Fred:

Yes. But those were simple times when much of what we take for granted today
loomed before us as dark mysteries...

Things are much more complex these days, BS, MS, PHD's are much more common per
capita and the general knowledge of the common person on the street is
magnitudes greater than the times you are speaking of.

No longer are people with a bit of knowledge in such demand.

Our colleges turn out highly educated individuals in vast numbers which stagger
the imagination. Indeed, seats in colleges are filled far too quickly, leaving
no room for those not fortunate to gain entrance.

It is quite possible the person you see before you in a lowly public service
position has a degree.

Across the board, +25% of all college grads are working at or near minimum wage
in a field outside their course of study--five years after they graduate; I
suspect this figure, which the colleges themselves claim, is rather low...

John

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
The same day I took the test for General, I also took and passed all
requirements for a first class Phone with RADAR endorsement. The engineer
administering the test told me if I wanted to take a really tough test, the
amateur extra was the most difficult given by the FCC.

Unfortunately at that time one had to wait a year to take advanced and two
years to take the Extra. I would sure like to see them reinstate the time
requirements so some of these young bucks could get a little seasoning
before advancing. Today you can get it all in one day. Then armed with your
brand new Extra; proceed to E-Ham and ask questions in the Elmer conference
that could be answered by an old time novice.

"Ham op" wrote in message
...

The required level of knowledge for a license today is significantly
poorer than 40 or 50 years ago.

Nonsense John, today's college graduate is more in line with the high school
graduates of the fifties. I hired enough of your "highly educated"
graduates to be more than a casual observer.

They knew every thing there was to know about political correctness, liberal
thinking, and how to bitch if they were not given everything on a platter
the day they hired in.

I assigned an engineer the task of designing a simple serial interface to a
piece of equipment. He told me "we didn't cover that in school". Today A's
are passed out to everyone, in some schools, so as not to make the others
feel bad.

Give me an old time ham or a Navy trained technician, at least they had the
basics. Many of today's graduates are over paid at minimum wage.

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

Yes. But those were simple times when much of what we take for granted
today
loomed before us as dark mysteries...

Things are much more complex these days, BS, MS, PHD's are much more
common per
capita and the general knowledge of the common person on the street is
magnitudes greater than the times you are speaking of.

No longer are people with a bit of knowledge in such demand.

Our colleges turn out highly educated individuals in vast numbers which
stagger
the imagination. Indeed, seats in colleges are filled far too quickly,
leaving
no room for those not fortunate to gain entrance.

It is quite possible the person you see before you in a lowly public
service
position has a degree.

Across the board, +25% of all college grads are working at or near minimum
wage
in a field outside their course of study--five years after they graduate;
I
suspect this figure, which the colleges themselves claim, is rather low...

John

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
The same day I took the test for General, I also took and passed all
requirements for a first class Phone with RADAR endorsement. The
engineer
administering the test told me if I wanted to take a really tough test,
the
amateur extra was the most difficult given by the FCC.

Unfortunately at that time one had to wait a year to take advanced and
two
years to take the Extra. I would sure like to see them reinstate the
time
requirements so some of these young bucks could get a little seasoning
before advancing. Today you can get it all in one day. Then armed with
your
brand new Extra; proceed to E-Ham and ask questions in the Elmer
conference
that could be answered by an old time novice.

"Ham op" wrote in message
...

The required level of knowledge for a license today is significantly
poorer than 40 or 50 years ago.

Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in this age
(but what isn't?)

The oldsters have a "control freak" attitude which the youngsters are not
properly trained to deal with, I think the parents used to take care of this,
and we in academia have failed the youngsters in not picking up as part of
their training and education, when the mothers left home for work.

And these new grads are a real and present danger to the oldsters, and we know
it. The corps know it to, they can have a handful of these new grads for what
one of us old farts demand for our "experience." (ancient historical knowledge)

I felt them a threat to, and the young guys with those new minds can come up
with new ideas with blazing speed. R&D ends up being a roomful of these guys
and one old guy keeping heard over their "enthusiasm."

The "generation gap" is wider than ever, and you need the "right guys" in
senior positions which can interact with the new minds. Truth is, if you are 55
these days, you'd better think about retiring--before you embarrass your self
or others about you...

The world is changing as much as when the cotton gin was invented--most of the
people back then died off without never being able to adapt to the "industrial
age." We are just seeing it happen all again, but many are unaware of this
history--and so end up repeating the same mistakes.

John

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Nonsense John, today's college graduate is more in line with the high school
graduates of the fifties. I hired enough of your "highly educated"
graduates to be more than a casual observer.

They knew every thing there was to know about political correctness, liberal
thinking, and how to bitch if they were not given everything on a platter
the day they hired in.

I assigned an engineer the task of designing a simple serial interface to a
piece of equipment. He told me "we didn't cover that in school". Today A's
are passed out to everyone, in some schools, so as not to make the others
feel bad.

