A few links I came across recently caught my attention by discussing academic excellence and the education system. First is Are We Failing Our Geniuses? from TIME, which discusses the lack of available programs for advanced students. Second was the discussion of offering free college tuition for Math, Science and Engineering majors as proposed by Montana Senator Max Baucus. The idea there being that our programs are falling behind those in other countries, and therefore the incentive is designed to pull more students into those fields to have better overall programs.

I have to say, I've personally been pretty disappointed with our nation's education system for some time now. The No Child Left Behind act has encouraged schools to act like a union, where those not carrying their weight get promoted anyway due to contract rules and those performing better cannot get ahead. Where's the incentive to work hard? I truly believe this is where most politicians (and people in general) get confused between "equal opportunity" and "equality".

As for the free tuition idea, I believe the senator is just a bit misguided, or just trying to make a name for himself. The root of the problem is not a lack of interest, but a lack of understanding about the need for math, science and engineering in the foundational years of education.

Today, most subjects like to downplay it, but math and science make up the basis for almost everything we do. However, we're now getting business majors who can't do basic calculus (great for observing trends in earnings and markets), computer science majors who can't problem solve (and if you can't do that, then a program can probably be written to replace you), and civil engineers who create aesthetic roads that are absolutely unusable (that goes double for Pittsburgh).

The root of the problem may lie in the fact that most of today's teachers carry a degree in Education, and really don't have a specialty or a passion for one. Unfortunately, it's not years of education in Education that make a great teacher, but a passion for their subject and wanting to pass that passion on to others that makes a great teacher. I was fortunate to have a few of these teachers over the years, and am very thankful that I did.

Sometimes, I really have a hard time believing the things that I read. Well, last week I came across a short article about a new book that computer science is not, and should not be based on mathematics.

Now, I can understand the opinion that programming requires less mathematical knowledge than it did in past decades because many algorithms have been established and languages have incorporated common complex computations into their folds. However, to claim that math is not needed for computer science is just rediculous. I'd love to see the author figure out the location of a mouse click without some kind of location calculation.

But maybe this does explain all the horribly inefficient code I've come across in my days as a developer.

Found via Slashdot

Well, there's been a number of things piling up in my Slashdot folder on Bloglines that I've been wanting to write about and share with y'all. So instead of trying to write an article on each of them, I'll just highlight them here for ya this morning.

• First, there's The 7 Ways That People Search The Web, which is entertaining, if nothing else. I'm pretty sure I'd be classified as an Omnivore myself.
  
• Then there's the article about how cable companies are falling behind the technology curve, and it looks like many of them are going to need some major upgrades to keep up with their demanding clientelle.
• Teenager's, unsurprisingly, don't seem to think that CD copying is a crime.
• Do companies have to start opening up their internet restrictions in order to avoid losing staff who expect more freedoms? It's definately something I prefer, but I'm not the kind of person to waste the day away on IM.
• Is Windows Vista going to be the last OS of it's kind? It's an interesting thought, because many organizations were very slow to even upgrade to XP and Linux has made leaps forward in the recent years. With current OS complexities, it may need a community of developers to keep up with the needs of people, and that would be a strength of Linux.
• Can Faraday cages be used as a solution for WiFi security? With some of the insecurities that have been exposed, any company using WiFi will need some kind of solution. Though, most WiFi security breaches come because the users don't know how to secure their own systems.
• The Mystery of Oregon's 'Dead Zone' is an interesting article about an area of the Oregon coast that is very hypoxic (shortage of oxygen in the water). Researchers from Oregon State University have been studying the area for the last few years, and things have been getting worse. They're afraid that it may even reach a point of apoxia, or complete lack of oxygen in the water.
• A company by the name of Freeload Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, has begun distributing free ad-supported electronic versions of their textbooks. Is this the next logical step in the medium, or just a bump in the road on the way to the answer? I know I'd prefer to just keep my textbook as is for reference reasons, or maybe it's just that I'm not a big fan of ad-supported services. Usually, you get a sub-par product in the end.
• Lastly, an article about how Strategy Guides have lead to game developers creating more difficult games. I'd agree to a large extent, but I still hate using Strategy Guides. Part of the fun is finding the secret stuff, and not having it spelled out for you.

I know, a potpourri of topics, but it's what's caught my eye lately. Hopefully you found something worth reading!

It is pretty sad what passes as science these days. Was this study even set out to observer what they have claimed (that men have lingering distractions when presented with images of attractive women)? Did they completely forget to have a control group? Did they actually state that they measured men's testosterone levels by measuring the length of their fingers? Where is the science?

Then again, maybe it's time for me to start on that research proposal for the Belgian governemnt so I can study whether or not alcohol impares the ability to make sound judgements. Sound like just the kind of thing they'd back!