Mechanical Engineering degree being shut down

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Q. Just trying to gauge engineer's opinion of a Mechanical Engineering degree pending closure... I am a mechanical engineering student at the University of Reading and it has recently come to our attention, and a complete surprise at that, that the mech eng degree is to be closed down, and the department will no longer accept any more students onto the course. The fact that the standard of the degree is, according to major educational supplements of the British press, in the top 5 in the country appears to have somewhat escaped the Vice Chancellor of the University. The decision for closure was due to have gone to the vote yesterday in a meeting with the University senate, instead the Vice Chancellor has made a surprising U-turn - this could be due to the fact that there was no adequate reason provided by him for the closure, and the fact that the Vice Chancellor could not get enough support for his decision at this stage. A meeting today with the Vice Chancellor, the Pro Vice Chancellor and the Faculty of Science Dean resulted in the excuse that the engineering department was not profitable for the University, and was apparently being subsidised heavily by other courses. All three made it quite clear that closure will occur, although unfortunately not as soon as they'd hoped. As such we have only been granted a "stay of execution" - the degree is to be reviewed again in two months with the aim of closure of the Engineering department. Any support would be very much appreciated by not only the students undertaking the course but also the engineering staff.

A. -Reading, Berkshire rather than Penn, I guess. You are in good company - West Point no longer offers engineering, nor Harvard?? More profitable to shop around in Taiwan or India, and China is quite a steal too. How about financial analysis? - I hear there are job opportunities in that field, presently. -Sure; much better to promote careers in how economies are declining because nobody has a clue any more on how to _make_ things well that are actully useful to society. Excuse me; I have to go to a philosophers' conference now... -Actually, no... It's really a "Triumph of the Commons". Whereas a tragedy is created by an individual finding it always profitable to over use a joint resource like a grazing common, so that the community suffers as a whole: by contrast, where an engineer is capable but undervalued, then this individual suffers for his contribution, but the community benefits disproportionately from his efforts. Does that make you feel better?

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