Sunday, March 18, 2018

failure and sadness

Bridge Collapse Saps Spirits and Research Efforts at Florida International University [nytimes]


"I teach physics for engineers so bridges don't fall down. . . ."
     --an old quote from Frod

3 comments:

  1. Maybe now my administration will ease up on the constant pressure on me to ease up on standards. I doubt it, though. Citing the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007, or the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940, invariably bounced off without discernible effect.

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  2. The same logic for pre-med students applies. Then again, in general, if we don't have standards, we're sending a bunch of people to the workforce with inflated grades and inflated expectations of how good they are. How long before the workforce catches on?

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    Replies
    1. Tragically, it can too often be only after they've killed someone.

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