🚀 go-pugleaf

880139h@aucs.acadiau.ca (Rob Hutten) writes:
>841613t@aucs.acadiau.ca (Don Tyzuk) writes:
>
>>I suspect that Acadia could lose JSCS. JSCS could be reduceded to 
>>providing 18nn courses, and CS majors would be sent to TUNS!!
>
>I doubt very much this will happen.  We're one of the few universities
>offering a Bcs.  Where would it go?  From what I've seen and heard, 
>Dal's Bcs with CS honours (or whatever they call it) ain't that great...
>(ooops, this is going to dal.general, aint' it? :-) )

It all depends on your perspective.  I am certainly not qualified to judge
Acadia's CS program, but I am prepared to believe that it is respectable.
However, I believe that Dalhousie has a very good undergraduate CS program.
I base this on personal observation, plus the feedback that we get from
employers, and graduates who go on to further studies elsewhere and compare
their preparation with that of others.

>The main problem with the JSCS is that it lacks hardware big-time.
>Maybe that problem would be solved with the new amalgamated 
>system.

Exactly.  Dal has some very good hardware for both teaching and research,
plus some of the best management around (if I do say so myself!).  A joint
program might just provide the critical mass to provide a national-calibur
computing science program for the Maritimes.  In the absence of such 
coordination, I fear that we are all doomed to a long slide into
mediocrity or worse.

I also think, personally, that Computing Science belongs in a strong Faculty
of Science, along with areas such as medicine, library science, psychology
and so on, since it is such an interdisciplinary subject.
-- 
{uunet watmath}!dalcs!david  or  david@cs.dal.ca