Wealth makes people better ?

There is a thing about universities which puzzles me. Academics like to rabbit-on about climate change, but the answer to it is in their own hands. In Australia, day-time TV is absolute crap. If we took only one university and dedicated it to providing free online interactive classrooms, we would be moving towards solving the problem of climate change. Most of climate change is due to population growth, and the only factor which has ever substantially slowed the rate of population growth has been education. Educated people don't need to produce more kids to sustain them in their old age. In India, a thing as simple as a solar charger for a mobile phone can give a family an alternative source of income, when kids learn to perform by watching Youtube, then get paid to provide entertainment at weddings. In Australia, we have a problem with poor educational outcomes in our schools. Poverty causes poor educational outcomes, but poor educational outcomes also cause poverty.
With our academics, much seems to be about self-interest. They are paranoid that somebody might get a freebie.
 
grandpaul said:
Well, we have that in common!

Those were the best-paying years for me. Company truck with unlimited personal miles, full medical coverage for the family, and highest salary with company retirement money that gave me a nice bonus when I exited. I could have done that till I retired.

The angle that speaks to is, when government is paying for education, they SPARE NO EXPENSE, damn the results!

You really don't want to get me started on the Laredo public school construction scene - it has been ONE wealthy construction company building several absurdly overpriced schools every year for 40 years. Dude is a Billionaire, the elementary schools are as nice as university buildings, and the school scores and grades are near the bottom of the entire country...
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And who knows what percentage of that contractor's payments were kicked back in the form of perfectly legal campaign contributions or contributions to charities controlled by the pols who have the say over who gets the building contracts? Or, maybe there are legal "cut outs" for bribes - like Democrat VP Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, or like Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's father in law (McConnell's wife is Elaine Chao). Ten percent appears to be a standard number - IIRC, Solyndra (Obama solar panel subsidies) paid the Dems $50M and got $50B.
 
The only people who believe that the uni is a font of impartial knowledge are those who are not employed there.
Don't ask how I know...
 
Onder said:
The only people who believe that the uni is a font of impartial knowledge are those who are not employed there.
Don't ask how I know...
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'Information was meant to be free' ? - Are university academics altruistic or are they money-motivated ? - We all need a salary, but can your soul be bought ?

When I was working, I always believed in what I was doing. It was never only about the money.
 
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Unions are a legitimate expression of industrial democracy. Fascist dictators do not like unions. However there are other ways of achieving worker participation. Have you used your staff suggestion scheme to ask for a pay-rise ?
 
Having worked at a university for 27 years before retirement, I can testify that the major expenses of a university are: a) $50M libraries containing books which are now obsolete; b) Layer upon layer of administrators and senior managers who teach no one anything and make sure that they cover each others asses with benefits and exit parachutes; c) Predominantly liberal leaning professors who obtain grants and do
research but teach no classes. Then, there is the prevailing culture of liberalism and political/social correctness whereby actual
invigorating dialogue arguing opposite viewpoints is stifled and critical thinking is not rewarded. So, the University is actually a vehicle
of socialization and a mill designed to churn out diplomas, the majority of which have no career path or craft skill. Of course the exceptions are math, engineering, medical science, business management, accounting, law, etc. The solution is to get rid of the bricks and mortar college
campus' and impart knowledge on-line at a fraction of the cost and divert the savings to apprenticeships in actual skilled crafts and internships
to transition from knowledge to acquired to skills to paid jobs.
 
Re; "So, the University is actually a vehicle of socialization and a mill designed to churn out diplomas, the majority of which have no career path or craft skill."


There is one thing that always puzzled me , people go to university and get a Phd in whatever subject they enrol for, become known as a Doctorate – then go out into the commercial world doing something entirely not connected with what they have a Doctorate for!!!!

For instance, I have a nephew who studied ceramics and their behaviour, then took a course in English literature and became another Doctorate in that subject; what does he do now as he has done for the last 20 odd years? He is in charge of the whole of a university’s computers!

(Yes OK, somebody has to do it!)
 
Hundreds of companies hire college grads with degrees in fields other than the field those companies ply. The sheepskin is taken as a sign of completing a goal and the person who carries one is considered more valuable than a person without despite the degree having nothing to do with the business.
 
