連 Google 都不值得
久未聯絡的同學打電話邀約見面，以為是提早退休雲遊四海，那知是疑似重病復發 (1)，被公司資遣。
剛入社會的人，模仿別人打拼的方式，工作到十一、二點，然後一、二點才睡覺；當身體發出警訊時，不是拖延、就是沒有放慢腳步；等你生病了，需要時間檢查和休息時，公司不是想辦法和你度過難關，而是請你回家吃自己。不可思議的是該公司年年賺大錢，台灣知名媒體還有大幅地報導！
10/26/2012
10/22/2012
退休軍公教人員優惠存款
如果改成 8%，每年多增加 450 億的經費 (1)
根據自由電子報的報導『72年實施迄今 歷經數次改革』：
但是，根據聯合報的社論『終於有感：勞軍公保同步檢討』，似乎不可能：
根據自由電子報的報導『72年實施迄今 歷經數次改革』：
"七十二年時，市場一般利率升為十二％，政府單位將優存利率下限修正提高為年息十八％，十八％的優存利率就此沿用至今。政府為補貼十八％與一般存款的差額利息，八十四年度需補貼約一百八十八億元，但到了一○○年度，因一般存款利息已剩不到二％，利差補貼金額已成長至八○一億餘元；在此同時，退休軍公教辦理優惠存款的戶數，也從八十四年度的廿七萬餘戶，至今年六月底已大幅成長至五十一萬餘戶。"如果以利差做為基準，改成 (18 - 12 + 2= ) 8%，每年多增加 450 億的經費。根據紐約時報的報導 Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Is Lesson，說明政府投資在教育和社會服務比硬體建設好：
"Moreover, it matters what gets built: Japan spent too much on increasingly wasteful roads and bridges, and not enough in areas like education and social services, which studies show deliver more bang for the buck than infrastructure spending."所以增加的經費可以用在教育文化，譬如建設學校的英聽教室、聘請合格教師，補充高中以下各級學校的圖書、實驗和電腦設備，專款專用以增加各縣市的圖書經費，訓練與補助年輕人創業，輔導失業的中年人等等。
但是，根據聯合報的社論『終於有感：勞軍公保同步檢討』，似乎不可能：
"尤其是二十年來，主政者昧於形勢，遲遲不肯隨客觀環境的變化調整制度，結果讓整體軍公教揹上汙名，不時成為外界責難的目標。以所得替代率為例，環顧世界，除了財政破產的希臘外，哪個國家退休公務員像台灣一樣領到九成以上的薪俸？但考試院卻說各國皆然。日昨行政院會決議將上限調整為八成，顯示此一比率絕非無法討論的「聖牛」；然而比起勞保的四成，這八成之數恐怕仍有再議的空間。"(1) 退休軍公教人員優惠存款：wiki
10/21/2012
台灣的大學學費
貴嗎？
以學費除以國民所得，在亞洲四小龍、日本、中國、菲律賓之間 (註 1)，台灣最低。目前的低學費政策是拿大家的錢補助收入較高的家庭，更不公平 (註 2)；表四是 2001 年的資料，如果再加上這幾年新增的 5 年 500 億，補助頂尖大學的數字更驚人。而弱勢學生較多的私立大學 (註 3)，補助少得可憐，我們的學生平均不到一萬。看到報載，一些台清交的學生說要凍漲學費，他們是否有想過自己是制度的受益者？
我們應該實施兩項不可能的改革，一是適當地提高學費，二是改採學分制收費。增加的經費用以增加對弱勢族群的獎助學金和改善教學環境，例如所需的軟硬體、輔導學生所需的資源等等 (註 4)。
幾年前的金融風暴，許多排名前面大學的學生不畢業，每年只需繳 5 萬的學雜費，繼續留在學校，卻享用數十萬的補助，顯然不合理 (註 5)。
在美國，任何時候重修都要收錢。在台灣，只有暑修或延畢要收錢。修我課程的學生，有的從來不來上課、有的來了只是坐在那裡不動、有的從來不交作業、或者考試可以帶書和講義卻考零分。詢問助教或老師，每次加學期總成績一分，至多五分，有不少人是從來不問我們的。如果不及格重修要花錢，學生自然會比較認真。前幾天有位同學來找我，問了一下，其父母都從事辛苦的工作，卻沒有任何理由就不來上課導致被退學。
