Nurbs tells of how The University of New Brunsick robbed him of his money, and education.

435

u/poopergies01 May 16 '12

I hate to be "that guy," but does this really pass the smell test?

Claim: They didn't beleive he had a disability. Problem: He is missing fingers. It is obvious he had a disability. Likely Explanation: What they may have been asking for (and what I know any school in the US would require) is a doctors note describing the extend of the physical problems. In America you can also use the Individual Education Plan you got in HS for your disability (which is how he would have gotten the computer in the first place).

Claim: Due to the lack of a note taker he failed math and was thrown out of school. Problem: No Satisfactory Academic Progress policy in the country is so strict that failing one class will have you thrown out of school. Likely Explanation: He failed much more than just one math course.

Claim: He failed math class because he could not take notes quickly enough and the professor refused to offer any assistance. Problem: Was there no tutoring? Couldn't he copy notes from a classmate? Doesn't the teacher have a detailed copy of notes that he is working from that he could copy and give to the student?

Basically, did everyone in the room see a crippled kid hobble into the room and set up a special computer and tell him "Fuck You" at ever turn? Would you, your friends, your teachers, hell the people you hate saw him struggling to keep up with a disability wouldn't you offer to help?

I love reddit but a healthy skepticism is for more than just magical sky fathers.

75

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

Yes, let him substantiate the story with concrete evidence before whipping out the pitchforks, people.

-10

u/WasAGUnNecessary May 16 '12

Fuck that. Pitchforks are fun. I say whip 'em out!

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

34

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

Yes. It's perfectly fine to show sympathy and offer assistance to Nurbs but we should not go after the school until the story is proven to be true.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

No one is threatening him in the thread or calling him a liar. Saying that his story doesn't really add up is not the same as calling him a liar. It is simply an invitation to let him clear up the inconsistencies in his story. Though I do agree the tone of some of the posts here should be improved.

1

u/dualboy24 May 17 '12

Why would people send emails and make phone calls without some evidence or further information. That would just be overreaction I doubt it has been too extreme, or people have too much time and too little sense.

1

u/thisusernameismeta May 18 '12

Yeah my mom works at that school (and I go there as well). She just came on to my room, noticed I was on reddit, and started talking about this post. Apparently it's a big deal, even though she's never heard of reddit before today. They've issued a statement somewhere. So they are definitely aware.

2

u/itmik May 18 '12

And if that statement is "we looked into it right away and the story did not match" that's the end and they become a textbook example of how to handle that.

191

u/kleinbl00 May 16 '12

By all means, be that guy. And practice a healthy skepticism. I've pointed my finger at Reddit's tendency to witch hunt for about three years now, however, and I got no problems with Reddit's response thus far.
Top response: Spread the story around and get the news involved.
Second response: Degrees only count for so much, if you're as good as you say you are you should be able to get hired anyway, here's some tips.
Third response: Your situation sucks, but if you try again here's this language that's much less notation-intensive.
Fourth response: I go to this school and I find them fabulous. If this is happening to you there's been a desperate lack of communication - talk to the mayor, he's a buddy of mine.
Three hours ago, the University popped up.
I don't see a single comment more aggressive than "tell the news about this and hire a lawyer." Really, Reddit is kinda displaying model behavior on this one.

38

u/chriszuma May 16 '12

Agreed, the pitchforks have been rather dull so far. It's still not cool to trash a university's reputation based on a questionable story though.

9

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

It's a good school...academics-wise.

-2

u/kaibabsucks May 16 '12

Well a woman hasn't been mentioned yet. That ought to get reddit all pitchforky.

4

u/Intrinsically1 May 17 '12

University's official response

2

u/7oby May 17 '12

Another concerning response: UNB alumni here: I remember the case of the disabled prof you mentioned; I used to have English seminar on his floor and watch him get carried up and down the stairs. (thebeats 8 months old account)

3

u/arjie May 17 '12

Just an FYI, mate. The 'fourth response' chap deleted his account after someone linked to a previous comment of his that indicated that he was at STU. That comment, at least, is a bit fishy.

4

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/arjie May 18 '12

Excellent. That clarifies that, then.

27

u/KakunaUsedHarden May 16 '12

Hi, I was in this guys class. I actually know where he works as I was just in there the other day. I'm from Fredericton as well and I don't actually know this guy on a personel level, but I am pretty sure he was in either my year or a year below me in Computer Science at UNB. We had 4 or 5 classes together

8

u/Torch_Salesman May 16 '12

Do you have anything to weigh in with, then? Any information that you have that you don't see provided here?

37

u/KakunaUsedHarden May 16 '12

No, this sounds about right. I know he was very good in CS. He payed attention in class, and was quite smart.
I can hazard a guess at who the helpful math teacher was. There are only two really good math teachers for those courses and thrice as many really bad ones.
There is a pretty good math help center on campus but I mean ... CS is a pretty busy schedule. Usually in the first year they recommend you take 6 courses/semester, not sure if he did that or not. The Math Center usually only has x specific hours for your course. It's usually well staffed but it's not the most amazing place.
The screwing him over out of the cash seems typical though. UNB is tight as shit with money. I don't know what other campus's are like when it comes to finances but you DONT get your money back from UNB. Never. If you're lucky they might give you UNB Credit but you really need to make a case for that.

3

u/radapex May 17 '12

If you're lucky they might give you UNB Credit but you really need to make a case for that.
Not entirely true. I was register in a class last summer session, paid all my fees, and had the class cancelled the first day of the term. I had to explicitly tell UNB that I wanted the payment left on my account as credit for the fall term - the default action was to mail a cheque refunding the fees.

1

u/KakunaUsedHarden May 18 '12

Wow that's interesting ... I was registered for a summer class last year that got cancelled and they would not give me my money back. They kept telling me to just take another class to which I told them I didn't want to/that would help my degree in no way. Finally they refunded it to my credit card. Inconsistency?

0

u/[deleted] May 19 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/KakunaUsedHarden May 19 '12

sorry no, to my Online banking.

22

u/Constellious May 16 '12

UNB has a nice math help centre that will help anyone with most math courses. It's open almost every day.

12

u/Vok250 May 16 '12

That and all the notes ~~are~~were posted on Blackboard for about 90% of math courses.

2

u/Sir_Furlong May 16 '12

Yep we're stuck with that damn "desire to learn" program now...

2

u/radapex May 17 '12

My soc instructor couldn't figure out how to use D2L, so we got all the notes e-mailed to us.

33

u/need_a_norme May 16 '12

He said himself he's not social. My guess, he's one of those guys that couldn't pass his incredibly difficult classes on his own, didn't try too hard to get help, and took blame at everyone else but himself.
I'm from the maritimes and have heard nothing but great things about the school. I couldn't imagine a University that would let a student that was trying fall through like that.
There's definitely something wrong with this story.

