26 May 2003
Copyright © 2003 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education
leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E., with Bethany S.
Oberst, Ph.D.
Journals
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NOTE: An electronic conference sponsored by ASEE and WFEO is currently
open at http://www.asee.org/conferences/e-conference/forum.cfm.
It contains papers written as input to the June international colloquium
in
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International
developments
1) Over the past few weeks universities around the world
have been teaching themselves how to handle the SARS epidemic, according to the Chronicle
of Higher Education. Brown
University (USA) quarantined a biology professor who returned from
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/04/2003042801n.htm
Anne Marie Borrego and Jen Lin-Liu reported that ETC
testing in
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/04/2003042802n.htm
The American Library Association decided to run their joint
meeting with the Canadian Library Association in
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003050505n.htm
Will Potter’s article discusses the decision of the
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003050602n.htm
Potter collaborated with Vyacheslav Kandyba in an article
reporting that several
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003050801n.htm
Dan Carnevale weighed in about the
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051202n.htm
Then the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
writes Vyacheslav Kandyba, advised colleges and universities not to attempt to
prevent people from SARS-affected regions from attending commencement exercises.
See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051503n.htm
2) Researchers from
3) Two articles on
4) The well-known president of
5) The commercial growth of genetically modified (GM) crops
in the United Kingdom was the subject of a recent debate there, as reported by
Smarayda Christoforou in the April 2003 RSA
Journal. European legislation in 2001 allows commercial cultivation of GM
organisms with safety restrictions, and it appears that the introduction of GM
crops in
6) Scott Carlson from the Chronicle of Higher Education writes that the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (
7) Support for Polish technology has been enhanced due to a
recent $3.5-billion deal by that country to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the
8) The South African government recently moved to collapse
its 36 institutions of higher learning into 24, and then add two new
institutions where none existed before. The
result will be twenty-one presidents losing their jobs.
Reactions have been mixed. Some
presidents will reapply for their jobs, some will not, some who reapply are
expected to win election, and some are not and will face either demotion or
forced severance. The change is
brought about by budgetary constraints, but also by the need to better integrate
historically black and historically white institutions, according to Henk
Rossouw, writing for the Chronicle of
Higher Education. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051506n.htm
9) Long serving academics in the UK have criticized the
current crop of university students as the worst in living memory, according to
a poll reported in the 23 May 2003 Times
Higher Education Supplement. Easier access to higher education is leading to
a dumbing down of courses and rising dropout rates, according to a nationwide
survey. 76% of academics questioned said they had been forced to adapt their
teaching techniques in response to an increasingly diverse student population.
Well over two-thirds believed that students were less well prepared for higher
education than in the past. Details on the poll are available at www.thes.co.uk/current_edition
10) In a creative move, a private university in
11) The uneasiness of Arab-Americans over the war in
12) Iraq’s universities, closed due to the war, have now
re-opened, and Iraqi faculty are voting in free elections for their presidents
and deans for the first time in almost 50 years, writes Daniel Del Castillo for
the Chronicle of Higher Education. The
elections were carefully scrutinized by US officials and troops, and Baath Party
members were barred from hold important academic positions. The US State
Department will have final word on who is permitted to serve.
