[ale] guess I am screwed, eh?

[Jeff Hubbs]

Cade, I'd be inclined to tell you not to sweat it.  Articles like these
are short on hard facts that are universally relevant.  They seem to be
meant to set a tone - to get you to feel the way you seem to be
feeling.  

You represent a unique set of capabilities and inclinations.  On top of
that, you will experience untold millions of chance encounters with
people, things, and information.  Your degree path will wind up not
being *the* big giant factor that determines what your first four
post-graduation years will be like.  

While you're at GT, though, I hope you have more genuine fun than I
had.  Make sure you get out and meet some people, on and off campus. 
Your ability to accomplish goals by knowing people who can help you (and
whom you can help as well) is a lot better than trying to move mountains
all by yourself.

- Jeff 

On Sat, 2002-08-24 at 21:07, James P. Kinney III wrote:
> Well, ANY degree is better than NO degree. It demonstrates that the
> degree holder has the ability to stay on task through completion.
> 
> Unless you do as I did and _finally_ graduate in the field that was your
> 7th major pursuit (Missed graduation by just a few credit hours in 2
> fields {nerd}).
> 
> Sure, take business classes. Especially if you want to "go to the dark
> side". Many technical people take a few business classes just so they
> can learn the lingo. It's not like the math is hard. By having the
> terminology to use on the job, it makes it much easier to talk
> coherently to the bean counter. Like it or not, the bean counters make
> the decisions now. A top-notch engineer or scientist will not "climb the
> ladder" like a mediocre one with "management skills" or better, an MBA.
> 
> It wasn't that long ago that the joke "What do call an MBA in Atlanta?
> Waiter!" was very relevant. 
> 
> On Sat, 2002-08-24 at 20:44, Cade Thacker wrote:
> > Considering that I am one week into my BS of CS at Georgia Tech, I guess I
> > am screwed because of this article. Why oh why did they not published this
> > thing a week earlier. ;)
> > 
> > http://newsfactor.com/perl/story/19136.html
> > 
> > Is the CS degree(any reputable college) still relevant for the masses? We
> > will always need people to create compilers and OS stuff, but how many do
> > we need? You don't really need a CS degree to be a medioce(sp?) Java
> > programmer(just look at some of my co-workers ;). In thinking about this,
> > is it kinda like lawyers? We always say we have too many lawyers, but
> > schools are still pumping them out en mass.
> > 
> > Would this topic be different if we live someplace else like New Enland or
> > Silicon Valley?
> > 
> > Well damn the torpedos, I am going for it anyway ;)
> > 
> > <snip from article>
> > "Pretty soon, we'll start to see CIOs having fewer techies on staff," he
> > said. "The rest will be business analysts, project managers -- those kinds
> > of people."
> > 
> > Programs To Pursue
> > 
> > As a result of these and other IT changes, high-tech workers may want to
> > take a few business and management courses to supplement their
> > technological acumen, according to analysts. One educational path that
> > could be rocky is the tried-and-true B.S. in computer science. As Craig
> > Symons, vice president of IT management at Giga Information Group, told
> > NewsFactor:  "A bachelor's degree in computer science would be overkill
> > for most people. Computer science is now really a major for those who want
> > to go into computer hardware or software engineering."
> > 
> > Symons added that people who are interested in creating applications would
> > be better off in either a certification program or a business program with
> > a focus on information systems.
> > 
> > </snip>
> > 
> > 
> > sigh...
> > 
> > --cade
> > 
> > On Linux vs Windows
> > ==================
> > Remember, amateurs built the Ark, Professionals built the Titanic!
> > ==================
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > ---
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> > sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
> -- 
> James P. Kinney III   \Changing the mobile computing world/
> President and CEO      \          one Linux user         /
> Local Net Solutions,LLC \           at a time.          /
> 770-493-8244             \.___________________________./
> 
> GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
> <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
> Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7 
> 
> 



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