New York Times on the Web Forums Science

Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

fredmoore - 09:48am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12675 of 12690)

Gisterme ...

Corporations who have schoolies as their target market rely on a lack of discipline to attract their customers to games, clothing, food and drink and even illegal drugs. They see status and not skill as the determining purchase factor. Teachers see skill and not status as the determining factor and that is at odds with corporative aims. Big business can afford editorial sympathies and media propaganda via cartoons. Certain Op Eds can accentuate the status (Lion King) angle in a way that makes teachers look like fools.

The cards are stacked against ALL teachers and I like Lchic's comment:

"Is it time to strip back the packaging and put some joy into interactive educational experience? "

as it shows what is needed in education but what is no longer PC. If you put joy into an educational experience you put joy into the teacher pupil relationship and the consequences of that are INVESTIGATIONS under the current PC phobia.

The solution: pay ALL teachers the equivalent of doctors ( it would be impossible to pay them what lawyers earn). Then the teachers can afford to thumb their noses at the whole array of issues that threaten them and get on with the job.

Don't forget too that under paid and under threat teachers are not getting the creative room they need to become good teachers. Pay peanuts - make monkeys and students and parents alike despise monkeys leading classrooms.

As for the Gisterme history lesson. One must keep perspective and I will show you WHY.

Most of the victims of WWII were the best of the best, particularly from your view and mine, US service people. I believe that most of the victims were at the cutting edge of their society and could have made the world a better place had a coalition of the willing invaded Germany in time to prevent WWII. By saying, 'Candide' like that WWII was the best alternative because other bad situations MIGHT have arisen is denying the sacrifice and courage of those who died. Had they lived and Germany was democratised like IRAQ will inevitably be, those fallen in WWII would have made a big improvement in where we are today. To deny that would deny their sacrifice and courage. Can you in all humility make that denial?

mazza9 - 11:39am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12676 of 12690)
"Quae cum ita sunt" Caesar's Gallic Commentaries

I see that the prospect of an operational middile defense system has been enhanced.

Fred and Gisterme, I see from your posts that Robert and Lchic have, once again, bolixed up this forum by saying, "If Only" (the world followed their perfectly formed plan)

Ain't it somethin'! God-like pronouncements and nobody listens! Golly and I thought that Jesus was the last messiah!

gisterme - 11:40am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12677 of 12690)

lchic - 09:10am Jun 25, 2003 EST (# 12675 of ...) http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.h5o6b1yLjfR.403096@3e7bb3@.f28e622/14342

"...On the issue of Education ... look at the raw product ... the infant mind ... think of the journey through the process of Education ... ask the question - "What (or who with what) should come off the production line..."

Lchic, I think part of the problem with education, at least here in the US is that there is a production line mentality. Children are not model-Ts or some kind of identical widgets to be pumped out by the millions. Each infant mind is endowed with unique gifts that make it different from all the others and no two exist in identical outside-school environments. Much effort has been spent, many PHD theses completed and much theoretical reasoning applied toward the end of improving education. A lot of focus has been placed on attempts to improve process and efficiency for teachers. Much of that theory has been applied over the last few decades in what I hope is a grand expreiment to try out those ideas in a real-word environment. The reason I hope it's an expriment is that the observable quality of primary and secondary education has declined rather than improved over that period. The cost so far has been a couple of generations of young folks who are not as soundly educated as those before them. The reward will be an increased understanding of what works and what doesn't. Hopefully at some point, if this is an experiment, the watchers of the expriment will say, "Well, this this and that didn't work out. The other thing did. So where things haven't worked as well as before, let's go back to what we did before; but where new things have worked better let's make that the new standard.". Hopefully the knowledge gained will be worth the cost incurred.

I think the result of a successful primary and high school education is a young person who has a good grasp of his/her language, can read and comprehend well, can express abstract ideas in writing using proper grammer, a reasonable vocabulary and reasonably good spelling, with a basic overview of world history and the particular history of their own country, a basic understanding of government, how and why it works, an ability perform the four basic arithemetic operations with a pencil and paper, a basic understanding of the concepts of algebra and geometry, what the purpose of mathematics is in general (even if there's no further interest), and how to frame and solve simple problems. They should also have been exposed to a foreign language whether or not they are able to actually converse or write in it. They should have some basic exposure to the arts, enough to capture the imaginations of those who have talents in those areas and enough for those who don't to appreciate the fact.

Most importantly, at the end, the education received should instill enough confidence in that young person that they know that they can learn more, if they want, using the basic tools they've already received, confidence that even if they have no more formal education, they can get on in the real world.

more...

(13 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense