Reading Response #6 In The Basement of The Ivory Tower

"In The Basment of The Ivory Tower," an article by Professor X, shows how there are more students in University these days, who don't have a clue what they're doing there.
In his essay, Professor X states, "Remarlably few of my students can do well in these classes, students routinely fail; some multiple times and some will never pass, because they cannot write a coherent sentence." Basically, Professor X is saying that college isn't for everyone.
Professor X is an adjunct instructor, and according to him, "The adjunct instructor, who by the nature of his job, teaches the worst students." He goes on to explain, "For I, who teach these low-level, must-pass, no-multiple-choice-test classes, am the one who ultimately delivers the news to those nonfit for college: that they lack the most-basic skills and have no sense of the volume of work required; that they are in some cases barely literate... They are not ready for high school, some of them much less than college."
Also, Professoor X seems to have human qualities, whereas he really wants to give students the grades they think they have earned, yet his job won't allow it. "I gave Ms. L. the F and slept poorly that night. Some of the failing grades I issue gnaw at me more than others... She had failed not, as ssome students do, by being absent too often or by blowing off assignments. She simply was not qualified for college. What exactly, I wondered, was I grading. I thought briefly of passing Ms. L., of slipping her the old gentleman's C-minus, but I couldn't do it..."
Some students are very happy that there even in college, they figure that because they're there, their work should be college material, even if it isn't. Alot of students only choose to go to college, because they can, not because of academics. And older students think that school will be a breeze, and then they realize, "Damn, I was wrong."
I agree that older students need to try harder, like the younger students do, because my experience shows me that I came in expecting a cake walk, or an easy time, and instead got in way over my head, which confirms it. I didn't realize being a full time student would be a large pain, welcome to college life, but on a more positve note, if 2 of my classes weren't English, I'd probably be doing much better.