[Beowulf] Re: about clusters in high schools

[DGS]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 01:26:31AM -0500, Andrew Piskorski wrote:
> And yes, I agree, if undergraduates are arriving at engineering

> schools so poorly prepared that remedial classes in reading, writing,
> or arithmetic are required, then fixing those is the top priority.
> Compared to those computer programming is mere fluff.
> 
> But we weren't talking about that, we're talking about teach computer
> programming to engineernig students, and about the wisdom of DROPPING
> computer programming entirely in order to make room for instruction on
> "teamwork" and "presentation skills".

This is a consequence of American capitalism's abandonment of all but
the pretext of PRODUCING something, in favor of SELLING anything.  If
you believe that the only legitimate goal of economic activivty is 
getting the customers/suckers to part with their hard-earned dollars 
(yen/pounds/francs/...), whether they do so for something of actual 
utility or for a slick dog-and-pony show is completely irrelevant.
Lets face it, a power point presentation has a lot less overhead than
a working production line.

David S.


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