Am I cold hearted? (2 Viewers)

[spanky125]

UWS has given over 700 students guaranteed entry due to the fact that they were affected by a bushfire.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/bushfire-affected-hsc-students-get-uni-offers/5068306

Am I cold hearted by thinking that this is unfair to the rest of us?

 

[obliviousninja]

Its fine...but give a more suitable option would be bonus points for misadventure, not simply instant access

 

[lolwot]

Depends on how severe it affected them imo

 

[mivck210]

That wasn't very nice. UWS is fine and has great facilities I think that each person's situation was individually decided upon. Obviously UWS deemed these students to be able to cope with the course requirements. If your house burnt down maybe you even lost a pet or family members from the devastation wouldn't you like it to be just that little bit easier to get on with their life.

 

[JT145]

UWS has given over 700 students guaranteed entry due to the fact that they were affected by a bushfire.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/bushfire-affected-hsc-students-get-uni-offers/5068306

Am I cold hearted by thinking that this is unfair to the rest of us?

I am cold hearted in my first thought thinking that it was UWS... so.....didn't really matter

(inb4ultracompetitivestreak)

 

[JT145]

how bad were the bushfires? did ppl get injured/die?

200ish houses destroyed? 1 death

 

[spanky125]

Bushfires were very bad, I think as much financial assistance possible should be given to them but not positions at uni which they may or may not deserve.

Them going to uni means that others who deserve it more will miss out.

I am without a doubt not going to a place like UWS but someone who might have had UWS as a high preference may miss out and they have to go to the uni I want to go to which could make me miss out all because someone was affected by a bushfire.

I think that this decision by UWS will both directly and indirectly affect many students wishing to study at a tertiary level.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

By 'affected' do they mean people who couldn't sit their exams because they were evacuated or because their school was on fire? Because if so you know, fair enough. Besides it's not like it's USyd/UNSW where it takes 99.7 to get into degrees like law, it's closer to the low 90s, so it's not an insane mark being handed out to them.

 

[spanky125]

By 'affected' do they mean people who couldn't sit their exams because they were evacuated or because their school was on fire? Because if so you know, fair enough. Besides it's not like it's USyd/UNSW where it takes 99.7 to get into degrees like law, it's closer to the low 90s, so it's not an insane mark being handed out to them.

It just says affected, but they can enter any course they want to.
Getting an ATAR of 90 is still an extremely hard thing to do for many people.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

Bushfires were very bad, I think as much financial assistance possible should be given to them but not positions at uni which they may or may not deserve.

Them going to uni means that others who deserve it more will miss out.

I am without a doubt not going to a place like UWS but someone who might have had UWS as a high preference may miss out and they have to go to the uni I want to go to which could make me miss out all because someone was affected by a bushfire.

I think that this decision by UWS will both directly and indirectly affect many students wishing to study at a tertiary level.

I guess their logic is that those prevented from sitting exams still deserve a place at university, and there's concern that misadventure will be discriminatory in some way in cases where none of the cohort sat the exam. I'm sure they'll still have plenty of room, I doubt even close to the total 700 will actually take them up. I may be cold hearted or at least cynical in saying this, but it looks like a PR stunt to me not an expression of actual intent to deliver a tertiary education to all of those students.

 

[spanky125]

I guess their logic is that those prevented from sitting exams still deserve a place at university, and there's concern that misadventure will be discriminatory in some way in cases where none of the cohort sat the exam. I'm sure they'll still have plenty of room, I doubt even close to the total 700 will actually take them up. I may be cold hearted or at least cynical in saying this, but it looks like a PR stunt to me not an expression of actual intent to deliver a tertiary education to all of those students.

I watched it on the news tonight and from how UWS said everything it did come across as a bit of a PR stunt.

 

[nerdasdasd]

Uhh lots of people's lives got disrupted, over 200 houses burnt down , obviously more houses would of been semi burnt/damaged.... Lastly there was the worries and stress of the death of family members.