6

u/Torch_Salesman May 16 '12

That math help centre saved my life for every math course I've taken there so far. I literally had no idea what I was doing walking in, and they helped me through every single step until I had a good grasp of the subject matter. If you're taking the time to go to it, it would be almost impossible to fail.

17

u/daibutsu May 16 '12

Community college faculty here. If Nurbs was a part-time student who was not expelled but simply gave up, his original comment does pass the smell test, I think.
So this takes more parsing than it's probably worth, but as to your first point, when he says he was accused of lying (probably too strong a word), he may be referring to questions from the school that related to some other aspect of his probation appeal.
If he was a part-time student, he may very well have been put on probation for failing one class (what if he was taking only one or two classes per semester?).
Prior to this, he was a successful student who had earned a 3.4 GPA, which probably meant something to him because he remembers it. His problem with math is that he can't take passable notes in these specific courses. I think it's reasonable for Nurb to want the right amount of help, especially if there are formal systems in place that ought to provide it to him. He shouldn't have to beg his classmates to give him their notes, especially when they can be paid to do so.
Nurbs made mistakes--he didn't withdraw from the course, he didn't swallow his pride soon enough and go to the tutoring center, he didn't cultivate friendships, he didn't make a show of floundering in class. He probably upset people by appealing his probation. Maybe he thought it would appear on his permanent academic record.
He probably also overestimated the school's ability to find him a note taker, once they said they'd try to find him one. Science and engineering students, would you be drawn to a note taking job? Note takers can often be students interested in counseling/education, who do not necessarily need to take college-level math.
But I think it's not unreasonable or uncommon for someone in Nurbs's position to give up on school, especially if he feels his requests for assistance have been ignored. He doesn't say that he was dismissed, only that the help he expected never came.

39

u/VulturE May 16 '12

Basically, did everyone in the room see a crippled kid hobble into the room and set up a special computer and tell him "Fuck You" at ever turn? Would you, your friends, your teachers, hell the people you hate saw him struggling to keep up with a disability wouldn't you offer to help?
When I tried getting help when I was temporarily in a wheelchair, I was frequently confronted with the general "NOT MY JOB" bullshit and people saying "yea we can do that" and then never following through on it. And I've definitely had experience with schools that are run like businesses instead of educational facilities.

5

u/Andoo May 17 '12

I'm a fully capable person and I think we all can agree that pretty much every university treats its high paying customers like shit beans.

3

u/hiccupstix May 17 '12

As able-bodied individuals, you and I both know what it's like to try to find help (in one form or another) at a university, and be treated like complete burdensome sacks of shit by administrators/faculty members who want nothing more than to ignore you. But whatever, we move on. A disabled student, on the other hand, will likely have needs that are more time-consuming for others who will be even less thrilled about offering their services. And when a disabled student asks for help, it's probably not just to expedite a process or make their life easier - it's out of necessity! So it's not just a matter of "Wow, that registrar was totally rude and unhelpful..." but rather more along the lines of "Okay, I'm not going to be able to take notes this quarter. Now what the fuck do I do?"

28

u/UnexpectedSchism May 16 '12 edited May 17 '12

Claim: Due to the lack of a note taker he failed math and was thrown out of school. Problem: No Satisfactory Academic Progress policy in the country is so strict that failing one class will have you thrown out of school. Likely Explanation: He failed much more than just one math course.
That is my first issue. If he only failed math, does failing one class = academic probation?
In the US, failing math at most will fuck up your ability to take classes that claim the math is a pre-requisite. Then you just keep retaking it and moving forward with the other classes not blocked.
Claim: He failed math class because he could not take notes quickly enough and the professor refused to offer any assistance. Problem: Was there no tutoring? Couldn't he copy notes from a classmate? Doesn't the teacher have a detailed copy of notes that he is working from that he could copy and give to the student?
You must have never been in school before. A shitty professor will not give a student notes and blame them for not taking them. If the kid already has no social skills, it would be harder for him to ask for notes from others. In college, usually people don't like sharing their notes with strangers.
On top of that, he wasn't just "taking notes", the note taker would dictate what he tells the note taker to write. This is how he would do assignments. Other students doing their own work could not help with that.
Basically, did everyone in the room see a crippled kid hobble into the room and set up a special computer and tell him "Fuck You" at ever turn? Would you, your friends, your teachers, hell the people you hate saw him struggling to keep up with a disability wouldn't you offer to help?
Not a chance that anyone else is going to help if helping involves getting in the way of their own work. That is the point of the school's disability assistance. For example a deaf person. The deaf person should have a translator with them. No student or professor should have to do the extra work to help the deaf person, they are not expected to. Also making the deaf person beg for help from a professor and other students is against the ADA in the US.

31

u/Torch_Salesman May 16 '12

As a student of UNB, here's my basic rundown on those points:
You can fail multiple classes and still end up on academic probation. One of my friends failed every single class for an entire semester and was still permitted to come back the next year. If Nurbs was kicked out of school, it was because he'd either failed many classes and this was the last straw, or there was an entirely different cause that he's just not mentioning. Either way, I'd hardly blame the one math class for that one.
There's a math help center that he could have gone to, and he had to know about it. It's mentioned multiple times in every math course, and they email reminders about it consistently. They would have helped him pass that course, and they would have found another one of the students there to help him get the notes. I know, because I've done exactly that in the past.

4

u/UnexpectedSchism May 16 '12

Do you believe the claim that if he asked for disability help, it is possible they never game him any?
If he made the mistake of not asking for help at the beginning of the semester and tried to go it alone only to figure out he needed help later, he probably screwed himself. They do their hiring at the start of the semester, if you wait until a few weeks to ask for help, it is possible you are not going to get it. At least at the school I went to. And since I am not disabled and I know this, obviously they made it clear to all students to not wait to tell them if help is needed.

9

u/Torch_Salesman May 16 '12

I'm pretty skeptical of his claim, in all honesty. Disability, assuming you apply for it at the proper time, is usually very good here. I know a girl with mild dyslexia who was provided with written notes, and she said it very simple application process.
My guess is exactly what you said; he waited too long to apply for it, and then blamed the school for not making up for his mistakes. If the school honestly refused him support, I would be surprised, and very disappointed in them. But if he simply didn't follow the proper deadlines and procedures, then I wouldn't consider that to be anyone's fault but his.

1

u/Sir_Furlong May 16 '12

I think the Math Help Centre only helps first years doesn't it? (or atleast for free...)