如果學分提早修滿了，也就可以畢業，不用再繳學費，以鼓勵認真的學生。
單位學費成本提高了，學生也會更用心地要求老師提高教學品質 (註 2)。
我接觸到系上一些需要自食其力的打工同學，成績其實都還不錯。上課時也常常告訴同學，要多多地充實自己，培養專業，使用腦力賺錢，才能改善家中的經濟環境。以學校中的課程助教而言，每一個小時 150 元，如果沒有人前來詢問，還可以讀自己的書。以我們資管系最近畢業的學生為例，如果學會資訊系統的軟體開發，這些 (大學部) 專業工作的起薪大都是 30,000 到 42,000 元 (註 6)。有位女同學起薪三萬，表現良好，不到一年就調成 43,000 元。如果月薪四萬元，比起其他同學的二萬元，二年之間就多了 48 萬，可以還完助學貸款。所以，念大學值不值得完全看個人 (註 7)。
(註 1) 菲律賓的例子。美國是貴得嚇死人。歐陸的賦稅負擔率很高，所以學費便宜，參考我國大學學雜費與國際之比較 (doc 檔)；這幾年卻大幅度地高漲，例如法國的 Insead MBA 一年的費用是 5 萬 8 千歐元，或搜尋『英國大學學費』。
(註 2) 吳聰敏和駱明慶，『好老師，莫強求』。2001 年，教育部對台大、成大、淡江、和逢甲每位學生的平均補助分別為 25.22、19.99、2.36 和 2.36 萬元 (pdf 檔)
(註 3) 這學期全校學生辦理就學貸款三千多人，超過 3 成。導生班 50 人中，20 人辦理就學貸款，達 4 成；大部份是家境因素而需要辦學貸，有的則是希望靠自己的力量完成學業。
(註 4) 以 UT 為例，工學院有 7700 位學生，學院專屬的就業輔導室人員就有七位，可以幫助學生看履歷表和實施模擬面談等等 (www 1, 2)
(註 5) 5 萬元是學雜費，但是，根據現行的規定，通常不用繳到 5 萬元。許多排名前面學校的延畢生達二成。詳見自由電子報的報導『使用者付費 台大、政大及清大延畢生增收學雜費』
(註 6) 該起薪 42,000 元同學的成績普通：但是，畢業專題的指導教授和業界有顧問關係，同學畢專的訓練是該公司所需，所以起薪高。
(註 7) 除此之外，還有各式各樣免費的通識和外系課程、專業與職場相關的演講、訓練、和活動。至於大學教育是否應該強調就業是個有爭議的問題，參見書籍『大學教了沒』。
以學費除以國民所得，在亞洲四小龍、日本、中國、菲律賓之間 (註 1)，台灣最低。目前的低學費政策是拿大家的錢補助收入較高的家庭，更不公平 (註 2)；表四是 2001 年的資料，如果再加上這幾年新增的 5 年 500 億，補助頂尖大學的數字更驚人。而弱勢學生較多的私立大學 (註 3)，補助少得可憐，我們的學生平均不到一萬。看到報載，一些台清交的學生說要凍漲學費，他們是否有想過自己是制度的受益者？
我們應該實施兩項不可能的改革，一是適當地提高學費，二是改採學分制收費。增加的經費用以增加對弱勢族群的獎助學金和改善教學環境，例如所需的軟硬體、輔導學生所需的資源等等 (註 4)。
幾年前的金融風暴，許多排名前面大學的學生不畢業，每年只需繳 5 萬的學雜費，繼續留在學校，卻享用數十萬的補助，顯然不合理 (註 5)。
在美國，任何時候重修都要收錢。在台灣，只有暑修或延畢要收錢。修我課程的學生，有的從來不來上課、有的來了只是坐在那裡不動、有的從來不交作業、或者考試可以帶書和講義卻考零分。詢問助教或老師，每次加學期總成績一分，至多五分，有不少人是從來不問我們的。如果不及格重修要花錢，學生自然會比較認真。前幾天有位同學來找我，問了一下，其父母都從事辛苦的工作，卻沒有任何理由就不來上課導致被退學。
如果學分提早修滿了，也就可以畢業，不用再繳學費，以鼓勵認真的學生。
單位學費成本提高了，學生也會更用心地要求老師提高教學品質 (註 2)。
