Part of the problem is that 'Quality' is synonymous with 'all the right paperwork in place' and not with the actual 'quality' of the product. Without going down the slippery path of trying to objectively define quality in a way that works (see 'Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance' to see how stuffed up you can get trying to sort that out), there has to be some kind of adaptation of ISO Quality Certifications that includes the product and not just the process and procedures.
It's probably worth noting that Alan Kay (not Kaye) is a little more than just "one of Papert's colleagues" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kay. In many ways Kay could be considered the inventor of the OLPC concept with his Dynabook concept from the 1970s. He was also one of the inventors of OOP and Smalltalk and is probably the most informed person on the planet when it comes to discussing the role of computers in education. If Kay sees problems with SimCity as an educational tool on the XO he should be listened to IMHO.
The thing is though, your college grades don't really matter once you've had a real job or two. After that, all that matters is either 1) What you can accomplish AND claim credit for 2) Your boss's opinions. In the long run, the school you go to doesn't matter so much as whether you go to school at all. The going to school can provide you with skills, but the name power only goes so far, at least I hope that's the case.
I agree that what you say is how it should be, but unfortunately that is not the case. For example, a Mechanical Engineer with his degree from QUT will always outrank one with an equivalent degree from UQ. Someone with Ecole Polytechnique in his CV will always make the short list ahead of one who was a student from Leeds University.
Consider the scenario where the 'higher' grades allow the student to get into one of the 'better' universities. Even though he gets very average grades there, he has an advantage in the job market based on his university, and his opinions will carry greater weight because he went there. I'm not saying that this is wrong or right, but it is conceivable that his opinions could carry greater weight in the future due to an ultimate cause of falsified grades, with increased risks following.
And in some countries grades do matter more than in the USA, as they actually measure academic achievement, and not just compliance with bureaucracy.
The real question is -- is the kid who changed grades damaging society as much as the guy who breaks in to the bank computer to transfer $1 million into his personal account, a few cents at a time over the next 10 years?
What if the falsified grades result in him getting a job where he's making decisions or giving advice that could hurt or injure large numbers of people? 1 million dollars seems pretty insignificant in comparison. The point I'm trying to make is that these issues can be very difficult to put in nice simple boxes, and the consequences of these 'crimes' could be far more significant than just embarrassment for a school with bad security infrastructure.
In the early 70s I got a Chemistry set for my 11th Birthday. It had lots of things that would be banned today (let's grind up sulphur and potassium permanganate together - you've now made solid rocket fuel, pack it in a tube and light one end for a great show), but claimed to be safe as long as you didn't add anything not in the set.
One day I decided to try to make my very own hydrochloric acid, by heating calcium hypochlorite (I think - this was over 30 years ago) and sodium chloride (not in set) and bubbling the evolved gas through water. The resulting explosion embedded glass in all the walls. There were acid burns on the table, the floor, my clothes and my hand.
I later won a University Medal for work in Science. I like to think there's a connection.
What about in the case of the cyclogyro though? I understand how the pseudoforce acts in a helicopter. He made a specific reference to it in a cyclogyro. I can see that the tension in the struts from the wings to the rotating axle in a cyclogyro is a centripetal force (otherwise the wings fly off), but I cant see the force he's talking about.
The frequency of colour-blindness varies with race. Amongst males of Asian descent, the incidence is as high as 30%. It's rarest for Africans, with Europeans somewhere in between. There is also variation in degree (as well as different kinds, with different colours affected). I had a friend to whom the grass was brown - he had very few green cones. Another friend had it so mildly that he only got confused with a few pastel shades. I'm somewhere in between.
Colour-blind people have an evolutionary advantage - most forms of camouflage are ineffective. This works for natural and artificial camouflage, so I'll be a better hunter in the post apocalyptic hunter/gatherer society. In times of famine I'll provide more food for my family. Conversely, my family is much more likely to be injured due to my failure to see a big hailstorm coming.
Slashdot Mirror
Part of the problem is that 'Quality' is synonymous with 'all the right paperwork in place' and not with the actual 'quality' of the product. Without going down the slippery path of trying to objectively define quality in a way that works (see 'Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance' to see how stuffed up you can get trying to sort that out), there has to be some kind of adaptation of ISO Quality Certifications that includes the product and not just the process and procedures.
It's probably worth noting that Alan Kay (not Kaye) is a little more than just "one of Papert's colleagues" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kay. In many ways Kay could be considered the inventor of the OLPC concept with his Dynabook concept from the 1970s. He was also one of the inventors of OOP and Smalltalk and is probably the most informed person on the planet when it comes to discussing the role of computers in education. If Kay sees problems with SimCity as an educational tool on the XO he should be listened to IMHO.
I agree that what you say is how it should be, but unfortunately that is not the case. For example, a Mechanical Engineer with his degree from QUT will always outrank one with an equivalent degree from UQ. Someone with Ecole Polytechnique in his CV will always make the short list ahead of one who was a student from Leeds University.
And in some countries grades do matter more than in the USA, as they actually measure academic achievement, and not just compliance with bureaucracy.
What if the falsified grades result in him getting a job where he's making decisions or giving advice that could hurt or injure large numbers of people? 1 million dollars seems pretty insignificant in comparison. The point I'm trying to make is that these issues can be very difficult to put in nice simple boxes, and the consequences of these 'crimes' could be far more significant than just embarrassment for a school with bad security infrastructure.
In the early 70s I got a Chemistry set for my 11th Birthday. It had lots of things that would be banned today (let's grind up sulphur and potassium permanganate together - you've now made solid rocket fuel, pack it in a tube and light one end for a great show), but claimed to be safe as long as you didn't add anything not in the set.
One day I decided to try to make my very own hydrochloric acid, by heating calcium hypochlorite (I think - this was over 30 years ago) and sodium chloride (not in set) and bubbling the evolved gas through water. The resulting explosion embedded glass in all the walls. There were acid burns on the table, the floor, my clothes and my hand.
I later won a University Medal for work in Science. I like to think there's a connection.
What about in the case of the cyclogyro though? I understand how the pseudoforce acts in a helicopter. He made a specific reference to it in a cyclogyro. I can see that the tension in the struts from the wings to the rotating axle in a cyclogyro is a centripetal force (otherwise the wings fly off), but I cant see the force he's talking about.
What is this 'centrifugal' force you speak of? Is it the thing we call 'lift'?
Tidal Stress from Earth and Sun
The frequency of colour-blindness varies with race. Amongst males of Asian descent, the incidence is as high as 30%. It's rarest for Africans, with Europeans somewhere in between. There is also variation in degree (as well as different kinds, with different colours affected). I had a friend to whom the grass was brown - he had very few green cones. Another friend had it so mildly that he only got confused with a few pastel shades. I'm somewhere in between.
Colour-blind people have an evolutionary advantage - most forms of camouflage are ineffective. This works for natural and artificial camouflage, so I'll be a better hunter in the post apocalyptic hunter/gatherer society. In times of famine I'll provide more food for my family. Conversely, my family is much more likely to be injured due to my failure to see a big hailstorm coming.