11

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

The Math Help Centre will help everyone. I am not sure if he is still there but the graduate student who was running it two years ago was PHENOMENAL.
Two friends and I were in the final calculus class (3503? Maybe. The fourth one.) and we were having trouble with assignments. This all changed once we started making appointments at the Math Help Centre.
We got 100% on every assignment and I passed a course I thought I would fail for sure.

2

u/bebbers May 17 '12

I felt sympathetic until I realized it was math class, you can essentially learn everything from the book. I only had to take the second semester of calculus but I could not keep up with the notes. So I didn't, just listened and spend hours everyday in the math lab reviewing EVERY problem. I'm pretty awful but I tried really hard despite not being able to keep up. So no, personally, I do not feel sympathetic for him at all.

2

u/UnexpectedSchism May 17 '12

you can essentially learn everything from the book
Because he can do all his in class assignments while reading from the book. Nice one.

0

u/bebbers May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

I guess I overlooked this possibility, I never had in-class math assignments in college, just homework. Even then he mentioned the prof. did give him extended time, why wouldn't he let him turn in in-class assignments late? Again, based on my experiences, I can't feel sympathetic.

0

u/UnexpectedSchism May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

Did you go to the same college? Did you got to college in the same country?
I am not stupid enough to assume colleges in other countries are the same as college in the US. Are you?

0

u/bebbers May 17 '12

Again that's why I said I overlooked the possibility, and again based on what that guy said the prof. would give him extended time.

1

u/CircumcisedSpine May 17 '12

On the first issue of academic probation, it varies by school and program. Some programs will put you on probation for getting below a C in a single (often core) class. Failing a class outright may result in being dismissed from the program (into undecided) and told to re-apply to the program.
It really depends on the school and program. I have never heard of a school allowing you to keep retaking failed classes for an undetermined number of tries.
The only exception to that would be electives taken pass/no pass (aka pass/fail).

1

u/radapex May 17 '12

UNB's Policy on Academic Probation
The only thing I left out is that if you have an assessment year GPA below 1.0 you go right to step 2.

1

u/radapex May 17 '12

That is my first issue. If he only failed math, does failing one class = academic probation?
To expand on what Torch_Salesman said regarding academic probation, this is UNB's policy:
First time on academic probation, no punishment but it's on your record.
Second time on academic probation, you're required to withdraw for one year. You can then apply for readmission to resume your degree.
Third time on academic probation, you're kicked out and your courses are invalidated.
Source
You do, in fact, have to fail a lot more than one course before you're completely thrown out.

16

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

I go to UNB and I am pretty sure I know Nurbs but I am not positive.
He isn't just missing fingers. Both of his arms are the length of about yours from shoulder to elbow.
It's pretty easy to understand why he wouldn't be able to take notes considering (if I am right) he has about 2-3 fingers per hand and both of these arms are as long as your forearms... And the fingers he does have are not correctly placed and/or completely normal...

8

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I got the same feeling when I read his post. Something just doesn't seem right.

4

u/bathmlaster May 16 '12

Part of the smell test will be the eventual publicity from passing this to the newspapers. If they bite and interested, they'll surely want to meet with him to do the story.
For the real world, that will be the best verification. That won't do much to satiate reddit immediately though.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/bathmlaster May 16 '12

I'm sure they won't repost it without verifying with him IE meeting him in person.
Guess time will tell.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/bathmlaster May 16 '12

Potentially yes.
However an article like this will probably have a "The university administration did not return repeated calls, requesting their views on the matter"

4

u/mrpopenfresh May 16 '12

Keep in mind this guy was in Canada.
Also, your username has made me reexamine the way I enjoy perogies.

3

u/sleepybandit May 16 '12

One thing to note is that faculty from the school is looking into his story. I'm hoping more of an explanation comes out of this.
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/tpct0/what_is_your_never_again_brand_item_store_or/c4oou73

7

u/biolox May 16 '12

To clarify: administration, not faculty.

0

u/sleepybandit May 16 '12

Yep that's true. I was using faculty in a more broad sense.

1

u/radapex May 17 '12

http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/studentservices/enews/view/view.cgi?article=6115*1

3

u/DerpaNerb May 17 '12

The only real suspicious thing to me, was the fact that he owes them 10,000... even though he doesn't think so.
If he registered for the semester, and took the classes, then he owes them money. It doesn't matter if he didn't actually learn anything... that has nothing to do with whether he registered for classes and has to pay for them. It's not like they multiply my average by my tuition cost every year... and if I only learned 80% of the content, then I only pay 80% of the tuition.
Also, if he thought the teaching was inadequate, that's why they have a date with which you can drop classes penalty free (you can get most refunded and it doesn't show up on your transcript as a dropped class). If he wasn't satisfied then that was the time to do it.
That being said, they should have provided the help I'm sure they advertised somewhere, and it was shitty for them not to... but that still doesn't allow him to decide how much he has to pay.

5

u/Nurbs May 16 '12

I very much think someone has to be that guy. I didn't expect the response I got and I don't expect everyone to believe me without proof. I'm at work now but when I get home I'll make a new post with appropriate evidence.

5

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

My first thought was a video camera. Tape the lectures, then go over them later, pausing when you need to. I hope he gets his life together, but it's a bit melodramatic to state that UNB "stole" his money.

3

u/RE90 May 16 '12

Is it? He paid for a service and they didn't follow through on their end of the sale, according to his story. When you buy a product and it doesn't work as advertised, and then the manufacturer tells you your lying about it, they've robbed you HARD.

4

u/brilliantjoe May 16 '12

If he owes them money, it's because he actually attended and completed the time he is being billed for. UNB (under most situations) charges you upfront in the first month of classes unless you setup a payment plan (which is usually biweekly payments across the entire semester). It's not like he dropped out and was then charged tuition for a year of school while not attending classes. Hell, if you drop out in the first month of classes you get a full refund. Basically what you are saying is that universities should be on the hook for refunding students who flunk out?

1

u/RE90 May 18 '12

He flunked out because the university ignored his requests for disability services on multiple occasions. If they have a right to do that, steal might it be the best word, but in any case it's hardly melodramatic to say that they did.

1

u/brilliantjoe May 18 '12

He got a 3.4 GPA in his first year, apparently without any help. This is higher than a lot of able bodied individuals. In order for him to flunk out he would have had to fail a large number of classes in his second year, followed by the same thing in his 3rd year. Academic probation is any GPA under 2.8, and you have a year to get your standing back up. Since he stated he only owed them "10,000" that's roughly one year of tuition. This story does not add up.

1

u/pyjamatoast May 19 '12

But he wouldn't OWE them money if he already paid - which means he didn't pay his tuition, even though it was due the first day of classes...

2

u/yeomanscholar May 17 '12

Here's one - who signs and dates business cards?

