...talk a lot, pick a little more,
pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
cheap cheap cheap, talk a lot, pick a little more,
pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
cheap cheap cheap, talk a lot, pick a little more,
pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little,
cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap

The above is the refrain of the song "Pick a little, talk a little", song by the Buffalo Bills, a barbershop quartet, in "The Music Man", starring Meredith Wilson, which opened on Broadway in 1962.

I attended that show on opening night, with box seats offered to my mother by her company when a last-minute cancellation made them available. It was my first Broadway show, which also starred eight-year-old Ron Howard who sang "Gary, Indiana" with a lisp, as required by the script. He brought the house down.

Little did I know that forty-six years later the refrain to that song would echo through my head upon learning of my school's latest policy of making students pay ten cents --Aruban money -- about 5.7 cents American -- per page to copy any handouts the teachers wanted to give us. And this after furiously negotiating away a much more draconian policy which mercifully was attenuated by calmer nervous systems. Here's how the math breaks down: my PDI class numbers 22, we get a 5-page handout on each of 24 classes we meet during the semester. Assuming that bulk paper in Aruba costs double the $1.25 per ream it costs in Staples in the U.S., that comes to a whopping $7.54 USD in paper for the whole class for the whole semester.

Okay, I can see the financial strain it might cause the school, especially in light of the tiny just-announced tuition increase ($800-$1000), but here's the good part: the teachers are allowed to make just one paper copy, which they can give to one student to do with whatever they want. Why? Because electronic dissemination would encourage pirating the copyrighted works of our Nobel-prize-in-literature-winning teacher/authors. But we can scan and distribute the paper copy as we wish.

Got that?

Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheap cheap cheap...

__________________
Brain surgeon to another: "Hey, this isn't rocket science".
Rocket scientist to another: "Hey, this isn't brain surgery".

I called the office about the tuition increase and they said it was because one "Aruba is expensive" and two they are trying to get a site visit, which I assume is NY state? any clarification about this???

__________________
Chris

life experience

We obviously do not want to encourage rumor or assumptions, but we are taking on more projects for the benefit of the students and their education and conditions in Aruba. There are many plans under way that we are excited about.

__________________
Xavier Admissions
Xavier University School of Medicine

If you don't want to encourage rumor or assumptions, why not simply state what the many plans are which are under way for the benefit of the students and their education and conditions in Aruba? You know, the plans which you are excited about. Failure to enumerate your plans invites the rumor mill to fill in the gaps.

By any chance, would your plans include implementation of the promise of electronic access to zillions of journals which has been on the first page of the school web site for over two years?

Would it also include implementation of official student emails -- from which I have yet to receive a single message -- to disseminate information from teachers to students, instead of relying on the rumor system to pass along important information?

Could it by some luck include implementation of an ftp download system, for which the infrastructure has been in place for over a year, so that teachers and students can upload and download documents for each other, instead of the current flash drive pass-along maybe-I'll-get-it system?

Would these exciting plans include a sensible, well thought out policy on giving students something to study from, instead of the current quiz-hoarding system which has no analog in American or Canadian colleges?

Of all the conditions in Aruba, would the plans include a fair apartment listing service that seeks out all available housing units, not just the expensive ones? And how about a logistics service to prevent the isolation of new arrivals?

Would there be enough money for a full-time knowledgeable career counselor in permanent residence in Aruba, someone on top of changing state regulations, rotation rules, residency requirements, and the like, to replace the current last-minute advice on what to do after we're already in the middle of doing it?

Might there also be a faculty code of conduct, similar to the student code of conduct, or is it only students -- you know, the ones paying for all this -- who must be held to standards of conduct? Will faculty be required to wear school advertising Monday through Thursday? I would be really excited about that plan.

__________________
Brain surgeon to another: "Hey, this isn't rocket science".
Rocket scientist to another: "Hey, this isn't brain surgery".

Thank you for your response. And to you and others... we yet again are at an impass with communication. Many have asked on here "Why do you not comment on ValueMD very much, this would be a great place to share information." If you read the previous post above, this is why. We can't ask for input and ideas on making Xavier better without getting blasted by some student who would't take the time to share their thoughts with the Administration here in the States, but can namelessly go off on some tangent on here.
FTP Downloading? GREAT IDEA! Some of your other comments are useful as well. I just ask that students with ideas share them with the Administration in a mature manner (xavier@valuemd.com is best where you can reach me) before blowing up and trying to make the school look bad. Is degrading Xavier what you wish to accomplish? Have I made a mistake in asking for input on the new website?