The Baath Party has been accused of academic cronyism which elevated the
select few to positions of power while reducing other faculty to driving
taxicabs after hours to earn money. The
disadvantage of such stringent measures to rid universities of residual
political influence is that these measures may also leave the fate of the
re-opened universities in the hands of only the young and inexperienced. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051903n.htm
13) The National Academies have received a $40-million gift
from the W. M. Keck Foundation to run a grant program for interdisciplinary
research, according to a note by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee in the
14) The American Society of Civil Engineers has proposed
increased requirements for professional engineering practice, according to an
article by Rachel Davis McVearry in the May 2003 issue of Engineering Times. In addition to current requirements for the
Professional Engineer license, ASCE proposes that a practicing engineer also
acquire education credits or a body of knowledge equivalent to a master’s
degree. Supporters of the initiative are concerned that many schools have
reduced the number of credit hours needed to earn an engineering degree, and
that curricula now must include business, management, ethics, and other aspects
of engineering as well as the fundamentals. Detractors of the proposal argue
that today’s engineers have unprecedented access to information and knowledge
throughout their careers, and that additional requirements at the beginning will
keep qualified students from choosing engineering careers. See http://www.nspe.org
15) The Chronicle of
Higher Education recently noted in an article by Anne Marie Borrego that the
16) An ambitious new Pentagon effort aims to boost research
into high-speed aircraft, according to an article by David Malakoff in the
17) The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia (USA),
Mark Warner, vetoed a bill forbidding state-supported colleges and universities
to charge only in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.
This long-simmering issue is expected to re-emerge in future sessions of
18) Hard times are taking a toll on basic scientific
research at Bell Labs, according to an article by Dennis Berman
in the
19) The
20)
21) Wrangling in the US Congress over the funding of higher
education looked strikingly similar to fights in the past couple of decades over
funding of primary and secondary schools. Republicans
were attempting to link funding with accountability for learning outcomes, and
Democrats were fighting for access and against Big Brother intervention,
according to a report by Stephen Burd in the Chronicle
of Higher Education. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003051401n.htm
22) The law that raised the number of H-1B visas to 195,000
a year is set to expire on September 30th, reverting the allowance to
the 1999 level of 65,000, according to IEEE-USA. A heated debate is brewing over
what number should be allowed going forward, with proponents of a small number
citing joblessness among US electrical engineers – which has now grown to 7%.
But high-tech employers want to maintain a high quota as they have come to rely
on the accessibility of cheaper imported labor. For more background on this
issue, see http://www.theworkcircuit.com/story/OEG20030414S0055
23) The
Distance education,
technology
24) The Chronicle of
Higher Education recently published a set of articles and side-bars by
Florence Olsen which, taken together, constitute a comprehensive review of
Internet2 and its future. Internet2 is a consortium of 203 research institutions
and 26 state education networks connected to a high-speed backbone network
called
At issue these days are questions about cost, speed and
usefulness. Membership and
participation fees are currently $46,250 per year.
Institutions must also pay connection costs related to the speed of
access they require. These can range
from $110,000 - $490,000 per year. And
the local campus backbone network must be upgraded to take advantage of the high
speed capacity. Campus authorities
have to think carefully whether the capabilities of Internet2 are required for
the types of teaching and research being carried out on their campuses before
they agree to assume such costs.
But at the same time as individual organizations and
campuses are grappling with the high costs of Internet2, other members are faced
with a dilemma: whether to invest in improving and perfecting the existing
network, or to expand its speed by the purchase of “dark fiber,” unused
optical-network capacity resulting from the telecom industry’s overexpansion
in past years. Videoconferencing,
at the present state of Internet2, still remains a big challenge: much needs to
be done to make it a reliable and routine resource.
The US National Science Foundation recently published a
major report on what needs to follow Internet2 in order to take advantage of
data now being captured by sensors in space and on the earth.
While some scholars have yet to take advantage of Internet2, others are
about to test its limits. But
advances beyond the current capabilities will come at a cost: $1-billion are
needed each year, according to the NSF, to develop a “cyberinfrastructure.”
Another consideration is the decision by some regional
networks to purchase independently more “dark fiber” for their own use, a
move which could threaten the role of Internet2 as an organization.
See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v46/i36/36a03201.htm
25) The Honeynet Project is an organization aimed at
gathering information about computer hackers, utilizing networks that are
designed to be compromised, in an effort to defend against their inroads. As
described in an article in the IEEE
Security and Privacy magazine by Lance Spitzner, the Honeynet Project lures
hackers to a computer system then records and analyzes their activities from the
start – then allowing defensive actions to be taken. This approach is intended
to complement other well-known intrusion detection and prevention technologies.
