NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

[Basil]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

I'd be happy to discuss which of the statements I made you consider incorrect. The best available evidence supports precisely what I described in the post and I will be happy to detail it to you. And for the record, I have studied educational policy within the New York metro area quite intensively.

I am very much aware of some schools that have made great strides in educating black people, but as I said, they are simply far too expensive to operate. And that is really the key. We are beyond the age of wishful thinking. Uncomfortable realities that may have been ignoring due personal ideological biases simply can no longer be ignored. Such is life.

I agree that Serge's posts are offensive.

Nonetheless, a very unfortunate reality of modern academia is that being a one-eyed, same-sex inclined female from Madagascar with a peg-leg is more of a qualification than one's level of training or knowledge, especially in the humanities, but in the sciences and pseudo--I mean social--sciences as well. I personally know of university hiring procedures where the unstated position was "we hire a minority candidate or bust," even if the most qualified white guy in the world applied for the position. In the current situation, some universities that are downsizing are reluctant to cut areas that are the specializations of female professors, even if these areas are of little interest to students. They will not have that luxury in a few years, and the failure to make sensible cut backs now will lead to the need for even more cut backs down the line.


My apologies to any one-eyed Madagascarians who may be reading this post.

[MarkL]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

Yes, things are changing very fast in the computer science world and languages are becoming obsolete every few years, but the basic programming concepts don't change much.

Mostly agree. Class encapsulation required a new conceptual framework.

But the point is that even knowing basic programming concepts... one has to reeducate themselves in the languages every 7 years or become dramatically less likely to be employed. Yes, there are crash courses at big companies. But those are mostly only available at big companies.

I don't imagine restructuring education every few years would be very easy.

Nope, it wouldn't be easy.
Of course restructuring our companies every few years isn't easy either... I can vouch for that.
But that's what's required to stay competitive in a global economy where information moves at the speed of light.

Universities aren't keeping up, so the earning power of a degree is going down.
They're not staying competitive... and will suffer until they do.

Important things in life are rarely easy.

[MarkL]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

..a very unfortunate reality of modern academia is that being a one-eyed, same-sex inclined female from Madagascar with a peg-leg is more of a qualification than one's level of training or knowledge

Yep... those folks have an advantage. But I think the rest of it's fair.

[c1ue]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

The higher end universities already have an ongoing 'refresher' course - it is called the 'old boys network'.

Generation long differences between 'blacks' and 'whites' are identical both in "intelligence" and in "wealth". Which one is the egg?

Lastly universities should be places where you learn to think and to learn. What has happened today is that most universities are places where academia as well as white collar occupations are taught like vocations: monkey see, monkey do.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

How Americans Pay For College:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...or-college/?hp

[chr5648]

Re: NYTimes article: Academic Bankruptcy

How Americans Pay For College:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...or-college/?hp

Parents pay and then the kids shove the parents into nursing homes/adult day care. Suckers.