Teacher pay; A message from the security guy.

View 762 Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Ultimate in breaking news. Someone believed to be Christopher Dormer had a shootout with police in the High Sierra. Two officers wounded. He may be in a cabin. There may or may not be hostages. The radio shows here know less than the TV. Schools shut down. Took two hostages but tied them up and drove off with their car. And St. George was seen descending from the sky with unknown intentions. Or that may be an alien. Or a lot of Scotch whiskey.

Tomorrow at dawn I catch a United flight which was supposed to be non-stop but now stops in Houston. Or maybe it always did and they didn’t tell me. In any event my life membership President’s Club for Continental gives me access to the United club rooms if I need it. But I will be all doggone day on an airplane. I’ll take my Kindle Fire and other reading material.

It is now being rumored that Dormer has stolen a police car and may be long gone off the mountains. St. George and the aliens have vanished. Rumors of drug lords heading up to Big Bear to recruit Dormer have not been verified. Radio reports that some of the emergency vehicles are now coming down off the mountains at high speed with red lights and sirens. Coming down the mountain.

1640: shootouts, and now black smoke coming from the vacation house that Dormer is said to be hiding in, but no one knows if there is anyone inside the cabin. Not much wind. Reporters frustrated because they aren’t allowed to get in there and the news helicopters have been forbidden, but they still have to be on the aid with no dead air so it’s astonishing how large a dinner they can make from a tiny scrap of news.  Still no one knows, but perhaps this all ends tonight. And another policeman dead. It’s a serious story even if some of the reporting is – a bit odd.

 

1952 (7:52 PM PST): The cabin Dormer was supposedly in has burned to the ground. They (San Bernardino Sheriff’s people) watched it burn not allowing the SB County Fire people in to put it out. LAPD is saying SB found Dormer’s body in there, but SB SD is not confirming this. Most are acting as if this is now all over. I doubt I’ll know before I catch an airplane.

2110 No, no one has entered the building, and they can’t because it’s too hot.  And they do not know if there is a body. Welcome to breaking news.

I’ll deal with a couple of mail items, and later this evening I’ll try to do a full mail bag. It’s not likely that I’ll be able to do much for the rest of the week.

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Underpaid?

You write, "There are three million teachers in America. Most all of them are hard working and many are underpaid."

Being an "underpaid" employee is an emotional reaction to being in a state of illogical expectations.

Other than a law defining "minimum wage" I know of no other rationale to support being underpaid.

I submit that anyone who "freely" takes a job is paid what the job is worth to the employer in light of competition for workers.

Teachers who feel "undervalued" are at liberty to do something else for different compensation.

So, how do you "feel" about being "overpaid?"

steven.

That’s one attitude. Another is that for a century the main supply of teachers was women who could not earn much in industry or commerce, and thus could be paid rather less than men of similar education. Another is that there are vast differences in the quality of teacher training and the investment that has to be put into earning credentials. Given the idiocy of most of the credentials and the long boring times it takes to gain them, you’d have to pay me a lot to get me to take a teaching job. Indeed, I was one offered the job of President of a local community college, but I did not have an Administrative Credential; and on discovering just what I would have to do to get that I didn’t even consider taking the post. That was long ago. I doubt that the administrative credential has become more interesting or less boringly difficult to obtain.

I am all in favor of giving local elected school boards the full authority to hire anyone they want including a board member’s sister in law at any salary the taxpayers will pay and the teacher will accept; but I doubt that will ever happen. Under that scenario there would be underpaid teachers, but that would be a judgment, and some would almost certainly be overpaid. I’m willing to leave it to local taxpayers even so.

I do think that teachers should be as well educated as those in some other professions so that the job attracts people of a certain potential. Lower salaries will attract the very best teachers because they enter the profession because of a love of teaching. They will not attract the next level, who would prefer to teach but can be wooed away by higher salaries.

Many teachers are overpaid in that they are terrible at the job. Others are underpaid in that they are constantly attracted to other professions for more money.

“But one does wonder why the three million teachers allow themselves to be represented by someone who says that you can’t fire teachers because that would have a negative effect on the quality of that teacher’s life.”