See http://www.computer.org/security/v1n2/j2spi.htm
26) Has the time come for “Made in
27) Putting the world’s most advanced scholarly and
scientific knowledge on the Internet will require digitizing the texts of
millions of books, according to an article by John Markoff in the May 12th
New York Times. A new tool to aid in
this conversion, demonstrated recently at the Stanford University Library, is a
Swiss-designed robot about the size of an SUV. The machine can turn pages of
books and bound newspaper volumes and scan them at the rate of more than 1000
pages per hour. Manual processing is less expensive for small collections, with
the robot becoming cost effective on projects larger than 5.5-million pages. The
size of the translation job is formidable – the Stanford Library contains
8-million volumes, and full digitization would cost upwards of $250-million. See
http://www.nytimes.com
28) Digital entertainment at the fingertips of consumers
remains stalled by the lack of consensus on digital copyright, according to an
article in the May 2003 IEEE Spectrum by
Tekla Perry. The technology is available to deliver music and movies over the
Internet, but there is no agreed upon standard means of ensuring that the people
who created the artistic product get their fair share of the money paid for its
access. There is not even agreement on how many times a consumer should pay for
artistic content – once per viewing or listening, once per person, once per
household, or once for each device in a household. Meanwhile, the technology in
this area is taking off – better digital compression techniques, recordable
DVD drives, blue-laser discs able to hold an entire high-definition feature
film, etc. Several additional articles in this issue of IEEE
Spectrum explore various dimensions of the dilemma. See http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
29) Spam is in the eyes of the beholder, according to Saul
Hansell’s article in The New York Times.
And his interviews with seven Internet experts prove it.
Each was asked to give a perspective on spam, what it is and how to
control it, keeping in mind US Federal legislation under discussion in
30) Whatever the outcome of the Chinese government’s
battle against SARS, the crisis has demonstrated that another threat seen as
insidious by the government there – the spread of uncensored information
through the Internet – is gaining ground. According to an article in the May 8th
issue of The Economist, 82% of the
people in
31) Linux may be the largest threat Microsoft faces,
according to an article by Robert Guth in the May 19th Wall
Street Journal. The free operating system is growing in use in the server
market, threatening the dominance of Windows. Linux got its start as free
software on the Internet, but has quickly moved into the mainstream of corporate
computing. It has eaten into the market for computers based on the Unix system,
and is now backed by companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Sun, and IBM. The Linux
