[GLLUG] Fw: [mdlug] OO.org in Mi schools

[Richard Houser]

As a recent Kettering University graduate and former IT staff member, 
that just doesn't sound right.  I'm not doubting your experiences, but 
rather suggesting that someone needs a kick in the butt to address this 
problem.

Kettering has had StarOffice available in the Unix and Linux labs for 
ages (at least by the time I arrived in 1999).  I think OpenOffice was 
also on the CD we had been passing out to students at move in.  Even 
though Kettering had MS Office available in some (not all) of the 
computer labs, it was always a situation where students were able to use 
the best tool for the job.

In particular, MS Word really starts to fall flat with the larger 
thesis.  I just barely squeezed mine (257 pages including a compressed 
appendix) into the limitations present in OpenOffice2.0 Writer, but 
otherwise would have needed to learn Tex.  MS Office wasn't really an 
option at the time, even in the technical sense.  Due to formatting 
screw-ups, crashes, and memory usage problems, the typical Word thesis 
sits in something like 4-10 files, is missing cross-links, and has a 
manually generated table of contents.  Those type of problems add a ton 
of time and inconsistency to the authoring process.

The kick in the butt comment is regarding the employers partnering with 
Kettering University and using the university's own curriculum and 
policies against students seeking employment.  As part of the co-op 
situation, these two parties are supposed to be reinforcing the 
teachings of the other.  Kettering is focused on producing highly 
adaptable graduates that should be able to able to handle almost any task.

To use that approach against a student missing an MS Office item on a 
checklist seems like a big insult to me.  I work for a fortune 500 
company in the insurance industry and we actually use Lotus Smartsuite 
(with an internal push to move to OpenOffice).  Generally, this company 
is very cautious and slow to change and we aren't using MS Office.  Why 
should those companies expect students to already be familiar with their 
internal systems?  They are supposed to be functioning in a mentoring 
role after all...


> My son is going to Kettering University now and has been looking for a 
> job to fulfill the coop part of the experience. The potential employers 
> which have asked have wanted to know about Word and Excel experience, 
> not word processor and spreadsheet abilities. Right or wrong it makes 
> the curriculum vendors look like they're doing just what they need to do.
> 
> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* linux-user-bounces at egr.msu.edu on behalf of Mark Szidik/mlc
>> *Sent:* Tue 5/15/2007 9:47 AM
>> *To:* linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>> *Subject:* [GLLUG] Fw: [mdlug] OO.org in Mi schools
>>
>>
>> Cool article below from a Superintendent that is starting to "get it". 
>>  I wonder if the Lansing School District is listening?
>>
> 
> A few of us are - have for years. Hasn't made a difference. Most folks 
> just want to get work done with least effort. As long as there is money 
> to buy it - it'll be bought.
> 
>>
>> ---
>> Mark Szidik, CIO
>>
>>
>> http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070513/DEWITTBATH02/705130419/1006/news05 
>>
>