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From: olshause@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Ronald Olshausen)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Language Use
Keywords: C,Ada,Pascal,C++,Other?
Message-ID: <1991Apr3.224520.23739@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Date: 3 Apr 91 22:45:20 GMT
References: <242@zeus.mc.ab.com> <1991Mar26.134531.1644@cs.olemiss.edu> <12384@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
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Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
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>>In article <242@zeus.mc.ab.com> stern@decserver.mc.ab.com (Ken Stern (ext 4157)) writes:
>>> ...  And educational institutions, if they are doing their job, should
>>> be preparing their students for the real world. ...

As part of my last job, I used to do quite a bit of on-campus
recruiting for my employer. I would visit leading engineering schools,
and interview some very bright students. But I was somewhat astonished
that students at some very reputable schools, like MIT and CMU, could
get by with such minimal exposure to non-scientific curriculum. Many of
the students with whom I talked had taken innumerable CS and EE courses,
yet their liberal arts exposure was often limited to 'Intro to Music 
Appreciation', 'Expository Writing 101', and 'Intro to Sociology'...
fluff courses, to say the least. Certainly such an education is not
a disservice to Corporate America... most managers dream of having 
one-dimensional, workaholic employees. In terms of America's
industrial competitiveness, we are surely better off with a multitude
of high-tech drones, rather than well-rounded, educated, and cultured
individuals with interests outside their profession.

But in the long run, such an education is not an education at all, but
rather an indoctrination into High-Tech Corporate America. Perhaps I'm
just an idealist, but I still believe Education means an introduction to
the finer things in life, like literature, philosophy, and history...
things even the most cerebral of students might get a 'C' in. I feel
that the communications and interpersonal skills of most engineers are
lacking, and that a greater emphasis on traditional curriculum
could alleviate that problem.

So, I'm not sure the role of the University is as simple as 'preparing
students for the real world'. I think the role of the University is
personal, intellectual, and spiritual enrichment. If that is the case,
then a pure CS and EE curriculum is a disservice to the student. I'm
not discounting the technical education part... I feel that my MSCS
program prepared me well to take on the challenges I face in industry.
But I also feel enriched by the liberal arts courses I took, like
poetry, history, and political science. In fact, perhaps in the long run
those courses will be more influential on me than my CS courses.


Ronald Olshausen
Graduate School of Business
Indiana Uiversity