Page 252

The WISCONSIN ENGINEER
E4 1                                                                    
                    Q 4r az
                          ~~~~~~XXX  X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.  X
  N   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N  \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.   X 
\.X  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~->Q'-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
ARE WE             Dr. Harvey N. Davis, president of
OVERI)OING IT? Stevens Institute of Technology, coolly
tossed a boulder through the greenhouse of engineering
education methods, when he severly criticized undergraduate
specialization, oln the occasion of his inaugural address.
  Dr. Davis' issues which are curiously interesting to
follow, and possibly as true as they
based on the fact that a large
pecrcentage  of  men  graduating
with elaborate specialization in a
field, immediately take up another
field as their vocation.
  Furthermore, he claims that an
  zngineer entering a field in which
he has received specialized tech-
nical education, becomes sluggish
in this field, and instead of trying
to solve problems ahead of him
by thinking them out, he relies
upon his undergraduate education
to carry him   along.   In other
words, the young graduate is
coasting along with little or no
effort on his own part whereas
his classmates who have received
identical instruction but who have
entered other fields, are forced to
set the wheels going and to culti-
vate the gray matter to keep
afloat. That this stagnant condi-
tion induced by specialized in-
struction is the cause of many
failures, is Dr. Davis' main issue.
  The curriculum at Stevens Tech
is planned to furnish the student
with a broad fundamental education.
receive but one degree, the M. E.
are interesting, are
The engineers here
Their instruction is
a most liberal one, firmly hitting the fundamentals, and
lightly touching the details of specialization.
  Whether or not this method is actually superior to the
conventional methods, will be solved only by experiment.
However it may be, the institute stands interestingly unique
among the engineering schools of the country.
A PROPHECY      A Madison construction engineer donned
the garments of a prophet, before a recent meeting of the
American Society of Civil Engineers, to outline the prob-
able future developments in highway construction and
maintenance. Mr. Arthur R. Hirst, though not vocationally
a historian, supports the theory that history repeats itself.
  Our great-grandfathers of the colonial period solved the
pike situation by establishing toll-roads. In this way the
needs of transportation were adequately met by private
investment rather than by public funds.
  Mr. Hirst believes that the public is unwilling to finance
the extensive projects that will be necessary to meet the
present highway situation. As examples of this he mentions
the crowded boulevards and slowly moving traffic prevalent
dustrial Conference
in most of our larger cities. The
funds necessary to meet this con-
dition are not available through
taxes.
  As a result of this inadequacy
on the part of the public to sup-
port their highways in a suitable
manner, private financial interests
are beginning to step in to seize
this opportunity of making money.
They will sell mileage and right
of way to the passing motorist of
the future. The gas tax and the
other heavy property taxes will
be decreased and the colonial
solution of highway financial
problems, toll-roads and toll-
bridges, will return.
  It is for the public to decide
whether or not this condition
returns. But why should we pay
enough for our roads to allow a
large profit to be reaped from
their construction when it is
totally unnecessary?
SIGNS OF    In the code of ethics
    ltxltTkcni6 adopted by the In-
at Pennsylvania State College, there
appears an item regarding the position of the engineering
school with reference to their students, which states, -
"The Engineering School should not accept fees for con-
tinued instruction of students who obviously will not later
qualify for engineering work."
  This item sounds one of the grave faults in the educa-
tional system of the country. There is no reason why
colleges should keep students at school when there is
little or no possibility that they will ever be successful in
future work.   It is an injustice to the public who are
supporting the schools; it is an injustice to the employers
who employ these superficially educated misfits; and, lastly,
it is an injustice to the students themselves, who might
have made good as nonprofessional men.
                  (Continued on page 260)
               POWER
  Power, its efficient generation, control
and utilization, has long been the goal of
men.   The primitive savage saw   Power
in the restless tossing of the waves, felt it
in the tearing winds, heard it in the
rumble of a distant volcano, but knew
not its meaning or its usefulness.
  Today Power is synonymous with Pro-
gress. It is the answer to the eternal
demands of expanding industry. It fling*,
the human voice in thousand league
strides around the world, yet adapts itself
to the glow of a single lamp! It lights
the humble cottage and the stately man-
sion. It is universal in its application.
  Power moves the mountains, bores into
the depths of the earth, probes the wastes
of sea and air. No man knows its limits,
its possibilities lie far beyond the bounds
of human dreams.
  Mighty is Power, but mightier the brain
of Man who moulds it to his purpose!
                R. DEWITT JORDAN, e'27,
                General Electric Co.
Volume 3 3, No. 7
-