Our fine educational system (was: Login on VMS)

At 03:35 PM 9/24/00 -0400, Tim Harrison wrote: That's because you were being a smart-ass and you were wrong :-) The PALM's OS resides in "Flash" (aka very rarely written, and non-volatile RAM). It is better to tell undergrads that cars do not fly, then to explain to them that _most_ cars don't fly but some very creative types in Santa Monica once converted a Pinto into an airplane by attaching wings and a tail and adding a pusher prop. I usually hear on of three reasons why people "drop out" of college: 1) They run out of money. This is a legitimate excuse and typically these folks return when they refresh their cash supply. 2) They get "bored because they ain't learnin' nuthin'" If they change to another school, or change to a different major and then finish college that's fine. If they simply leave and try to find work then when I interview them I know a cannot trust them to complete a task they get bored with. They cannot motivate themselves to do the necessary but distasteful things that come with "work." 3) They quit to pursue an opportunity of a lifetime. Well if they are interviewing with me then that opportunity didn't work out, and if they didn't go back to school then I have to wonder if maybe they just weren't cut out for it. The problem as I see it is that "college", unlike "high school", switches the onus of learning from the staff to the student. Anyone that goes to college, seeks out things to learn about, plows through the paper work and general education requirements, and exits with a diploma is someone I will hire over anyone who got bored an dropped out because they weren't being taught anything. I ask them, "Why did you tolerate not learning anything?" And they are usually pretty dumbfounded like, "Gee aren't you just supposed to put in your 2 to 4 years and get out?" --Chuck