Chapter 14 Mr. Professor

Professor Richard was expelled from Columbia Journalism School.The reason is that some students sued him.The first charge: the content of the class is not sufficient; the second charge: never leave homework. The student who took the lead in writing the letter was a girl named Kate.She said openly and confidently: "We paid Columbia's high tuition fee (20,000 U.S. dollars per year) to attend the class. If we can't learn anything, of course we have to ask him (referring to Richard) to walk." Richard teaches a TV journalism class.Prior to this, he had worked as a news producer for CBS (CBS) and ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation) for more than 30 years. He is currently the deputy director of the ABC Evening News Department and is quite prestigious in the American TV circle.This time, being kicked out of jobs by a few brats must not feel very good.

This is the first time I have encountered a student firing a teacher.When I went to school in China, I only heard students complain about too much homework, and I never got angry because a teacher left little homework.It seems that paying tuition by yourself does not feel the same. The reluctance of American students has taught me more than once.In my second semester at Columbia University, I took a course called Television Documentary.Professor Heffer is our advisor.He is humble and ready to answer questions, which makes us feel that he is easy to talk to.The end of the term is approaching, and every student is busy finishing a 20-minute documentary, doing post-editing all night long in the TV room.At this time, a classmate came in and said that he occasionally checked the grades in the school's computer system and found that Professor Hefer had scored the grades and entered them into the school's computer system without reading the final work, and according to him , giving a very low score.The students with red-eyed eyes were furious immediately, and they checked their scores one after another. It was really lower than the norm, and some of them got C (American universities use A, B, C, D, E to rank the grades).

In recent years, there has been a trend of "inflation" in the grades of American colleges and universities, and teachers rarely give scores below B-.For many students who can only complete their studies by fighting for scholarships, getting a C is tantamount to ruining their future.The next day, Professor Heffer was having a rough time.One by one, students walked into his office, demanding explanations.The poor professor had to admit that he only scored based on his usual impressions, and he didn't know the "market" of other professors' ratings.He promised to add points as appropriate after watching his own documentary homework, and the turmoil will be over.

Speaking of which, the life of professors in American universities is not easy.Except for a few well-known scholars, most professors earn only 40,000 to 50,000 US dollars a year, and they are mixed in the middle and lower reaches of the middle class.In recent years, colleges and universities across the United States have been short of funds, and teachers are rarely paid salaries. As a result, the real income of professors has been declining year by year.Seeing that their students can find jobs with similar wages after graduation, professors complain.If it weren't for the sake of the four months of vacation a year, many people would really quit their jobs.Younger professors live in more poverty.Professor Engel, who taught me "microeconomics", died in his thirties.He joked in class that it was all the result of malnutrition and years of hard work.His fiancée also teaches economics at Columbia University.On the invitation letter distributed to relatives and friends when the two got married, the "consumption curve" commonly used in economics was impressively drawn, indicating: "If you will give us a wedding gift, it is best to send cash. Because then we have More consumption choices can lead to a higher consumption satisfaction curve.” When Professor Engel talked about the class of “Consumption Choices”, he gave this example in particular and showed us the results. In the unified examination, the students in our class seldom answer the questions about this aspect wrongly.

Of course, although the professors are not well paid, and even though they are sometimes "coerced" by students, they are teachers of prestigious schools after all, with knowledge in their stomachs and achievements in their resumes. You are not convinced. Professor Matlock has been a diplomat all his life and served as the US ambassador to the former Soviet Union.It is really suitable for him to teach the "Modern Diplomacy" course.Most of the teachers at Columbia University wear casual clothes to class, but Professor Matlock has never been dressed in suits and shoes. T-shirts, the students who are used to putting their feet on the table have restrained a lot in his class and dare not make mistakes.Once, when talking about cultural differences and foreign affairs, he talked about his personal experience, "As a diplomat, I always wear a suit and tie. When I was the ambassador to the Soviet Union, I was invited to visit a farm once. In order to To show that I am easy-going and easy-going, I specially changed into cloth clothes and trousers. Unexpectedly, this change of clothes annoyed the farmers. They thought that I was wearing too casual clothes, which was a kind of contempt for them. I still remember this experience deeply. Don’t underestimate such trivial matters as dressing and wearing a hat. Different social and cultural environments will have different understandings. For diplomats, it is an unforgivable mistake to be careless or ignore local cultural traditions.”

