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By Design News Staff -- Design News, January 10, 2005
"LOCAL" RECRUITMENT
I was very curious about your 11.08.04 Special News article "Academia Slams Visa Policies" (http://rbi.ims.ca/4385-534) in which there wasn't any reference made to students that are U.S. citizens or legal residents. Why can't the graduate schools select those who have attended undergraduate courses at same or like institutions in the U.S.? Is it because there aren't enough candidates—as many engineering professions are being "outsourced" to overseas—or that their own undergraduate programs are lacking? There is an immense pool of talent stateside. The priority should be: How can we attract the people that are here right now into these programs today and in the future? Let's see if academia will accept this challenge.
Donn H. Vanden Bosch, Omaha, NE
ADMIT U.S. STUDENTS INSTEAD
The solution to the "problem" of the decline of international students seeking post-graduate educational opportunities in the sciences is a simple one: Give these positions to American students. Institutes of higher learning need to understand the total value of a student's life experience and not to base admissions solely on grade point averages. My experience with foreign graduate students is that, while eager, they have little real-world experience in addition to lots of "book smarts."
Twenty years in engineering has shown me that an American kid with a 2.5 GPA who grew up building tree forts, dismantling the lawn mower, and working his way through engineering school is much more likely to have an impact. It's time to give our hard-working sons and daughters the academic opportunities they deserve right here in the U.S. and leave the ambassador business to the State Department.
John Cincilla, Portage, MI
RISING DEMAND FOR FACULTY?
I don't fully understand the academia's argument. While they cite a 36-percent decline in graduate school applications in 2004 versus 2003, approximately 75 percent of the 120-plus employment advertisements in the IEEE Spectrum are for university faculty positions. How do the two reconcile?
Adam Dixon, Duluth, GA
Editor's Response: As Mr. Dixon notes, a very large percentage of the want ads in IEEE Spectrum are for college faculty, many of whom are also engaged in research work. The schools could well face an even tougher time filling their faculty vacancies in the future as a result of the tougher visa policies since a growing number of technical faculty are foreign-born and came to this country initially as students.
PARAMETRIC SEARCH IS VITAL
Thank you for your 11.08.04 "One-Minute Search" Web Log (http://rbi.ims.ca/4385-535). As a component engineer, I spend most of my time searching Web pages for parts or datasheets. I find that if I can't get the information I need from the company's website, I normally find a different company. For a relatively straightforward thing like a connector, a parametric search is vital. I rarely use the application category search. One thing that is vital for me is a part number search. Often I have an older part where I have the part number, but don't have the datasheet.
Earl Wildes, Seattle, WA
FRUSTRATING "FLASH" REMOTE
The reference to the Zenith Flash-matic in the Fact section adjacent to your editorial on remote control (http://rbi.ims.ca/4385-539) reminded me of many years ago when my Dad proudly brought home our first television with remote control. Pride turned to frustration when, on sunny days, the Zenith Flash-matic television would turn itself on and off and continually change channels. It seems the remote control was a flashlight with pistol grip if I remember correctly. Long after that TV had passed on, the remote was still in use as a flashlight.
Joe Hermann, State Center, IA
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