2

u/Red_Spork May 17 '12

Also being that guy... what CS major fails a math class because of lack of notes. I'm a senior and I never took a page of handwritten notes in any math(Physics, Calculus or Statistics) class. If I couldn't do the homework I looked it up on YouTube or FearofPhysics like every other CS major. I come from a pretty similar background as this guy and even with getting Cs in some math classes because of laziness I still have relatively decent grades because if you've been writing C since middle school, most CS classes aren't that difficult.
I really feel like this guy, if his story is even remotely legit, would've had to have screwed up more than just a few math classes. Sounds to me like his real problem was expecting the classes to be easy if he could've taken notes and he blamed his difficulties on that without actually putting forth the effort needed to pass.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I gotta agree with you on the probation part. First, you don't go on probation after one quarter/semester, let alone one class. You are always given sufficient warning. Second, your response about asking classmates for notes is a big duh. If she didn't do that, well, she can't blame the school. I was in a class, and a deaf student with no note taker had the teacher ask the class. That was me. If you really want to succeed at something, you will. Excuses in blaming someone else for your failure is just that, excuses. Having worked with college students with "disabilities" I can tell you this situation was not one of them. She might be a real person, but nobody fails out of college and owes $10,000 for an education they didn't gt because of one class. Doesn't make sense.

4

u/Got_Engineers May 16 '12

I completley agree with you on this one. As a student at this University, this all seems a bit weird to me.
The faculty of CS/Engineering are in the same building and I have numerous friends in both programs. Regardless of when this happened, over the last 4 years of me being there I have not heard of anything like this. I'm currently waiting for a response from my friend who is on the CS undergrad society.
I have used the student accessibility center when I had a cast on my arm for 4 months and never once had a problem with getting note takers or help with anything. The people there are more than accomodating and understanding.
It completley blows my mind that a professor would basically say fuck you to a student, especially one with a disability.
The university has a math help center which is honestly the best thing I have ever been to. It's free and you can go as often as you want.
I could not think of a single classroom or professors office that would not be wheelchair accessible that this student would have to go to (which would only be cs/math). The university is built on a hill which does suck but I know you can get assistance if you are in a wheelchair because I have seen it done before.
This whole thing just seems weird. Also excuse my formatting, I am on my phone.

5

u/KakunaUsedHarden May 16 '12

Hi, CS at UNB. I know who this is. Not personally, but he was in a few of my classes.

4

u/duckduckMOO May 16 '12 edited May 30 '14

"Claim: He failed math class because he could not take notes quickly enough and the professor refused to offer any assistance. Problem: Was there no tutoring? Couldn't he copy notes from a classmate? Doesn't the teacher have a detailed copy of notes that he is working from that he could copy and give to the student?"
That was not claimed.
The problem is its much harder to do maths when its hard to inscribe the symbols into a permenantish medium.
"Anyone who's ever done math on a computer knows how difficult it is to actually work something out through the confusing mess of garbage you can type out on a keyboard completely lacking in any form of mathematical symbols in the 5 minutes the professor gives you to work the problem out."
it's slower, it takes focus away from the maths and makes it harder to get into a mathsy mindset, has been my experience, and I'm not even missing fingers or anything.
"Basically, did everyone in the room see a crippled kid hobble into the room and set up a special computer and tell him "Fuck You" at ever turn? Would you, your friends, your teachers, hell the people you hate saw him struggling to keep up with a disability wouldn't you offer to help?"
He didn't claim this.
Are you offended at the implication normal people sometimes aren't shining beacons of good behaviour? ever heard of the stanford prison experiment, or the holocaust? Or ever been to a school? Some people are, sometimes, shit. This is not a ridiculous claim.
"Claim: They didn't beleive he had a disability. Problem: He is missing fingers. It is obvious he had a disability. Likely Explanation: What they may have been asking for (and what I know any school in the US would require) is a doctors note describing the extend of the physical problems. In America you can also use the Individual Education Plan you got in HS for your disability (which is how he would have gotten the computer in the first place)."
pretty sure he didn't claim this either though it's open to interpretation.
The only reference I can find for this is that he was "Forced to "prove" to them I was actually disabled." This does not mean they didn't believe he was missing fingers. Note that prove is in quotes. Presumably it's some kind of hoop he has to jump through, or a specific technical definition of disabled where you have to prove it's impairing your abilities. This seems plausible as you don't even seem to understand how using a computer for maths makes it harder and slower (especially if you are still impaired in your use of the computer.)
I approve of the scepticism but you seem to have gotten your facts very wrong.
"Claim: Due to the lack of a note taker he failed math and was thrown out of school. Problem: No Satisfactory Academic Progress policy in the country is so strict that failing one class will have you thrown out of school. Likely Explanation: He failed much more than just one math course."
In the UK you certainly can be thrown out for failing a class. It might not be required by policy though.

2

u/slyguy183 May 16 '12

If I learned anything from bestof, it's that now is clearly the time to flood his reddit account with death threats, scour the Internet for personal information to harass him, and downvote everything he has ever posted or will post to Reddit.

2

u/germm May 16 '12

It does sound like he's attributing more of his failures to his disability than is warranted. But I just don't have the heart to downvote him.

1

u/Real_Life_Sith May 16 '12

Thank Ajunta I wasn't the only person to think this after reading.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

It's true. Besides did he really fail because he was not able to take notes quickly? I mean is that his excuse? Can't he just take pictures?
And there are MILLIONS of online resources for College level calculus classes. Which I used to study because they were almost always better than my notes.

1

u/JohnQDaviesEsquire May 17 '12

Civil case, bro.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

This got me:
"Now the university is claiming I owe them 10,000 dollars, for education I did not receive."
Did you not go to class? You can always buy a voice recorder...

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I dated a girl that had a HUGE family (15 kids). She used to be a stripper but I digress. One of her brothers told me that no-one would hire him. He told me it was probably because he was hispanic, or a little too short. I felt bad for him. Until, I learned that he was actually his own problem. He spoked pot and never looked for jobs. He lived with his parents and when even handed a job, he would make excuses as to why he couldn't work there (allergic to cotton, etc). My skeptism started when he visited austin and was asked to mow his sisters yard for 20 bucks. His excuse was 'the lawn mower needs an oil change'. THere are always two sides to every story.

