A Thing Hard Earned Is Treasured Much More

The following is a news report in yesterday's UDN in response to a recent hot issue on college students eating chicken legs in class.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=225475

錢致榕：補習18年上台大 怎會珍惜

【聯合報╱記者湯雅雯／台北報導】2009/12/08

任教於美國約翰霍普金斯大學的政治大學講座教授錢致榕昨天說，國外的學生很珍惜求學機會、上課時間，因為學費貴，又是自己負擔，絕對不會在上課時「啃雞腿」；台灣一流大學因為都是政府出錢，學生沒有察覺自己「欠社會這麼多錢」。

My comments: I remember when I was studying at UIUC, my department provided two English courses. One was for graduate students who needed more English training, which was free, and the other was for people who paid to learn English. An American teacher, who was a classmate of mine, told me the students in the latter work far harder than those in the former. Yeah, when we pay, we know that every minute costs money and we tend to cherish it.

中央大學教授洪蘭日前批評台灣大學醫學生「尸位素餐」引發爭論。錢致榕不諱言，在哈佛、約翰霍普金斯等美國一流大學，不會如此，「學生聽講都來不及，怎麼有時間在課堂上啃雞腿？」美國的學校不准學生帶食物進入教室，因為「教室是知識的殿堂」，對於事後幫學生講話的校長、教授，他也感到「心寒」。

My comments: This is true. At UIUC I never saw students eat in class. They drank water, but they didn't eat. I was impressed by their active participation. Their eyes glowed with fire of learning.

錢致榕說，美頂尖學府一學期學費就要四、五萬美元，很多都是家長貸款或學生打工賺錢籌學費，學生知道賺錢的辛苦；反觀台灣的一流學府，學費比私立大學便宜，大部分都是政府、納稅人出錢，學生缺乏危機感，加上「自我感覺良好」，不知道自己欠社會這麼多錢。

My comments: Remember Steve Jobs's speech. He quit school because he didn't want to waste his adoptive parents' hard-earned money on something of which the value he couldn't see.

 他指出，台灣一個公立大學生，四年下來約要花政府一百五十萬元，醫學生更高達兩百萬元。他反問學生，「四年學到的東西，自己覺得值不值得一百萬元？」如果沒有，是不是更要積極、努力？

My comments: A rude awakening. 

「現在學生可能還沒開口說『我要』，家長就準備好了，更可能讓孩子補習十八年考上台大，怎麼會珍惜呢？」他指出，台大學生超過三分之一來自明星高中，甚至大安區就讀台大的人數比高雄市還多，家長社經地位高，跟以往學生家庭雖然窮，苦讀考上台大很不同。