我接觸到系上一些需要自食其力的打工同學，成績其實都還不錯。上課時也常常告訴同學，要多多地充實自己，培養專業，使用腦力賺錢，才能改善家中的經濟環境。以學校中的課程助教而言，每一個小時 150 元，如果沒有人前來詢問，還可以讀自己的書。以我們資管系最近畢業的學生為例，如果學會資訊系統的軟體開發，這些 (大學部) 專業工作的起薪大都是 30,000 到 42,000 元 (註 6)。有位女同學起薪三萬，表現良好，不到一年就調成 43,000 元。如果月薪四萬元，比起其他同學的二萬元，二年之間就多了 48 萬，可以還完助學貸款。所以，念大學值不值得完全看個人 (註 7)。
(註 1) 菲律賓的例子。美國是貴得嚇死人。歐陸的賦稅負擔率很高，所以學費便宜，參考我國大學學雜費與國際之比較 (doc 檔)；這幾年卻大幅度地高漲，例如法國的 Insead MBA 一年的費用是 5 萬 8 千歐元，或搜尋『英國大學學費』。
(註 2) 吳聰敏和駱明慶，『好老師，莫強求』。2001 年，教育部對台大、成大、淡江、和逢甲每位學生的平均補助分別為 25.22、19.99、2.36 和 2.36 萬元 (pdf 檔)
(註 3) 這學期全校學生辦理就學貸款三千多人，超過 3 成。導生班 50 人中，20 人辦理就學貸款，達 4 成；大部份是家境因素而需要辦學貸，有的則是希望靠自己的力量完成學業。
(註 4) 以 UT 為例，工學院有 7700 位學生，學院專屬的就業輔導室人員就有七位，可以幫助學生看履歷表和實施模擬面談等等 (www 1, 2)
(註 5) 5 萬元是學雜費，但是，根據現行的規定，通常不用繳到 5 萬元。許多排名前面學校的延畢生達二成。詳見自由電子報的報導『使用者付費 台大、政大及清大延畢生增收學雜費』
(註 6) 該起薪 42,000 元同學的成績普通：但是，畢業專題的指導教授和業界有顧問關係，同學畢專的訓練是該公司所需，所以起薪高。
(註 7) 除此之外，還有各式各樣免費的通識和外系課程、專業與職場相關的演講、訓練、和活動。至於大學教育是否應該強調就業是個有爭議的問題，參見書籍『大學教了沒』。
10/04/2012
培育 (軟體) 科技人才：美國公司的作法
因為美國大學生念資工的人太少，不足以應付工業界的需求
"There are likely to be 150,000 computing jobs opening up each year through 2020, according to an analysis of federal forecasts by the Association for Computing Machinery, a professional society for computing researchers. But despite the hoopla around start-up celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, fewer than 14,000 American students received undergraduate degrees in computer science last year, the Computing Research Association estimates. And the wider job market remains weak."
而且夠資格的 (高中) 老師也不足
"Finding capable computer science teachers is also hard. Few other industries are as good as the technology business in its ability to divert would-be educators into far more lucrative corporate jobs. Mr. Edouard graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 and considered enlisting in Teach for America, but he also had multiple offers from technology employers."