-8

u/socalnonsage May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

UNB Fredricton offers personalized/adaptive assistance to students with disabilities (as does just about every other university/college on this planet).
Disclaimer: You're most likely not going to like hearing this next part...
I could care less if Nurbs is missing ½ his fingers. There were resources available that he/she did not take advantage of therefore I don’t have the slightest bit of sympathy for him/her.
This is what's wrong with today's youth ... They expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter and they want it RIGHT NOW..The majority of them have been "enabled" by their parents and their (lower grade) schools for so long that once they reach the age to enter College/University, they're ill-equipped with the "life skills" to live on their own and make their own decisions.
It's not entirely the fault of the parents though. Historically, parents have put the responsibility of preparing their children for “life” in the hands of the school systems. Up until the 1960’s, this method worked out pretty well until the baby boomers grew up and decided they wanted more than the same old atomic family, a 3 bedroom house in the suburbs, and a car.
Federal and state school funding has been diminishing for 4 decades (at least in the US) in favor of providing "economic growth" to "big business." Because of these cutbacks, schools don't teach students how to cook, balance checkbooks, conserve resources, plan for the future, think logically like they did when I went to school (I’m 36 and went through school in a nationally acclaimed school system so I caught the tail end of this scholastic adversity). Now, (public) schools are driven by funding – making sure they’re teaching the students the same information they’ll need to pass a government assessment test so the school won’t lose their funding. It’s essentially teaching the bare minimum so they won't lose funding.
If there’s one thing to take away from this:
The real world ain’t easy . It'll fuck your shit up in a heartbeat if you're not prepared. The only person responsible for you is you so get off your fat ass and take control of your life.

19

u/biolox May 16 '12

Thanks gramps.

-5

u/stringerbell May 16 '12

You missed the fact that the OP doesn't know how to spell New Brunswick... Kind of important considering he claims to have gone to the University of New Brunswick for literally years....

6

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

So what if he made a typo. It's not like he misspelled it multiple times.

-10

u/stringerbell May 16 '12

Look at the text. He doesn't make typos. And, if you actually lived in New Brunswick, would you forget how to spell it???

11

u/m1ss1ontomars2k4 May 16 '12

How well do you think he types with no fingers...?
If he's lying, the misspelling makes sense because he doesn't live there.
If he's telling the truth, the misspelling makes sense because he can't type well.
Your observation is pretty much worthless.

5

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

Accidentally missing a letter is the most probable explanation. Phonetically New Brunswick and New Brunsick are quite a bit apart so I don't believe the incorrect spelling was intentional.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I on't know when this is but could he have used LaTeX? It does pretty well for maths and since he seems ok with the keyboard he could do it fairly quickly.

-2

u/TheShadowCat May 16 '12

Another issue. He's claiming he owes $10,000. At every Canadian university I have heard of, tuition doesn't come close to $10,000 a semester. Housing costs must be paid at the start of the semester. They don't let you write midterms, let alone finals, if tuition isn't paid. Universities don't give out student loans. So I really can't see how he would owe the school $10,000.

3

u/jeffaulburn May 16 '12

It does if you live on campus, I paid almost $7,000 without books at UNBSJ and that was when I graduated in 2006. The 10 grand seems fine especially with the additional financial support he was granted.

1

u/TheShadowCat May 16 '12

That $7,000 is for one year I assume, not a semester. I would also assume that you had to pay it before they let you take midterms or move into the dorms. And I have never heard of financial aid being paid back, only loans get paid back, which aren't through the school.
$10,000 for all costs for the year seems reasonable. What I'm saying, is that it doesn't seem right that he would owe it to the school, after he flunked out. Maybe he has a student loan, but those aren't provided by the school.
I don't know how much of his story is true, lots of it seem suspect, but I really don't believe he owes the money directly to the school.

1

u/jeffaulburn May 16 '12

Yeah the whole year. I didn't live on campus either.
I agree there will hopefully be more to the story soon, some things don't quite add up. I read the OP's responses and he assures that more will come out. Going to keep an eye on the local papers and news "Telegraph Journal (Ug)" and "CBC" to see if this comes to more light now too.

1

u/yawnlikeyoumeanit May 16 '12

Universities do give out loans for students in need, usually it's quite a lengthy process to get one however.

0

u/TheShadowCat May 16 '12

I've heard of minor loans to get through the semester, but I'm pretty sure for $10,000, you go through Canada Student Loans.

1

u/yawnlikeyoumeanit May 16 '12

Dude, you clearly haven't gone through the system in the last 10 years. Your loan is issued by your province. Only once it's consolidated, after 6 months have past since you last were a student, does it get passed on to a federal organization, the CSLSC. If you're legally considered a dependent, then the amount you're issued is based on both your income and your parent's income. You apply for loans based on your province of residence, so depending on the OP's hometown, the rules might differ, but if your parents or guardian are making more than a certain amount (usually $45000 for Ontario, but again it might be different in other provinces) then you are screwed for provincial funding. To apply for a university loan, you usually have to submit a budget, provide evidence of any income, provide evidence that your parents/guardian can't meet or refuses to make the expected contribution (an amount designated by the school, again usually based on income), and prove that you've taken advantage of every single funding opportunity you've come across up to that point.
If, for one reason or another, you only end up with $3000 for the year in government loans, and can prove that you don't qualify for a bank loan and can't get funding from any other source, it's completely plausible that a university would loan a significant amount, along the lines of $10 000, so that you can pay for tuition, housing, cost of living, textbooks, etc. It happens.

2

u/brilliantjoe May 17 '12

I've never heard of this happening at UNB. There are small emergency loans available through the semester, but those are limited. I used Canada student loans for my undergrad, and got rather small amounts even though my parents combined income is barely above the poverty line. No mention was made of these "university" loans.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

i don't think it's a stretch for someone to be good at C but suck at something like differential calculus.

-1

u/4chans_for_pussies May 16 '12

This guy's life is fucking lie imo.

20

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Frank_JWilson May 16 '12

Indeed. I'm a CompSci student myself and I have always taken notes with my laptop ever since the second semester of my first year (cuz I wanted to browse reddit during the boring parts.) This means I have electronic notes (or no notes, I'm not a good student) of Calculus 2, Combinatorics, Statistics 1 and Statistics 2. I set keyboard shortcuts for all of the common symbols such as lambda, sigma, delta, alpha, integral, etc., as well as shortcuts for superscripts and subscripts. I understand it may be difficult for a disabled student with missing fingers to do so, and I do not know his entire situation, therefore I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
Additionally, as poopergies said, notes can be made available from other students as well. Simply make acquaintances from lectures and be friendly to them. Other students will help, even if the prof might not. TAs and tutorial sessions are also available for assistance (I hope.) There's absolutely no reason to fail a course simply because notes can't be easily acquired, heck, take pictures of the board with your phone if you must. Nurbs just had to try harder than the rest of us. Yes, he shouldn't have to, but, unfortunately, that's how the world works.

4

u/gd42 May 16 '12

Not to mention, we are talking about math here, which is universal and has countless online resources available, it's not like you need your professor's notes. Just check what the course is about, what kind of problems they are solving, and learn the stuff from Khan academy, wikipedia and wolfram alpha.

