[ale] Off topic

[Thompson Freeman]

There are still some outfits who practice deep knowledge in the various
degree areas. And there have always been institutions which should be
considered deploma mills. And unfortunately there are also students who
can manage to pass through the highest levels of school, and learn
_nothing_.

<rant>
Since employers want Windows trained people, many institutions will focus
on Windows (and MS apps), as this will make their students more salable, 
and to hell with the fundamentals of the trade. (This is not limited to
computer science either. I gotten hints of it happening in things like
chemistry also.) And as long as many/most students see a degree as a union
card needed for a job, this isn't going to change - "teach me what I need
to know to get a job, and don't waste my time with trivialities like the
basics."
</rant>

I'm curious, did you get the name of the offending schools?

On Fri, 17 Jul 1998, Matt Shade wrote:

> rant
> It's been more than a couple years since I've been in college, so I'd
> like to ask anyone with recent or current college experience - what the
> hell are they teaching for C.S. degrees these days? Is it computer
> science or computer applications?
> 
> I just got into a discussion with someone last night who has recently
> gotten a C.S. degree, but had no idea what I was talking about when I
> was asking for a "full path" to a program. This was on a unix system and
> on an operating system this person SUPPORTS!
> 
> Another person I've talked to who has gotten a degree in the last year
> also has no grasp of basic OS concepts. He says he was taught NT and NT
> apps in school. What the hell happened to computer architecture and
> Assembler and C and algorithms as fundamental building blocks? Have they
> been replaced with Windows 101 and Word Fundamentals? This is scary to
> me.
> /rant
> --
> 

=========================================
It is good to have enemies,
Ememies will spend enough time to help.
Friends are too busy.
========================================
Thompson Freeman       tfreeman at vnet.net