Not long ago, I had the experience of interviewing individuals for a well-compensated position.

There were numerous applicants, and I inteviewed six of them. Four were moderately experienced graduates of respectable institutions, with BSEE and the other two held MS, one in EE, the other in physics.

After chatting with them a bit, mainly to relieve the tension, I asked each one to read an article from a popular magazine, one that was relevant to the task to be performed. I then asked them to summarize the article in a few words. Subsequently, showed them a schematic and demonstrated a procedure on the test bench, then asked them to write a couple of paragraphs about what they'd seen and what conclusions they'd reached.

I found that, of the lot, not one could write a decent summary of the demonstration I'd presented, despite that I'd gotten quite good at it, and then of course, not one had been sufficiently able to read to enable them to realize that the article they'd earlier read was about the very procedure I'd performed. If they'd been able to write, or, even to read and remember, at least one of them would have gotten the job. As it was, I had to do it myself.

Now, I did, in fact attend the "correct" universities, and get the grades, but that all ended in the mid-'60's. Universities have dropped in quality just like every other thing. It's sad, though, that engineering graduates can neither read or write.

RE