"STUDENTS ARE DROPPING OUT, TUNING IN TO INDUSTRY PAYCHECKS Reacting to
the increasing numbers of both graduate and undergraduate computer science
students who drop out of school for high paying jobs in industry, George
Mason University professor and administrator Peter Denning worries that
fundamental research will suffer and says: "I'm afraid we're eating our
seed corn." The students may also be hurting their own long-term
interest, and California Polytechnic's James L. Beug explains: "My fear
is that these kids who haven't finished will last about seven years on the
job market. If they haven't learned to learn and can't go sideways into
management, what happens to them?" But the temptation for immediate
rewards is great. Santa Barbara multimedia lab director Guy Smith says:
"Without wanting to sound hysterical, this is really changing the shape of
education in a fundamental way. You hear of kids leaving high school and
making almost six figures. Recently we brought in 30 computer information
officers and asked them about entry-level skills. I didn't hear the word
'degree' come up very often." (New York Times 25 Jun 98)"
--Kevin Wheeler <kwheeler@ricochet.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>