From: elg@elgamy.jpunix.com (Eric Lee Green)
Date: 1 Jan 93 01:13:46 CDT
Newsgroups: misc.education,sci.math
Subject: Re: Math ( and other ) education.
Distribution: world
Organization: Eric's Amiga 2000 @ Home

From article <4932@execu.execu.com>, by dont@execu.execu.com (Don Thompson):
>       Now I live in Austin, Texas. We have at least four public or private
                      ^^^^^^  ^^^^^
                     'Nuff said

>       there are no night classes for the "serious" subjects. You want to
>       learn that stuff? Quit your job, move into the student slums, and
>       repeat all your general ed. THEN you can learn the math.
[...]
>
>       I always thought that education was a continuing process. It seems
>       that the educational establishment disagrees. The only thing that
[...]
>       Any suggestions?

One suggestion, as one Texan to another: Move to a state with a real
higher educational system.

I am always amazed to look at the Education supplement of the New York
Times (in the City edition on microfilm) and see all the dozens and dozens
of colleges advertising. Half of which advertise degrees at night and
weekends. I cannot imagine any institution in the South which would do
that, except maybe Nova University down in Florida but they are a very
special case. It is a matter of supply and demand. Southerners have
traditionally not been willing to pay for a good education when a "good
enough" one would do, and Southerners have traditionally not been willing
to pay for any education beyond the minimum needed to function in society.
For example, in 1896 the state of Louisiana eliminated all high schools for
Negros because "an elementary school education is all they need to perform
their daily labors." (The high schools were reinstated years later, but
only because black leaders argued that they needed blacks with high school
diplomas to teach in the black elementary schools... wouldn't want WHITES
degrading themselves by teaching in the black schools, after all).

In such an environment, it is not surprising that colleges in the South
cannot find adequate numbers of students to fill high-level night classes.
For example, one year I took a intro-graduate-level Computer Graphics
course which, as an experiment, was offered at 4:30 in the afternoon so
that local employed people going for a master's wouldn't have to miss so
much work. There were 13 of us who showed up the first day. That course,
with that instructor (the most highly rated instructor in the department,
who had millions of dollars in grants and contracts for graphics-related
research and projects), typically averaged 30 to 40 students. The problem
was that not enough people wanted to take a course at night. Not even one
of the most popular courses in the department, with the most popular and
dynamic instructor in the department.

So, as one Southerner, one Texan, to another: if you want to continue your
education in a non-traditional manner (i.e. at night/on weekends), you may
wish to find another state :-(. Texas has a long and sad history when it
comes to education. It may not be necessary to actually MOVE to that other
state. I suggest that you consult Bear's Guide and see if you could perhaps
take correspondence courses (such as the ones from the much-derided Nova
University). However, you may also wish to consult your employer's policy
regarding such non-traditional means of continuing an education -- they may
not pay. And remember that there are no accredited graduate-level programs
available via "distance learning"... accredidation committees seem to have
unanimously declared that graduate programs must be in the presence of an
actual professor.

--
 Eric Lee Green  elg@elgamy.jpunix.com   Dodson Elementary
 (713) 664-6446                             Houston, TX
                "Kids are kids, no matter what"
Newsgroups: misc.education