system, now often packaged into software systems aimed at corporate users,
offers a cheaper and apparently more secure way for businesses to run their
computers. See http://www.wsj.com
Students, faculty,
education
32) Educators are struggling to prepare well-rounded
engineers for today’s workplace, according to the cover story in the May-June
2003 ASEE Prism by Kerry Hannon.
Stimulated by the broadening required in ABET’s Criteria 2000, engineering
educators have been overhauling or tweaking their curricula. But employers are
complaining that change is not happening fast enough, in critical areas such as
communication skills. University officials explain that many institutions are
research based, and thus concentrate curricula on more theoretical work. And
crowded curricula and scarcity of resources to implement changes contribute to
the slow progress. Industry continues to press for soft skills, science skills,
and diversity. See http://www.asee.org/prism
33) The cover story for the May 26th issue of BusinessWeek,
by Michelle Conlin, identifies a new gender gap – from kindergarten to
grad school, boys are becoming the second sex. The article cites a widening gulf
in schools: girls trounce boys in reading, are catching up in math, and dominate
in extracurricular activities. Boys make up the bulk of SpecialEd students,
account for most stimulant prescriptions, and are more likely to commit suicide
than girls. The gender gap spans every racial and ethnic group, and is projected
to get worse. Men could become losers in a global economy that values mental
power over might. Women are rapidly closing the M.D. and Ph.D. gap, and make up
almost half of law students. Men dominate in leading-edge industries, but many
are also stuck in declining sectors. A new world has opened up for girls, but a
symmetrical effort is needed for boys. See http://www.businessweek.com
34) This spring’s college graduates are entering the
worst job market in 20 years, according to Robert B. Reich (former US Secretary
of Labor) writing in the May 19th New
York Times. He notes that applications for medical and law schools are up
this year, as are the numbers of people taking the standardized tests for grad
school – as many graduating seniors think it is a good time to get an advanced
degree. Reich argues, however, that many such graduating seniors should instead
get a ‘go-for’ job in an industry or profession that interests them. He
argues that the market value of advanced degrees is dropping as more people
pursue them, and that the alternative of a low-paying job or internship can
provide useful experience while doing some good for society – and developing
self-knowledge. He argues that college graduates who mature at the bottom end of
the workforce, rather than getting more academic education, are more likely to
find work they love when the economy rebounds. See http://www.nytimes.com
35) Empty classroom seats in computing courses at colleges
are among the unmistakable repercussions of the dot.com bust, according to Katie
Hafner writing in the May 22nd New York Times. Spooked by layoffs and disabused of visions of
overnight riches, many undergraduates are turning away from computer science.
Next fall’s computer science applications are down from the 2001 high -- 36%
at Carnegie-Mellon, 40% at Virginia Tech, and 20% at MIT. In the absence of an
economic recovery, opportunities in the computing industry are contracting. In
2000, Intel hired 2378 recent college graduates; last year it hired only 566.
See http://www.nytimes.com
36) The Committee for Economic Development (USA) has
released a new report, “Learning for the Future: Changing the Culture of Math
and Science Education to Ensure a Competitive Workforce”. The report offers
recommendations in three areas: increasing student interest in math and science
to sustain the pipeline; demonstrating the wonder of discovery while helping
students to master rigorous content; and acknowledging the professionalism of
teachers. The CED is a non-profit, non-partisan research and policy organization
of some 250 business leaders and educators, dedicated to proposing policies that
bring about steady economic growth. See http://www.ced.org/docs/report/report_scientists.pdf
37) The new hot colleges, from a family perspective, are
those that discount costs – according to an article by Anne Marie Chaker in
the May 14th Wall Street
Journal. As high school seniors finalize their choices, it is clear that
more families than usual are choosing colleges with their wallets in mind.
Instead of gravitating toward the most prestigious schools on their lists, many
are opting for the ones that charge the lowest tuition or offer the most
generous aid packages. The result is that a number of schools, particularly
private colleges just below the top tier, are having to scramble to fill their
freshman classes. See http://www.wsj.com
Upcoming Meetings
38) The International Society for Engineering Education,
IGIP, is sponsoring its 32nd international symposium: “Information,
Communication, Knowledge Engineering Education Today”. Contributions will
concentrate on current developments in the theory and practice of engineering
pedagogy. The symposium will be held 15 to 18 September 2003 in
39) The Pan American Academy of Engineering will hold a
forum, “Accreditation in a Regional Context”, 9-10 October 2003, in
40) The World Federation of Engineering Organizations will
hold its General Assembly in
Journals
41) The March 2003 issue of the European Journal of Engineering Education has arrived on the desk of
the editor of this Digest. Some 11
papers cover interesting topics including self and peer assessment, students
recruiting students, assessment of project work, and gender issues in teaching
information and communication technologies. See http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
42) The April 2003 issue of the ASEE Journal of Engineering Education contains some 8 papers of
interest, covering topics such as the changing engineering educational paradigm
(the inaugural Bernard M. Gordon Prize Lecture by Eli Fromm), courseware
management tools, instructional technology, writing proficiency of international
students, principles of how people learn, and the challenges of change. See http://www.asee.org
43) The May 2003 IEEE
Transactions on Education is comprised of some 13 papers on topics such as
computer ethics, distance learning, team projects, virtual prototyping, and a
transdisciplinary approach in engineering. See http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/esinfo.html
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