Slow and steady

Julius:

Your “Avoiding the Wall Street mentality” commentary in March’s pme magazine was a breath of fresh air. Engineers make a lot more slow and steady progress than inflammatory headlines.

We corresponded a few years ago when there was consideration for an ABET accreditation for plumbing engineering. That seems to have gone away, but ABET has not. It continues to grow and has a consistent record of slow, steady progress toward the continuing competence of engineering education. It is particularly gratifying to me that there is increasing voluntary participation by educational institutions outside of the United States. 

So, from one engineer to another, thank-you for your skill at communication.

Best regards,

Robert A. Herrick P.E., CIH

Herrick Engineering

Cary, N.C.

Politicians rely on crisis

Julius:

Excellent article (“Avoiding the Wall Street mentality”) as far as it went.

The political class must have its results now because it only thinks as far as the next election. Politicians rely on crisis to get the electorate worked up so voters will support whatever crony capitalist spending that is proposed. If they cannot find a crisis, they will create one.

They have no concept of cost/benefit or diminishing returns. The escalating costs of regulations that will provide small incremental improvement may look foolish to an engineer, but it makes sense if the objective is to spend money on projects that will help their friends.

Prostitution of science or pseudo-science for political objectives has become one of the primary tools for creating crisis. This is particularly disturbing to an engineer.

Peter Staats

BSME, MSME, MBA

Loveland, Ohio