Mike Coslo wrote in
:
Alun wrote:
PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in
:
In article , Alun
writes:
(N2EY) wrote in
:
In article , Alun
writes:
snip
I think reliance on oil is too strong. More needs to be done on other
sources of energy. Fat chance with oilmen in control, not that much
was ever done before.
And the truly ironic part is that Ralph "Unsafe At Any Speed" was a
major factor in putting an oilman in the White House by dividing the
opposition in 2000. And he's poised to repeat that trick later this
year.
Agreed up to a certain point. I think that Mr Nader will find that he
gets far fewer votes this time. The Democratic primaries have shown
that people are focussed on getting the oilmen out of the White House.
That and the fact that they saw what happened last time are likely to
decimate his support.
Another example is the expectation of a trained workforce without
investing the resources in education to produce that workforce.
"Resources" doesn't just mean "money", either, though money is a big
part of it.
Agreed. The cost of education is running out of control.
It has far exceeded the general inflation level, yet is more necessary
than ever.
Here's one data point:
In the fall of 1972, when I entered the University of Pennsylvania,
tuition alone (no books, fees, etc.) was $3000/year. Which was very
expensive at the time. Today the same school charges more than 10
times that. But will the starting salary offered to a BSEE in 2006 be
more than 10 times what it was in 1976, when I graduated? Is
fininacial aid 10 times what it was in my time there? Nope.
73 de Jim, N2EY
Grants and
scholarships would make more sense than tax breaks for the rich.
snip
I think access to education is already a problem and likely to get
worse. At the same time it's probably about the only antidote to
offshore production.
I dunno, Alun. It might soon be hard to convince a lot of people
to go
drastically into debt just to have their field be decimated upon
graduation.
Agreed. The only solution to that appears to be more money in grant form
rather than loan form. At least it can be targeted at particular subjects,
like EE and Comp Sci for example.
Even then, you have countries like India to worry about. Despite their
overall poverty they have more English speaking educated middle class
than America (their sheer numbers help here), and they are willing to
do white collar and professional jobs for much less.
Well, the tech help I've gotten surely doesn't speak English very
well! 8^)
Indians in India use English mostly to communicate with eachother, as they
have a proliferation of different languages. Just because they are fluent
doesn't necessarily mean it's English as you know it, or even as I know it.