These words made us students nod their heads one after another, knowing that Mr. Professor is really a good teacher.Of course, sometimes Professor Matlock has to pay the price.Once, the air conditioner in the classroom was out of order, and it was hot. He was already fat, so he had to take out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Even so, he only took off his suit and jacket, and never unbuttoned his shirt. The collar or cuffs, and the tie have not loosened, and they are still tightly wrapped around the neck.I couldn't help being very moved.The main content of his lecture that day was "Diplomat Discipline".

During the two years of studying at Columbia University, it was Professor Johnson who helped me the most.He is the dean of my international media department and my personal advisor.He himself was a newspaper reporter, and he is very good at writing. He once served as a senior editor for the largest newspaper in the United States, The New York Times, for 20 years.He is sixty-five years old this year. He has snow-white curly hair. His eyes are both kind as a teacher and sharp as a reporter. He likes to wear turtleneck sweaters, duffel suits and jeans. He is very capable, as if he is ready to go out at any time Like an interview.

Professor Johnson often said: "Journalists are most afraid of the word 'lazy', and they must verify what is on the paper, and must not just copy the words." Every week, he asked us to submit an article of about 2,000 words. special report.In order to save trouble, some students wrote about what happened in school for several consecutive articles. He said bluntly: "If one day you become a reporter, don't you only report what happened in newspapers or TV stations?" What? In this way, you are suitable to report to a certain agency." With such a lesson learned from the past, how dare I take it lightly?So I tried to make each report different in content: there were interviews with off-Broadway plays representing avant-garde art, and there were investigations into the funding of public elementary school education; tramp.Once, in order to understand the attitude of the black community towards the governor's election, I went alone to the Harlem district with poor security, interviewed black churches, associations and vendors, and obtained first-hand information.As a result, the article was highly appreciated by Professor Johnson, and it was printed and distributed to the whole class as a model essay.Of course, his comment at the end of the article has also been made public: "I appreciate your attempt on different subjects, and think this is a good article with a complete structure and smooth writing. As a native speaker who is not English It is especially difficult for foreign students, but I must remind you: Harlem is a very unsafe area, and it is best not to go alone in the future.” I recalled that when I returned from the interview that day, the sky was already dark, and the poor people on the side of the road The drunken man cast a scrutinizing gaze at me, and I couldn't help feeling scared in my heart.The concern expressed in Professor Johnson's comments left a warm feeling in my heart.

When I was about to graduate, the New York Times interviewed me, and then Newsweek published a prominent interview.Those reporters asked me to share some of my views on the American media when asking questions.I said frankly: "The major US news media's reports on China tend to focus on certain sensitive topics. Regardless of the accuracy of these reports themselves, the mere disproportion with other realistic topics violates what you believe in. 'Journalism principle', which leaves the reader with a biased general impression. If I am a reporter based in the United States, and all the reports I send back to China are about the drug problem in the United States, what is in the minds of the Chinese? How will the United States be? As Americans, don’t you also feel unfair?” The concept of proportion contained in the accuracy of the news in this statement was exactly what I learned in Professor Johnson’s journalism class.

When I told this to Professor Johnson, the old man slapped his thigh and laughed loudly: "Wonderful, worthy of the 'A' I gave you. I am proud of you. The American media is used to flaunting itself In my view, it is time for reflection.” When we were parting, I asked him when he would have the opportunity to visit China and watch my TV show.He said sadly: "If there is a chance, I will definitely go. However, I am old, and I don't know when I will have this opportunity." I said: "If there is no chance, I will use a video camera to take pictures of China and bring them to the United States to show you, Mr. Professor."