—-

That is not hard to answer. It is because firing teachers won’t be based upon how good at teaching they are. It will be based upon how obsessivly they follow the (idiot) rules.

I can tell you from my experience, if someone personally saved a department from catastrophe, but broke a rule in doing so, they would be in more trouble than if they did something incredibly stupid, but did it within the rules.

You have already posted examples of this. Remember the student who was suspended for maybe saving his girlfriends life by sharing asthma medication? There are other examples you are well aware of.

I think the really good teachers get beaten down and become mindless drones, or leave the system to pursue other careers.

B

Francis Hamit remarks

Coming Home From "Nam was cancelled.

Dear Jerry:

I suppose I should have sent you something about "Coming Home From "Nam" being cancelled. The reason was simply. No contributions. None on the IndieGoGo appeal to finance it and only one editorial contribution when we wanted a hundred and would have settled for fifty or so. I guess my peers still don’t want to talk about it — and who can blame them? The one contribution, from a retired Marine Colonel who made a career there after the war, mirrored an experience of my own. He was thrown out of his local VFW by one of the "Greatest Generation" for losing the war. The same thing happened to me in Iowa City in 1971, on the same day that the Managing Editor of the Iowa City Press-Citizen (A Gannet newspaper) called me a "baby-burning sonofabitch" as he terminated my interview for a reporting job. I will write about that. In my memoir, "Out Of Step" which I plan to start soon.

Sincerely,

Francis Hamit

I have never met anyone who had that attitude toward the Viet Nam war. I was never part of that war other than as an analyst of air power tactics, but my experience with Viet Nam vets among my colleagues in aerospace was positive, my nephew who became a master sergeant in Viet Nam does not have that memory, nor does my career sergeant brother in law. The View Nam vet LASFS members do not make it seem that anything of the sort happened to them, and they are currently being well treated by the VA. You know some of the people I mean here. I haven’t been to Iowa City since about 1954 when I left my undergraduate studies at what was then known as SUI.

I haven’t had much to do with American Legion or VFW for forty years, but it would be my guess that at some point Viet Nam veterans were a majority of the members.

if you have not seen the Triangulation interview I did with Leo on TWIT, it’s http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/90 and apparently is getting good reviews.

HEAR AND BELIEVE

Router Security Issues

Dr. Pournelle:

In regards to the ‘router security issue’ warning that you issued this week: I’ve looked into this, and the reports that I have read indicate the following.

1) A ‘router’ is a device that sits betwen your Internet connection and your computers, whether they are wired or wireless connections. You could also connect other network devices, like a networkable printer.

2) The issue only affects LinkSys routers model WTR54. It’s in a blue case, resting horizontally (usually). It is a common router used mostly in homes, and perhaps in small businesses. (Cisco owns the LinkSys brand.)

3) Most reports indicate that only the WRT54GL model are affected.

4) It appears that the vulnerability only exists in two cases:

– if the exploit comes from a device physically or wirelessly connected to the router. In most cases, this would be a desktop or laptop computer.

– only the Linux-based version (the "GL") is affected.

5) Of those two conditions, the first is a concern. It appears that *if* the malware was somehow installed on a computer (via a link in a browser, or a link in an email), then the malware could use that exploit for some sort of harm.

So, the recommendation to use the "ShieldsUp" program is a good one.

It is probable, however, that the exploit risk is a bit over-hyped/ That said, it is important for your readers to practice "safe computing":

– always install all updates (MS and applications).

– use the Secunia Personal Software Inspector to ensure your non-MS programs are kept current (like Java and Adobe and Flash) (www.secunia.com ).

– have a current anti-virus program, and do full scans monthly (use Microsoft Security Essentials – which is free) .(www.microsoft.com/protect )

– be careful of clicking on links, especially when they ask you to ‘install this helper program’ (just don’t’ do that!).

Regards, Rick Hellewell, Security Guy

Thanks. And now I’m off for Boston, so I’ll be even more wary of the various nets I’ll have to attach to.