogether, they are generally only given to honor an individual's contribution to society.

Looking past the emotional bullshit, it's clear that this girl should not be getting a degree that she did not earn.

I agree... people die all the time with some desire/wish left unfulfilled. This woman is just a drop in the bucket. Sorry... I feel for her suffering, but that is how I see it.

Yeah, so we shouldn't try to help her feel a bit better at all.

Wow, you guys are really heartless people. One day, somebody close to you will probably have a long drawn out death and you might understand the complete desire to make them feel better.

My wife was out of work for 4 months dealing with her cancer. I was flying up to NYC almost every weekend to meet with her docs. Luckily I had a somewhat understanding boss, but only because his wife had breast cancer a few years before.

You never quite understand this stuff until you experience it. The more I think about this the more I am pissed off at FIU. I am definitely going to call/email people I know there.

What's interesting is your assumption (presented in several posts now) that you are the only one who has experienced a loved one battling cancer. I'm very sorry for the experience you and your wife endured, and I hope she has since recovered so that your lives may have returned to normal. You're not alone in this experience, I'm afraid. As a freshmen in high school I lost a friend/classmate to Leukemia. About 2 years ago I lost a loved one, my mentor, to cancer that afflicted the lining of the stomach. Another friend is currently battling Hodgkin's Disease (succesfully, thank God). He's only 21, as am I. My best friend's mother died when we were in high school from lung cancer.

It's an unspeakably awful disease, and my heart aches for those who are dealing with in their lives.

THAT SAID...it does not change the fact that you can't just give degrees to people who didn't earn them. Where do you draw the line? Ok, so it's a bachelor's that surely won't amount to anything. But from that, what if we start awarding MD's, Congressional Medals of Honor, Academy Awards and the Grammophone Lifetime Achievement Award to anyone who desires one and is in a compromising position? At some point you have to take off the emotional blinders and see things for what they are. Of course this poor young woman getting a degree won't hurt anyone specifically. But you have standards for a reason, and you have to stick to them...otherwise the precedents you set can end up doing a lot of damage.

 

[TallBill]

No degree, sorry.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: nonameo
Honorary degree?

There you go! It's a win-win-win

 

[alphatarget1]

It's just a damn college degree, why do people make such a big deal out of it? If they arranged some deal to keep them quiet and just hand her a damn diploma everything would've been fine.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: wasssup

Originally posted by: moshquerade
It would set a bad precedent if they just handed her a degree b/c of her circumstances.

True, but it would likely only be relevant in similar cases where the person is dying. Honestly I'm not sure what guidelines the college is bound by, but couldn't they just give her a special diploma or something? All she wants is a piece of paper, I don't think she'll be using the degree to get a job anywhere......

They did offer her a "piece of paper", an Associates degree in Arts.

Her and her mother turned it down.

Her and her mother did not say what major she was looking for a bachelor degree in most likely because she never picked a major and did not fulfill the requisets for one.

All the news clip did say was that she exceeded the amount of credits needed for a bachelor degree.

I asked who's fault is it that she didn't get into taking specific classes for a major?

Normally after you reach a certain number of credits (normally when you reach the Associate Arts level) that a Guidance Office of a College asks you to pick a major towards a bachlelor degree.

So who was at fault here???

I dont know Dave, at my school, we [the students] were responsible for declaring a major and then fulfilling the necessary classes.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I don't see how she would get any satisfaction from getting a degree she didn't earn? Why would she want to die holding some diploma that she knew she didn't really deserve?

 

[ultimatebob]

If they gave all those kids that got slaughtered at Virginia Tech honorary degrees, they should this lady one as well.

 

[Jules]

No dice.

 

[Agentbolt]

Wow, you guys are really heartless people. One day, somebody close to you will probably have a long drawn out death and you might understand the complete desire to make them feel better.

If the only thing that'll make this woman feel better is a degree she didn't earn, why the heck should the school have to give her that? There's plenty of ways she can be comforted, have her meet Madonna or send in a priest or do whatever. She didn't earn the degree, she doesn't get a degree. Being "heartless" has nothing to do with it. It's not their fault the only thing this woman wants is something she didn't do the proper stuff to get.

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: andylawcc
i am pretty sure she and the rest of the world would understand if she didn't get her diploma should she fail to meet the requirements.