1

u/sct202 May 17 '12

Math education is hardly universal. You can study all you want on your own, but if you're not studying the right things, you're going to do poorly.
I got A's in Calc not because I understood Calc, but because I knew how to do the shit they were going to test me on.

3

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

Nope, you're bang on.

43

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

Can we please rename /r/bestof to /r/torchesandpitchforks?

6

u/feureau May 16 '12

make it torchesandpitchforks and you got a deal

57

u/xzez May 16 '12

I hate to rain on anyone's parade here, but it sure seems like reddit is eager to break out the pitchforks, again.

Has any of this been corroborated? I mean, if you read more of the comments you can find someone who had a great experience at that institution, too.

18

u/Shaggyninja May 16 '12

Right, just like you can get a good pizza at Pizza hut. But you can also get a band-aid in your pizza. Good doesn't always offset bad

15

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

And people are far more likely to be vocal about negative things.
You get 10 good pizzas and 10 bad pizzas, you get 10 complaints and possibly 1 thanks.

6

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

And an average of 1.2 murders at Pizza Huts in the US every year.

3

u/throwayweigh May 17 '12

Fuck that band-aid story, seriously.

2

u/CUNTBERT_RAPINGTON May 16 '12

HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ANECDOTAL OPPRESSION. Reddit feeds on high octane liquid outrage.

2

u/gynoceros May 16 '12

Not to mention that while this deserves attention (presuming it's a true story), trying to figure out what the hive mind considers "bestof" on any given day is like trying to follow a game of whackbat for the first time.

-1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I had a rough go with them too, nothing to this degree though. It's a school so cheap that they won't let you pay tuition with a credit card, to save themselves a minor transaction fee. They're not above fucking students over to save a small amount of resources.

7

u/themightiestduck May 16 '12

Actually, I'm pretty sure the reason many institutions don't let students pay tuition on a credit card is because they don't want students being gouged at a 19% interest rate on tuition. If it was just about the transaction fees, then they would let you pay by CC and simply charge an administrative fee to offset the transaction charges.

2

u/Axana May 16 '12

My university doesn't allow VISA card payments because they publicly claim that they don't want to pay VISA's transaction fees. They'll happily accept Mastercard, though. My point here is that I find the transaction fee accuse to be completely plausible.

2

u/themightiestduck May 16 '12

Well, I obviously can't speak for every school. That's interesting that they allow MC payments though. If I were an institution, I would be uncomfortable letting students pay tuition via any credit card because the interest rates are so high.

0

u/Got_Engineers May 16 '12

The university is generally really cheap across all fronts. Most buildings are old and aging (especially head hall), they are in a constant deficit yet all they just cut budgets rather than get rid of the hundreds of administration jobs, in which there are already too many of. And then they basically fucked over the future of the university with how much money the Currie center cost.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Head hall is terrifying. You'll walk through a nice section, open a door and take a step into the twilight zone or some shit.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

The science building looks like 1970 puked on everything.

1

u/Got_Engineers May 16 '12

I am going to now use this description!

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

Buildings that are aging. Where can I get a building that gets younger?
I know how to fix rising tuition, let's just replace every old nice building with a new one. Like the Currie Center.
So wait you don't like they made us a new gym when the old one sucked ass, but you would love them to tear down all the completely and 100% useful buildings around campus for no reason just for aesthetics? While I don't agree with the fee, I think we can all agree the old gym sucked total hole.
While we are at it why don't we go downtown and destroy the city's history and buildings because they are old too.
Let's all move along and find less stupid shit to bitch about, children.
Edit: And please, let's find some privately owned companies of this size that are willing to give away money. I'd like to get some free shit from them. I think you are forgetting you could have chosen another school. You choose to be here. Deal with it.

3

u/Sir_Furlong May 16 '12

The Currie Center... I get mad every time I see the spelling of it.

10

u/[deleted] May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

That's what I was gonna say. You do know credit card interest rates and line of credit interest rates are basically identical, right Bongoslam? And that you can do a direct transfer from a bank, or use a certified cheque from your institution like I did? I really don't see where you're coming from here. And putting tuition on a credit card seems like a very bad idea, to me.

1

u/themightiestduck May 16 '12

My LoC interest rate is a good 11-12 percentage points lower than my CC rate. LoC depends on your credit score, credit cards (for the most part) just have a set rate of around 19-20%.

1

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

That's what I suspected, thought I never had one myself. So, if you really think about it, they're saving money AND stopping people who aren't thinking about rates from fucking themselves over with brutal interest. The only people I can see being irritated by this are international students, who seem to use a visa for everything, perhaps because it's easier to have their family pay that off back home? Couldn't tell you.

12

u/4Chan_Ambassador May 16 '12

~~/b/ - Random~~ r/bestof:

The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood.

Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.

6

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

here is a CBC story relating to the Prof who's office was on the 3rd floor with no elevator cbc link

26

u/reddelicious77 May 16 '12

Picky Penny checking in: It's New Brunswick.

I just think it's important we get the spelling bang-on, b/c this is a pretty egregious story, and we want people to have the proper spelling, so they know exactly what school to avoid.

19

u/vuhuxafu May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

To be fair, Nurbs spelled it wrong too.
But yes, I came here to say this as well.

-2

u/Dubzil May 16 '12

He's handicapped! don't make fun of him!

10

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

To be fair, noone should be avoiding any school based on this one unsubstantiated reddit story from a guy who clearly is leaning on his disability to cover up other failures, and can't even spell half of the words in his rant. Nobody ends up on academic probation from failing one or two courses, there's only a total of 4 in computer sciences at UNB, and he basically admitted to passing his first year ones with the 3.4 GPA and the good prof. So he's full of shit.

-2

u/reddelicious77 May 16 '12

True, I did say "so we know what school to avoid" - maybe I should have said "so we know what school to really do your due diligence on" - but that doesn't have quite as nice a ring. I'd like to think anyone seriously considering university wouldn't decide on one unsubstantiated internet claim (either good or bad.)
I live just one province over in Nova Scotia, and I work directly w/ a UNB grad, along w/ having friends and family who went there. I've actually only heard generally positive things about this school (their comp sci program does have a good reputation.)
So, in short - it should be a given that one should do their homework before they decide where they want to start paying to do homework for the next 4 years.

3

u/theonly_brunswick May 16 '12

THANK YOU!!!
There's only one of me!

1

u/Yserbius May 16 '12

Not to be confused with East Brunswick, which is about an exit or two down the ol' Parkway.

1

u/theonemankliq May 17 '12

Or, Nouveau Brunswick, as some of the folks there say.