__________________
Xavier Admissions
Xavier University School of Medicine

(Edit note: ValueMD censoring software changed an email address I mention several times, so I had to change it to an awkward form, which should be self-evident.)

You have no idea what you're talking about, and I find it laughable that you, who do not study here, should have anything to say about anything at all, particularly in light of the history of the admissions department in dealing with students.

First, regarding your crack about 'namelessly', there's hardly a student at Xavier who doesn't know who fossildoc is, and certainly many faculty know who I am. Why don't you pick up the phone and call the registrar, or any member of SGA, and ask who I am. Even better, go down the hall and speak to the Panama development person, GR, and ask to see my Logistics posts in the Panama forum. So much for your nonsense about 'namelessly'.

As for your unfounded allegations about not taking the time to share my thoughts, once again you are completely misinformed. I have sent several emails -- with my name on them -- to your chief academic officer, MC, with constructive suggestions for the solution of problems that plague students here. I have all the original emails and replies, and would be glad to post them all here if you'd like. The last one was a suggestion that the school create a group mailing list for each class and for each grade level; this could be done with a simple computer program, since all that data is in the registration data base. Faculty should be required to utilize these group lists to pass important information to students, and should never depend on a student to disseminate information. This will avoid a repetition of disastrous events in the past two semesters in which students did not receive important information intended for them by the teacher. I have MC's response, in which he promises to implement such a system beginning this semester, but lo, it's business as usual. Instead of a computer-based solution, we still use the rumor system to promulgate announcements, and some students never get the memo.

What's the use in taking the time to share our thoughts if, even after promises of implementation, nothing happens?

Now let's get to the Admissions Department. At the bottom of the first page of the school web site there is an email address, info-atsign-xusom-dot-nl. To me, info means information. "What's the textbook used for Anatomy?" is information, and such an inquiry should be answered by a responsible administration. During the six months beginning January 2007, I sent three emails to info-atsign-xusom-dot-nl inquiring about the online access to electronic journals which had been touted on the first page of the school web site as coming 'soon' for over two years. None of those emails were answered.

I sent a fourth email to the person in charge of Panama development, the aforementioned GR, who promised an answer that never came (she is a great person, BTW).

Then at a meeting between the entire student body and your CEO, CB, I, fossildoc, rose and challenged CB to fix the unresponsiveness of the school to student emails, a complaint voiced so loud and so often by other students that it became an item of discussion between SGA and the Atlanta brass. CB, in front of the entire student body, promised to fix this problem by requiring all emails to be answered. Then, about a month later, I sent CB an email in which I copied the first three unanswered emails, and asked that he investigate why they were never answered. Paradoxically, he never answered my email! I found this so amusing that I decided not to pursue that thread, as it was clear that promises from on high were no more than just that -- promises.

I then sent another email to info-atsign-xusom-dot-nl asking once again about the journals, and noted that CB had assured me that this email would not be ignored. This time I did get an answer. It said that info-atsign-xusom-dot-nl is an address in the Admissions Department, and only questions about admissions would be answered; all other inquiries would be 'forwarded'. So why isn't it called xavier@valuemd.com? How is a reader supposed to know that the address applies only to Admissions, especially when it is on the first page of the web site, not on the Admissions page?

To me, this represents a deplorable lack of judgement on the part of the person controlling info-atsign-xusom-dot-nl, and I suspect it is still operating that way.

The only person in your organization who faithfully answers emails is the aforementioned MC, who I believe is a Good Man in an impossible situation. There is a saying: you can't soar with eagles if you have to grovel with turkeys. I get the feeling that not everybody is on the same train in Atlanta.

Now let's move on to the ftp idea. It was actually implemented by our very capable and student-friendly IT guy, but it was abandoned because key adminstrators in Aruba could not figure out how to work ftp. The computer illiteracy of the faculty here is shameful; any eighth-grader in the U.S. or Canada will know how to use ftp. I myself designed a computer program to drill students on tabular data which had to be memorized, such as is found in Microbiology or Pharmacology, but once again it didn't take off because a key adminstrator didn't act on it, despite a 21-page printed instruction manual.

Regarding the web site, in January 2007 I had an eyeball-to-eyeball meeting with CB -- not the meeting referred to above -- in which I told him for over an hour that the most powerful marketing engine for the school was not television advertisements or posters in college hallways, but the collective mass of students who pass through the school, whether satisified or not, and that it was therefore incumbent on him to listen with both ears to the complaints of the students. I also drove home the point -- apparently without results -- that the primary interface between the prospective student and the school is the web site, and that it was a matter of utmost urgency to remove from the web site all manner of deception, particuarly the Panama web site, which was a grand deception from beginning to end. (If you're the Definition Police, a deception is a truth told in such a way as to induce the reader into believing something which is not true.)

