ensign_beedrill

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Posts posted by ensign_beedrill

  2. Posted · Edited by ensign_beedrill

    Of the shows that were canceled while I was watching them, I was most upset about Enterprise. I don't know if Stargate: Atlantis was canceled or if it had just run its course, but I didn't feel very strongly about its passing. And it might have been neat to see more of The Dresden Files, but I haven't missed it.

     

    Of shows that I watched after they were canceled, Threshold was the one I was most angry about. I caught it on the Sci Fi channel and the way they were billing it, it sounded like a new series. I should have known it wasn't when they were playing something like four episodes in a row, but I was so interested I didn't really care. But then I looked it up and found out that it had premiered a year ago and that it had been canceled. I really liked that show. It had Brent Spiner in it, too. I also liked Firefly and I'm really glad they at least got to wrap it up with a movie. I'm watching The Pretender now on DVD and I think it's a very cool show, but I hear that it was canceled after the fourth season. And Star Trek, of course.

  11. Posted

    Yet another example of "someone else will never pay attention to something you care about as much as you will." Leaving your car at the shop or having it cleaned. Calling tech support and trying to get your computer fixed. Sending something in the mail or having a service move your things. Or going to a doctor. But often times we don't have the expertise/training/equipment to do it ourselves. I'm glad this girl did.

     

     

    Wel OK, she's a bright girl, but... a *children's* book on intestinal diseases?

     

    Are you kidding? I was totally into that when I was five.

  12. Posted

    Required amount of course work for what ?- the point I'm trying to make - where do you draw the line - who says how much you have to have to be qualified in a given field? I think in some fields we rely too much on credit hours and not enough on demonstrated proficiency.

     

    I completely understand. A degree only shows that you took the certain courses required at a certain school. It doesn't say which courses and it doesn't say how well you did in them.

     

    I think that's where accreditation comes in. Accreditation verifies that a school's program in a certain area is a good quality program. Schools work hard to get and keep their accreditation, and a degree from an accredited program ensures a certain level of common knowledge in a field. I have a degree from an ABET accredited program, and I know that ABET requires a certain minimum amount of coursework. For instance, my school has an engineering ethics course that used to be an elective. As I am told, very few people took it. But then ABET required engineering ethics, so in order to keep accreditation, the engineering degree plans were changed to require the course. Now everyone takes it and the engineering ethics professors couldn't be more pleased.

     

    And I think ABET requirements change as they get feedback about what employers are looking for. The engineering ethics course requirement, for example. I recently received a letter from my old department asking me to fill out a survey to help with their accreditation review. There are questions like "do you feel your coursework is adequate in helping you to accomplish your job" and "which course do you feel was the most applicable to your current job." And they're asking for feedback... what do you wish you had taken, what classes were completely useless, are there classes that we don't offer now but should?

     

    So if you're looking for who draws the imaginary line, I'm pretty sure it's the accreditation boards.

  15. Posted

    The college does decide whether to accept CLEP tests for credit. But it also decides what a passing score is. CLEP has its recommendations, but at my school, the accepted scores for the history tests I took were about fifteen points higher. Don't ask me why. Probably again trying to get you enrolled in classes rather than taking the test. But it was worth it. I took three CLEP tests and five AP tests. Three of the AP tests didn't count for credit in my degree plan, but that's five classes I didn't have to take. A whole semester. I wouldn't have graduated on time without them.

     

    Why? Seriously why would knowing someone had one more class in an area increase your confidence in their abilities?

     

    Well you don't know that the person is just one class away from a degree in the area. Not having a degree could mean you're only a few hours away or it could mean you've never pursued it. Whereas having a degree provides an assurance that you did have the required amount of coursework.

  22. Posted

    I got into Star Trek when I was in high school, and my parents wouldn't let me watch TV on weekdays. At this time, TNN (as it was called then) was playing something like two TNG episodes a day, even more on Fridays, and Sci Fi was playing TOS episodes every day. Enterprise was fresh every week, and if I was lucky, there was a channel that would sometimes play Voyager (if it wasn't preempted for a Spurs game). So I would record about four to five VHS tapes worth of Star Trek and watch them all weekend. Oh, those were good times.