Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!steinmetz!ge-dab!codas!abcom!rgsmeb
From: rgsmeb@abcom.ATT.COM (Michel Behna)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: What is CS?
Message-ID: <439@abcom.ATT.COM>
Date: 28 Mar 88 22:48:03 GMT
References: <3640@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Organization: AT&T, Aurora, Colorado
Lines: 40

From article <3640@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>, by tlh@cs.purdue.EDU (Thomas L. Hausmann):
> In article <336@abcom.ATT.COM>, rgsmeb@abcom.ATT.COM (Michel Behna) writes:
>> From article <4807@ecsvax.UUCP>, by hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer):
>> > In article <1000@mcgill-vision.UUCP>, mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes:
>> ... I feel that a BS in CS should at least prepare
>> the person to get a job and have the proper tools , knowledge and skills
>> to perform this job. 
> This suggests to me that there is a "vocational" emphasis in mind.  I have said
> in the past that it is not a Univerisity's place to perform "vocational training."
> Granted, that one may be able to get a job with a BS in CS, but to say that
> the worth of a BS is judged by one's ability to perform jobs skills is wrong.
> (It is a subtle distinction!)
> Tom Hausmann       Dept. of Computer Sciences     Purdue University

Why is it that universities always seem to resent training people to earn a
living? Universities have become the only source of higher education and have
as such cornered the market. 

I have always felt that universities are training grounds for people. There
people are trained to think. What seems to lack in a lot of curricula is a
training of how to apply that in the real world.
The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is admirable but I have to disagree
on how that will feed a hungry mouth although it may very well nourish a
hungry mind.

What is the worth of a BS? $7,000 in a state school or more than $30,000 in a
private school. Is that all it means? Or is it the amount of knowledge that
got crammed into your head? How many people remember all or most of what they
were taught? How many care to? What is really frightening is the amount that
is forgotten. What is a BS supposed to prove anyway? Where is it supposed to
lead you? to another degree? 

This resistance from universities to train people for the real world is
baffling. What's wrong with that? Regardless of what universities are 
supposed to or not do, I have to say that your "definition" of CS is a good
one. However, I would prefer that all 3 parts of the curriculum are equally
stressed. And furthermore I would like to add the science/art of programming
as a fourth part.

Michel Behna