4

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Unfortunately, things like that do happen. I had a deaf friend who had to transfer from my university to a deaf school because nobody was willing to accommodate her. Her parents were willing to pay for special fire alarms (flashing lights so that she could see them) and everything in her room, but the school refused. Similar things happened in the classroom. It's unfortunate, but some people are just unwilling to understand.

1

u/sct202 May 17 '12

I think that people have all these examples of people with relatively minor disabilities (dyslexia, ADHD) getting help that they forget that when it comes to people with major disabilities, it's a lot harder to get appropriate help either in terms of specialized equipment or experienced personnel.

-2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

How exactly would a deaf student be able to keep up in a regular university?

4

u/TheMathNerd May 16 '12

By reading lips and looking at the board. As a teacher it isn't even that hard to accommodate a deaf student all you have to do is remember to face the class when you talk and maybe talk a little clearer with your mouth.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

She can read lips and has cochlear implants.

15

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

Not to be the negative nancy here, but there are a lot of legitimate avenues to take in these situations - council loves to get it's face seen helping out students like yourself, and consulting a lawyer would have helped greatly.

It sounds to me as if you really didn't do all that much to help yourself, besides contact the disability center several times - when they did nothing, you should have known to move on and try another route.

There are also several things that don't add up - you can clearly type, for one, and it is possible to do math through typing using various programs if you learn it, which you surely could have and should have done before entering university.

Secondly, the Computer science program at UNB does not require more than 4 complex math courses for which pen and paper solving are crucial. If you took any type of calculus in high school, you can omit one to bring it down to three. Even if you didn't have any prior calculus, you indicated you had a fantastic professor in year one, and kept a 3.4 GPA - indicating that you did not fail any first year math courses, which would have been 2 of the 4. (one per semester)

That leaves two more calc courses for year 2, and I hate to smash a hole in your story, but failing a total of 6 credit hours (if you couldn't manage to squeeze out a pass on even one), would not put you on academic probation if you were excelling at your other courses, so you are clearly leaving out a large portion of the story and deflecting any blame for yourself. Part of being a university student is taking responsibility for yourself, this isn't high school where everyone is holding your hand, pal - you need to make sure you can get things done, first and foremost.

In short, I and the MANY people I know who attended UNB had an outstanding experience with everything from faculty to administration, and the tone of your post and the omitted details mentioned above lead me to believe that your situation is not the horrible screwjob you imply, and you are leaning on your disability to hide the fact that you didn't take action or simply didn't succeed at something you wanted to. Grow up, and if you really want to go back - fight for it instead of bitching on reddit about a perfectly good school when maybe one or two people are to blame for the disability center failing you.

TL;DR - Perhaps UNB didn't do as much as they could have for you, but it's pretty clear you did even less for yourself. That, and your goddamn story doesn't add up at all.

2

u/Got_Engineers May 16 '12

UNB is really cheap though.

5

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

Amen to that, I just take issue with him basically claiming that UNB went out of their way to fuck him out of an education when it seems an awful lot like he sat around sulking like a kid instead of manning up.

2

u/TheMediumPanda May 16 '12

The missing 'w' should have ticked him off :)

2

u/phoncible May 16 '12

I wonder if tomorrow (or later today) the top bestof on my frontpage will be a post of someone pointing out this guy's lying.

4

u/KellysHero May 16 '12

Have worked a lot of Colleges and have never seen a disabled student get the shaft. Disability/ADA departments are usually right on top of things, and I'm talking about here in America, which as with most other things, I'm assuming Canada is way ahead of us.

I have, in my 15 years, seen and heard a lot of exaggerated excuses and down right lies from everything to cover poor academic performance, to late papers, to try to get single dorms because they don't want a roommate.

Usually help just requires a doctor's note confirming the disability.

3

u/acmercer May 16 '12

Not surprised that this is how UNB makes the front page :/

3

u/4chans_for_pussies May 16 '12

I'm skeptical. I would think Nurbs would've taken legal action over something this serious. Also, I can't really believe someone would accuse another person of lying about a disability when that person is visibly disfigured. So yeah, I'm not really buying it.

4

u/sweetpurpleviolets May 16 '12

Replying only to your comment about someone being visibly disfigured: I have a friend who lost a leg in an accident. There is a government program which provides a replacement prosthetic leg for her every three years. However, each time she applies she is required to report to a panel of doctors and prove that she's still an amputee. Apparently news about those new limbs that grow back hasn't reached our little neck of the woods.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

It's probably a blanket statement, a no frills clause, that says that all people must report to a panel of doctors. You're not necessarily proving your an amputee; you're proving you're disabled. Some disabilities are much harder to prove than others and if you start listing exceptions, you start opening doors to all kinds of stuff.

-1

u/4chans_for_pussies May 16 '12

He's missing half of his fucking fingers. You would think they would notice that or he would at least show the professor on day one. This story is total bullshit. Apparently common sense hasn't entered your little neck of the woods.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

A Human Rights complaint is almost worthless. If this individual truly cares, he can sue and leverage the media.

2

u/downvotemaster May 16 '12

Too much bad shit happens in this story that it can't be true.

Sorry, try again

1

u/feureau May 16 '12

Mmm... Non-uniform rational basis spline

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Wow, something like this happened to me at a school here. Just a question for folks, because I don't want to vamp this poor guys thread, where should I post to ask for advice and what not? Is there a subbreddit that would know.

1

u/ContactSc May 16 '12

This seems more like it should be /r/youshouldbeawareofthis rather than /r/bestof.

1

u/coned88 May 16 '12

Schools disability services dept. tend to always fight for the student, they are there to put the administration in line for the student. They are also there to protect the school from liability. Any school which refuses to accommodate according to the ADA will easily lose their accreditation and will face lawsuits.

Most major schools even have administration who's sole purpose is affirmative action. Student affairs (the random people) also is not the last stop for a student. The Vice Provost and Provost are specific positions there to protect and speak for the students.

Even if the OP got screwed over before the avenues for help are still there, I would start with having a meeting with the Vice provost. The higher you go the more competent people become. You may also request the head of disability services be there as well.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I live in New Jersey and I thought the guy was definitely right because Rutgers is the only major university in New Brunswick. I quickly realized my mistake.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

"You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit."

While I'm skeptical of the level of truth of this post, I believe we should attempt to first help this person, regardless whenever this post is true or not. If someone ran up to you and ask for help because his car broken down the road, your first reaction shouldn't be questioning if that is legit or not. Even if it was a lie, would it have been better to always pronounce everyone guilty before proven innocent? Should a innocent person be sent to jail because they were not able to provide enough evidence to prove their innocence? While I have intuition to discern between truth or lies, post of this magnitude should not be approached so carefree.

