Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Edjucation

Afore I couldn't spel enginer. Now I are one.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

First Loosers!

Anonymous said...

Engineer?

I thought that you were the owner of a shop that repairs Macs.

Calling you an engineer is like calling Casey a real estate investor.

Rob Dawg said...

Engineer?

I thought that you were the owner of a shop that repairs Macs.

Calling you an engineer is like calling Casey a real estate investor.


Were your observations accurate you'd have a point. If designing and building experimental aircraft weren't engineering you'd still might have a point. Sorry, you don't have a point.

Anonymous said...

I think the point is Smarmy has his claws out early because of Casey's latest...

Anonymous said...

Off topic, but...does anybody else have an occasional problem with reading comments on this blog? It seems that can only view one or two comments on some of the posts and there is often no "Post a comment" link.

Anonymous said...

Rob, you know why my browser would be cutting these posts off halfway through? Any topic that has more than 15 comments, it doesn't allow me to scroll down past them. Shows a little gray box on the bottom of the screen.

Anonymous said...

I can't see the comments on the 'I call bullshit' post. I want to see what you guys are saying about me.

Anonymous said...

But mommy, I don't want to go to school. Those mean boys laugh at me and call me names. It hurts my feelings :(

Rob Dawg said...

I deleted some loose code fragments from the html code. See if the cutoff problem improves.

Anonymous said...

Rob, you so smart.

On a side note, my right index finger has gotten more work today, from having to scroll to read the above post, than it has all month.

Anonymous said...

cutoff has improved from my end.

Anonymous said...

@PMSPMS

I appreciate your comments yesterday about education inside and outside the US. I would like to pose these questions to you (and anyone else that cares to respond):

1) How do others outside the US view the university-level educations system here in the US, especially w.r.t. the quality of research?

2) How are US scientists and engineers viewed by foreign-based employers?

3) And finally, what is thought of the US in general?

I'm not looking to get into a flame-war here - just sincerely curious about other viewpoints. As someone commented yesterday, things are quite insular here, and it is hard to pick up on differing opinions through the local media.

Anonymous said...

Shoot, meant to type "education system", not "educations system".

Anonymous said...

Speaking of education, the Cal State system is increasing tuition 10%. Sucks to be me.

Anonymous said...

Precious Roy,
(After wading through - wow - an amazing number of posts I found you here)... ok...

1. Positively but with concern. It's expensive but leading edge. However the reduction in visas for overseas students is hurting. A lot of competition is present now in expected locations but also some unexpected areas (South Africa - engineering for example).

2. Positively although competition from other western nations (Oz, Brit, Euro) and cost is a concern. It's usually (always) cheaper to hire a Brit, Oz, Euro, Kiwi than a Yank. It is definitely cheaper to hire a Indian, Paki, Bangla or what have you except you can't send them anywhere coz they don't have a western passport! (Oh the irony of "reverse racism").

3. The US is still a great place to most foreign INDIVIDUALS - particularly if they have visited or have friends/contacts there. However in a global sense it has slipped a lot in the last few years - Gitmo, the war on errors™ etc... have all left a bad taste in many mouths.

PMSPMS

Anonymous said...

@PMSPMS

Thank you for responding.

I'll be sure to keep No. 2 in mind when I go back on the job market after graduation. A lower paycheck is better than no paycheck.

Re: No. 3, I had picked up on the bad taste issue. It's just hard to gauge how badly we are viewed elsewhere from CNN or even bbc.co.uk.

This whole discussion has really got me thinking, and I'm planning on asking similar questions (esp. No. 3) to my friends from other countries - probably over lunch so they will feel more comfortable with being open and honest.

If you have any other comments or thoughts along these lines, please let me know.

Anonymous said...

Precious Roy:

Here are some responses to your questions from a UK perspective:

1) The UK is very snooty when it comes to higher education and my experience has been that many Brits feel that the quality of university education in the US is not as high as it is in the UK (except for the Ivy League schools). This probably stems from the obviously incorrect perception held by some in the UK that all you have to do to get an American high school diploma is be able to sign your name, therefore the admissions requirements are probably not very high for university. I've worked in universities in the UK and the US and my observation has been simply that the systems are different--each has its strengths and weaknesses.

The perceived quality of research is another thing altogether. I've found that US research is very highly regarded.

2) I know that US scientists are viewed positively; I don't know about engineers.

3) Boy, where do I start with this one...the UK has an odd love-hate relationship with the US/all things American. On the one hand Brits devour American movies, TV shows, music; they just can't seem to get enough of American pop culture. On the other hand it's almost a national sport to bash certain aspects of US culture and society. The way Americans have adapted/butchered the English language is also a perennial topic of discussion, even though many UK radio stations have American DJs because we love the American accent so much. Go figure.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration has done a lot to lower people's opinions of the US in general, although I wouldn't say that people necessarily have a negative view of the average US citizen. Many Brits despise the way Tony Blair became Bush's lap dog over the Iraq debacle so I think the vitriol is mainly reserved for the politicians on both sides of the pond.

BTW, I love the US and would never dream of going back to live in the UK. The thing I love most about Americans is the sense of optimism that most people have (yes, really!!). Instead of griping and moaning about things like many Brits do ("Waah, we no longer have an empire"), Americans have a very positive outlook on life and a can-do attitude.

OK, I'm done now. :-) Hope that helps answer your questions.

Gypsy Pete said...

PreciousRoy - a final comment to 3 (and kudos to YorkPud for his responses as well)...

About 10 years ago I would have moved and lived and worked in the US. Today? not a chance, (and I work for a US company so the option is always there). I've noticed I'm not the only one. Either the rest of the world has gotten better to live in, (somewhat unlikely although there are exceptions) or most likely - world citizens don't see the US as the Heavan on Earth that it used to be... I personally dislike parts of the US (Houston for example) and other aspects dismay me, (i.e. the endless Franchises and commercialism but that's not uncommon elsewhere I guess).

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the comments.

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