Give me an old time ham or a Navy trained technician, at least they had the
basics. Many of today's graduates are over paid at minimum wage.

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

Yes. But those were simple times when much of what we take for granted
today
loomed before us as dark mysteries...

Things are much more complex these days, BS, MS, PHD's are much more
common per
capita and the general knowledge of the common person on the street is
magnitudes greater than the times you are speaking of.

No longer are people with a bit of knowledge in such demand.

Our colleges turn out highly educated individuals in vast numbers which
stagger
the imagination. Indeed, seats in colleges are filled far too quickly,
leaving
no room for those not fortunate to gain entrance.

It is quite possible the person you see before you in a lowly public
service
position has a degree.

Across the board, +25% of all college grads are working at or near minimum
wage
in a field outside their course of study--five years after they graduate;
I
suspect this figure, which the colleges themselves claim, is rather low...

John

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
The same day I took the test for General, I also took and passed all
requirements for a first class Phone with RADAR endorsement. The
engineer
administering the test told me if I wanted to take a really tough test,
the
amateur extra was the most difficult given by the FCC.

Unfortunately at that time one had to wait a year to take advanced and
two
years to take the Extra. I would sure like to see them reinstate the
time
requirements so some of these young bucks could get a little seasoning
before advancing. Today you can get it all in one day. Then armed with
your
brand new Extra; proceed to E-Ham and ask questions in the Elmer
conference
that could be answered by an old time novice.

"Ham op" wrote in message
...

The required level of knowledge for a license today is significantly
poorer than 40 or 50 years ago.

Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

Nope the FCC makes the rules
You can beat up on the new non-technical hams OR help them
The choice is yours.
In our area, we run a weekly 2M Ham Help net
Our repeater is open to any technical question, no matter how basic.
Periodic classes are conducted for Tech and General -- success rate is quite
high.

And many of our no-code Techs are very active in emergency communications,
PR communicators, field day, and many other useful avenues of ham radio.
Quite a number have advanced to General and Extra.

The times is a changing -- Bob Dylan

--
CL -- A 20 wpm Extra since 1979



"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at
the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

Bob Dylan song lyrics

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly changin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !

The times is a changing -- Bob Dylan

--
CL -- A 20 wpm Extra since 1979



"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at
the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

Caveat:

Repeaters have always been as much fun for me as a phone line, and I end up
using a phone mainly for business. (the internet is great though--IRC chat, IM,
messengers, newsgroups, etc)

Standalone HF equip is just a whole 'nother world. Frankly, I am glad I have
found agreement in "newbie hams."

No one likes to be such a total freak there are none in agreement!

John

"Caveat Lector" wrote in message
news:r%rGe.22442$HV1.8489@fed1read07...
Nope the FCC makes the rules
You can beat up on the new non-technical hams OR help them
The choice is yours.
In our area, we run a weekly 2M Ham Help net
Our repeater is open to any technical question, no matter how basic.
Periodic classes are conducted for Tech and General -- success rate is quite
high.

And many of our no-code Techs are very active in emergency communications, PR
communicators, field day, and many other useful avenues of ham radio. Quite a
number have advanced to General and Extra.

The times is a changing -- Bob Dylan

--
CL -- A 20 wpm Extra since 1979



"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

Nice reply that I have no problem with, however the conversation was about
current graduates of our institutions of higher learning. Nothing about
code/nocode or hams.

"Caveat Lector" wrote in message
news:r%rGe.22442$HV1.8489@fed1read07...
Nope the FCC makes the rules
You can beat up on the new non-technical hams OR help them
The choice is yours.
In our area, we run a weekly 2M Ham Help net
Our repeater is open to any technical question, no matter how basic.
Periodic classes are conducted for Tech and General -- success rate is
quite
high.

And many of our no-code Techs are very active in emergency communications,
PR communicators, field day, and many other useful avenues of ham radio.
Quite a number have advanced to General and Extra.

The times is a changing -- Bob Dylan

--
CL -- A 20 wpm Extra since 1979



"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at
the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the
mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

Fred:

YOU HAVE SPIRIT MAN!!!

You have spirit!
chuckle

There is room for us, don't let 'em tell ya different--I am plotting to hang in
there too!!!

John

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Remember the golden rule!

"He who has the gold makes the rules" We old farts have it and the young
bucks want it, makes us right no matter what!

It is my intention to be a professional curmudgeon until I am looking at the
grass from the bottom...

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

I disagree. Most of the problems we see in academia is that the mindset
has
changed. Older personalities have quite some difficulty in coping with
the new
generations, it has always been like that though, just more intense in
this age
(but what isn't?)

I wonder if the big one hit, how many of the "now" generation would be able
to solve something as simple as square roots sans a calculator.

Technology has replaced learning...


"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Fred:

YOU HAVE SPIRIT MAN!!!

You have spirit!
chuckle

There is room for us, don't let 'em tell ya different--I am plotting to
hang in
there too!!!

John