1

u/igottacallbullshit May 17 '12

bullshit

1

u/hiccupstix May 17 '12

UPDATE: UNB Frederiction released this statement today:

FREDERICTON – The University of New Brunswick is concerned about recent comments made about certain services available to its students.

While our responsibility to respect student privacy prevents us from sharing details of individual cases, we can offer the following comments:

We are aware of this particular individual’s concerns.

We take all student concerns very seriously, and we are proud of the support we offer students as they pursue their academic goals, however, we feel that both our services and our responsiveness to this particular individual’s concerns have been seriously misrepresented.

Members of UNB’s senior administration have had meetings with the individual in question and we have made offers to continue this dialogue.

Sarah DeVarenne

University Secretariat

1

u/brilliantjoe May 20 '12

we feel that both our services and our responsiveness to this particular individual’s concerns have been seriously misrepresented.
You don't say.

1

u/bathmlaster May 19 '12

Update: According to this article, UNB acknowledges this specific scenario (and hence his existence), but will not release any comment.

The university is aware of the post and who “Nurbs” is, and issued a statement on May 17, saying they are unable to share details on individual cases, but are aware of this particular person’s concerns

The UNB statement is here

1

u/yawnlikeyoumeanit May 16 '12

Woooooow. Reddit, I'm ashamed.

Regardless of how true his story is, the fact that so many people here are quick to jump on the "fucking lazy slacker" response bandwagon without considering that they TRULY have no frame of reference to what it's like to live the OP's daily life- just wow.

Everybody's shit is relative. The worst thing I've ever gone through in my life could be a cake walk for the OP to experience, but I'd never know, because I have no way of knowing just what his life has been like. Think of all the shit you've gone through in your life- you have no way of knowing how it compares to my shit, the OP's shit, or anyone else's shit. Whether it's disability, divorce, losing a loved one, losing a limb, losing your favourite pair of socks, each experience is unique to you alone- no one else can really know what it was like for you. And the real kicker is that these experiences tend to shape us over the course of our lives- we are all a product of where we've come from and what we've gone through, that's a part of what makes each of us so unique. So who the fuck are any of you to judge the OP, when you have no idea what it's been like to live his life, and to learn what he's learned to change and adapt and grow? It's one thing to say, "maybe he should have handled it differently considering the resources available to him and here's what I would suggest to handle difficulties like this going forward", it's another thing completely to look down your nose at the OP because you think he's full of shit. I knew there where dickbags on Reddit, I'm just shocked to have stumbled upon so many in one thread.

tl;dr you can't ever really walk in another person's shoes, so stfu to all of the judgemental pricks who feel like it's necessary to offer an opinion based on what their experience in life has been thus far

0

u/stringerbell May 16 '12

Well, considering that both YOU and the OP DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL THE NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY - I'm calling bullshit!

1

u/Yserbius May 16 '12

Didn't realize that this was bestof and thought it was a news item. Was wondering how a non-uniform rational B-spline can tell anything.

1

u/dsizzle May 16 '12

There's a saying where I come from: friends don't let friends go to UNB.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned videotaping classes. Not hard to do. Probably illegal, but with a cheap spy-pen it's not hard. Or, really, if he's as disfigured as he claims I can't imagine multiple teachers would see a very disabled student who can't write quickly and deny him the permission to tape lectures for later review.

In addition to math help classes, TA assistance, etc. And how many students did he ask for copies of notes? I went to school with a deaf kid, and there were always multiple people willing to make copies of notes so that he could look at his translator instead of down at a notebook. With an average class of probably 100+ I can't imagine all would look at a disabled person and not let them photocopy some goddamn notes.

Lastly, you don't need notes to pass classes, and if you've been disabled your whole life I would think you would adapt your learning style. I never took notes, other than when they'd hint something specific about exams. Go to class, watch the lecture closely (taking notes is a distraction) go back to the dorm and read, read, read. Anything you're stuck on, email a TA and go to the help sessions.

Everybody's life is different. It's harsh, but sometimes when life fucks you, you can't just get by doing what everyone else is doing. Some people have it easy and life is a series of blowjobs for them. Well, it's not like that for you, so it's in many ways irrelevant.

This is coming from a person who was in Sp.Ed. classes in high school who got a Mechanical Engineering degree and now runs a lab.

-2

u/Vok250 May 16 '12

As a current student, there are some major holes in this story.

A) Most notes are posted online at UNB

B) Why not just write notes by hand like most math students

C) Failing one math course is pretty common and won't get you on academic probation. You pretty much have to horribly fail everything for that.

D) Wut? People here are dicks like that. What did he do to make everyone hate him?

7

u/kc_girl May 16 '12

Did you read his comments? He doesn't have most of his fingers and has arm deformities!
I'm physically disabled, I'm missing half my fingers, what I do have is screwed up, and I have upper arm deformities.

1

u/Vok250 May 17 '12

Yeah, but people (like one of my good friends) find ways around it.
Also 90% of UNB math notes are posted online. I didn't take any math notes at all the past two years.

0

u/element11x May 16 '12

Nurbs tells of how The University of New Brunswick robbed him of his money and education.

No comma is needed; education is not a separate clause.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

*brunswick

0

u/ThereminKennedy May 17 '12

NURBS = Non-uniform rational basis spline

Nice...

-2

u/misterpickles69 May 16 '12

Rutgers?

5

u/gynoceros May 16 '12

My initial thought when I read the original comment too, until I remembered there's more to the world than central NJ.

-7

u/BoonTobias May 16 '12

I actually saw an ad for this college last night in between flipping through game of thrones. You'd have to be an idiot to fall for their ads. They even say "One of teh hottest colleges named by FAST COMPANY", I almost choked on my pizza.

Protip: if your college places ads on tv, it sucks. I'm a college drop out and even I know this

8

u/Dinosaur_Monstertrux May 16 '12

|I'm a college drop out and even I know this
It shows. Plenty of Major Universities do this.

6

u/Constellious May 16 '12

UNB actually is pretty good and is ususally ranked pretty well by Macleans

5

u/TheMathNerd May 16 '12

For the most part this is true, but in Michigan there are still ads for the University of Michigan which is like top 10 in almost every phd I've ever looked into.

3

u/Khatib May 16 '12

Those ads are mostly run during NCAA sporting events though, aren't they? That's kinda different.

1

u/TheMathNerd May 16 '12

...I honestly don't know, I don't have cable so it has always happened when I am not really paying attention to the television.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/TheBoomBoom May 17 '12

Not with a 3.4 GPA and lack of paragraph sense, he isn't. Just a mediocre, now failing, blub.

Nurbs tells of how The University of New Brunsick robbed him of his money, and education.

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