Danno said:
Hundreds of companies hire college grads with degrees in fields other than the field those companies ply. The sheepskin is taken as a sign of completing a goal and the person who carries one is considered more valuable than a person without despite the degree having nothing to do with the business.
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An excellent para phrase of why universities have evolved into diploma mills. I am one such person with a degree in Sociology. I gained
skills in the construction industry combined with a masters degree in Public Administration to obtain employment in university Facilities Management and Construction Management.
Would you want someone with a PhD in Library Science managing the construction of a $50M library paid for with public money? A masters degree in English Literature performing bypass surgery?

I do concur that companies are better off having rank and file employees with a diversity of educational backgrounds, though their CFO had better have an accounting education, their CEO would almost always have an MBA and their Chief Legal Officer would have a law degree. The fact remains that a good portion of liberal arts graduates are unable to find employment in their "discipline" or any discipline at all. Many end up as highly educated wait people, bartenders and shop clerks.
 
I have found the easiest way to learn and become expert in any field, is to have an application (need) for the knowledge. I don't know how anyone can learn anything by having the knowledge spoon-fed to them. My first qualification is a Diploma of Applied Chemistry. While I was studying for it, I was employed as a Technical Officer by the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories and the Government Aircraft factories. My whole life has been like that - studying while working. I only ever pursued my fields of interest. ASsan industrial chemist, I tend to view things in terms of the variables involved. When making gun barrels out of steel, there are 16 chemical elements in one data set and about 5 physical properties in a corresponding data set. They can be linked by pattern recognition techniques. When you road race a motorcycle, a similar situation exists - you can set your bike up to be faster in the corners, but it is usually slower at the ends of the straights. How many variables are involved ? My last permanent job was Head Of Laboratories at Explosives Factory Maribyrnong. I left that with a package in 1989. I worked mainly on contract until about 2000.
 
When I was racing my 500cc short stroke Triton, I was racing in a class against bikes made in the 1970s with one which was made in the 1950s. Most of the bikes in the class were about double the capacity of my bike. My Triton was a nasty piece of shit, the motor was extremely top end. In many races, I used to be well up in the field, but I could never make much headway. I always used to run fairly high tyre pressures and stiff suspension to get nimble handling , as well as fairly high gearing so I was quicker towards the ends of the straights. I once decided to go the other way. I lowered the gearing, softened the suspension and lowered the tyre pressures to get more grip. I blitzed the field off the start and out rode the wholelot of them for about 5 corners. Three bikes got past me towards the end of the longest straight. However they then found they were going too fast for the next corner. I ended up spearing-off to miss a couple of them. Those other guys were riding race-prepared Z900 and H2 Kawasakis.
 
During my apprenticeship, most of the engineering fitters had no formal qualifications and taught me more than the technical college could have, because of the hands on approach. College was restricted, however in their defence it was very broad based and I suppose that gave us all somewhere to start. Soon whipped into shape at the factory by the old boys !!!
 
There are two things about apprenticeships. One is that the best and worst engineers have come up out of the trades. The best are motivated to advance themselves, the worst carry the old shop floor culture which includes bullying and minimalisation/compliance mentality. The other is - often you hear some of those guys say 'when I done me time', as though their apprenticeship was a prison sentence. In Australia, the trades tend to be self-defeating. Very few trades-people move on to become professionals.
 
I had to move on when I finished mine as not enough old farts were retiring. Was for the best in hindsight, learnt even more and that continued until I chucked in engineering. That knowledge keeps me in demand as a self employed Jobber. Loving it ! And can pick n choose work.
 
My brother is a boilermaker by trade. He was lucky - when he did his apprenticeship the guy who employed him actually taught him his trade. That is pretty rare in Australia - most apprentices are simply cheap labour. - Have a look at him, the bikes he builds are lovely :

 
My brother Doug really disgusted my mother when he said to her 'you know, I have never read a book in my life'. The only books he has ever read have been motorcycle maintenance manuals.
 
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One of our friends is an excellent tradesperson. He is completely self-taught. He started as a Tech. Officer in Pathology in the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Because of his involvement in motorcycles, he ended up in his own machine shop making after-market bits for motorcycles as well as mandrel tube benders. Someone suggested he should get a welding ticket. So he went along to the TAFE. The teacher was very proud of a weldment which was sitting on his desk. My friend told him 'if you think that is good, there is nothing you can teach me'.
 
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