🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <6937@ecsvax.UUCP> cjl@ecsvax.UUCP (Charles J. Lord) writes:
>
>
>The rules in North Carolina are obviously tougher than in California.
>Here you have to have worked four years after graduation, two under
>the direction (or at least observation) of a PE.  If you work for
>Northern Telecom and have no PE in the department, you need to go
>moonlight with a sympathetic PE or else forget licensing...


All this discussion brings up a question that nobody was able to answer
to my satisfaction 10 years ago...  What is the point of going
through the EIT/PE exams?  I realize that certain types of
engineering require licensing; civil engineering and nuclear engineering
come to mind as prime examples.  But why PE?  When I asked
that question 10 years ago, all the answers seemed to indicate that
the movement was started by a group of engineers who were upset
that someone with a 2 year degree and 10 years of experience could
carry the same title (and salary) as someone with a bright shiny
BS and a Mercedes to match.  No flames please!  I do not presume
to belittle the achievement of passing the exams, I just
don't understand the point of it all.  In 10 years of work experience,
I have never been required to perform and organic synthesis,
never had to compute the deformation tensor of a solid cylinder
under compressions, never had to analyze a floating truss, and
have only met a handful of colleagues who understood the quantum
mechanical behaviour of a particle in a crystal lattice, none of
whom ever applied the knowledge.  Yet, these were all things
I was required to study for my BSEE.  Since none of these are
necessary as working knowledge for any of my fields of interest,
I don't feel compelled to demonstrate my knowledge of them.
The background I obtained from 3 music theory classes I have
been able to successfully apply to various parts of my
career (which is not music related) as well as everyday life,
yet the EIT/PE exams would not test me on music theory.
So I ask again, what's the point?  Why should I bother?

What's the bottom line in terms of:

	* Affect on career growth

	* Professional compensation

	* Quality of life


Again, no flames, please.  I am not being a wise guy, just
asking a legitimate question.  If someone is losing sleep over
the EIT exam and looking here for answers, they deserve
the benefit of the whole picture.


Jonathan Quist