Produce or sort of shuffle around with one hand in that pipe fitter's pocket?

I'm not sure what "today" and "yesterday" really are, but engineering enrollment in this decade is at near record levels:

http://www.ewc-online.org/data/enrollments_data.asp

Plenty of people enter science and engineering programs.

Though, as a percentage of all degrees I suppose we are no longer in those halcyon days of the 60s:

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf08321/pdf/tab1.pdf

Two (highly selective) salary comparisons:

1. The CIA agent who died in Afghanistan guarding a prison in 2001 was being paid "less than $50,000". He left behind two kids (his wife pre-deceased him). His travel expenses were paid by taxpayers, presumably.

2. The rookie co-pilot of the plane that crashed this winter south of Buffalo was paid $16,000. She left behind her parents with whom she was living to cut costs, which I imagine was necessary on that salary.

Obviously he was a veteran agent and she was a rookie, but both had serious adult jobs with serious adult responsibilities. Both, I suggest, were underpaid for the work they did and the price they paid adding value to our society/economy (one by making us safer, the other by humping our fat asses to our next meeting).

*****

When it comes to the lawyers versus plumbers debate, we need more plumbers than lawyers, unless modern science (or evolution) can create humans that don't need to shit. If that happened we'd have a lot of unemployed plumbers, but I guess the lawyers could produce enough shit to keep the plumbers employed, so everyone would be happy doing what they do best...

I think that's called the "circle of life".

Last edited by Voltaire's Bastard (2009-05-14 17:43:19)

Reading and responding to lots of words, little intellectual content, poor arguments... that's a waste of any engineer's time