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13-Year-Old Prodigy Cries Discrimination After University Denied Him Ecology Class
ABC News ^ | march 12, 10 | Emily Friedman

Posted on 03/13/2010 9:14:31 AM PST by camerakid400

He may be young but Colin Carlson said he is no stranger to discrimination.

Carlson, a gifted child, was at age 12 turned away from his dream school, Connecticut College, amid concerns that he was too young for a dormitory, even though he agreed to live off campus with his mother.

Now, more than a year later, 13-year-old Carlson said he has faced trouble again at the University of Connecticut, where he maintains a 3.9 GPA as a double-degree candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology, and in environmental studies.

The university barred his entry into an African field ecology class that required a three-week trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, because the professor thought Carlson was too young for the journey, Carlson and his mother, Jessica Offir, said.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: ecology; prodigy; uconn
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To: Jason Kauppinen

No, what he needs is time learning how to deal with people, many of them who are jerks, idiots and loons. This takes time. It takes a certain amount of brain maturity. It takes the form of being exposed to situations where everyone has to work out their differences. If it happens at school, ok. Most of us also learn this in the neighborhood, in the family, at church outings, organized sports, scouting groups, whatever. I get the feeling this kid gets none of these experiences.


21 posted on 03/13/2010 10:21:50 AM PST by gracie1 (visualize whirled peas)
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To: camerakid400

And there is a difference between maturoty and book learning. This kid still goes everywhere with “Mom” so he hardly qualifies for what could be a dangerous trip. Just because he is in the university doesn’t guarantee him a seat in any class


22 posted on 03/13/2010 10:39:22 AM PST by the long march
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To: Tax Government

they are just not that one


23 posted on 03/13/2010 10:39:41 AM PST by the long march
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To: camerakid400

Such a waste...studying junkscience!


24 posted on 03/13/2010 11:00:30 AM PST by LiteKeeper ("It's the peoples' seat!")
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To: ebshumidors
I agree ... good luck to him making a living in those phony fields

.

25 posted on 03/13/2010 11:20:12 AM PST by Elle Bee
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To: Don Corleone

lern to reed, wuz knot aloud too atttend Connecticut College,
sew wendt two UCONN insted.


26 posted on 03/13/2010 11:34:42 AM PST by Ed Condon (Wanted, newer tag line in good condition.)
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To: LiteKeeper; Elle Bee
So ecology and environmental science are “junkscience” and “phony”? Do either of you have any knowledge of those fields?
27 posted on 03/13/2010 11:35:33 AM PST by stormer
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To: stormer

considerable...this is one of the areas that I teach a high school course on.


28 posted on 03/13/2010 11:54:20 AM PST by LiteKeeper ("It's the peoples' seat!")
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To: LiteKeeper

You teach a course in “junckscience”? Why?


29 posted on 03/13/2010 11:56:14 AM PST by stormer
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To: Elle Bee

Oh, I’m sure he’ll stay at the university and do ‘research’ on stupid things on the taxpayer’s dime.


30 posted on 03/13/2010 11:59:07 AM PST by ebshumidors (Marksmanship and YOUR heritage http://www.appleseedinfo.org)
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To: stormer

I don’t teach junkscience. I teach a class that compares evolution and special creation, coupled with critical thinking and Information Theory.


31 posted on 03/13/2010 12:11:34 PM PST by LiteKeeper ("It's the peoples' seat!")
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To: LiteKeeper

I see, you teach apologetics. When you get around to science, look me up.


32 posted on 03/13/2010 12:16:04 PM PST by stormer
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To: stormer
does it produce something of substance or wealth for anyone other than the involved?
33 posted on 03/13/2010 1:44:53 PM PST by Elle Bee
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To: Elle Bee

Codswallop. You haven’t a clue.


34 posted on 03/13/2010 3:09:36 PM PST by stormer
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To: stormer

Just finished the science module. What did you have in mind?


35 posted on 03/13/2010 4:41:54 PM PST by LiteKeeper ("It's the peoples' seat!")
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To: camerakid400
That’s really funny because when I was a thirteen year old student my teachers wanted me to go to Africa, in fact I believe they would have bought the ticket.

They called me a lot of things but never a prodigy.

36 posted on 03/13/2010 4:57:27 PM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: LiteKeeper
It was you who associated ecology and environmental science with “junkscience”. Perhaps you would care to elaborate?
37 posted on 03/13/2010 5:03:21 PM PST by stormer
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Mark, Book, Mark I


38 posted on 03/13/2010 6:30:10 PM PST by ExGeeEye (Talk To The Hand-- Palin 2012)
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To: LiteKeeper; Elle Bee; ebshumidors; stormer
Ecology and Environmentalism are totalitarian pseudosciences.

Green Evil—A Hate Speech

The Environmentalists Trick

39 posted on 03/14/2010 5:15:59 AM PDT by Hank Kerchief
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To: SamAdams76
Damn, this kid has the rest of his life ahead of him. Why the pressure to get him through college this quickly? Give him a skateboard, a Kid Rock CD and a summer off already.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have some experience with this. There is no way a mom or dad can force a child like this to not learn. It's like demanding that they not breathe. They **love** it. Sentencing a child like this to a summer of “Kid Rock” and skate boarding would be like demanding that they watch paint dry for 3 months.

I am the mother of homeschoolers who entered college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13. All three finished all college requirements and Calculus III by the age of 15. The two younger earned B.S. degrees in math by the age of 18. The oldest was equally successful in his interests.

Parents of children like mine are not “demanding” that their kids study calculus. There is no possible way that a parent would have any success in doing that. I compare it to sneezing. For the child loving to study is as natural ( and irrepressible) as sneezing.

By the way when my two younger kids were about 13, and 14, we spent half a summer in Costa Rica while we all attended language school. The girls earned six college credits in Spanish while thoroughly enjoying the cultural immersion. There's not that much difference between this and going to Johannesburg.

40 posted on 03/14/2010 5:42:44 AM PDT by wintertime
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