The saddest part of this is that none of it was necessary; Aruba has enough positive attributes, and Panama had enough good concepts and plans, to stand on their merits without any need for deceptive elaboration. I was thrilled with Panama; it was a great idea. When I arrived in Aruba after Panama's cancellation I was at once surrounded by students who first asked if I was fossildoc -- yes, I was -- and told me that they hadn't opted to go there solely because of "ambiguities" and "holes" in the Panama web site; they said the school was waffling on important issues, such as accreditation. As I said in one of my other posts, students will tolerate almost anything if they believe you are being honest with them, but that was not the case with the Panama web site.

It is no secret that the Caribbean med schools thrive on a healthy dose of lies and deceptions, luring students who then feel trapped once their tuition is paid. I do not want Xavier to be regarded in that manner, because its reputation will follow me everywhere, yet there hasn't been a word changed on the web site in the year I've been here.

At this meeting with CB, I said I would sit with him and go line-by-line through the entire web site, both Aruba and Panama, and point out the deceptions, but he did not have the time.

As for your again misinformed comment about trying to make the school look bad, my response is simple: have someone PM me and ask if I recommend the school. I would have no way of knowing s/he was your stooge. Because of my postings in this forum, hardly a day goes by when I don't get a PM asking for the 'real deal' about Xavier, and I tell them all the same thing (why wouldn't I?), which is: this is place to be. But it's like a rocky marriage; it needs counseling at times, and if the couples have the good sense to get the counseling, all should work out in the end. Xavier would have to form a committee to concoct the humiliations I suffered at my previous school, MUAB, now defunct or almost so; in that context, Xavier is a paradise. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement, particularly in the realm of communication about which you know so little. I bet you can't name a single item on the agenda of the last SGA meeting with MC. So why are you making groundless comments about going off on a tangent, when those tangents may be the items of greatest interest to the study body?

I think it is ludicrous that someone who doesn't know anything about me or my history of communications with the administration or my constructive activites within the school -- like being the ONLY student to help incoming newbies -- should make such uninformed and irresponsible comments. I know what I am talking about, and I will defend any statements I have made in any of my posts face-to-face with any cheeses you may wish to send here.

If you want my input about what the web site should look like, once again I will sit for several hours and go through the current site line by line, making suggestions for emendations and additions, but if your idea of student input is a 15-minute block of time for each student like we get when MC visits, then forget it. I'm not a sound-bite man.

__________________
Brain surgeon to another: "Hey, this isn't rocket science".
Rocket scientist to another: "Hey, this isn't brain surgery".

Yes, I do know who you are, and no, it doesn't make any difference. I wasn't under the impressions this was the mature way to call someone out. I assume you know who I am and have absolutley no issue with going over issues or the website in a detailed mannor. I don't agree with the comment that I am so ill-informed since I have been with this school since it's beginnings in Bonaire, but if this is your perception then I apologize. Yes, information about academics typically get forwarded to the appropriate person or Dean, but the intent was to make sure that questions were getting answered by someone and since I deal with most students during their enrollment, I have a basic and personal responsibility to see that they are treated fairly. I don't baby sit or stand over peers to verify there response, but it seems that there needs to be a better way to communicate info.
Per that thought, the majority of the Administration here in Atlanta had a long conference call with the SGA today and we are making some headway in regards to concerns they and other students have. If you, would like to talk to me in depth about any issue, I welcome your thoughts.
The website is currently being updated and remodeled, and we welcome insight preferrably through a phone call so that we can discuss options. This forum is not where anyone in the office spends a majority of their day, so it typically has a delayed response.

Thank you for you concerns,
AM

__________________
Xavier Admissions
Xavier University School of Medicine

I disagree. It would seem other ways tried are ineffective and management is non-responsive.

How long has xavier been around? 5 years?

Xavier was chartered in 2003.

__________________
Xavier Admissions
Xavier University School of Medicine

If i can make a suggestion please with regards to the website, if you can add a section of all the different people that have matched and are in residency from Xavier as well as keep it updated. As a future student looking into residency, it would be nice to know this info, also helpful if we could get intouch with those peopel and get advice since we really dont have any meaningful counsellor in Atl.

As for the above arguments of implementing changes, its the same ol story that we'eve been hearin. After going through XUSOM with MD and now almost done with clinicals, even in Atl its the same story that changes will be made etc etc. I think we just have to accept this as carib med students, its the reality of the path we have taken. I hear the same complaints from students from other schools as well.