…On History (February 2004)

I had heard of these men before, but it was good to read about them with my children and to see the spark of interest in their eyes.

— T. Howard
Orlando, Fla.

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…On Experiential Learning (February 2004)

After reading “Satisfying a Hunger for Knowledge Through Experiential Learning” I read “Engineering Careers Come in Four Varieties.” It’s incredible how these two articles support one another and urge the importance of becoming lifetime learning professionals! Thank you for making these two articles available to us.

Too many times in school, from kindergarten through college, we are fed information. Little time is taken to demonstrate the many ways one can search for and absorb that information, process it, use it and build upon it. In other words, students are rarely taught how to learn — or how to learn on their own! Your article tackles one of the most fundamental challenges to learning: how to learn! Thank you for making it available to the mainstream!

— Jose Lopez
IEEE Member
Clifton, N.J.

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…On Age Discrimination (February 2004)

The myth of “The Great Engineering Shortage” has been promulgated at least since I was in school in the 1970s. I’m surprised the author thinks the retirement of baby boomers might bring it to pass, especially with so many engineering jobs — along with the accompanying intellectual property — migrating overseas.

— Robert Spooner
IEEE Member
State College, Pa.

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This was a very insightful article. I think that it would be illuminating if the unemployment statistics (downsizing and outsourcing) also provided the age profiles of those affected. I wonder if this would not help us understand the full extent of age discrimination.

— David Stannard
IEEE Member
Portland, Ore.

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With things as hard as they are now, why are we having to deal with this as well? I am 44 and will probably have to work for another 30 or 40 years before I can retire. IT is a second career for me. Many people are now going to be experiencing second and third careers. For Alan Greenspan and POTUS to say that community colleges can retrain people and not take into account the discrimination practices that are currently embedded in the culture is showing how out of touch they are. Further, with Bill Gates and others going to recruit new people at MIT and other universities when thousands of programmers are already looking for work is cruel. This country needs some attitude adjustment.

— James Smith
IEEE Affiliate
New York, N.Y.

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Good article! It’s been my experience that most of the “discriminators” are over 40 themselves.

— Jesse Alexander
IEEE Member
Montclair, N.J.

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On IEEE Member Profile: Bob Krause (February 2004)

Bob Krause has been a long time promoter of IEEE and should be commended for his undertakings in Iraq. He is using his talents and energy to help another country and will probably have a very positive effect for their future and the United States. How many of us can say we are doing as much? It takes courage to do what he has undertaken. I hope all in IEEE will support Bob and his effort.

— Robert D. Adams
IEEE Senior Member
Indianapolis, Ind.

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…On Overseas Assignments (January 2004)

Before going overseas, check out what the long-term financial consequences will be. Tax is one aspect, but consider the impact on entitlements such as Social Security as well.

When making the leap for longer than a year, try to accept the host country as “home.” Socialize, take part in local activities, church and other organizations. But most of all, learn the language, since it will be the most important tool for socializing and becoming accepted.

For those who have to do the lock, stock and barrel-move like I did: Yes, you can adapt a lot of gear to other voltages and even create 60/50Hz conversion. After all, that’s the stuff we learned, isn’t it?

— Joerg Schulze-Clewing
IEEE Member
Cameron Park, Calif.

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The overseas assignments article was pretty good at covering the first half of the issue, but it missed the second half altogether! I worked in London, England between 1980 and 1983. One knows things will be different overseas, and your article listed many of the differences. What one doesn’t anticipate is what a shock it is to return home. My family had at least as much trouble coming back to the United States as it had going to England. In talking with others who have had overseas assignments, that seems typical. There are several reasons for this trouble. We changed some when we went overseas, but didn’t realize how much we changed. The United States changed some while we were gone. Our host country changed some, and we changed with it, again without realizing our change. Also, we, and many others we know, returned to a different state when we repatriated, so we had to deal with all of the changes associated with moving, as well as with all the changes associated with repatriating. My wife even considered starting a consulting business to help families repatriate.

Bill Holm’s book Coming Home Crazy talks about some of the problems associated with coming home.

— Wayne Ward
IEEE Member
St Paul, Minn.

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