<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> I don't really blame the students. They want every advantage they can get when it comes to simply getting hired. I'm less sympathetic when it comes to the hiring practices that emphasize short term gains at the expense of a better educated workforce, and therefore a workforce that will be more productive in the long run. <div><br></div><div>A theme that comes up time and again is that there are a few developers whose code always seems to work and who are able to solve problems that would lead most everyone else to throw up their hands and say "it's impossible". Oddly, these are not the same developers as those that know Java EE backwards and forwards and seemingly can do anything with WebLogic or Oracle. Don't get me wrong, developers in this second group are very valuable, but when their code can be cryptic or convoluted, and when they run out of design patterns, they can start tto run out of steam, and productivity (of the enterprise as a whole) falls off. These are the highly trained technicians that we as a society have always sought for and reward the most. The developers in the first group are critical thinkers and generally the most innovative workers. Ironically, when we REALLY get into a bind, we are forced to turn to the first group, but it's the second group that is rewarded both with respect and the largest salaries.</div><div><br></div><div>Maybe it's time for a rethink.<br><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>I hear and I forget.</div><div>I see and I remember.</div><div>I do and I understand.</div><div>--Attributed to Confucius, 500 BCE</div><div><br></div><div><div><a href="http://www.gwoodhouse.com">http://www.gwoodhouse.com</a></div><div><a href="http://GregWoodhouse.ImageKind.com">http://GregWoodhouse.ImageKind.com</a></div><div><br></div></div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span> </div><br><div><div>On Oct 17, 2008, at 7:06 AM, Ernie Smith wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">If there is decline in the quality of education, perhaps it is a consequence of a misguided</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">propensity to equate the goal of education with the goal of training a workforce.</font></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br></p> </blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>