Having a bushfire in your area when you are doing the HSC exams would seriously disrupt your life in many ways, you need to experience it to know how it feels like ( but obviously it wouldn't be very good).

IMO, it would be appropriate to let them get into unsw, usyd or any Australian university.

 

[spanky125]

Uhh lots of people's lives got disrupted, over 200 houses burnt down , obviously more houses would of been semi burnt/damaged.... Lastly there was the worries and stress of the death of family members.

Having a bushfire I'm your area when you are doing the hsc would seriously disrupt your life in many ways, you need to experience it to know how it feels like ( but obviously it wouldn't be very good).

IMO, it would be appropriate to let them get into unsw, usyd or any Australian university.

I think any university is a bit much.

Unless when they finish they come out with a degree that has a little asterisk.
*Only got into UNSW due to bushfire and we felt sorry for them.

 

[SuchSmallHands]

I watched it on the news tonight and from how UWS said everything it did come across as a bit of a PR stunt.

Yeah, that's what it seems to me. The ATAR required for a course is a reflection of demand, not quality. So if they're only asking 90 for law it's not to say that the course is bad, just that they don't have the same numbers of applicants as USyd/UNSW and this is probably just a way to seem loving and philanthropic while HSC kids are setting their preferences. I can see your point though, even if it means that one student who would have got their course failed to get in where someone else who deserved it less did it's not really fair.

 

[nerdasdasd]

I think any university is a bit much.

Unless when they finish they come out with a degree that has a little asterisk.
*Only got into UNSW due to bushfire and we felt sorry for them.

Well not any bushfire.... But this was a state of emergency for nsw, come on.

 

[Kiraken]

It just says affected, but they can enter any course they want to.
Getting an ATAR of 90 is still an extremely hard thing to do for many people.

actually some courses such as medicine, physio, music etc. still require additional criteria to be met.

I think its a great initiative considering the impact this must have had on said students, even if their houses were not directly affected, the fear of some bushfire getting to their house considering the high risk area they lived in and the time etc. spent with preparations for the worst case scenario would have affected their studies to some extent. Furthermore, they will still have to pay for uni unless their house suffered significant damage in which case they get $2000.

Naturally there is that aspect of it where it's also a way of them to increase their student intake (and they would be fully aware of this), especially for courses that might not have as much demand in UWS, but if this is benefitting those people who have been negatively impacted by bushfires it's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[JT145]

Considering around 500 families got affected by the bushfires (as in house burnt down) at most it's not exactly a heap of people that will actually benefit from this.

 

[nexusbrah]

I think any university is a bit much.

Unless when they finish they come out with a degree that has a little asterisk.
*Only got into UNSW due to bushfire and we felt sorry for them.

Or they could just offer bonus points for certain degrees.

Which will obvs come under misadventure, etc

 

[Drifting95]

I know some of you don't really understand, this is because you haven't experienced it personally and see the true implications. I have cousins who haven't been able to complete exams, they will get destroyed with the estimated marks because they're not a true reflection of their ability, but instead the standards of these normally low performing schools.

I don't necessarily see this as bad, my opinion is though that additional bonus points would be better. Also, 200 houses destroyed is just from the Springwood fire, how about the fires in Blackheath and Lithgow? Even if a family didn't experience losing their house, the stress and fear you go through when your house and all your belongings could be lost is crazy. A student isn't going to be thinking about their hsc during these times, but how they will react if the fire does come through to their location.

I commend UWS for these actions, i don't see any other uni offering anything. How about those students aiming for other uni's? I think 5 bonus points or something along the lines of that would be greatly appreciated.

200 houses doesn't mean only 200 students who have been affected. All schools (both primary and secondary) were closed for a few days, meaning NO exam could be completed by all hsc students in the Blue Mountains. Even if students were able to complete other exams such as english, the majority would still have at least one exam that will be estimated with misadventure procedures.

 

[nerdasdasd]

Or they could just offer bonus points for certain degrees.

Which will obvs come under misadventure, etc

Bonus points won't help if they didn't finish entire hsc exams. It won't even make up for it....