Expel stoned Finnish tuba players
A proposal by Minister of Education Sari Sarkomaa (Nat. Coalition Party) to expel students who have substance abuse problems from social and health care institutions of education has shocked Finnish nursing students. The minister says that schools should be able to expel students whose dependence on intoxicants might endanger patient safety when they are at work.
[...]Under the law, a student in vocational training can lose the right to study if he or she is incapable of working in the profession itself. In practice, this rule is applied only to musicians and air traffic controllers, but Sarkomaa wants to extend the practice.
WTF?? Musicians?? Yes, a stoned tuba player is certainly a serious public safety hazard - thank God these pot smoking tuba players are caught as students, cause they could do some real damage working as a professional.
Actually I think drugs should be a prerequisite for music students. Maybe that’s why the Finnish music scene isn’t as big as it should be, cause they keep kicking out all the potheads. I bet Jari Sillanpää never once tried drugs.
Helsingin Sanomat must have made a typo, maybe they meant “Magicians”. Casting a Level 9 Fireball while smoking Pixie Dust and drinking Dragon Juice can be a deadly combination for you and your loved ones. Below is an example…
Indeed quite strange that the rule is applied to musicians. Perhaps there has been unusually high amounts of drug related problems in music institutions and they’ve seen this as a way to improve the situation?
Comment by hang10 — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
Under the law, a student in vocational training can lose the right to study if he or she is incapable of working in the profession itself. In practice, this rule is applied only to musicians and air traffic controllers,
We’re talking about students here - it reminds me of an old South Park episode about drugs and the guidance counselor says, “There’s a time and place for everything, and it’s called ‘college’”.
Believe it or not, people can change, drug experimentation in college probably won’t extend into one’s professional life.
The whole musician thing is just comical, of course they use drugs, THEY’RE MUSICIANS!! It’s like taking away a carpenter’s hammer.
If someone isn’t performing in their job, they should be fired, it has nothing to do with drug use. What you do in your free time is your business. Believe it or not, people can go home and smoke weed every night and do an excellent job during the day, although I definitely wouldn’t recommend it, stoners don’t seem to be the “best” employees. Although alcoholics would perform even worse and be more of a safety hazard in my opinion, but Sarkomaa only seem to want to kick out the stoners while the boozers need to be taken care of like children.
Comment by Phil — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
I thought Fireball was level 3 spell?
Comment by Juho Salo — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
The employers should be given the right to do whatever they like. If the employee (or student AKA customer in a school) don’t like how he’s treated, he can always change his employer (or school). These are libertarian basics.
Comment by Anonymous — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
It turns out that the use of performance-enhancing drugs by musicians is controversial. Yes, performance enhancing drugs. See this article in The Partial Observer. Excerpt:
If you ask a group of musicians (especially a string player) about their feelings regarding Inderal and you’ll likely get an ear full. Some players find it to be a god send which allows them to consistently perform at their best while others see it as an artificial crutch that eliminates a level playing field.
For example, two of the most stressful situations in the classical music industry are solo performing and taking auditions. Both are directly connected to how successful a musician is throughout their career.
Opponents of Inderal use claim that the drug provides an artificial edge to audition candidates, allowing them to win a position over a competitor that may otherwise deserve to win the job. They go on to point out that professional soloists that use Inderal create an artificial product that is not representative of their natural ability.
Proponents state that Inderal allows them to demonstrate the absolute best of the natural ability and results of their years of hard work. They claim the drug doesn’t enhance their ability to play their instrument, it merely allows them to display their natural ability.
Comment by Ontario Emperor — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
Score one up for the Kokoomus fanboys.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
I can’t understand where you get this musicians + drugs.
It says a student in vocational training can lose the right to study if he or she is incapable of working in the profession itself.
Says nothing about drugs there. Says - if the tuba player gets asthma and can’t blow. Or the drummer has no rythm. Or the singer has no voice.
Comment by Hank W. — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
If the employee (or student AKA customer in a school) don’t like how he’s treated, he can always change his employer (or school).
Where is he going to study then in a country with practically no private schools?
Comment by mh — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
Yep, I reckon that Hank W. (comment #7) got this right: music students will be asked to go packing (also outside of Finland - I think) if they do not achieve.
Comment by Jouni — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
I bet Jari Sillanpää never once tried drugs.
But Joel Hallikainen did. The results fell somewhat short of Revolver or Sgt Pepper.
