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From: billw@navajo.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.misc
Subject: the trouble with universities
Message-ID: <1411@navajo.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Wed, 25-Feb-87 20:05:09 EST
Article-I.D.: navajo.1411
Posted: Wed Feb 25 20:05:09 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Feb-87 00:22:47 EST
References: <254@uhmanoa.UUCP> <73600005@uiucdcsp>
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 29

Actually, there are two problems with universities:

One is that they are too job/career oriented - you can get a degree in CS,
for example, where all you've really learned is how to program; You can
be an EE without having much hope of picking up new and/or old technology.

The other problem is that they are not sufficiently job/career oriented.
It's quite possible to get even an advanced CS degree and still be unable
to program your way out of a paper bag, or be totally mystified by anything
not closely resembling the system you are used to; or to be an EE without
ever having learned how to solder.

====

These are all technical/science majors however, leaving out the majority
of college educated people with their degrees in art history or philosophy
or english or whatever;  leaving them rather unprepared for much of anything.

The single most depressing point is that science and engineering majors
are usually required to take the same early english/humanities courses
as their liberal arts counterparts, but if a BA type has to take any
science or math AT ALL, it is usually a very watered-down version of
what BS types have to take.

If you think that I am wrong, get a copy of the "Trivial Pursuit" game,
and compare the difficulty of the "science and nature" questions with
the questions from any other category...

BillW