So, I can't do physics. What else will make me a poor scientist?

It has become grossly apparent that physics is not my best sport. I'm pretty decent with knowing how gravity works, but other than that, this fundamental science does not pique my interest. I just finished this horribly long physics session with my best friend who is a physics major. We finished most of the problems, but it just serves to highlight how, as a computer scientist, I am absolutely arrogant and oblivious to physics. I don't have any interest in it. My friend is balding, sleepless, and nearly insane because of it, and I don't appreciate how much time it takes away from my other endeavours.

But, alas, I put up with it.

The concern these days is about kids not being mathematically and scientifically competitive with kids in other countries such as China, Russia, and places we haven't messed with politically recently, but are really going to be (or maybe already are) hotspots in terms of say, economic development and opportunity. There are over one billion Chinese and their educational system is comprehensive and complete. There is no room for the little folks that can't do physics...or calculus...or write computer programs. This isn't entirely true, but hey, those kids are pretty smart! They take education seriously because in some respects, it's not widely available to everybody.

Why? The issue that is important is that the system is competitive. If you're not smart enough to do better than little Mei Ling, for example, you could very well be arranging to pick up the trash of Mei Ling in Beijing one day. Mei Ling will be a white collar worker, and yours will be blue. The system makes up for the fact that over a third of the population is composed of students. Want to read more? Chinese Education

Now, there's always an American side to an international problem. No, not that we started it (lol), but that we share in it in terms of...we have a "version" of that problem here. Except, in our case, I don't believe our educational system is competitive enough, and students aren't being adequately prepared. Alas, there are solutions. We set up magnetic schools and try to homeschool kids thinking they're going to do better. A lot of the time, that all works just fine. But, sometimes, there needs to be another brand of intervention--from institutions of higher education. That's where Howard University has come in. I was intrigued to see that the University is opening a math and science middle school for students in Washington, DC entering the 6th grade.

Washington, DC public schools are bad from what I'm hearing and occasionally seeing as a student myself in DC. This is a great step forward in working to brighten the educational opportunities in DC. One step at a time, folks. One step at a time...