Interesting thing is that they said she exceeeded the necessary number of credits for a degree but did not have a major picked.

Is that her fault or lack of guidance by the school???

Typically after a certain point you are asked to pick a major.

Need more info.

That's the first thing I thought of too. Looks like they may have overlooked her in the planning process for the degree. I know that I was not able to register for classes at my university without first meeting with an advisor each semester.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Modular

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: andylawcc
i am pretty sure she and the rest of the world would understand if she didn't get her diploma should she fail to meet the requirements.

Interesting thing is that they said she exceeeded the necessary number of credits for a degree but did not have a major picked.

Is that her fault or lack of guidance by the school???

Typically after a certain point you are asked to pick a major.

Need more info.

That's the first thing I thought of too. Looks like they may have overlooked her in the planning process for the degree. I know that I was not able to register for classes at my university without first meeting with an advisor each semester.

THEY didn't overlook her.

she did not do what she was sopposed to. she should have been meeting with an advisor. The college is not there to hold your hand ot make sure you do what you are sopposed to.

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Aimster
I would have given it to her

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
It would set a bad precedent if they just handed her a degree b/c of her circumstances.

It would set a bad precedent if they just handed a degree to a drug dealing drop-out but that didn't stop Western Michigan University. An honorary degree isn't going to harm anyone or set any kind of precedent.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: moshquerade
It would set a bad precedent if they just handed her a degree b/c of her circumstances.

It would set a bad precedent if they just handed a degree to a drug dealing drop-out but that didn't stop Western Michigan University. An honorary degree isn't going to harm anyone or set any kind of precedent.

Personally, with the black eyes FIU has taken recently, I am surprised they are risking bad press with this. I had a friend of mine forward this clip to me this evening asking WTF was up. To not at least try to do an honorary degree is a bit...silly.

 

[rubix]

it's sad. now she's never gonna get accepted into heaven.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: rubix
it's sad. now she's never gonna get accepted into heaven.

:laugh:

 

[jinduy]

sad, yes... but i wouldnt have given her the bachelor's if i were the admins at the university. can't set presedence where you're willing to make exceptions when you don't complete the reqs.

 

[Mail5398]

I agree with many posters on here that they should get off their high horse. Since she has enough credits, give her a Bachelors degree in General Studies.

On a side note, I used to give assessments to individuals who wanted to work for my former employer. We would have people with college diplomas come in and score at the 8th grade level or lower on reading and math. After seeing this happen many times, I began to realize that college diplomas had become attendance awards for many people.

 

[Agentbolt]

Just watched the clip again. People, the problem isn't even a technicality that she didn't declare a major, listen again. The problem is that she didn't take any specialized classes for one major. It sounds like she just took a bunch of gen eds. This isn't the school dropping the ball or being evil and mean, she didn't even come close to earning a degree. End of story.

 

[KoolDrew]

It's sad what she's going through, but that's no reason to give her a degree she didn't earn.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Just watched the clip again. People, the problem isn't even a technicality that she didn't declare a major, listen again. The problem is that she didn't take any specialized classes for one major. It sounds like she just took a bunch of gen eds. This isn't the school dropping the ball or being evil and mean, she didn't even come close to earning a degree. End of story.

yeap. but those that say she deserves it aren't going ot care. those that say she does nto won't either because she did not do everything she was sopposed to.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Just watched the clip again. People, the problem isn't even a technicality that she didn't declare a major, listen again. The problem is that she didn't take any specialized classes for one major. It sounds like she just took a bunch of gen eds. This isn't the school dropping the ball or being evil and mean, she didn't even come close to earning a degree. End of story.

Yep. Anyone can take dozens of 100 level classes. You don't earn or deserve a B.S. until you've taken a certain number of 200, 300, and 400 level classes.

 

[Chunky Monster]

Her mother should have just lied to her. She could get a mock degree printed online or something and give it to the girl in a frame. If she waited long enough, the girl would be too ill to go to graduation ceremonies anyway.

I know it sounds cold, but the girl would have gotten a degree, the mother would have made the girl happy and no harm would have been done.

 

[spherrod]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: moshquerade
It would set a bad precedent if they just handed her a degree b/c of her circumstances.

i agree. its sad she has cancer. but that should make no diffrence on getting a degree.

:thumbsup: