Two questions for Americans

[Doramius]

I guess it varies with many of the local post offices. I had a friend back in NY that worked at a local post office and I got to watch operations from behind a 1 way mirror. It looked pretty high-tech and controlled. Not messy like I thought it would be. The Main stations for the cities is even tighter controlled. My friend did confess that there are rural post stations he'd been to that are entirely manual and they lose mail, incoming and outgoing, all of the time. At least 15 letters and 3 packages a day. Most are found and sent out within 72 hours of when they were first lost.

[vitualis]

Firstly, we call a Quarter Pounder a "Quarter Pounder". As for "with cheese", they all come with cheese. The term is redundant.

Personally, I think that "pre-med" courses are pointless. In fact, I don't think that they should exist. Either have an undergraduate medical degree or a post-graduate degree. The degree itself should encompass the entirety of theoretical knowledge. I don't agree with having an undergraduate degree "geared" towards a further post-graduate degree.

The Australian SECONDARY education system furthermore focusses various academic disciplines to greater depth than the US system (especially in maths and science). Many basic subjects and topics that would have been covered in first year of uni in the US, would be assumed knowledge/pre-requisites in uni in Australia.

I also have a beef against the US system of medical qualifications of "MD". The traditional medical graduate has always been MB BS (i.e., Bachelor or Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) +/- a Bachelor of Science as well. The title of "MD" is usually reserved for the highly regarded academic title of "Doctor of Medicine" (i.e., similar to "Doctor of Letters" or less so the "Doctor of Philosphy").

Regards.

[lordsmurf]

1) Can you give any mail that you want sent to your mailman instead of going to a mail box?

No, not always. It depends where you live, the route, and your style of box. For me, where I am now, no. Where I used to live, yes.

2) Is undergraduate studies a farce in the US, like pre-med/pre-law and what does that exactly mean?

Not the "pre" studies, as those commit you to latter degrees. But we have BS degrees (and I'm not talking Bachelor of Science!). Often known as degrees in Philosophy, General Studies, Liberal Arts, Sociology, African Studies, and "language" degrees. Just to name a few. These are generally people that major in "Undecided" for several years. None of these involve any inherent skills, they just jibber jabber and "teach you how to think and learn", as if that's worth anything beyond academia. These do not involve skills for a workforce.

Things like "pre-law" are really just criminal justice degrees. And "pre-med" is usually a biology degree. These "pre" studies are usually program plans, not the names of the actual degree (though they may mention it).

[mrtristan]

lordsmurf - If you want to be an ass about it, you can make your carrier take your mail. A lot of carriers don't know about the regulations, but they are required to provide all of the same services as the post office, regardless of your district. You can even order stamps through your carrier, if you ask. Be careful, though, he/she just may go postal on you.

[Cobra]

I found this on UCAS (www.ucas.co.uk). Scary that you can get a degree in football.

[adam]

I went to UT Austin which is an extremely liberal school. You'd be very suprlsed at what kinds of courses you can take, particularly out of the English department. There was one course called, "Writing about foxy chicks," I shit you not.

[Doramius]

Firstly, we call a Quarter Pounder a "Quarter Pounder". As for "with cheese", they all come with cheese. The term is redundant.

Personally, I think that "pre-med" courses are pointless. In fact, I don't think that they should exist. Either have an undergraduate medical degree or a post-graduate degree. The degree itself should encompass the entirety of theoretical knowledge. I don't agree with having an undergraduate degree "geared" towards a further post-graduate degree.

The Australian SECONDARY education system furthermore focusses various academic disciplines to greater depth than the US system (especially in maths and science). Many basic subjects and topics that would have been covered in first year of uni in the US, would be assumed knowledge/pre-requisites in uni in Australia.

I also have a beef against the US system of medical qualifications of "MD". The traditional medical graduate has always been MB BS (i.e., Bachelor or Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) +/- a Bachelor of Science as well. The title of "MD" is usually reserved for the highly regarded academic title of "Doctor of Medicine" (i.e., similar to "Doctor of Letters" or less so the "Doctor of Philosphy").

Regards.

Don't forget, we also have Colonels in Louisiana who have never been related to anything military. I'm called Captain when I go sailing, but I'm actually only at Skipper classification. I'm also not eligible for Senior Discounts, but I'm a Senior over my son with the same name.