At 05:45 PM 1/11/02, rob wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Kevin Tarr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 8:23 AM >Subject: Unqualified was DoftW > > > > The reality of the matter is that multiculturalism enriches few people > > (at > > least as it sounds like you are describing it), it is Balkanisation in > > the > > long run. There has to be a lingua franca, a method of communication > > everyone uses, in order to keep a lot of bright people from becoming > > janitors and tree trimmers. > > I work around an english speaking Mexican born fellow who was denied a > > chance to advance to a better job because he didnt spell very well. > > Crap, > > his spelling was atrocious. He was fairly well spoken, albeit with an > > accent > > and some poor grammer, but his writing skills were poor because he spoke > > spanish mostly when not on the job. > > *I* know for a fact he was the best choice for the job. I work with his > > department all the time. But when he wrote a departmental memo he made > > terrible and obvious mistakes and this made him appear to be > > ................. hmmm.....unqualified, if I may be kind. > > This is what bilingual education gets people, and bilingual education is > > an > > aspect of multiculturalism. > > > > xponent > > > > Want to ask something along those lines. I have a friend who has > > dyslexia. It wasn't really discovered until late in HS. He is smart; he > > scored as high as me on standardized test when he had the questions read > > to him. He has a two year degree in business. He is really dissatisfied > > with his job* so his wife and I have been helping him. His problem is > > that he still has trouble reading and from that, I hope, his writing and > > spelling skills are poor. He has taken some placement exams with > > assistance. One prospective employer told him, in a round-about not > > breaking the law way, 'sure you can do great on a placement test but the > > business can't have someone reading to you all day'. (This is > > paraphrasing and heard third hand). > > > > I am just venting but also wondering about how to get around this > > obstacle not just for him but for a lot of people. > > > > Kevin T. > > > > * He is a mechanic, which I was for ten years. To move into a higher pay > > range, to just receive a raise for the past year, he had to take a test > > "Factory Mathematics". One of the questions was "What is the name of the > > first result of a large multiplication problem?" > > > > like: > > 76 > > x67 > > ------ > > 532 <---- What is this first result called? > > 4560 > > ------ > > 5092 > > > > I didn't know it had a name; more important what does it matter? > >Its the product.
Actually, the "product" is the final result (5092). I think the item in question may be called the "first partial product", but I don't remember that particular topic being addressed since around 3rd or 4th grade (and I have a masters degree in math, plus a few more graduate math courses I took while enrolled in the astrophysics Ph.D. program). >And I dont think it matters much either. I agree that knowing its name is far less important than being able to compute it accurately. FWIW, my father was a machinist most of his working life, and while he may have at some point early in his career had to take a similar test, I know for sure he would have had no idea what that particular item was. It didn't mean he couldn't do the calculations necessary to do his job . . . Incidentally, does anyone remember which one is the "subtrahend" and the "minuend"? Or the "divisor" and the "dividend"? -- Ronn! :) Ronn Blankenship Instructor of Astronomy/Planetary Science University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL Disclaimer: Unless specifically stated otherwise, any opinions contained herein are the personal opinions of the author and do not represent the official position of the University of Montevallo.