Otto Donner recommended MJ and mescaline warmly in 1964:
http://users.lycaeum.org/~sky/julkaisut/hamppu/hamppu1.93/saksittu.html
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
I think this is just a cheap bullshit populist move to score points in light of the recent Nurse Death case. Typical Kokoomus.
Comment by aet75 — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
#7:
I’m not going to argue what the quoted sentence semantically means. But the paper edition of HeSa today (21.9) more or less directly expressed, that Sarkomaa wants to extend the abillity to expel “päihdeongelmaiset” (i.e. not only drug abusers) from social and health care schools, which is something that is currently in use only for air traffic control & music students. I must say it caught my eye too, and sounds too crazy to be true. Why Sarkomaa didn’t include medical schools - while she’s eagerly hunting for freebies - is beyond me.
Comment by Thomas — Fri, Sep 21st, 2007 @ 11:02 pm
gee… drugs
and where are the Tar and Feathers?
gEE.. NO BRAINER
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Sat, Sep 22nd, 2007 @ 12:46 am
Lets see.
My neighbor misses work for 3 days. He was on drugs. To drugged out to work.
He gets fired.
And wonders why?
Geee
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Sat, Sep 22nd, 2007 @ 1:26 am
Phil: “Helsingin Sanomat must have made a typo, maybe they meant “Magiciansâ€Â.”
Lest someone not recognise the sarcasm, here’s the original Finnish text:
“Lain mukaan ammatillisessa koulutuksessa oleva opiskelija voi menettää opinto-oikeutensa, jos hänellä ei ole edellytyksiä työskentelyyn ammatissa. Pykälää tosin sovelletaan vain muusikoihin ja lennonjohtajiin…”
Comment by Kimmo W. — Sat, Sep 22nd, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
#12 “I’m not going to argue what the quoted sentence semantically means. But the paper edition of HeSa today (21.9) more or less directly expressed, that Sarkomaa wants to extend the abillity to expel “päihdeongelmaiset†(i.e. not only drug abusers)”
The concept of abuse implies that the use causes problems, although I do concede that in the narcophobic atmosphere that still prevails in many countries today, the implication is that any consumption of one of the drugs classified as illegal is, by definition, “abuse”, whether or not any problems are involved.
Not so very long ago, any kind of sexual activity involving something other than married spouses of opposite genders engaging in vaginal intercourse with the man on top for the purpose of procreation was, by definition, “perversion”.
Comment by Kimmo W. — Sat, Sep 22nd, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Maybe someone should do some digging on Sarkomaa to see if she has a 100% substance abuse free background, especially while she was studying.
Comment by sirkuspelle — Sat, Sep 22nd, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
I just have to grab that comment about the Finnish music scene. The Finnish music scene is fantastic. Currently Finns have a double lead in the British Rock Charts. You can learn more from http://musex.fi/mxf/player/
Comment by As a musician meself — Sun, Sep 23rd, 2007 @ 12:51 am
Oh my fucking god–I don’t know how much longer I can stand this world. Who in the world gives a flying shit, whether the horn players are, in true musician style, using.
~Becky
Comment by Becky — Sun, Sep 23rd, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Hank W.
“It says a student in vocational training can lose the right to study if he or she is incapable of working in the profession itself… Says nothing about drugs there. Says - if the tuba player gets asthma and can’t blow. Or the drummer has no rythm. Or the singer has no voice”
I agree. It’s just that it’s REALLY hard to lose that right to study… I happen to study music in Finland and I’ve never heard of ANYONE who has been kicked off from any school - except if one doesn’t study at all for some reason (maybe he’ll get kicked in let’s say, ten years). The only person I know who actually lost the right to study, is a voice student who lost the right to have voice lessons because she didn’t attend obligatory music history classes in five years. She will get the voice lessons back when she attends those history lessons - and meanwhile she can attend all the other studies.
For example if someone gets in to an accident and is unable to play his/her own instrument afterwards, they might even want to discuss whether the student wants to learn a new instrument or change the department or get into research or something. And I know a lot of musicians having drug/alcohol problems. But as long they do their job/homework/whatever, no one really cares. That’s why we HAVE so many musicians having drug/alcohol problems.
Of course I would rather listen to opera performed by drunks than be vaccinated by a person who has hallucinations.
Comment by c-murm — Sun, Sep 23rd, 2007 @ 11:19 am