APCLurker

Wow.......

Who needs engineering and all that other junk.

Would you like fries with that?

And it seems to me that anyone versed in algebra, geometry, and trig would have no problems with basic arithmetic or making change at the cash register. Skills which you say are lacking in many kids and adults.



That is quite a lofty goal to strive for. Math skills good enough to balance their checkbook. Watch out world, here we come.

SpeedyVagabond

They are if the student isn't interested in just being the best speller in their particular Starbucks, airline cabin, or whatever other low paying service job. It makes me heartsick that America is becoming less of a producer and more of a server every year. That doesn't bode well for the health of our nation and our standard of living.

SpeedyVagabond

They might just indicate that many people here in America spent way too much on a college education that apparently didn't provide them with the most basic tools to communicate well.

labbats

TOTD goes to all of you pilots who skipped going to a normal college full of English classes and Coeds to go to Embry Riddle instead.

Timbo

As my 17yr. old daughter would say...


Ummm....What-Everrr!

Hey, speaking of Higher Education, why don't our schools teach our kids some of the basic stuff they will actually NEED to learn (usually learned the hard way) when they enter the Real World? Stuff like, how to do your income taxes, how to pay your car loans, ON TIME, how to NOT use Credit Cards for EVERYTHING, how to get a mortgage, or, and here's the most important one, should be taught starting in 8th grade, HOW TO RAISE YOUR KIDS!

My wife is a 2nd grade teacher. The stories she tells me about most of the parents she meets (mostly single moms) is pretty disturbing. Then she ends it with, "And that's the future of America."

I see some pretty scary stuff coming, when the Facebook Generation hits midlife.

In 2006, when I took my twins to Auburn for their orientation, there was a presentation put on for us parents. In it they said 50% of freshmen would flunk out, etc. but the stunning fact to me was when they said, China has more College Honor Students, than America has total college students.

6 years later I'm at the AU Graduation for one of my twins, getting her Masters in Education. I looked at the program booklet with the names of all the kids graduating, in all the different majors. I looked down the list of names under Engineering. Most were Indian and Asian names, only a few did I recognize to be traditional American names.

If you really want to dig deep, pick up the book, "The world is flat, hot and crowded." In it, Thomas Friedman talks at length about how the emerging middle class in China and India is quickly overtaking the USA in all things Science. From alternative energy development, to computer science, to smart grids, etc.

Here's the best part; they come to school in the USA, many for FREE on scholarships. Once they get the free higher education, they return to their own country to start up an engineering company, which then some American company will outsource the American jobs to, for 10 cents on the dollar.

scambo1

Timbo,

You left an "o" out of "too".

USGov't gave GM a 10billion dollar grant to develop battery technology for the Chevy volt...All 10 of it was spent on R and D in china.

Haven't we had this conversation before?

Every time I go to China, the one thing that strikes me (beside the air pollution) is that Americans would be blown away to see what Walmart built.

Timbo

WHERE??



I thought I left out a W!

N9373M

Here's the headline:

Report: No flight plan filed in Alaska plane crash"

Here's the NTSB report from whence the article was culled:


On 7 July 2013, about 1120 Alaska daylight time (ADT), a De Haviland DHC-3 Otter, registration N93PC, impacted the ground off the right side of runway 25 after takeoff from Soldotna Airport (PASX), Soldotna, Alaska. The 9 passengers and 1 commercial pilot were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The aircraft was registered to Rediske Family Limited Partnership, and operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on demand, non-scheduled flight between PASX, and a lodge located in Chinitna Bay, Alaska, approximately 90 miles southwest of Soldotna. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight.

RhinoPherret

If you ever need a reminder of how intelligent you think you are, pay close attention to the advertising (print & media) that you encounter when viewing specific venues you are interested in. Regardless of your education level, income bracket, or profession; care to guess the education level these advertisements are written at? Considering these ads deliver huge results, they should humble even the most arrogant of us.

tiptank

Oh boy, that's gonna get the cat herders up in arms....