This week, I begin my final semester here at UW-Madison, and as I look forward to graduation, I have also looked back on my past several years as a student here. Undoubtedly, some of the best times I have had include my three semesters in which I put traditional classes aside to work in industry, in positions related to my field of study.
Although this decision to participate in the university’s engineering co-op program three times has extended my four-and-a-half years of school into six, it has also given me valuable experiences that I would never trade for anything. These positions allowed me to dust off my textbooks and apply theory in ways I never thought possible, and, furthermore, to motivate future learning of new material. But more than using control-systems theory and motivating exploration of power electronics, my co-op experiences also provided insights into how the real world works, outside the bubble of monolithic thought so often present at this university.
The left on this campus love to talk about “diversity,” and many student organizations on this campus have made out like bandits in implementing their versions of that concept. However, for a lesson in true diversity, students here should consider a private-sector internship and carefully contrast the prevailing thoughts and beliefs in the real world with those held by academics at this university. Those in the private sector often received their educations from universities much like UW-Madison, yet later developed beliefs and viewpoints much different from academics at their alma mater universities.
Consider, for example, the presidential election of last fall. One who managed to contain himself within a few miles of downtown Madison in the months leading up to the November election would have assumed not only a landslide victory for Sen. John Kerry, but also a universal hatred for President George W. Bush. To this day, many appear shocked and stunned by the election outcome. Just look at Thefacebook, an increasingly popular online directory, and the large membership in a group titled “How the hell was he [President Bush] re-elected?”.
To those in the private sector, the historic Bush victory came with less surprise. In the months before the election, I counted only two anti-Bush stickers posted in cubicles around the office in my medium-sized company. While this gives anecdotal evidence only, it seems consistent, as Wall Street staged a significant rally after the Bush win.
This discrepancy in attitudes toward the presidential election could exist for many reasons. Perhaps one reason includes the fact that the private sector has a vested interest in seeking the truth about the economy. Individual corporations, particularly after the recent financial scandals, require accounting practices that give accurate figures for budgeting expenses, revenue, and hiring. Furthermore, those interested in profitability seek accurate and updated information on the macroeconomic level for appropriate pricing and marketing of their products.
A Bloomberg News story found buried in the Saturday, Jan. 8 Business section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, “[The] U.S. economy grew at fastest pace in five years.” Individuals relying on the mainstream media for their economic news may still not know of this stellar economy. Those in the private sector knew long ago.
Experience in the private sector also teaches the most important economic lesson of all, namely that there is a no such thing as a free lunch. Unfortunately, the free-lunch mentality permeates this campus, as members of the Teaching Assistants’ Association (TAA) disrupted and harassed students going to class for two days last spring. The TAA refused to pay $9 toward health insurance, while many in the private sector pay hundreds of dollars annually in premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. Many others do not receive health insurance benefits at all.
While my co-op experiences have provided a break from traditional classroom learning and an opportunity to apply theory, they have also shown a contrast between this university and the rest of the United States: the leftist political agenda of academics versus mainstream America and the free-lunch mentality on this campus as opposed to the principle of production and earning in the private sector.
In my cultural anthropology course, my professor once remarked that the word “university” has the same origins as the word “universe,” and that a university operates within the context of a universe. In some ways, he is correct. This campus does operate in a universe, but not in the same one where everyone else lives.
Mark A. Baumgardner ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in electrical engineering.
