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Year View| Summary| Highlights| Month View| Tuesday 19 October 2004 (Day View)

Fri 15 Oct | Sat 16 Oct | Sun 17 Oct | Mon 18 Oct |   Tue 19 Oct   Wed 20 Oct | Thu 21 Oct | Fri 22 Oct | Sat 23 Oct |

19.10.2004 – Tuesday 19 October – Uni

• After four hours sleep, or something woeful like that, I had to get up and go to uni for my COMP2801 practical, during which my group cleverly divided the remaining tasks. I then rushed up to POD, photocopied my tutor evaluation things for students to fill out, tutored, attended the sleepy COMS3200 lecture, where I always get sleepy for some reason, and then got some dinner from Govinda’s on the way home.

• I discovered yesterday that the follow-on information security course I’d planned to take next year is no longer going to be offered, so, in a probably vain attempt to get the course reinstated:
  Request for Expressions of Interest – Proposed follow-on to COMP3502 “Information Security”
  I’m currently taking COMP3502, “Information Security”, which I am finding informative, well taught, and relevant, and I believe this is a field that will become increasingly relevant as more and more critical information is stored and managed digitally. I had planned to take a proposed follow-on course next year, but have recently discovered that this course is no longer going to be offered. I believe it is courses such as this, and not the standard run-of-the-mill programming courses, which will provide the knowledge necessary to build the skills that will produce distinguished and long-term employable graduates. Let’s face it – programming in Australia, per se, is a menial, dead-end, career choice – somewhat analogous to the situation Australian factory workers would have found themselves in, in the not so distant past. It is simply more economically feasible to outsource such menial tasks to a cheaper country – yet it is graduates suited to these tasks that UQ is producing, as they drop IT courses and focus the IT curricula on the perceived, and largely expendable, “basic skills” common to IT and engineering.
  I would like to graduate with the knowledge necessary to develop skills that are in demand, required, essential, and as permanently applicable as possible – which is the main reason I wished to take the follow on course to COMP3502.
  If any other students are interested in a follow-on course to COMP3502, I would be interested to hear from them, as I am planning to write to the head of school for reconsideration of the cancellation of this proposed course, should there be sufficient interest.

Comment by Reubot – Thursday 28 October 2004, 9:27 AM

  As someone planning to move into an ITEE based program next year, I'm wondering which courses you mean as the ones you wouldn't recommend people do because they are not theory based enough?

Comment by Ned – Thursday 28 October 2004, 12:25 PM

  A lot of things are changing next year, so it is impossible to say.