View 399 January 30 - February 5, 2006 (original) (raw)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Education: Algebra, Dropouts, and No Child Left Behind
The LA Times has a long series on High School Dropouts. One feature is about algebra, which is now required for graduation. The reporters doing the article didn't have any good reason why algebra (which I would suspect none of the reporters are any good at, and which I know has never been required for anything they ever did in their lives) should be required. So they went to a Union Leader.
"If you want to work in the real world, if you want to wire buildings and plumb buildings, that's when it requires algebra," said Don Davis, executive director of the Electrical Training Institute, which runs apprenticeship programs for union electricians in Los Angeles.
That's it. The rest of the arguments have to do with how valuable college is. Of course there is nothing pointing out that union programs have their own agenda, and controlling entry into the union ranks is very important. And no one bothered to ask any working electricians or plumbers if they ever used algebra in their work, or if they could do any. My own suspicion is that I don't know any garage mechanics, plumbers, or electricians who use or do algebra, or would want to.
Algebra is the essence of abstract reasoning. The ability to do it is highly predicted by IQ. Indeed, IQ tests generally have algebra-like questions, for obvious reasons.
The LA statistics are that about 44% of all students flunk algebra. I would guess that corresponds to an IQ cut about about 98 or so. In other words, this is not Lake Woebegon; all the children are not above average, and in fact about half aren't going to do well with algebra. Why should they?
Algebra has two uses: it's a pretty good screening tool for sorting out those who should go to college for general education and those who probably would do better learning skills: that is, who can profit from "learning how to learn" and those who do best at just learning something. If you can't do algebra you probably will not do well at other tasks requiring abstract reasoning. That's not a 100% prediction, but it's a good start. It doesn't mean that those who can't do algebra ought not be in college, but it does mean that those who can't do algebra should think hard about what kind of higher education they should pursue. Incidentally, most of those who think they can't do algebra, but can do abstract reasoning and are proud of their intellectual abilities, probably can learn algebra, which is, after all, only a form of low cunning. It's not all that hard for those who think abstractly, and it is the very devil for those who don't think that way.
I don't mean to say here that those who can't do algebra ought to go into manual trades. The professions that don't need algebra include teachers at most grades, sales people including primary sales -- making change requires arithmetic, not algebra -- driving trucks, construction, music and entertainment, real estate, and the like. The scores aren't in on lawyers, which is very much a profession of abstract reasoning.
What we need in this country is education tailored to the population. That means high school educations that understand that half the children are below average in ability to do abstract reasoning including doing algebra; and not trying to shove half the population through the university.
(And I have stopped this essay because I was interrupted by a call from Wisetronics, and it was an upsetting experience. I'll finish it later.)
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The Unpleasant Experience of WiseTronics
I ordered a camera from WiseTronics in New York, and it was perhaps the most unpleasant experience I have had on line. I was telephoned by "Mike" who insists that he is the account manager. He has cancelled my order after saying "Da Da Da Da" to me interrupting me. I am not sure what he wanted, but apparently ordering from WiseTronics is an exercise in being deferential to their clerks on the telephone.
I ordered from these people because they had the model I wanted and the color. I had never done business with them before, and I guarantee you I will never do business with WiseTronics (www.wisetronics.com) again; nor do I advise anyone who likes to be treated with any courtesy to do so.
That man was as rude as anyone I have ever had telephone me. And I still don't know what they wanted. As far as I know, the order was accepted. They sent me some kind of email from "customercare" which, it turns out, demands that I talk to them on the telephone. I never opened that. Why should I? So they telephoned. I told them I had placed the order. That wasn't enough. They want me to verify the order. I don't know what verify the order means, and Mike decided that I was stupid, I guess. When he got to the "da da da da" stage I decided I didn't want to do business with those people.
I never heard of this company before, and I wonder how they manage to stay in business.
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Can anyone help with this: I am unable to find where FrontPage stores the dictionary for spelling. I have a couple of words in there I need to delete, but HELP is no help and I cannot find out where they store the dictionary. Someone must know.
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The Florida Radiation Incident:
Subject: -- Radiologic release
On Jan 31, 2006, at 12:06 AM, Jerry Pournelle wrote:
> > Radiological release in Jacksonville, FL.
> http://www.news4jax.com/news/6590083/detail.html
> - Roland Dobbins
> Our own Dr. Ernoehazy ought to know something about this, since it's
> in his > territory.
A single bottle of hydrogen / krypton-85 gas mixture burst in an industrial accident. Reports indicate exposures no higher than 200 ppm of krypton-85 at any time to any employee, and no significant atmospheric leak detected by EMS. That is unlikely to yield exposure to significant amounts of radiation, and krypton-85 (a noble gas) is not absorbed or retained by humans (or anything else in the local biome). The Mayo Clinic has one of their "nuclear physics specialists" -- probably one of the medical isotope safety officers -- acting as liason to assist Jacksonville Fire/Rescue.
Bottom line -- local authorities activated a local mass casualty incident, which in turn became a good training and review exercise. Approximately 100 people were even at risk of exposure, and no more; EMS didn't even have to activate a recall of off-duty personnel. So a low-key "exercise".
If you *have* to hear about "radiological release" in your evening news, this is the kind of incident you want it to be.
cordially, Bill Ernoehazy, Jr, MDhttp://www.dedoc.net
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Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords.
--Theodore Roosevelt
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I need to write an essay on Hansen and the attempts to "silence" him...
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