所以微軟、Google 和一些公司便派員工前往高中教授軟體開發，員工還有額外的津貼
"Most educators believe that for students to be excited about computer science, it is critical to introduce them to it at an early age. Yet support for the subject at cash-short K-12 schools has faded (1). In almost every state, computer science is taught as an elective, rather than a core requirement. The percentage of graduates who earned credits in high school computer science classes fell to 19 percent in 2009 from 25 percent in 1990, making it the only subject among science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses to experience such a drop, according to a report by the Education Department.
Google, for one, holds a programming summer camp for incoming ninth graders and underwrites an effort called CS4HS, in which high school teachers sharpen their computer science skills in workshops at local universities.
But Microsoft is sending its employees to the front lines, encouraging them to commit to teaching a high school computer science class for a full school year. Its engineers, who earn a small stipend for their classroom time, are in at least two hourlong classes a week and sometimes as many as five. Schools arrange the classes for first thing in the day to avoid interfering with the schedules of the engineers, who often do not arrive at Microsoft until the late morning.
This year, only 19 of the 110 teachers in the program are not Microsoft employees. In some cases, the program has thrown together volunteers from companies that spend a lot of their time beating each other up in the marketplace."
微軟的工程師和專業教師協同教學，以提高成效
"One of the biggest concerns about Microsoft’s effort is that most of its volunteers have little teaching experience. To comply with district licensing requirements and to help engineers with classroom challenges like managing unruly teenagers, a professional teacher is also in the room during lessons. One of the program’s tenets is that Microsoft engineers need to teach the teachers, alongside students, so that those instructors can eventually run an
engaging computer science class on their own."
原文 N. Wingfield, Fostering Tech Talent in Schools, New York Times, September 30, 2012
"There are likely to be 150,000 computing jobs opening up each year through 2020, according to an analysis of federal forecasts by the Association for Computing Machinery, a professional society for computing researchers. But despite the hoopla around start-up celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, fewer than 14,000 American students received undergraduate degrees in computer science last year, the Computing Research Association estimates. And the wider job market remains weak."
而且夠資格的 (高中) 老師也不足
"Finding capable computer science teachers is also hard. Few other industries are as good as the technology business in its ability to divert would-be educators into far more lucrative corporate jobs. Mr. Edouard graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 and considered enlisting in Teach for America, but he also had multiple offers from technology employers."
所以微軟、Google 和一些公司便派員工前往高中教授軟體開發，員工還有額外的津貼
"Most educators believe that for students to be excited about computer science, it is critical to introduce them to it at an early age. Yet support for the subject at cash-short K-12 schools has faded (1). In almost every state, computer science is taught as an elective, rather than a core requirement. The percentage of graduates who earned credits in high school computer science classes fell to 19 percent in 2009 from 25 percent in 1990, making it the only subject among science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses to experience such a drop, according to a report by the Education Department.
Google, for one, holds a programming summer camp for incoming ninth graders and underwrites an effort called CS4HS, in which high school teachers sharpen their computer science skills in workshops at local universities.
But Microsoft is sending its employees to the front lines, encouraging them to commit to teaching a high school computer science class for a full school year. Its engineers, who earn a small stipend for their classroom time, are in at least two hourlong classes a week and sometimes as many as five. Schools arrange the classes for first thing in the day to avoid interfering with the schedules of the engineers, who often do not arrive at Microsoft until the late morning.
This year, only 19 of the 110 teachers in the program are not Microsoft employees. In some cases, the program has thrown together volunteers from companies that spend a lot of their time beating each other up in the marketplace."
微軟的工程師和專業教師協同教學，以提高成效
"One of the biggest concerns about Microsoft’s effort is that most of its volunteers have little teaching experience. To comply with district licensing requirements and to help engineers with classroom challenges like managing unruly teenagers, a professional teacher is also in the room during lessons. One of the program’s tenets is that Microsoft engineers need to teach the teachers, alongside students, so that those instructors can eventually run an
engaging computer science class on their own."
原文 N. Wingfield, Fostering Tech Talent in Schools, New York Times, September 30, 2012
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