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Grex > Agora46 > #144: Machines get smarter, Americans get dumber | |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 112 responses total. |
tpryan
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response 50 of 112:
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Aug 7 01:46 UTC 2003 |
The machine should not have a high refusal rate. At that point,
the store is refusing to take a bottle return, a violation of the
Michigan return law.
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other
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response 51 of 112:
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Aug 7 02:56 UTC 2003 |
The machine's refusal does not constitue a violation so long as the store
takes it.
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gull
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response 52 of 112:
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Aug 13 02:15 UTC 2003 |
Most of the bottle return machines I've used reject about one can out of
ten. Those cans go in again. If they're rejected twice, I throw them
in the trash because I know better than to waste my time trying to get
the minimum-wage store help to try to take care of it.
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russ
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response 53 of 112:
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Aug 14 04:07 UTC 2003 |
I seldom have anything rejected unless the machine is malfunctioning
or the can is crumpled. Moving to another machine or crumpling the
can a bit differently so the bar code is readable usually works.
Taking ten seconds to get ten cents isn't a bad payoff for time.
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gull
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response 54 of 112:
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Aug 14 14:33 UTC 2003 |
I have perfectly pristine cans get rejected all the time. Maybe the
idea of these machines is to convince people to oppose the bottle return
laws by making it as much of a hassle as possible.
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scott
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response 55 of 112:
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Aug 14 16:27 UTC 2003 |
Or perhaps the store has somebody go through the bin and retrieve that
percentage people toss when the machine doesn't accept them.
Hmm... sounds like a conspiracy, alright.
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fitz
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response 56 of 112:
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Aug 14 17:55 UTC 2003 |
TOMRA machines become soiled with use through the day and with increasing
frequency through the day wrongfully reject returns. In a time of decreased
retail business, the tendency is to schedule fewer hours at the very time of
year when beverage sales alone peak. If the employer only schedules
maintanence at the beginning of the day, the solution to troublesome
rejections is to disconnect the offending TOMRA. The increased traffic to
the remaining machines hastens the onset of further faulty operation.
In Michigan, the bottle bill has great popularity with consumers.
Consequently, those same consumers know enough to blame store mis-managment
and not the bottle bill.
Trash bins are presumed to contain non-returnable containers and the whole
affair is dumped regardless of the obvious otherwise recyclable nature of its
contents. If you see Meijer employees pawing through the bins, they are
naughty children looking for bottle caps with undetected premiums. (This is
conversion: ANYTHING found in the store belongs to the store and must be
turned in.)
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russ
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response 57 of 112:
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Aug 16 13:46 UTC 2003 |
Re #56: I've wondered what it might take to get retailers to
put out recycle bins for the non-deposit containers. It might
save them enough on trash disposal to make it worthwhile.
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goose
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response 58 of 112:
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Aug 16 14:34 UTC 2003 |
The Farmer Jack on washtenaw in Ypsi had a separate bin for
recyclable-nonreturnables at one point, but I haven't shopped there in about
three years since I moved from the area.
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fitz
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response 59 of 112:
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Aug 16 17:16 UTC 2003 |
Re #57: Meijer (in Grand Rapids) has had prior experience with complete
recycling. Several stores had huge, partitioned dumpsters for self-sorting
of glass by color, metal and paper. The result was litter dispersal, smell,
noise, abandonded furniture and dead pets. I can't speak for the company,
but I rather think that the employees now have a 'not in my backyard'
attitude.
If you propose these bins inside of the stores, you cramp the style of
some department that would like nothing more than to build a display
wherever you think the bins should go.
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gelinas
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response 60 of 112:
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Aug 16 21:04 UTC 2003 |
Didn't I hear the retailers comment that "grocery stores aren't dumps" (or
words to that effect) during the recent dispute over ownership of un-redeemed
bottle deposits?
I like the idea of recycling bins near the refund machines, but I don't think
it's gonna play in Peoria.
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tpryan
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response 61 of 112:
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Aug 17 15:23 UTC 2003 |
I cannot see how a product can be touted as 'green packaged'
unless there is recyling available at the point of purchase.
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mvpel
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response 62 of 112:
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Aug 21 14:57 UTC 2003 |
The fruits of 150 years worth of government-run schooling.
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jep
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response 63 of 112:
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Aug 21 16:31 UTC 2003 |
Um, Mike, when I think of American public schooling, I think of the 97%
literacy rate for Americans. The school system is not perfect, but it
is one of the great innovations of our country.
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klg
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response 64 of 112:
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Aug 21 16:57 UTC 2003 |
With a recent study showing that a rising percentage of high school
graduates are unable to pass introductory college English and
mathematics courses??
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scott
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response 65 of 112:
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Aug 21 17:54 UTC 2003 |
Cite?
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jep
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response 66 of 112:
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Aug 21 17:57 UTC 2003 |
Whether or not there's a current reduction in the capability to do
college course work, the modern American literacy rate is higher than
it was before American children attended public school. If you think
the public school system is ineffective, I think you can only be
arguing from the point of view of a fanatic, and that your views don't
need to be taken seriously by most people.
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scott
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response 67 of 112:
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Aug 21 18:01 UTC 2003 |
Oh wait, I suspect klg's statistics are part of the usual right-wing false
premise propaganda. More people than ever are going to college is the likely
basis for more people than ever not doing so well on college exams.
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cross
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response 68 of 112:
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Aug 21 19:29 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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klg
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response 69 of 112:
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Aug 21 19:58 UTC 2003 |
The sad news:
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
'03 grads lag in math, science
By Fredreka Schouten / Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON -- Many high school graduates who took the ACT college-
admissions exam are unprepared for the math and science classes they
will face in college, according to a report released Tuesday.
Only about 25 percent of students in the Class of 2003 who took the ACT
are likely to earn at least a C in a first-year college biology class,
and only about 4 in 10 are likely to get at least a C in college
algebra.
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scott
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response 70 of 112:
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Aug 21 20:56 UTC 2003 |
Damn the lack of internet at home! I can't follow up on this right now.
What's the time frame, though? Say, since the scores were higher than now.
How does that fit in with W. Bush's reign?
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scott
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response 71 of 112:
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Aug 21 21:49 UTC 2003 |
Ah, OK, that's an awfully short story.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/schools/0308/20/a01-249520.htm
Doesn't say anything about trends, though. Seems like that would be
especially useful in determining if a problem is getting better or worse.
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slynne
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response 72 of 112:
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Aug 22 11:59 UTC 2003 |
Our public schools suck but they are better than nothing.
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anderyn
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response 73 of 112:
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Aug 22 14:24 UTC 2003 |
In my own experience, scientifically unverfied though it be, and consisting
of knowing several (five?) honors high school students who got very good
grades and got into great schools without knowing basic spelling or grammar
(I was pressed into service as a proof reader for these kids/now young adults)
-- it's rather scary that someone who is undeniably bright and talented can't
be taught the basics of the ENglish language until he or she is in college.
(It wasn't that they were stupid or impaired, mind you, it was just that they
weren't taught grammar. Scary. And these were in several schools, not just
one -- Community High School and whatever it is in South Lyons, and Huron.)
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klg
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response 74 of 112:
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Aug 22 16:36 UTC 2003 |
Yes. And, parents beware, this problem is getting worse. The teachers
now coming out or college never learned proper spelling and grammar (or
geography or mathematics or etc.) and are unprepared to provide that
instruction. Very sad situation. No wonder the practice of home
schooling and the demand for private education is rising.
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