patrick.net

mmmarvel says

Not enough credit is given to experience any more.

I beg to differ, I'd say all credit is given to experience.

Industry wants plug and play, on demand and only for as long as needed. The consideration list will look like this:

1) Someone already in the hiring manager's own Rolodex that the manager knows can solve the problems.
2) Someone in the Rolodex of a team member who is known can solve the problems.
3) Someone external who advertises direct, hands on, real world experience in solving similar problems
4) Homeless guy who probably can't solve the problem but will work for food. Put enough monkeys on the job and all that.

The ABSOLUTE LAST person to be considered will be a fresh graduate, unless its for unpaid internship.

FortWayne says

If you don't want to put yourself into debt, tough shit... government makes it almost impossible to be fiscally responsible when it comes to education.

Rin has already provided the solution to that problem - online distance learning courses.

Also avoid any field that requires an advanced degree as the barrier to entry.

FortWayne says

And government subsidies sure help that.

Well public institutions are experiencing lots of funding cuts, which drives up costs of tuition AND inspires the growth of business (not academic) minded administrators who, in the name of fund raising, suck up all funds available for payroll by creating admin positions for themselves and their friends.

My opinion is that those who directly interact with students should be funded by tuition and tax revenues. Those who never speak with a student (ie most admin) should be funded by private dollars.

New Renter says

Also avoid any field that requires an advanced degree as the barrier to entry.

I'm not down with the "banging escorts" part which seems to attach to this around here - to each his own, I guess - but this strikes me as really true.

The most interesting and productive individuals I have met who were born before 1930 had associates or bachelor's degrees, and in more than one case would have done better to avoid college anyway - and these are people in highly intellectual and skilled professions.

There's an interesting pattern I have noticed: as soon as universities create a department of a certain field, the field stagnates. Most of the great artists existed before art departments. All the great composers, fewer than a half-dozen exceptions, lived before the era of music departments. Film studies became a discipline, and movies have sucked since. Karl Friedrich Gauss and Einstein did all their work before they joined the university, or in spite of it. Now that literature and composition programs are everywhere, both literature and composition are shit.

Mozart would never get tenure in a music department because he would be too busy outproducing his peers by a factor of 1000.

HydroCabron says

There's an interesting pattern I have noticed: as soon as universities create a department of a certain field, the field stagnates. Most of the great artists existed before art departments. All the great composers, fewer than a half-dozen exceptions, lived before the era of music departments. Film studies became a discipline, and movies have sucked since. Karl Friedrich Gauss and Einstein did all their work before they joined the university, or in spite of it. Now that literature and composition programs are everywhere, both literature and composition are shit.

Like Physics? Chemistry? Biology?

Those fields have exploded in the time since universities have had such departments.

HydroCabron says

Mozart would never get tenure in a music department because he would be too busy outproducing his peers by a factor of 1000

Still, Mozart had patronage from the Emperor and other independently wealthy types. And none of these wealthy characters had control over what Mozart wrote (since they weren't composers themselves), aside from the 'Marriage of Figaro' which was dubbed too politically incendiary.

And that's the point ... the academy is an institution. A person there is under the auspices of the administration and various grant committees, public or private. Thus, you play by their rules, not yours.

What ppl need is to be independently wealthy. That was my idea for the science and engineering sponsorship/welfare state.

New Renter says

Rin has already provided the solution to that problem - online distance learning courses.

And lab work can be done ala carte, which reduces the need for actual physical facilities.

Plus, each lab course should have prerequisites where ppl actually study the equipment, protocols, etc, before even starting the lab. That's been one of my pet peeves, as I didn't know much about a spectrometer, until I saw it for the first time. Same for the distillation tower and extruder. This eliminates the time wasted, getting students up to speed on the basics. Instead, students should enter the lab, ready to perform their tasks and ask more specific questions about calibration sensitivity, etc. It's a lot easier to teach techniques, once the basics are memorized ahead of time.

The availability of financial aid increased access which increased the price since there are only so many spaces available at the universities.

But a bigger issue I think is flat pricing of majors regardless of future employment prospects. Combine that with belief that one needs to go to college to be successful and a wrong signal is sent to the prospect. They may erroneously conclude that spending tons of money on a degree is a good investment regardless of future marketability of that major.

New Renter says

Those fields have exploded in the time since universities have had such departments.

Don't ruin my generalization with data!

When I taught adult education for LAUSD, making over 100 k per year, I turned down a job to teach for UCLA because they could not match my pay, retirement and benefits package.
Oh, and we all complained we did not make enough money, and we even for unemployment for the 8 weeks we were off each year.
The secret is, when they reject you, reapply and say I am available to work, but there is none available, and you win every time!

casandra says

and we even for unemployment for the 8 weeks we were off each year.

The secret is, when they reject you, reapply and say I am available to work, but there is none available, and you win every time!

English much?

Rin says

New Renter says

Rin has already provided the solution to that problem - online distance learning courses.

And lab work can be done ala carte, which reduces the need for actual physical facilities.

I didn't know much about a spectrometer, until I saw it for the first time. Same for the distillation tower and extruder.

Ironic since your eyes are themselves imaging spectrophotometers. The distillation tower? Your hillbilly cousins could have taught you all you need to know.

As for the extruder...you already had a lifetime of experience before you ever set foot in that lab!

New Renter says

The distillation tower? Your hillbilly cousins could have taught you all you need to know.

Uncle of Jesse of the Dukes of Hazzard was suppose to make the best moonshine during prohibition.

Rin says

New Renter says

The distillation tower? Your hillbilly cousins could have taught you all you need to know.

Uncle of Jesse of the Dukes of Hazzard was suppose to make the best moonshine during prohibition.

And let's not forget the legacy of Daisy Duke on the fashion industry:

Another one for your "to do" list...

New Renter says

And let's not forget the legacy of Daisy Duke on the fashion industry:

Another one for your "to do" list...

It would have been if I didn't have Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Vergara look-a-likes, down in Brazil. Right now, I'm on the look out for an Olivia Wilde.

Rin says

It would have been if I didn't have Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Vergara look-a-likes, down in Brazil. Right now, I'm on the look out for an Olivia Wilde.

Do you have a limited number of slots on the "to do" list?

Can"t a young, hot Daisy Duke be on there along with Oliva Wilde, Billie Piper, and Markie Post?

New Renter says

Do you have a limited number of slots on the "to do" list?

Can"t a young, hot Daisy Duke be on there along with Oliva Wilde, Billie Piper, and Markie Post?

It's about priorities. Sure, if an accidental Daisy falls into my lap, it's not like I'm going to complain. The thing is that once you put in the combo of J Lo/Sofia V, down in Brazil, the Latin bombshell thing is satisfied and afterwards, it becomes de-prioritized. Daisy is a Latin bombshell in Southern fatigues, so it's not so important anymore.

The younger version of Markie Post was satisfied by the Olivia Newton John look-a-like in Australia, so she's also not on my radar.

Ms Wilde, however, is the beautiful eyes/soft skin "Ivory Snow" fantasy, which still needs some servicing.