WQPH Correction I Sent And Reply From Lowell Sun

[Donna Halper]

Dan said--
>> Every field has its own lexicon; the polyglot of "members-only"
>> languages seems to fulfill a human need to be members of a group from
>> which non-members are excluded.
>>      
and Garrett added--
> However, the metric system is not one of those things.
>    
Yeah, but as your friendly neo-Luddite, I was never taught the language 
of engineering.  I learned it from hanging with some engineers while I 
was a consultant, but I still don't understand how some of the stuff 
works-- I just know the words to use when asking an engineer to help 
troubleshoot something.  Ditto for computers-- my husband repairs them 
for a living, but as a user, I can't tell you why or how things happen-- 
I just know how to beta test software and find the problems, but as for 
fixing them, not so much.  And to this day, even with my PhD, I have to 
use a calculator to figure out kilometers or such measurements.  But the 
greater issue is our educational system, which does not place enough 
emphasis on math & science, and these days, mainly teaches kids to 
memorize for standardized tests.  I see the results of that at every 
university where I am teaching.