When I came to Iowa State, my goal was to obtain practical (keep that word in mind) education and to obtain skills in the area of criminal justice that would make me an attractive candidate for employment upon graduation.

Instead, I have been required to take classes such as “Youth and Crime,” “Violent Offenders,” “Social Inequality” and “Social Deviance.” These are effectively sociology classes.

My gripe with this is that, while yes, it is important to consider the justice system’s inner workings and possible reasons for offending, none of these classes will offer me any practical skill that I can honestly sell to an employer.

Consider a graduate from the DMACC criminal justice program. A sample of their classes follows: “Criminal Investigation,” “E-Crime Investigative Methods,” “Crime Scene Investigation,” “Effective Courtroom Testimony” and “Criminal Justice Report Writing.” These are practical skills that, upon receiving one’s AA, he or she can go directly into most agencies and say, “Yes, I can write a police report,” and, “Yes, I am familiar with methods of crime scene investigation.”

What can I and a small cadre of Iowa State-only attendees say? “I know many theories of crime,” “I have an above-average understanding of criminals and antisocial persons,” and “I know of many social factors that drive people to deviate from the social order.”

Which sounds more attractive?

In the current economy, we cannot afford to lie to ourselves. We are here to get practical education that we can use to start our careers. We do not have any time for “social introspection” or any other value to college. If we are paying thousands upon thousands of dollars, and counting, make the product we receive useful to us.

Just because we aren’t agriculture, engineering or business doesn’t make LAS career interests any less important.